Round 3.... Christmas was a blast, but we continued the fun into the 26th when a sizeable chunk of my extended family convened at my house. Aunts, uncles, cousins, children, etc made for a fun day. We had a ton of food and everyone had a good time. At least, I assume. Brad and I spent most of the evening in Lawson's room since the little bugger didn't like having company. The revelry got to him (the house was pretty loud) and he started screaming. And screaming. And screaming. I have never heard this child scream so intensely. We eventually got him calmed down and he went to sleep for a while. When he woke up, he was in a considerably better mood and was able to mingle a bit. He was back to his usual sweet self for my cousin's wife's baby shower the next day.

The gang at my house:

It was fun seeing all the family. Despite his spot of crankiness, Lawson got to spend some quality time with old and new faces.

Lawson with my Aunt Nita:

With Nita's husband, Jim:

With Grandpa:

Round 2.... After all the presents were opened, we took advantage of our first ever White Christmas. Yes, the snow was still on the ground! It was so exciting. We dressed Lawson up in his snow suit and hat and took him out to play in the white stuff. He really liked it! He looked a bit like Maggie Simpson in her snow suit, so he was stiff and easy to "walk" through the backyard. He also made his first snow angel (with a little help from Mommy....). Lawson giggled through the whole thing. The final picture is of the Mommy and Baby angels. We had so much fun making memories.

Whew! What a whirlwind week! I might have to do this in a couple of installments...

We had a wonderful first Christmas with our sweet boy. My parents and sister came up to visit, as well as my aunt and uncle from Florida. Uncle Jim spoiled us by taking us out to a very swanky steak house at the Plaza one night - yum! Good wine, good food, good company. Christmas day went very well. Everyone spoiled Lawson like you wouldn't believe...okay, well, maybe you would.... Lawson made out like a bandit and it was so special to have a child for Christmas even if he didn't really know what was going on. He got lots of books and some toys he can play with right now. For some, he'll have to wait a little while. He really loved his toys - we got some great pictures of his little face....

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...... Every year I sing that song wistfully, never expecting it to happen. I think I may get my wish this year. The snow has been coming down in buckets today! The wind is blowing and so the air is just white all over. Mom and I have been baking Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music and watching the snow fall outside the windows. It's not supposed to get above freezing for several days so we'll probably have this snow around for Christmas day. Yippeee! Even if it melts before Tuesday, at least we had a winter wonderland during our ramp-up preparations. How lucky for Lawson that he'll get such a lovely first Christmas!

It's perfect, except for my Dad has to go out in it here very soon to pick up my aunt and uncle from the airport. Not good driving weather, but they seem to be landing planes just fine. This would be better if no one had to be out and about in this!

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. Lawson and I went out for one last big push today. I just have a couple more small things to take care of and I'm finished! The highlight of the day, though, was Lawson's first visit with Santa. He was good and didn't cry, but he does look a little bewildered in his picture. The little bugger grinned as soon as I picked him up off Santa's lap....

Horray for electricity! I stopped by the house Thursday afternoon and was thrilled to discover the power had come back on. Fortunately, the pipes didn't burst and the sump pump kicked on to drain the basement. I had to throw away a lot of food, but I'd rather waste the food/money than have us get food poisoning... Despite the hassle, the ice was really beautiful. I took a couple of pictures, but they just don't do it justice. Each tree branch was coated in ice, which looked cool up close but was even more amazing when you looked at many trees together - so white! The power lines look cool, too.

These trees are in our backyard:

Here's the view from our 2nd story deck, looking out at the ridge at the end of the street. Click on the pic to get a bigger and more detailed view.

Our over-the-range microwave didn't make it through the storm. It got fried and never came back on. I never realized how much I rely on that thing until I didn't have it anymore. Not really what I wanted to spend money on this week, but I can't live without it. Especially not with family coming for Christmas....

Brrr..... Well, the new winter storm turned out to be a b*tch. We lost power Tuesday morning at 7 and it still hasn't come back on! Fortunately, we have amazing friends who took us in after their power returned Tuesday afternoon. They even let us bring our poor kitty cats! They live across the river on the Missouri side - the Kansas side is screwed. They said on the news last night that it could be 7-10 days before they get power to everyone. Oh, and our basement is ankle-deep in water since the sump pump operates on electricity, so that's awesome....

Anyway, just thought I'd let y'all know what's happening here. I'm at the public library so I can get caught up on email and stuff. Despite the crappiness of the situation, it's beautiful outside. The roads are clear so driving isn't an issue, but there's still a lot of ice on power lines and trees. All those ice-covered trees are gorgeous! I took a bunch of pictures and will post them on here when I get my own computer back. I'll be back in touch - please keep us in your thoughts....

Brad's in Virginia again for another staff ride (basically a grown-up field trip - he's showing the Army officers around the Civil War Wilderness battlefield). It's just the kitties, Lawson and me for a long weekend - oh, and thanks to the latest storms, it's too icy for me to go anywhere... So, due to a little boredom, I decided to dress Lawson up and subject him to another round of pictures. I can't help myself - he's just so dang cute!

Susan did this last year and I thought it would be fun to try. Click on the link for some silliness. Merry Christmas from the Winemans!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1231815521

Snow!!!!!!! We had our first snowfall today. I didn't think it would amount to much, but not only did it stick, we got about two inches. Not bad for the first one. My friend, Katie, and her baby came over and we enjoyed a hot bowl of chili sitting by the lit Christmas tree with snow falling just outside the window. What a nice day... After she left, I took Lawson outside for his first exposure to snow. I even managed to capture his oh-so-cute smile on camera for the first time!

Here's a fun video I was able to "create" on the Pampers website. There are four images of Lawson interspersed with other cute babies. Early Christmas wishes!

I think it's officially safe to announce this to the world: Lawson is sleeping through the night! Hooray!!!!! Turns out that night two weeks ago wasn't a fluke. Even in Boston, he slept all night. It was wonderful to be so well-rested around the family - it made the trip much more fun. However, we stayed up pretty late, so "through the night" meant midnight to 7am. Awesome, but we weren't sure what would happen when we came home and started going to bed earlier. Yep, like clockwork - we put him down about 10:30 and he gets up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30. I love having a full night's sleep. I feel like a new woman!!!! We loved our Lawson will all our hearts before this, but we love him even more now that all three of us are getting some rest!

I was just thinking that there are few things in this world more wonderful than waking up (well-rested) to a happy baby who's smiling at his mommy. Lawson is so cute first thing in the morning - he usually smiles, coos, and squeals at me for at least an hour after he gets his breakfast. In those moments, my life is perfect.


Maybe I should follow up that sappy sentimental statement with the harsh reality that was my life last night. I swear it was like the freakin' Keystone Cops around here.... Mind you, ALL of this happened at the same time:

1. Dinner was ready. After weeks of living on frozen and packaged foods that are quick to make, I made a nice, real dinner. Italian Mac&Cheese from Rachel Ray with a nice fresh salad. I really went all-out on this meal...

2. We stupidly took the cone collar off Shadow, thinking he'd be okay. He immediately started chasing the tail and we couldn't corner him to get the collar back on. Guess we need to get the rest of it amputated. Awesome....

3. Lawson totally melted down. I still think it was a delayed reaction to the shots, but who knows? He screamed (and I mean, screamed!!!) for an hour. He normally gets a little fussy in the evenings, but it's not typical for him to throw a fit like that for that long! Nothing we did seemed to help much. We felt so useless. He then got himself so worked up that even though he was tired, he couldn't fall asleep.

The whole thing was almost comical. Lawson eventually went to sleep, the cat calmed down (and is sporting his collar again), and we managed to eat our cold meal just before 9pm. So, maybe that's why I was particularly enchanted by my smiling, happy baby this morning.... He's always like that first thing, but after last night it was a welcome relief!

Lawson had his 2 month appointment today (even though he'll be 10 weeks on Fri). I love his pediatrician, but Lawson doesn't - he screams his head off every time he gets examined! It's so weird. I feel so bad for the doctor! This was a big appointment because he got his first round of vaccinations. He actually did okay with his shots. I got a little teary - it's hard watching your child be in pain. But I've got a tough little guy - he cried a bit, but he got over it and has been chilled out ever since. The doctor has me giving him Tylenol every 4 hours for the next 24 to help with the pain and keep any fever down. Oh - he weighs 12 lbs and is 23 inches long. He's in the 55th percentile for weight and the 75th for height.

Our crazy scheme of taking a 9 week old baby across the country worked! Lawson took his first-ever plane ride to Boston for Thanksgiving and his baptism last week and so far he's showing signs he'll fit right in with Mom and Dad's globe-trotting tendencies. He was a champ on the plane heading out - he loved takeoff and was so good through the whole thing. He was so sweet for pretty much the whole week. Brad's family got to meet him for the first time and he was a hit. My parents and sister came, too, which blended the families for the first time since our wedding (6.5 years ago!). Everyone got along and it was really such a fun week.

His christening went fairly smoothly - he got a little cranky but he found his thumb and happily sucked away for most of the ceremony before passing out. He wore a gorgeous gown my mom made for the occasion. We're hoping it can be passed down through the generations.

Coming home, he was a little cranky - I think that was because he was just so overstimulated from the big trip. He continued his crankiness through yesterday but he seems back on track today with his usual sweet disposition. Here are some pics from Saturday's baptism. He was completely worn out by the whole thing....

Big news!!!! Lawson slept from 11:15-7:30 last night!!!!!! I know it's a total fluke because the longest he's ever gone was 5 hours before - it seems like a huge jump to make. The last two hours of that, he'd wake up, crank a bit and then fall back asleep over and over again. So, I didn't get a full 8 hours of sleep, but I was far better rested this morning than I usually am. Yippee!

This week's trip to Boston will screw up his schedule big time but we're going to have fun and that's more important. I'm hoping we can maintain at least a little structure....

Lawson is such a good shopper! He has endured numerous trips to the shops for me to buy new clothes. I needed an update. My pre-preggo clothes don't quite fit, but I officially look ridiculous in the maternity stuff. I've lost all my preggo weight PLUS an extra 9 pounds (as of two weeks ago at my dr appointment), but my body is still funky and won't go back into my old clothes. I'm glad I've lost the weight, but it's not doing me much good when I have to buy bigger stuff! Grr... At least I found some nice things for our trip to Boston next week.

Speaking of clothes..... After weeks of dressing Lawson up as an Aggie fan, it's time for him to show his VMI Keydet spirit. Rah Virginia Mil! Whole damn team!

Lawson finally likes his bath! After weeks of shrieking through any attempt we made at cleanliness, he has decided baths are okay. I quit using that sling that goes in the baby tub - it keeps him out of the water and he gets cold, which I think was the problem. I started letting him get down into the water more and he loves it. He gets a bath every night now. Such a clean and happy baby!

Sorry for being away for a week - nothing overly momentus happened. But, we just had a weekend for the memory books! My sister, Mary Beth, flew in and got to meet Lawson for the first time. After many weekends of watching Aggie football on tv, we took our first big trip on Saturday to see A&M play at Mizzou (only 2 hours from here). It was quite an adventure! Lawson was a champ! He was SOOOOO good all day and everyone loved our cute little Aggie fan. He even got chatted up by our quarterback's stepmom. It almost made up for the fact that we got totally stomped.....

Another bonus, one of my students from Virginia is a freshman at Mizzou, so I got to see her too. The downside was that we got towed!!!! We knew when we parked it was a little questionable, but we thought it would be okay. Worst case, we might get a ticket, but nope - we got to spend the afternoon unscrewing that situation. Ugh. But the good outweighed the bad and we were all impressed by Lawson's flexibility. Not only was he good all day, but the adventure didn't mess up his nighttime routine nor did it effect his disposition today. What a great kid!

Lawson is 6 weeks old today. Where did the time go? He's getting so big already! While it's fun to see him reach new milestones and get stronger every day, it's sad to think that my newborn isn't so new anymore. :( It's also sad to think that if I had a regular job, I'd be going back to work on Monday. I can't imagine leaving him for long stretches of the day at this point! It seems so soon. I'm so fortunate that Brad has a good job so I can stay home. I am going to start teaching a couple of night classes in January, but at least Brad can watch the baby while I'm out.

Lawson had his first play date yesterday. I've been participating in a message board with September 2007 moms since last January and I met a girl who lives here in town. We had the same due date so it was fun to chat during the pregnancy. Her little boy, Jack, was born 11 days before Lawson and we're excited that they can be playmates. Yesterday we got together for the first time since we became mommies and let the boys hang out. They were SO cute together.