Christmas & Santa

The verdict is still out on how much Santa will be a part of Knox's childhood.  I never believed in Santa and Kyle did- so we have a house divided.  But, I am not opposed to the idea of Santa and am willing to play along for the sake of the child :)

Today, I took Knox to see his first Santa.  It would be a lie if I said that I did this for him, I did not.  I was pretty certain how it would go, but I figured there was no harm in trying to get a Santa photo for histories sake.  Knox may not agree one day when he looks back at this photo.  Part of me laughs when I see it and part of me cringes because poor guy was seriously sad.

It almost seems like child abuse, but I promise that he only sat there for about 10 seconds and immediately stopped crying when I picked him up.  I tried to do some Christmas shopping after this but I think Knox was still ticked at me and he refused to cooperate.  However, some very nice person stopped and asked if I wanted a picture with Knox since I was taking pictures of him. So thoughtful and I was excited to get a picture of the two of us! We don't have too many of these...

Here's to hoping next year's visit will go better!!

-Stacie

Christmas Traditions

Once you have a child, I think you really start thinking about what traditions you'll have in your own family.   I have mine from growing up and Kyle has his, but now we definitely need "ours" to give to Knox.  We have some- we always open our stockings and gifts together (just the two of us) before we fly out to Spokane. We also make our "christmas nachos" and watch Jim Carrey's "The Grinch". We also read a daily advent book together each night in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  So, this year we have started a new tradition.  Heading down to 37th street to look at the lights.  We stopped by last year, while Knox thankfully slept in the back.  But this year, we got Knox all ready in his PJs with his bedtime milk and walked around and looked at all the lights as a family.  It was sweet (and also kind of weird- there was a stuffed animal petting zoo- SO Austin...) and one of the many traditions that I am sure we will have as a family.

-Stacie

Photoshoot with the McClures

Thanks to our friends the McClure's for letting me take their pictures!  As always it was really fun to get the chance to try and capture a family moment.  Their two sweet kiddos did great and didn't mind having their pictures taken at all! We have known Mike & Michelle since we lived in Virginia, so they are long-time friends of ours.  After the mini-photoshoot we got to catch up, watch the kiddos play (or in Knox's case- destroy) and enjoy some "adult" time after all the little ones went to bed.  It was a great evening!

-Stacie

He's a sneaky little bugger...

Knox figured out how to open the freezer door.  He also figured out how to get the frozen chocolate out of the wrapper...

We should probably buy stock in child safety products because we now own a refrigerator lock, dishwasher lock, oven lock and toilet seat lock. All I have to say is thank goodness he's cute :) 

Head Scratcher

Photography thoughts and a photoshoot

For awhile now I have been working on my photography.  As I shared in an earlier post, I took photography for a few years in high school and absolutely LOVED it.  But then I went off to college and got on with my life and didn't really give it much thought.  I spent most of my 20's trying to decide what type of "career" I wouldn't hate and never did manage to figure that one.  But thankfully, the Lord blessed us with our sweet Knox and I was able to stay home and take care of him.  Since then, I have started to work on my photography again and have been pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy it and the positive response I have received from others.  My ultimate goal would be to someday become a professional photography. I am not really sure how to reach that goal but one thing I do know that I need is lots and lots of practice! So, I am taking another class at ACC this semester and have been getting lots of opportunities to take pictures of friends.  Many thanks to the Lee family for letting me take their pictures last week.  It isn't even remotely difficult to get good pics of such a beautiful family! Here are some of my favorites:

What a doll baby

This little lady can work the camera

See what I mean, just gorgeous!

-Stacie 

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday in my family growing up and (except for last year when Knox was too small to travel and the year Kyle & I were in Edinburgh) I have never missed a Thanksgiving with my family.

Knox & I headed out early to Virginia to get some quality time in before the holiday.  It was so nice to get to see all of family and I got to spend lots of time with both of my brothers so that was awesome too!  The first weekend we were in town, we took Knox to one of my favorite childhood places in Richmond- 'Maymont Park'.  The park has a petting zoo and lots of walking trails.  I have many fond memories of visiting here as a child and was excited to get to take Knox.

I was excited to see some changing leaves!

Knoxie & Me

My parents & Grandmother with Knox

Knox loved the goats!

It is so nice to have Grandma there to watch out for Knox!  He is a busy little bee.

Just lovin life!

One day while I was in town, I had to take my dad to his doctor's appointment.  So, my mom enlisted her good friend Amy to come over and babysit.  I was a little nervous, because Knox is going through a "stranger danger" phase, but he LOVED her! It was like they were long lost buds! 

Knox & his buddy Amy

Knox was the center of attention from all of his family that doesn't get to see him all that often. Unfortunately, he is in the "stranger danger" phase that I mentioned, so when people tried to pick him up he usually melted into tears. But I did learn that if you gave him something to play with he forgot that he was upset.  So that worked like a charm and my brother and grandparents were all able to hold him. Phew!

Knox & Jonathan 

Cookie decorating party

If you keep up with our blog, you will know that we are the proud owners of not one, but two "vintage" volkswagens.  A beetle and a camper bus.  So, my very thoughtful sister-in-law found cookie cutters in the shape of a beetle and a camper bus for Kyle.  She made the cookies and we all decorated them together as a surprise for him before he arrived on Monday night.  

The finished products- not too shabby!

Aside from our trip to Maymont, we mostly hung out at the house and just enjoyed being with family.  It was a relaxing week and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Knox lounging with my parent's dog Maggie

Knox with his Great-Grandma Charlotte

Knox got to try his first Thanksgiving dinner.  He was fairly okay with the sweet potato casserole (mostly the marshmallows, I think) and the mashed potatoes. The stuffing and turkey were a no go.  However, the real show-stopper was the jello salad.  Knox discovered that there in not much better in his world than jello salad.  To each his own, I guess. 

Knox & Dad swinging in the yard

He loves being tossed in the air- the higher the better

We had a great time and were sad to leave.  Now that we are back, I can't believe that it is already time for Christmas stuff!  We'll be heading off to Spokane before we know it!  

-Stacie 

Knox's Birthday Bash

To celebrate our little man turning one, we had a small birthday party at the house with friends and Knox's Nana (Kyle's mom Sally flew in from Spokane).  It was really fun to have people over who also love Knox and celebrate that he is already a year old! We did a cookies and milk theme and it turned out really well! Knox had his first cookie (which he loved) and his first piece of cake (which he did not love).  You win some you lose some!  Overall it was a success! Although we both decided that when he turns 2 we're just going to invite a bunch of kids to the park and buy cupcakes- that will be much easier! But your first birthday is special and we wanted to do something special for Knox.  

the b'day wreath I made- thank you Pinterest!

the kiddie table

the party favors

Knox's first cake- not a big hit...

family shot

is this all mine? what is it??

I will just have this cookie- thanks...

Knox LOVED the ballons!

Just so you know- this video is long and fairly uneventful so unless you are family, you may want to skip it. Just warning you!

It has been a fun b'day week, but I am glad it's over and we can get on with normal life.  This week Knox & I head out to Virginia to spend some time with my family before Thanksgiving.  We're very excited!

-Stacie

A photo shoot with the Assuntos...

Last weekend I had the privilege of getting to take some family photos for our good friends Ryan & Allison and their sweet daughter Blythe.  I am always excited for the opportunity to take pictures of those who are willing to volunteer!  It took some coaxing and corralling of Blythe, but in the end we got some good ones of everyone.  I can't lie though, it is easy to get good pictures of such a beautiful family!