SANTA CAME

6:30am: SANTA CLAUSE CAME!Santa got Shelby a Little Tikes climb n slide. Gently used...gotta love Craigslist.Mommy & Daddy got Shelby some new books and new DVD's. Ratatouille and The Little Mermaid. Little Mermaid is his best buddy's Pierce's fav...thanks for the recommendation! Yeah...lookin' hot there, Ma. We all stayed in our pj's ALL DAY and mom refused all makeup, fixed hair and contacts....exactly what I asked Santa for....a day to do nothing! (Except keep everyone updated via the blog.)

Thanks to everyone for all the thoughtful gifts and well wishes! Lots of love from Cali.

The Grammy & Grandpa Tree

Grammy and Grandpa's shopping while here for Thanksgiving made a very fruitful Christmas tree. Shelby loved everything!!!! THANK YOU!
While out here Grammy & Granpda bought Mommy & Daddy gifts too. Stacy took his dad to the Woodworker's shop. Elaine took me shoe shopping! Desperately needed. No more work shoes with holes!
And Shelby's list begins:
Tools and safety glasses so he can help Daddy in the wood shop.

Cookie Monster leggos! Shelby is the cutest when he makes his voice change to sound like Cookie Monster's.

And ELMO! Thomas the Train!

But Shelby's favorite present of them all was his "Bicycle!"

Thank you soooooooooo much, Grammy & Grandpa.

Wrapped in Warmth

Nonna and Grandad sent beautifully wrapped gifts for our tree. We all got money, and Shelby also got this adorable puppy dog hooded towel with the sweetest note about wrapping him in warm "hugs" from Nonna & Granddad. Mommy and Daddy also got a beautiful wreath Nonna made. It's currently a festive table center piece. But, we're hoping next year Daddy will have made a gorgeous fireplace mantle for its display. :->

"I'm Rich!"

Christmas Eve we opened gifts from G-G-Daddy. Everyone got money. Shelby also got a digital money machine that counts his coins for him. He had a blast! We taught him to say, "I'm Rich!" Note: Please excuse the outfit. He spilled something on his jeans, so the camo comfy pants made their debux.

THANK YOU, G-G-Daddy!

Gifts from PaPa and Zsa-Zsa

PaPa and Zsa-Zsa sent Christmas gifts, and gave permission for us to dig in early.

Shelby loved his coloring set, cookies and bath paint.

Mommy especially loved that the markers to the set only color on the intended paper! Good call, Zsa-Zsa!

His favorite was the bath paint! Yes, the pic below is really him busting out with this pose! He's out of control. I don't even know who showed him this one.
What do you mean "all done?" I'm gonna get it!Stacy got an ADORABLE coffee mug with a picture of an English bulldog that looks like Tesa's Louise. All the grandkids got a mug that fit their personalities. Stacy's said, "Start every day with a smile and get it over with." Perfect for this household entirely! We're all morning people here, and Shelby is the best of us all! I try to say out loud each day the things I'm grateful for and almost every day I smile, recalling what a good mood my little man is in when he awakes. Starts my day off right every time!

And we're avid coffee drinkers. Shelby tries to wake us up in the morning. He says, "Get up." "Mommy, glasses." (knowing I'm not going anywhere without 'em) Then, Abby hears, "Abby, go potty." And we all get, "Coffee! And Shelby milk."

I got the best gift of all. A showcase of some of Zsa-Zsa's talent! She wrote a book called, "Women of Valor" and it's currently selling in San Angelo book stores, including Hastings! Some have sold on ebay as well. It's about the great WOMEN founders of San Angelo, TX. She even got an article about it in the San Angelo paper. My only disappointment in the gift: it wasn't autographed and Zsa-Zsa doesn't talk about herself and all of the amazing steps she took to further the advancement of women in society. Even the author of the article commented how she left herself out!

Zsa-Zsa....we expect a 2nd edition next year!

Thanks PaPa and Zsa-Zsa for the great gifts!

School Bus!

Shelby loves his School Bus from Uncle D, Aunt Sharla, Cousin Saige & Cousin Daxton! Every day for a week, we get "School Bus!" He's even convinced Mommy, Daddy and Abby to be in there with him all at once! Later, he enjoyed our neighbors, Chaila and Aaron playing with him.

Watching Daddy squeeze in and out of the little door is pretty funny! What power such a little guy has to move "mountains".

Money doesn't grow on trees

Shelby is at that age where he's starting to want things he sees in the store. So, we decided it was time to get his first job. He applied at CAJ Photography and has been doing a great job of helping with the models and ensuring they're comfortable.

A popcorn break.

"You look parched, Kalyna. Care for some refreshing apple juice?"

He even helps with the poses.
"No, no, girl. You've got it all wrong. A pouty face. Like this, watch!"

Santa Clause

Shelby was not feelin' the Santa vibe this year. He was all about the jolly man....until it was up close. We decided the screaming, crying photo with Santa has to be some sort of rite of passage. Or is it "right" of passage. Who knows.Can you believe the difference one year makes in Shelby's growth...and Santa's hair style?

Speaking of look alikes!

Speaking of look alikes, Little Stacy "Trace" looks JUST like his Daddy, Shae! We can't wait to meet this precious little boy!!!!

Nonna's Saige

It continues to amaze me how much my niece looks like my Mom! Nonny made Saige a treasured gift: a dress made out of the same patter she one used for Mom's dresses! I remember Brandi and I having dresses like this one as well. Sharla took some ADORABLE pics of Saige, but this one really caught my eye as my mother.
Saige, you will grow to be a BEAUTIFUL woman, like your Nonna!

Daddy's Birthday!

Stacy celebrated his 29th birthday on Tuesday, December 16th. He got lots of cards, gifts and celebratory wishes from family and friends. Since it was the night of Shelby's Christmas program, that dominated the night. But we were able to open gifts and take him to his choice of Cattleman's steak house for dinner. Sorry, this pic was taken with my cell phone.

Shelby and I got Daddy lots of kitchen items he wanted: a citrus juicer (we have a lemon tree), a 3-tier cookie drying rack (he was recently complaining about not having this), a fancy new can opener, cool new potatoe scrub brush and peeler that fit on your finger and you palm with your hand for use, measuring cup for ounces, new coobook and sour patch kids and other items I can't remember.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STACY!

Shelby's Christmas Program

Here is the video from Shelby' Christmas program last night. He is the one in the red sweater dancing. That is until he see's Mommy in the audience with the camera and it's all over...

We also wanted to share his class photo for this year.

Mommy's a Pirate

Saturday morning proved to be eventful. At about 10am Shelby and I had a moment that ended up with the next few hours at urgent care. I was getting us bundled up for a walk in the wagon he got from Grammy & Grandpa. I had a piece of paper and a pen to jott down ideas for photos as I walked. When I reached for my scarf with Shelby in my arms, he reached down and grabbed the pen from my hand. He wripped off the lid and lifted the pen in the air. When I turned towards him, he knew I'd take the pen away, so with a swift jerk in defiance, the pen managed to poke me directly in the eyeball. I didn't know blood could literally drip down your face from your eye! I carefully set Shelby down and then started yelling to Stacy while covering my eye. I yelled, "I'm not going to panic....I'm not going to panic..." with fear and panic rising up and betraying my efforts. Luckily it was my left eye, and I could continue with my photo shoot that afternoon.

When I got out, I kept telling him, Mommy's a pirate, "Arrrr, matie" so he wouldn't be freaked out by the craziness they used to protect my eye.

This is Saturday afternoon:

Here it is looking worse on Sunday night. Basically like a bruise that looks worse before it looks better. I know this is gross, but also fascinating. You can't tell from the pic, but the whitish-yellow dab amongst the red is actually a torn up layer of eye. Like a piece of skin that flaps back when cut. Weird!
I have to find an eye dr tomorrow and go get it checked out.

CAJ Photography Unveiled!

Okay, I've been so nervous to "go-live" but the train has left the station.
CAJ Photography (sounds like "cage") is full swing.
My motto is "Locking in the moment"
Check out the site and let me know what you think.
www.cajphotography.blogspot.com
I'll put a link, too.

Thanks to Cantrell for helping with the name!

SANTA

Stacy's former co-worker, Nancy, from Hanover had us over for dinner last weekend. Shelby got to meet Santa who just happened to live next door! What luck! He wasn't too sure he was into Mr. Clause, so no solo pics this year. However, he LOVED the lights! He kept wanting to touch a lit up polar bear until Mom jokingly told him it would bite his hand off. Nancy and I laughed so hard I had tears! He immediately had a look of terror on his face and almost backed himself into the street. Later, John (Nancy's husband) came back from taking him back down to look at the lights and said he liked everything but the polar bears. LOL! I know, I know...horrible Mommy. Guess Santa's not bringing me anything this year.
Nancy & John

Chuck E Cheese!

Last weekend we took Shelby for his first trip to Chuck E Cheese. He had a blast! We rode all the rides, Mommy had to go in the slide tunnels with him (embarassingly enough I got lost and every part went to a dead end and for the first time I can ever remember, I felt clausterphobic) and Daddy hit high score on the Quarterback Football Throw. We used our tickets to get 2 small frogs and a spider. Shelby still is enjoying them.

Go, Daddy!

Family Photo Shoot!

A few weekends ago, the guys humored me and went out for a famiy shoot. We had a lot of fun. Look at my handsome men!