First time for everything

In my Christmas post below, I forgot to mention how our first meeting with Santa went. My sister and I took Knox and Kailea together to meet Santa for the first time. We had no idea what to expect so we expected the worst, at least I did. I thought for sure Knox would at least scream or "sing" as I like to call it. However, it went as smooth as possible. Kailea tried to cry a few times, but never fully shed a tear. Knox studied Santa, as he does with all new faces, and pulled at his beard out of curiosity. It's so funny to me that these two 9 month olds are already showing their "male" and "female" personalities. Here is the snapshot we got of these two sweeties. You better believe they will take their picture with Santa every year together :) 

So serious. . . 

Until Next Time, 

Peace and Happiness

All things Christmas

What an eventful first Christmas we had! Knox didn't get a single thing. . . . haha! We started our Christmas celebration early with Christmas at Grand Lake with my mom, dad, sister, brothers and their families. It's always a good time at the lake, but Christmas at the lake tops my list. . actually just getting to be with my entire family tops my list :) There's never a dull moment when ALL of us get together. I am looking forward to our new tradition of meeting together the weekend before Christmas every year. 

         Here's my dad with all of his grandkids

Our next stop on our Christmas celebration was Christmas at our house with my Mom and Dad. Knox scored a wonderful new red wagon and a riding bull along with some more toys. Thanks PaPa and Mamie!

The next stop was Dallas. It was our turn to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas with Scottie's family this year. I am so thankful to say, I love my extended family so much and I am so blessed to have them in my life. Like my family, there is never a dull moment with the Shumsky's. Scott's mom and sis planned tons of fun activities and games for us to play this year. They always come up with the most creative things for us to do. One of my favorites this year was Top Chef. Each couple had to cook a meal for everyone and we were graded on taste and presentation. Everyone did an awesome job, literally. In the end, we all walked away with a prize because the "judge" couldn't choose her favorite. I hope this is on the list next year because it was a lot of fun preparing for it! Anyways, they did a great job having fun stuff for us to do as a family. Christmas morning is one of my favorites with the Shumsky's. This year while reading the story of Christmas, Harper ran and got her version of baby Jesus in the Manger. . it melted my heart. . 

Another tradition we have on Christmas morning is opening matching pajamas, the girls have matching ones and the guys all have matching ones. We open them, put them on, and usually don't change out of them until the next day. . . Wish I would have gotten a picture but I forgot. . anyways, I love it and I LOVE THEM!

We got to spend 5 days in Dallas, with the entire family. . it was wonderful! 

Our last stop on our Christmas celebration was my Granny's house. As soon as we got back into town we headed over to celebrate my Aunt's 50th birthday and we celebrated Christmas with my Granny. 

Needless to say, Knox's first Christmas was a success. It's so much more fun when you have a kid. I can only imagine what next year will be like when he will be running around like a mad man. I am so thankful we got to celebrate with all of our families. The 3 of us are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives. God is Good!

Weekend with Kaile'a

This past weekend Scottie and I got to watch our sweet niece, Kaile'a Jane. As you know, she is a little over a week younger than Knox, so we got a teeny tiny taste of what life was like with twins :) I am so incredibly lucky to have such a fun, loving, and kind spirited niece. . not to mention son! They are seriously some of the easiest babies to take care of. It was a lot easier than what I anticipated it to be. By the end of the weekend they were "talking" back and forth with each other and getting jealous over each other's toys. Such a blast! I cannot wait to see what life with them is like in the next few months/years. Here are a few pictures and videos of these two sweeties. . 

Peace and Happiness :) 

big FAT update!

Has it really been almost 2 months since I have written a new post? I wish I had an excuse as to why I haven't kept up with my blog, but truthfully, instead of using my free time to keep up with my posts I have been using it to catch up on my t.v. shows. . . like I said, I wish I had a better excuse! So here's to a big fat update. A LOT has happened in these past two months with Knox and changes in my life as well. First we will start with me, as my changes aren't as big as Knox's accomplishments :) A few months ago my dear friend, Katie Christy, approached me to help her out with her growing photography business. She took on her own business and it grew faster than I think she knew it would, which is an awesome thing, but overwhelming for her. I felt really fortunate and honored that she asked me to be her assistant. I hope to help her out as much as possible. She's a great boss, awesome photographer, and more importantly, an awesome friend. I'm excited to help her with her business and watch it grow. There are exciting things happening! If you haven't seen her work, here are a few candid moments of our family captured by her amazing eye. . .

Anyways, as you can see, she is super talented! Click here to check out some more of her awesome work!

On to Knox. 

Can you believe our little guy is 8 months old! It's so hard to believe in 20 days he will be 9 months . . time truly does fly by in the blink of an eye. At his 7 month check up (yes, I said 7. . I'm a horrible mom and didn't schedule his 6 month check up until he was 7 months. . forgive me.) Anyways, at his well child check up his awesome doctor, Dr. Julie Morrow, said he is right on track and he looks/acts fantastic. Have I mentioned how much I love her? He weighed in at 20lbs and was 28 1/2 inches long! Our son has almost tripled his weight and almost grown 10 inches! I look at newborns now and find it hard to believe he was once that size.  He hasn't started crawling yet, but he "rocks" on all 4's constantly. . . so I'm guessing crawling will be any day now (which I am secretly dreading!) I would be perfectly fine if he didn't crawl or walk at all :) Not really, but I'm not ready to leave behind the days when I can walk out of the room knowing he is perfectly fine. . . and in the same place as I left him. He is showing signs of wanting to walk, so he could be one of those babies that never crawls and goes straight to walking. . we shall see! I just realized I haven't updated since Halloween so here's a recap of then until now:

For Halloween Knox was a big, bad, BAT :)

He hated every second of being in this costume :) Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, so hopefully he will be more excited to dress up next year!

This month was full of lots of new tricks. . 

and. . 

October was also a big month for words and expressions :)

"Hey"

I'm horrible, but I can't remember if Knox started feeding himself his bottle this month or 7 months. . . either way,  he can now feed him self which is like a whole new world to Scottie and me :)

7 months was a blast. . they seriously get more fun the older they get. Don't get me wrong, I do miss the newborn days of when he use to sleep on my chest. . 

Knox loves cows :)

Knox also found out in order to add a few inches to his "reach" lifting a leg in the air would help :)

And here we are at 8 months! My life with this little guy is so fulfilling! I honestly can say, I can't remember life without him in it. He's the best thing that has ever happened to Scottie and I. He continues to teach us something new about ourselves every single day. My favorite moments are watching my two boys play together. I love being in the other room listening to Scott teaching Knox new things. Knox has made Scott grow into a loving, responsible, Dad. It's incredible to watch, and I am so glad I can witness the love in Scottie's eyes grow day by day for this little guy :) God is good. 

Like I said, here we are at 8 months, and Christmas is approaching! Christmas is one of the best memories I have as a child. I remember getting home from my Granny's on Christmas Eve. . setting out cookies, milk, and carrots for the Reindeer of course, then going to bed anxiously peeking out my window looking for "Rudolph." I could hardly wait for Christmas morning. . and I don't think I missed a year that I didn't wake up in the middle of the night to get a peek at what Santa had brought me :) I can only hope Knox will have these same memories. . I am SO SO excited for Christmas with a kid! 

Peace, Happiness, and until next time. . .