Christmas Morning

Santa found us at Nana and Gramps's house on Christmas morning.  He brought Piper some new pjs and a new monogrammed outfit, some clothes and feeding accessories for her new baby doll, some Little People, a Nerf basketball set, refrigerator letters, and a color-with-water book.  He also left a kitty cat in her stocking along with some Goldfish crackers.  She likes all her "prizes" (surprises) from Santa!

www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

Christmas #1

Piper and Graham started Christmas off right on Christmas Eve by celebrating with Josh's family.  We had great food, fellowship, and fun opening gifts.

Graham meets his great-grandma Mamaw

Snuggles with Tam-Tam

Graham with his cousin Nicole and great-grandfather Pap

Piper gets started opening presents, or "prizes" as she calls them

www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

Missing Pictures

I had tried to upload these photos from my phone but was unsuccessful.  Without further ado, here are Piper's Christmas tree photos!

www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

Christmas Morning

Click to watch Piper find her gifts from Santa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqprfmxsRU4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my iPhone

O Christmas Tree

I was looking through the pictures on my phone today and realized that there was a set I hadn't shared yet.

Just after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas tree (about the only decorating we got around to doing this year). As you can see from the pictures, Piper was very involved in the entire process, from helping Daddy pick out the perfect tree to (literally) throwing as many ornaments on it as possible.

O Christmas Tree

> I was looking through the pictures on my phone today and realized that there was a set I hadn't shared yet.
>
> Just after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas tree (about the only decorating we got around to doing this year). As you can see from the pictures, Piper was very involved in the entire process, from helping Daddy pick out the perfect tree to (literally) throwing as many ornaments on it as possible.
>
> <photo.JPG>
>
>
> <image.jpeg>
>
>
> <image.jpeg>
>
>
> <image.jpeg>
>
>
> <image.jpeg>
>
>
> <image.jpeg>
>
> Sent from my iPhone

Graham's Doctor Visits

The Friday after Graham was born, I took him to the pediatrician for his first doctor's visit.  He weighed in at 6lbs 15oz, maintaining his discharge weight.  The doctor was happy about this as my milk had just come in.  The pediatrician also noted something that my lactation consultant had mentioned in the hospital: Graham appeared to be tongue-tied.  He suggested I give it a few days to see how nursing was going before we did anything about his tongue.  Well, by Monday, I was really hurting.  Graham is a rather voracious nurser, so he was able to get what he needed without the proper use of his tongue.  I, however, was in bad shape: blisters, bleeding, and lots of pain.  So Josh and I made the decision to have Graham's frenulum (the piece of tissue that connects the tongue to the bottom of the mouth) clipped.

The procedure required no preparation and took only a few seconds.  We were able to nurse immediately, and I could already tell a difference with how Graham could use his tongue.  The problem was solved (although not quite quick enough as I ended up getting mastitis from my injuries).  And on that Monday, one week after his birth, Graham weighed 7lbs 4oz--just an ounce shy of his birth weight.  This was HUGE as the major stress with Piper those first few weeks was that she was not gaining weight and didn't reach her birth weight for FOUR weeks.

Yesterday we went for Graham's two-week check, and he now weighs 8 pounds and has grown half an inch!  I am so thankful that he is a good nurser; I prayed and prayed for this!


www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

First Bath

Josh gave Graham his first real bath tonight. He wasn't too sure about it at first, but he quickly calmed down and seemed to enjoy it. The only time he cried was when we took him out of the tub!

22

What an eventful month we've had!  From having the stomach virus to becoming a big sister, Piper has experienced quite a bit in the last 30-odd days. 

She continues to be a wonderful big sister to Graham.  Upon waking in the morning and again after nap, Piper immediately asks for "Baby?".  She loves to kiss him (as evidenced by all the pictures I have already included) and will do so without ever being prompted.  She also likes to wave to him and say (sometimes VERY loudly, might I add), "Hi, baby!" over and over.  She has not shown any inkling of jealousy. 

First busted lip
She was being a stinker and trying to run away from me while I was taking off her coat, and she tripped over her own feet and landed flat on her face on the kitchen floor.

 The other major development this month has been her speech.  She will now repeat 99% of what we say, so she's learning new words all the time (and Mommy and Daddy are having to watch what we say!).   She's very proud of herself when she learns new words, and her little face lights up when she repeats them for us.

Loving her "side-ee"

She's a little obsessed with actual jingle bells and the song "Jingle Bells".  Anytime she hears either the song or any Christmas song with bells in it, she gets very excited and yells, "JINGLE!"  Ally wears a jingle bell collar during the Christmas season, and Piper loves it.  She'll say, "That's the goggie jingle."  And one of her favorite things to do is to watch a short video on YouTube that's a compilation of various animals 'singing' Jingle Bells.  She loves the "jingle cats."

Captain Piper

One other big development this month has been her interest in letters.  Currently her favorite is the letter "E", but "H" is not far behind.  She likes for us to tell her the names of the letters when she sees them.

She's still having tantrums now and again, but we can handle those when all these other great things are going on, too!


www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

Visiting Santa

Yesterday we took Piper and Graham to the Opryland Hotel to see all their decorations and sit on Santa's lap. I really wanted this to become a tradition for us. The hotel goes all out with lights, nativities, and even special exhibits just for children. I dressed the children in coordinating outfits, and we set out on our way.

If you are familiar with the hotel, you know that it is full of plants and little rivers that wind around the floor. I'm not sure if the decorations were just too over-the-top and overwhelming to Piper, or if she still really likes fish as much as she did a few months ago. Either way, she would have nothing to do with Santa or any of the Christmas decorations (even the huge Christmas tree). All she cared about was the fountains and the fish.

Here is our "picture with Santa" for this year. We waited in line to see him, settled Graham in one of Santa's arms, and tried to put Piper in the other. She wouldn't have it. We were worried that she would kick the baby (she was flailing pretty hard), so we didn't even get the classic crying shot that so many of my friends have with their children this year.

To document that we really tried, we took a picture outside Santa's setup.
Maybe next year she'll sit with him (although then Graham probably won't want to)!

Christmas clothes

It's no secret that I love to buy clothes for Piper.  I'm fairly picky about what she wears all the time, but there's definitely not a shortage of cute girls' clothes.  Now  boys, on the other hand, are hard to dress.  It's a good thing I had several months to plan out the first year or so of Graham's wardrobe! 

I especially like buying seasonal and holiday clothes.  There's just something about dressing for the holidays that make them so much more special.  I've been trying to take pictures of the kids in their Christmas outfits each day.  Some pictures turn out better than others :-).

The photo shoot always starts with a somewhat-decent photo that has at least one major flaw (lighting, in this case).  In the time it takes to fix the problem, the moment has usually passed. 

The only problem with Piper kissing Graham all the time is that it doesn't photograph well.

Let the squirming begin.

Clearly over this and about to make a run for it.

 We were a little more successful with these pictures from last night.  It probably has something to do with the fact that Nana was literally jumping up and down behind me to get Piper to smile.

What wonderful Christmas blessings we've been given!


www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

Ok...could he be any cuter?!?!

Today was Piper's little preschool Christmas program.  Her class shook little jingle bells while the song played.  Well, I should say that her class was SUPPOSED to shake jingle bells while the song played--only kid actually did it.  Piper gave her bells one or two shakes, but that was it.  She seemed to be intrigued with the concept of standing up in front of people to perform.  She had the funniest look on her face the whole time, like "Why are all you people staring at me?". 

The kids in her class were supposed to wear red or green, and everyone ended up wearing red. Piper's great-grandmother Sandra (aka Mamaw) made her little red dress.

Sorry that the pictures are blurry.  Neither Josh nor I is one of those annoying parents who has to be at the very front of the auditorium while our child "performs."  I guess that means we should invest in a better camera :-).

Graham slept through most of the performances.  Thankfully Nana was able to take him out when he got a little fussy so that Josh and I could enjoy the show.

All in all, it was a fun experience!  We are lucky to have Piper in a church-based preschool where she has been learning all about the nativity and baby Jesus this holiday season. 


www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

What a difference a week makes!

www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

Little Santas

Pure sweetness

*Special thanks to my friend Amanda for making these shirts.


www.herringfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com

Two of a kind!

He DOES have eyes!