Smith's First Christmas!

Our sweet boy had a wonderful Christmas. What a blessing it was to experience our first Christmas as parents...Although next year I think we will need to rent a Uhaul to pack all our goodies for a week away from home! We took LOTS of pictures so I will try to be selective and just post some of my favorites.

We spent the first part of the week at Gannie's house with Woody and Jessie. We went to church, had Christmas with DeDe and and the Earle family, and were happy that Santa found us in Canton!

We went to Carthage for Christmas with CC and Pop on Tuesday and were showered by
"beach themed" gifts! Reed loves the beach and we take at least two long beach trips each summer...and since Smith will take his first beach trip this summer, the beach gifts were practical and PERFECT!
Santa brought Smith a basketball goal. He is already taking after Uncle Drew and LOVES playing with his goal!

On Christmas Day we headed to Renfroe to my family's cabin. My parents, Andrew, Laura, Jason and AP all came, too! We played Mexican Train Dominoes with Ganne, a hysterical game of CATCH PHRASE with Uncle Dan and family, ate LOTS of food, rested, hunted, ate some more, exchanged gifts, and watched Smith and AP (and Rambo Reed) enjoy all their toys! My creative and very talented sister made almost all of her Christmas gifts this year. And they weren't cheesey homemade gifts! They were awesome! Baby dolls, diapers for baby dolls, t-shirt quilts, onesies, pillows, height charts, and EVEN tackling dummies??? Is this not the greatest thing you have ever seen? Laura made Smith a tackling dummy out of a photo of Reed from his Senior year at Delta State! It's awesome!

We hope your Christmas was as MERRY as ours!

happy yesterday

I never realized that giving someone a "happy" was a southern thing until a few years ago. I have a dear friend who is a Texan and was living in California at the time. I called her up and excitedly declared, "I bought you a happy yesterday!" I was shocked at her casual response, "What's a happy yesterday?"

Bless her.

Since then, I often find myself referring to a small token or treat as not just a happy, but a "happy yesterday."

So...this week, Smith and I delivered happy yesterdays...Smith's pediatrician, his physical therapist, our maids and my hair dresser, just to name a few.

So what do you give that LONG list of people you need to thank during the holidays?
Something cheap.
Something fun.
Something edible.
Something personal.

My OH-so-TALENTED friend Krystal designed this darling Christmas card for me and I decided that they also made great gift tags!

So there you have it. Chocolate treats with a sweet smile!

Now that's what I call a HAPPY YESTERDAY!

like father, like son...

If you know us well, then it is no surprise to you that MY HUSBAND LOVES CHRISTMAS! And as you can see below, he always has! Reed joyfully (and in his big red santa hat) puts out all the Christmas decorations as soon as I will let him. He loves ALL THINGS Christmas and it looks like his sweet son is following in his footsteps.We took Smith to meet Santa Claus last Saturday and he LOVED him! He just talked to him and laughed...He liked pulling his beard just like he pulls mama's hair!

We think we might leave the tree up all year - (I don't think Reed would disapprove) because whenever Smith is fussy all we have to do is go look at the tree!

Merry Christmas, friends!

keeping busy....

I guess "crazy" is the best way to describe things at our house the past few days. The past week has felt like months and my husband has come to realize that he is married to the most impatient woman in the world. (Like he didn't know that already...)

The advice I continue to hear from "the more experienced wives" is... "just keep yourself busy." So busy we have been.
CEREAL
Smith had cereal for the first time on Thursday night. I am still nursing him but over the past few weeks he has really shown interest in the food we are eating...and as much as he nurses, I think he would rather be at the Barnhill's buffet! Our first cereal experience was fun! AND messy! He wasn't sure he liked it at first, but after a little while he was smacking it down!

SHOPPING
We were in Madison most of the week and I got a lot of my Christmas shopping done. I have a really terrible problem. I LOVE shopping for others and I LOVE giving! Okay, so this is not such a terrible problem if your name happens to be on my gift list. I just have such a hard time limiting myself and not buying TOO much for each person!
While we were out, Tizzie and I picked up Smith a new hat to keep his cute little crooked ears warm! I also bought him a stocking!

NEWKS
While we are on the subject of my lack of self control....I was in Madison for FOUR days and ate at NEWKS THREE times! I know this is disturbing. There are plenty of great places to eat in the Jackson area, right? Yeah, but who else has a whole table of fun free stuff!?!? Want extra cheese? Croutons? Those great skinny breadsticks? Just head on up there and getchu some. Another reason Newks ranks so high on my list is that my sister and I could never turn down a big ole plastic cup of Sweet Tea!!! Its awesome! And the food ain't bad either!
Smith, Reed and I met Pop there on Friday for lunch!

GREAT-GRANDS are GREAT
Reed's grandparents are both in nursing homes and since Smith was born right as the season started, this was our first chance to "make the rounds" to meet his great-grands. We stopped by to see MeMe Stringer in Jackson on Friday. She was so happy to meet Smith.

DeDe Earle was so excited to see Smith that he jumped out of his bed! Seriously...he really did! He wanted to hold him as soon as we walked in the door!

Smith with Aunt Minta!

CHAMPIONS
We had a long, busy week and then spent the weekend enjoying all the championship games. Meridian High School made history Friday night by ending South Panola's 89 game winning streak! It was a great game!
Today, we watched the SEC Championship game with some friends. Smith and Porter kept Uncle Jody busy!

Interesting fact: Last year on the day of the SEC championship game Reed and I found out that I was pregnant with Smith!

a family feast...

We were very happy to have all our family over for Thanksgiving dinner. I started a tradition of having a "thankful tree" two years ago when I first had Thanksgiving dinner at my house. Everyone gets to write what they are thankful for on a leaf and hang it on the tree!14 people= lots of food. lots of dishes.

Me and my little turkey.Smith and Uncle Drew

I think this must have been when Anne Parks was putting on a show for us and doing her "boogie woogie!" We were all very entertained!

Smith and his Aunt Jessie...(okay, "future" Aunt Jessie)

Woody, Jessie, Me, Reed, Smith, Pop and CC.

I guess my side of the family didn't sit still long enough to get a family photo!

We had a great Thanksgiving and have so much to be thankful for.

whew, what a weekend...

We are so excited that the Bulldogs won the last home game of the season! It was a little cold so Smith and Anne Parks stayed home with Tizzie and Lolly. Anne Parks LOVES "Mifths." She likes holding him and playing with him. She is going to be a big help to her mommy and will be a great BIG sister!

All of our family was in town for the weekend to celebrtae Smith's dedication to the church. It was a special day and we are so blessed to have such a precious boy.

All of the pictures and attention were too much for our little man and he was wiped out by the time we made it home. I am going to have to put him back in his sweet outfit and take some more pictures of him!

We were so happy to have a house full of family...(We missed you Gannie!) and they will ALL be back on Thursday for Thanksgiving dinner! That should make for an interesting post!

*Smith is 4 MONTHS old! We go to the doctor tomorrow so I will post a 4 month update then!

one more....

So I may not be the most interesting person on the planet, BUT...SIX things was juts not enough...I got to thinking and thought of some other things that you might find interesting about me....I won't bore you with a WHOLE list now...but here is one that I only realized when I started working on the list...

I am the ONLY female in FOUR generations of Porter women that does not have the name Anne.
My Ganne - Anne Marie

My Mom - Sheila Anne
My sister - Laura Anne
My cousins - Sandra Anne and Allison JoAnne
My niece - Anne Parks
I am not sad about this. I used to be. When I was little, my mom and our maid, Betty, watched All My Children and there was a girl on there named Emily Anne. I used to wish my name was Emily Anne so I could be just like her. BUT...I am so very proud to be Emily Porter.

give thanks!

Anne Parks carved the cutest pumpkin...GIVE THANKS!

my friend Laura tagged me with the "Kreativ Blogger Award," and here's what she's insisting I do: list 6 interesting things about myself and tag 6 others to do the same.
So here it goes:
1. I have a problem with things that end with the numbers 7 and 9. I am really okay with the numbers alone, but numbers like 17 or 29 are really terrible. I am also okay if I cannot control the number. (Example: If the time is 10:29...its okay! But I am NOT getting married on June 17 or leaving the TV volume on 29!!!)
2. I love poptarts! But only the strawberry kind... and they MUST be toasted (almost burnt) with butter on them. AND they MUST be Kelloggs...you cannot go generic on poptarts!
3. I lived in 21 different houses by the time I graduated from high school. Because of this, I get really bored with my house easily. I rearrange my furniture ALL the time!
4. I cannot stand mayonaise. I can't even think about the word. I HATE it. GROSS! GROSS! GROSS!
5. I have had my hair cut THREE times for "Locks of Love."
6. Our family has neat birthdays!
Reed: January 26
Reed's mom: February 26
ME: April 26
My dad: July 28
My brother: August 28
Reed's dad: August 22
Reed's brother: July 22
Smith: July 22
Stella: July 22
It gets even weirder if you add in my grandparents and aunts and uncles.....

Now....I tag sister Laura, Emily, Krystal, Elisabeth, Carly, and Keely.

I6 weeks

sucker...

Okay, so I am not sure who the "sucker" really is in this story. LAST Saturday, we had some friends over to watch football games. Smith was getting a little fussy and it was about time for him to eat...I put him over my should (in typical burp position) and he kept turning into my face and trying to suck...he latched on to my cheek!

We all started laughing and talking about how sweet he was to give me some "sugar." I jokingly said..."Ha ha ha...how funny would that be if he gave me a big ole hickey on my face! That would be hilarious!" I pulled him off and fed him....a little while later, thinking nothing of the incident early, I looked in the mirror and thought, "What in the world is wrong with my face? I must have a rash or something." NO! NO! NO! It was a hickey!

I thought I would share a picture with you...BUT I didn't take this immediately afterwards..I took these pictures TODAY...FRIDAY...a WEEK after this happened! You can only imagine what I looked like at church last Sunday morning!

oh what fun it is to ride....

Smith and I got up early last Tuesday, voted and took to the road for a trip that would start in Starkville and end about an hour east of Atlanta at beautiful Lake Oconee. We were off for our first "long" road trip together...AND alone. Well, I say alone...we actually were accompanied by Gaby Beamer. She, a toy yorkie, had been in Mississippi with her GG and Pop and Smith and I were returning her to her parents. Smith and I were so excited to spend a relaxing week of shopping and eating with our friends. I must say that I was a little nervous about the 6 hour trip with a I5 week old and a high maintenance pup. (Sorry Gaby.)But...thankfully, they were BOTH angels. Smith is a true traveler...he was great and enjoyed the ride. Smith was so happy to finally meet Sutton. Her mommy, who is one of my bestest friends, and I were prego together and Sutton was born a month after Smith. We have promised them that no matter how far away their daddies move them...that they will always be friends. I am not sure how Shane is going to feel about Smith making a move so soon...

emily and I did lots of shopping and the kids were troopers... and were worn out at the end of the long day.

Sutton was a little upset in the car and Smith was checking on her....his face was so cute.

Smith and I took our time on the trip back home. He was so sweet and I was able to get a lot of shopping done in lots of little towns on the way home. We cannot wait to take our next trip back to the lake....and next time hopefully our daddies can come along, too.