Reid's First Christmas

So here is the finished card from my last post...hope you and yours had a very merry CHRISTmas!!
A couple of weeks ago, we took Reid to the mall to see Santa for his first annual photo. It's one of those quintessential childhood things you just have to do. We got in line during Santa's "milk and cookie break" in hopes that it would be short. All in all, we really didn't have to wait too long...maybe 30 minutes once the line started moving. Reid was happy to watch everyone around us, especially the little girl behind us who was just beginning to walk.




The decorations were amazing--it was total advertisement for the newst Narnia movie, but even as an adult, the ice palace was gorgeous. Once you get inside it, it "snows" out of the ceiling. Let's just say it's great for the older kids (although pretty dumb that it's right before the pics b/c I'm pretty sure the kids all have the faux snow in their hair for pictures) , but we are still finding it in our stroller, lol. Jason tried to get a quick pic of us on the ice throne, but our turn was up next.



Mrs. Claus recommended that we back Reid into Santa so he wouldn't freak out. Worked like a charm. I wanted to see what he'd do once he saw Santa, so I turned him around once we were done. No freaking out, no tears...and we'd expected the scene from A Christmas Story!

Here's the official pic:

Grammy and Grumpy were kind enough to drive up from Houston for Reid's first Christmas (translation...we did not have to pack up the entire house plus the kitchen sink just for a couple of days). I always wanted to have our baby's first Christmas in our own house :) Don't let the picture fool you...Reid was not this happy little camper and fussed most of the time they were here (sorry, Mom and Dad!). He never really napped well, ate well, etc. I think my being off and his not seeing the sitter for two weeks has affected a lot--it makes his schedule totally different.

Showing off his new bib for Grammy and Grumpy:

We adults opened our gifts on Christmas Eve...

Christmas morning, Reid was obsessed with Grumpy and his hat.

Everyone changed after a Mexican fiesta breakfast, then it was time for the newest French to "open" his gifts. He was more into Dixie playing with the tissue paper (he is totally and completely obsessed with the cats lately!!) than the actual gifts, but he got a great assortment that he'll be able to use all year--they ranged from his current age all the way up to 12 months. Yay!

Photo Shoot

My friend Jen (who took Reid's newborn photos--she's amazing!) came to our house for a photo session. At first, things didn't go so well...

Thankfully, things looked up (for awhile at least ;) He did get pretty cranky for awhile, but mostly cooperated)

Yes, Santa...I've been good (mostly)!

Who, me???

No, really...the fish was THIS BIG!!!

What exactly do you call this doo-hicky?

Am I cute, or what??

Check out my baby blues...

And Mommy's personal favorite...Baby Santa on the blankie. So sweet!

December

The past few weeks were fast and furious, just as we figured they'd be. This time of the year is always, always crazy. Add a 6 month old and it's just plain nuts! The good news is that Reid seems to have settled on a formula (finally...for now, anyway). Oddly enough, it is the one he really liked a few months ago. Our pediatrician mentioned (in passing) that Enfamil Premium Lipil can be a little harder to digest than the older Enfamil Lipil. The premium is pretty much all I ever see anymore, so I just assumed it was the same thing with a different name, but I guess they've added a bunch of other junk to it that now makes it harder to digest. Reid is one of those kids who is affected by it, so it seems. Bad news...I can only find it at Kroger (the don't have the premium) and I won't be surprised if it's not around much longer. It also only comes in small cans...not exactly cost effective. Good news...he likes it and doesn't fuss when he eats. Still having some poopy issues (no, I will not give the dirty details except that I NEVER thought so much of our daily c0nversation would revolve around our baby's poop!!) and he is still spitting up after every other feeding or so, but he's been much happier...almost like a 'normal' baby (as far as eating), lol!

Oatmeal suddenly clicked one day. He couldn't get enough and now often grabs my hand to attempt to feed himself, which sometimes results in gagging himself instead. Pretty funny! We had to stop oatmeal for about a week b/c the pediatrician was wondering if Reid has a gluten intolerance. We're still not exactly sure, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference when we did stop...except that he quit sleeping through the night for a few days, but that could've been from the 6 mo. shots. He did NOT react well to those, so I ended up having to take a day off of work to take care of him. He cried ALL DAY LONG. Not fun, but I wasn't about to send him to the sitter like that, not knowing if he was really okay or not.

We pinch pennies anywhere we can these days. A couple of years ago, Jason and I took a little drive over on the east side of McKinney because it was a nice day. We happened upon a little thrift store (just like a garage sale, but all in one building!) and didn't think much of it at the time, but now I visit it regularly. Kids outgrow stuff so fast that it's pretty silly to pay full price (or even half price!) for clothes. This place has really cute, gently used clothes for dirt cheap. Disinfect/wash and viola! New wardrobe :) Jason actually found this little dinosaur outfit:

Reid and I are a part of a playgroup where all the moms are teachers. My friend Emily organized it b/c we were all jealous of the SAHM (stay at home moms) who get to have playdates anytime. Somehow, this was only the second one Reid and I had been to. They meet once a month, but one time he was sick, one time I was sick, two times it was the same night as Bible study, etc. So we made it to the Christmas one and had so much fun! We missed the big photo of all the kids because Reid can't really sit up by himself yet, but here's a glimpse of the hilarity of attempting to get so many kids under the age of 2 into one photo:

Here's Reid with Emily's little girl, Molly. Emily and I are still amazed that two years ago at this time, we were meeting at Starbucks to do a Bible study on the topic of infertility. God is amazing!




Jason's dad flew in from Houston to watch Reid (Thank you, Papa!!) while we went to Jason's company party. Bruce is amazing with kids and Reid giggled, smiled, and cooed all day.



We all had lunch at Nate's and walked around the Village at Fairview. They have an amazing Christmas tree set up and it was a beautiful day, so we paused for a photo op. It was soooo bright...


Three generations of French boys:

I hadn't dressed up in so long that I forgot what I used to do! I guess Jason and I clean up pretty well, lol. This isn't the best pic, but the full length one turned out blurry.

His company party had a yummy dinner. As tradition goes (with our laughable bad luck, or "lack of luck"?) he won 4 tickets to Holiday in the Park at 6 Flags. We really wanted the Wal-Mart gift card for diapers... but beggers can't be choosers. And later on, little did Jason know he'd be part of the entertainment! I only got a quick second on video and he'd kill me if he knew this was posted (not a problem since he doesn't read the blog, hahaha!), but here's a peek.