O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

It's December!  Let's just say I am excited about that!  I love this time of year!  Plus with the addition of Pinterest in my life, I am really enjoying implementing some of my pinned decorating ideas/crafts and recipes. :-)

Anyways, we kicked off the Christmas season by heading up to Maggie Valley yesterday to pick out our Christmas tree! This is our third year going to Boyd Mountain Farm to get our tree.  I LOVE doing this each year. Artificial trees were the standard in the Mayfield house growing up, and while Kenny's family always got a real frasier fir each year, they never went and actually had it cut down. 

It was extra special this year because of Tripp.  We knew last year that we were pregnant with Tripp and I remember talking about how next year he would be with us.   He was the size of a bean last year and now is a whopping 15lbs! It is completely mind blowing how much babies grow.

Checking out what the tree felt like.

Really studying this thing. 

Our tree

First of many awkward Santa pictures

Happy boy!



Really Happy!



We are partial...but such a cutie!

We all woke up with colds this AM, so we have spent the day in our pjs, watched TV, and decorated the house some more.  Hope everyone has a great week!

Very Thankful

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this past week with their friends and family.  We certainly had plenty to be thankful for this year.  God has so richly blessed us, and we continue to be blown away by his love for us.  Tripp is an answer to prayer and we cannot imagine our lives without him. 

We spent the holiday up in Shelby with family.  It was the first time that my oldest brother Craig and his family were able to meet Tripp.  It was so sweet to see the cousin's interact with him. They fed him bottles, played peek-a-boo, made sure he had his paci, drug him around in his play seat.  You name it, they probably did it.  Tripp definitely did not miss out on any play time. It was great. 

We also got to introduce Tripp to some of our friends from medical school.  It was so sad to realize that a year and half had gone by since we had been able to see our friends Chase and Kelly.  Even with them only two hours away, residency schedule keep everyone busy and the time has just flown by.  We were excited to learn that they were going to be in Shelby for the holiday, so we brought Tripp over to meet them, watch the Blindside (great movie), and catch up.  Wish that we still lived in the same city!

First time in a high chair.

Yum!

Family shot.

Sweet Arden feeding the 'baby'

Chase helping us make Tripp laugh.

Papaw and BG with the grandkids.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Proof that our child DOES have melt downs.

We wrapped up the weekend with some football. I think that is all that needs to be said, considering the outcome was not good for either of our teams. It was an ugly weekend for the ACC. The upside of the day was that it was our first time leaving Tripp with a sitter. By sitter I mean grandparents. It was great. We sure did miss the little guy, but it was nice to enjoy some beers and hang out just the two of us + 80,000 friends.

4 months

We are a few weeks past four months, but Trippy Skippy had his four month check up yesterday, and I was holding out on posting until I had all of his stats.

He had his second round of shots.  They went about as well as you would expect.  He screamed in agony.  Oh how his "hurt" cry breaks my heart.  :-( Really, all of his cries do.  I tolerate the other ones rather well.  I can even ignore them if need be.  This cry, the cry of pain, KILLS me. I can't help but cry myself as his sweet little face looks up at me with tears streaming down his face.  It is horrible, but it is necessary. 

There isn't any question where Kenny and I fall on the vaccine issue. We both feel very strongly about their importance. While I hate seeing Tripp cry out in pain, the vaccines he is receiving are so much more important and vital to his health. So I get over myself and do what I/we feel is best for him.

Tylenol and liquid gold did the trick to calm him down and he was happy as a clam the rest of the day.  So glad the pain is short lived.

Here are the stats!

Weighing in at 15 lbs .04 ounces  (just above the 25th percentile for boys)
Height 25 & 3/4 inches (just about the 75th percentile!  Oh yeah.)  He may not look like me, but I can at least claim the height comes from the Mayfield side.
Head circumference: 16 inches (25th percentile)

Other Milestones:

He has discovered his feet and boy parts, and he enjoys grabbing both of them. Typical boy.
Laughing and Babbling are continuing to increase.
Rolling from front to back
Supported Sitter!

Hope everyone has a happy Friday!

Here is our little ham.

First Snow!

This past weekend we headed up to Clingman's Dome and Newfound Gap to play in the snow with Tripp for the first time. We had fun and Tripp slept 90% of the time.  It was really windy up at Clingman's Dome, so we were really glad that Tripp had a snowsuit to wear.  The wind took his breath away when we pulled him out of the car. Once he was snuggled in his baby carrier he passed out and slept the entire hike. 

Here are some pictures from the day.

I love where we live!

Hanging out with Amanda.

First time laying in the snow!

A brave Amanda at the top of Clingman's Dome

The boys on the trail.

Enjoying the view.

Ole'

In case you haven't seen this gem on Facebook, here is our little guy enjoying his first wedding. :-)

Our little Mexican Burrito!

We may have had too much fun with him while he was sleeping.

And for the new moms out there......the velcro swaddle from HALO is the best thing ever.  If I had to pick one baby necessity this would be it.

Fine, diapers might be the best, but after that it is this swaddle.  I don't think we would survive without it.  He doesn't love being put into it, but once he is snug as a bug he is out! Highly recommend it. :-)

Happy Halloween!

Sorry I am getting this post up a week late!

I love this time of year.  Crisp air, fall leaves, hot coffee, football...the list goes on and on. It is the start to a season full of parties and good times with family and friends.

It is definitely a busy time of year, but we love it! 

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!  We really enjoyed having a little one to dress up and take silly pictures of this year!

Here are some picture highlights of our little pumpkin and lobster.

The Pumpkin Patch

My parents stopped by for a quick visit on their way back home from Atlanta.  We decided to head over to the pumpkin patch at Denver Downs Farm.

Last year Kenny and I went to their corn maze and had a good time even though the corn was only up to our ankles. We knew that we would want to come back this year, and I am so glad that we did.   This year the corn was well over our heads and were plenty of other activities to do.  Hay rides, bale races, feeding farm animals, zip lines and of course the pumpkin patch were just a few of the activities. I am so thankful to live in an area where we can go to actual farms to pick apples, pumpkins, and Christmas trees.  I love that we are establishing these family traditions!



A little under age driving

Not so sure about the farm animals...

Trying out the corn kernels

Not too sure



 This feels pretty cool!

Picking our pumpkins right off the vine!

Picking out our 4th pumpkin....we really like this time of year.

Aw come on Tripp, look up!

There we go.

Getting some quality time with BG and Papaw

Not a fan of the flower.

Love that sweet face!

We had a great time with BG and Papaw!  We love this time of year, and hope that everyone is having a great Fall!