Baby's First Christmas.....Mommy and Daddy's Rat Race

Well, I wish I could say that Christmas was relaxing and full of rest. Unfortunately, it was not! However, it was lots of fun having little Kamdyn around. She gave everyone such joy since she is the only baby in the family on both sides. That being said...you can only imagine all of the gifts that she received. She was happy as a clam! I'm not sure what she really thought of all of her gifts, but she most certainly LOVED the wrapping paper and bows. Her most favorite thing on all of the gifts was the tags that hung from each of the presents! She was such a hoot grabbing for those tags!!! Ooh and the fit that she would throw if you tried to take those tags away. Temper, temper!!

Our Christmas started on Saturday, December 22nd. My Mom had her entire family over to her house. Kamdyn was passed from one to the other and loved every minute of it. She got a gift from everyone there. She got enough for Christmas to be over right then. But, we still had three more "parties" to attend. Oh my, I just knew we would need a UHaul to get back to North Augusta!


Aunt Brenda feeding Kamdyn! It's hard to tell
who was feeding who...... :)



Kamdyn after opening all of her gifts! She was
"loving" Eeyore!



Kamdyn was giving Cory, our cousin, a kiss!
This was so adorable!!!


On Christmas Eve night we went to Mama Lucy's. We had dinner and opened presents! Kamdyn loved this, too! She got more gifts than anyone there. Surprise, surprise! Her Daddy is still struggling with this. He LOVES to have lots of presents to open. He was still a little pouty over the fact that Kamdyn got more presents than him last year and she wasn't even here yet. I think he'll manage! :)



Kamdyn with Mama Lucy at Mr. and Mrs. Ward's house.
She is looking at a moving Christmas tree.


Grand bought Kamdyn an Eebee from FAO Schwartz!
She didn't know what to do with it except grab the tab, of course!



Kamdyn was opening another gift!



Kamdyn eating the tissue paper. She didn't really
care what was in the bag!



Kamdyn wrapping up in Uncle Matthew's new blanket.



Kamdyn with a bow on her head looking precious!
And, wondering how many more gifts she still had to open.


Kamdyn watching Daddy play with that crazy
yellow remote control flying saucer. She actually
kind of liked it! I don't think she had much of a choice!


We spent the night at Na-Na and Poppy's on Christmas Eve night. We waited on Santa at their house this year. We figured that Kamdyn wouldn't really know the difference quite yet. Next year, we will be at our house for Santa to visit! We opened presents Christmas morning at Na-Na and Poppy's house and Kamdyn really got a lot there. Can you say SPOILED?


Christmas Morning at Na-Na and Poppy's






Kamdyn's gifts from Christmas Eve and Christmas morning!
We still had two more Christmas Parties to go! Oh My!!!

Then, we were off to Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim's house for lunch on Christmas Day. Kamdyn got to see a dog for the very first time. She was a little apprehensive at first. In fact, she cried when she first saw the doggie. As the day went on she got a little braver until she actually decided that she wanted to pet the dog! I told her not to get any ideas because her Daddy would NEVER agree to her having a puppy. She could always try. Who knows.....those big blue eyes and that beautiful smile may just get her everything she wants, especially from her Da-Da! Kamdyn was tired by the time we opened presents here. She fell asleep in her Da-Da's arms half way through. She didn't even get to see how many presents she actually got! It was becoming even more clear to me by this point........UHaul!!


Kamdyn with Aunt Kathy



Kamdyn getting brave with the dog!



Kamdyn getting a little scared when the dog makes a noise.



Kamdyn finally pets the doggie!



Da-Da, Kamdyn, and Uncle Matthew


The Terry Family Photo all in burgundy!
Da-Da, Granddaddy, Kamdyn, Uncle Matthew, Aunt Ashley

We stayed in the Upstate until Tuesday evening. We left there headed to Atlanta to stay with Matthew for a night. We left for Nashville on Wednesday morning. No, we didn't really go there to see the Tigers play (Good Thing!), but it was an excuse to go to Nashville. We had a great time! If only we could erase the bowl game and the fact that Kentucky whipped us, the trip would have been perfect. We hit up the Bluebird Cafe, the honky tonks, the Opry Land Hotel, The Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Grand Ole Opry. We had a fabulous time with all of our friends!


In front of the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman as
we tour around Nashville!


At Legends listening to some live honky tonk music!


Hanging out at the Bluebird Cafe!


The boys in front of the stadium as we are
walking over the bridge to cross the river.


The Grand Ole Opry. The night of the show!

When did we finally get to have our Christmas at our house? Not until New Year's Eve morning. We're sure that Kamdyn didn't know the difference. In fact, she was probably glad that she got a little bit of a break from opening presents and seeing cameras flashing in her face. I'm so glad that I didn't go crazy buying her tons of stuff! We seriously would have needed a new wing added on to our house for all of her toys and clothes. We almost need one now!








Check out Kamdyn's Bass Pro Shops Shirt.
Thanks, "Uncle Potter!"




Christmas was great, but so exhausting! Thanks to my Mom, she brought most of our Christmas stuff to our house while we were in Nashville. She even put most of it away for us! What would I do without her? Kamdyn had a ball with Na-Na, but boy were Richard and I glad to see our little Kammie! She was even happy to see us. I don't know how we will survive when we leave her for a week in April when we go on our trip to St. Lucia! It is going to be so hard! Oh well, I'll wait to worry about that for a while!

Thank you to everyone who bought Kamdyn a gift!!! She LOVES them! She actually plays with them now that all of the bows, wrapping paper, and tags are gone!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year until next year! I have an entire year to get over this year and to prepare for next year!!!! YEA!!!

Hanging out with Uncle Matthew

Uncle Matthew came to visit for a couple of days before Christmas. He actually came to go fishing with Richard and Patrick on Thursday. Then, he decided that he loved us so much that he would stay until we went to the Upstate for Christmas on Saturday (12/23).


Here are a couple pictures from the fishing trip of Patrick. Patrick was here Wednesday and Thursday night for two days of fishing. I told Patrick that Kamdyn was going to have to call him "Uncle Patrick" since Shannon and Allison were waiting so long to have him a niece or nephew!:) I had to throw that in because I am always giving Shannon and Allison a hard time about having children. They know that I'm just kidding, but I really can't wait until they do! Kamdyn needs a playmate. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!






These are pictures of Kamdyn hanging out with Uncle Matthew. Matthew was playing games with Kamdyn. She liked finding Ruth Ann's ring under the stacking cups best. She always found it, too! Not always on the first try, but she knew it was there somewhere. Matthew was also giving Kamdyn a lesson on balancing.

Picture with Santa

Why we put this off until the last minute, I'll never know. I debated over whether or not to take her at all. But, guilt took over and I felt like I would be a bad Mommy if I didn't have Kamdyn's picture taken with Santa for her very First Christmas. I also know that Christmas got here way too fast this year and I don't feel completely ready. I do not have a choice though! It's only two days away. YIKES!!

I was not brave enough to take Kamdyn to the Mall this year and stand in that long dreaded line. There is another place here in Augusta called Fat Man's Forest. It's a gift shop and a seasonal/holiday type shop. I knew that both Santa and Mrs. Claus were both there. I opted for this instead. We weren't sure what Kamdyn would do, but we were pretty sure that she wouldn't cry. She has NEVER cried when someone else has held her. We thought she would just think that Santa's beard was kind of neat. Then, she would pull on it and possible try to put it in her mouth. This is what she does with everything else, why should this be any different?

Oh my, were we wrong!! Kamdyn did NOT like Santa. When Richard put her in his lap she looked up at us as if to say "please don't leave me here." I guess she thought that we were just dumping her in his lap and we were taking off. She started crying (not screaming) and that little lip was poked out so far that we could all step on it! Uncle Matthew was there for the adventure, too. He tried to help us as best he could to get her to look at the camera and stop crying. It didn't work! I couldn't stand it another moment and had to take her out of Santa's lap. We'll just have to try again next year!

The pictures are still cute and at least they capture the memory and moment of her first Christmas.

These were taken while we were waiting on Santa.
Happy Kamdyn!







This is the picture taken by Fat Man's.




The rest were taken with our camera.

Kamdyn LOVES Daddy

Richard sometimes says that Kamdyn "doesn't like him." Of course he and the rest of us know that this is completely untrue. He wakes her up every morning and gets her dressed. He has plenty of Daddy/Daughter time with her each day. He just feels that every time I'm in the room that she wants me. And, every time that I leave the room, she fusses for me. Here recently she has reverted back to her newborn days. She once again LOVES taking naps on her Daddy's chest. This, of course, makes Richard beam! It also makes me happy! Check out this precious picture below. This was taken after one of Richard's fishing trips. They both needed a nap to say the least!

What is Kamdyn Doing Now?

It's been a while since I've posted some new and fun things that Kamdyn can do. She is at such a playful and precious age. I love just sitting on the couch watching her. I often lay in the floor beside her while she plays. I look on in amazement at my little sweetie! She is very good at entertaining herself and she can do so for quite sometime.

Kamdyn is getting really good at balancing when she walks with our assistance. I started only giving her one hand instead of two and encouraging her to take a few steps. She pitched a fit at first when I tried this, but now she will at least take a few steps with only one hand. She will stand up by herself while leaning against the couch. She will also hold on to things like her excersaucer while she is standing up. She holds on with one hand and plays with the toys with the other. She will even take a step or two to move around it. She still has a good ways to go though before she has her balance completely and takes off on her own. We practice every day!!





She still loves to ride around in that walker. In fact, she chases us around the house while she is in it. She has to be everywhere that we are! Did I mention that she is IN to EVERYTHING while she walks in the walker? We have had to cover all of our outlets because she has tried to put her fingers in most all of them. Now she tries to get the outlet covers off. She pulls our trash can completely over in to the floor. She tries to open all of the cabinets, but can't because the walker blocks them from opening. Needless to say, she is quickly learning what "NO, NO" means. In fact, when she approaches something that she knows she shouldn't be touching, she will look around to see if either of us are watching her. If not, she goes for it! If we are watching, she gives a little smirk and moves on to the next thing. She is quite precocious!

I also think that she is learning what "bye-bye" means. Every time I say "bye-bye," she throws her hands in the air and waves one of them up and down. From what I've read, this is the age when they start waving bye-bye and understanding what it means. I'll keep you posted on this though. It may just be a coincidence that she does it everytime I say "bye-bye." Maybe she just likes the way that I say it and gets excited!! Who knows what's going on inside that little head??? I'd love to know!!!

Her 9 month check-up is January 2nd. Yes, 9 months! I can hardly believe it. I can't wait to see how much she weighs and how long she is. She feels like she weighs 30 lbs. My left bicep is going to be the size of Mike Tyson's soon from carrying her around all of the time! :) Did I mention that Kamdyn has yet to be sick? She hasn't even had a sniffle!! I hate to even say this and right at this moment I am knocking on wood and saying a prayer. We have been so lucky! I guess it's that breastmilk! If so, I am so glad that I nursed her for as long as I did. It was well worth the hassle. We'll let you know what Dr. Foushee says about her.

She also has her next "photo shoot" on January 10th at Fitz-Symms. I can't wait to see how she does this time. She's not nearly as still and immobile as she has been in the past for these pictures. It should be quite interesting!

I will keep you posted!

A Weekend Away from Mommy and Daddy

Kamdyn went on a little road trip without Mommy and Daddy. Grand (yet to be named) picked Kamdyn up on Friday 12/8 around 9:30 am. I decided to take the day off so that I could have a "ME" day. It's the first one that I've had in 8 months and it was much needed! Kamdyn visited family in Greenwood on her way to Anderson to stay with Mama Lucy on Friday night. Mama Lucy's birthday was Sunday12/10. Kamdyn got to be there to celebrate with her! On Saturday afternoon, Na-Na and Poppy picked Kamdyn up from Mama Lucy's. Kamdyn spent Saturday night with them. She returned to Mama Lucy's on Sunday afternoon and Grand brought her back to North Augusta on Sunday evening. Kamdyn had a whirlwind trip of the Upstate and I'm sure she enjoyed every minute of it. She loves to GO, GO, GO!

As for Mommy and Daddy....this was a perfect weekend for us to spend time at our house alone (another event that hasn't taken place since Kamdyn was born). We have been out of town without Kamdyn, but we haven't been at our house alone since she was born. Richard's work Christmas Party was on Saturday night. And, since Ruth Ann was willing to stop by here to pick Kamdyn up on her way to Anderson, this worked out perfectly! We were able to have a nice relaxing dinner on Friday night at a restaurant at a normal dinner time! We shopped for Christmas on Saturday. We went to the Christmas Party on Saturday night and had a blast!! On Sunday morning we were anxiously waiting for our "angel" to return!!! I couldn't wait for her to get home. While I enjoyed my weekend with Richard, I missed Kamdyn terribly. I met her in the driveway and couldn't wait to get some hugs and kisses. Her smile fills my heart!

Here are some pics of what she did while she was away. I'm not sure she missed us that much! If she did, she didn't really have time to think about it!