Thursday, December 2, 2010

Meeting Santa and posing for the Christmas Card picture!

On November 20th, Dallas met Santa for the first time!!

Dallas got dressed up (with help from mama and daddy) in his new Christmas pants, which were part of his full Christmas outfit, purchased by Grandma (thanks!!) and we headed out.

We went to our local mall here in Appleton and thought we would be waiting in line forever once we saw the parking lot since this was the first day Santa was appearing and we got there right as he was getting back from a break
.
Alyssa dropped Michael off at the door to check how long the wait was and much to our surprise, it wasn't long at all and since they only allow 2-3 minutes per person, we figured it would move pretty quick.

So we went in. 

As we were waiting in line, Alyssa started to worry about a couple things (thanks to her OCD!)  She was worried that you would have to decide right there on the spot if you would be purchasing any pictures, she thought Dallas would be scared of Santa, she thought the pictures wouldn't turn out, she worried the Little Man's outfit would clash with Santa's outfit (okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea)
She sucked it up and continued to wait to see what Santa and his Elves had in store for us!

We approached Santa and thankfully Dallas wasn't scared at all.  In fact he smiled at the big guy, sat nicely on his lap, and looked right at the camera!  Say Cheese!

We DID in fact have to decide right away if we would buy any pictures because they can't move on to the next family until you complete a purchase or decide to pass...needless to say we didn't buy any, since we were able to take our own and at 20 bucks a pop for a 5x7, we figured we'd skip it!

Here are the couple we got with our own camera:

(I know what you're thinking, Michael looks THRILLED to be doing this..he loves cheesy family activities!)




Then, the next day (November 21st, if you weren't paying attention above) we dressed Dallas up in yet another handsome outfit to take our own pictures for the Christmas card!  Why not use a Santa picture?  Well Alyssa made sure to tell Michael that we needed a "horizontal" picture for the card and then as she took the pictures with Santa and Dallas, forgot (in true Alyssa forgetful fashion) and took them the opposite way!!  Oops, oh well, you all know how I love my photo shoots by now, so what's adding one more to the list?? No biggie!

So, here are some of the pictures we snapped in the comfort of our home, with Dallas sitting next to his very own tree, which we have in his room.  And a couple with the doggies:)

Posing...or falling over, whichever you like better!

"Here, do you want me to sit like this?"

"How about if I put my hand up, like I'm saying "call me"!"

A few with the Santa hat on, also courtesy of Grandma:)


Breath in, now, hold your breath for the camera...baby Yoga!

"What up, Dog(s)?"

This is a pretty good one, everyone is looking, very serious, but looking


"I've got my toes, and some dogs!"

"Hey, what the....who put this tree next to me??"

Silly faces!!

Don't worry, we are keeping the picture we actually used for the card a secret.
You'll see that when you get your card in the mail in a few weeks!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I hope you like pictures, because here is month #4 in pictures!

(As much as you love them, my witty comments sadly end with the title of this post because I'm really trying to get the blog updated as I have lots of other projects on the list with the holidays here!)

September 24th: another day at Grandma's house, time for some cute family photos!


September 25th: a trip to the pumpkin farm (early in the year because Michael would be gone traveling for work for the next couple weeks)

September 29th: Dallas gets to try on his Halloween costume for the first time (again, early, but this way Michael could see him in it before anyone else)
(The dogs didn't really want to cooperate)

October 5th: Grandpa (or Poppy as we sometimes call him) visits Appleton during the day and has time for lunch with Dallas!


October 9th: Little Jonny has a football game, and mama has another photo op!

October 14th: 5 months old!!!


October 19th: The first time trying out a sippy cup...we didn't start using them regularly yet, just wanted to give it a go, Dallas did pretty well.

October 20th: A little pajama play time with Cousin Ella while her mama and daddy buy some new cars!
 

October 31st: "Dallas's First Halloween", spent shopping at the mall with Grandma, Auntie Katie, and Cousin Ella? That's an interesting time for shopping!!
(Sorry no pictures for this event!)
November 2nd: Dallas's first time trying cereal, yummy!!

November 6th: LSU gear for the first time, mama is surprised that daddy let Dallas wear this, but when the kid looks cute in anything, how can you say no??? (Thanks Auntie Erin in Louisiana for the great outfit!)
Notice the game on TV that he is straining his neck to watch!!
 (Had to include this one, who doesn't love a little baby skin??)
Geaux Tigers!!!

Monday, November 29, 2010

This week's highlights for our little man....

Watching TV with Daddy and tasting the remote! (on September 12th, 2010)

And exploring a new toy that mama waited and waited to get (on September 17th, 2010)


Trying to find his mouth....

Almost there...(it ended up in there eventually, and trust me, that remote gets sanitized often
just like the rest of the toys!)

Now, for the other exciting event...mama was probably more excited than Dallas:)

I saw this toy in Parents Magazine and thought it looked pretty cool.  I proceeded to call the website they were advertising the toy from and they were sold out and had a waiting list to get one shipped to you.  I tried toysrus.com and sadly saw the phrase "out of stock", sad baby mama. So, I decided to look on Amazon.com and low and behold, they had some available for shipping right away!! 
You better believe I had it ordered that very day. 

Why so adamant to get the toy, you may ask?  I just thought in Wisconsin playing with water only happens in the bath tub and outside, well for about 3 months anyway...see this post  about how we can't even swim at the local pool in the end of August!!

The toy also promotes tummy time, which we know strengthens the neck muscles!!

Can't you see the excitement in his face already??

Checking out the little boat floating in the water...

Posing for a picture

And another...I believe there is a picture very similar to this one of me (Alyssa) as a baby somewhere
and if I find it, I'll share it with you!

Gabbana checking out the toy or (licking Dallas's hand, whichever doesn't
gross you out if you aren't a dog lover)

Taking a break to get a kiss from Gabbana (if you are one of those non-dog-lovers, close your eyes!!)

I think he likes it


Now for a couple more pictures because this is one of mama's favorite outfits
and because he's maybe the cutest kid you've ever seen.... 
If you switch back and forth between these two, it might look like he's dancing!!


Finishing our photo shoot off with some baby toes, because who doesn't LOVE those???