Merry Christmas!!

Merry Merry Christmas to YOU! The Stacy family hopes you have a wonderful Christmas!!

our 2012 Christmas card

sweet little boy on the back of it!!

it's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!!

My FAVORITE time of the year is upon us...CHRISTMAS!! This year is going to be especially fun for us because Stafford is so alert, into everything AND is amazed by the lights, trees, etc.  It is so much fun to experience this with him and to see Christmas through his eyes.  He is literally in awe of it all.  We've been reading Christmas books at night, wearing our Christmas pj's, listening to Christmas music, visiting Santa and trying to keep Stafford from "redecorating" the tree every evening!  We know that he will be less interested in opening gifts as he will be with ripping up the paper and playing with boxes...he's already had a head start on opening a few gifts already under our tree! Sorry Memama...those were yours he got a-hold of!! See below for a few pics for our Christmasy outings:

Santa says Stafford has been VERY good this year!!

first candy cane and loving it

a little Christmas shoe shopping

Canton's City of Lights

hanging out under the mistletoe

Firsts...

These past two weeks have given Stafford several firsts: first trip to Chuck E. Cheese and his very first Christmas tree!  Reed and I thought it would be fun to take Stafford to Chuck E. last week...well, we thought wrong! I think it was a combination of the lights and the noise, mixed with not feeling too well because Stafford was NOT their biggest fan.  At all.  He rode two rides...hated them! We ordered him chicken nuggets and fries, hated them...in fact, he threw up in my hands (TMI?!!) at the table.  YIKES! Needless to say, it will be a little while before we go back there again!!

One thing he does LOVE LOVE LOVE is his very own Christmas tree!  I decided to go with a simple, white tree and put blue ornaments on it.  I found the tree at Wal-Mart ($25!!) along with the ornaments.  I was thrilled to find everything so inexpensively, especially since I wasn't too sure how well this tree would hold up! Surprisingly, Stafford has left it alone except for the occasional swipe at the ornaments...he likes to watch them swing back and forth.

not 100% sure about this ride

no hands!!

curious curious

Oxford & An Egg

As all Ole Miss (and State) fans know, Thanksgiving and the Egg Bowl go hand-in-hand.  This year, the Rebs had the hosting duties; so, it was onwards to Oxford for the big game! Since we had grown accustomed to the abnormally warm weather, this game was downright C-O-L-D! Actually, it probably wasn't that cold but it was cold by my standards.  The Stacy fam got into town early on Friday, left Stafford with Honey & Papa and had dinner at 208 with Katie and William.  It was such a nice treat to have a date night in Oxford...we love 208 AND the McDaniels!  Thanks Honey and Papa for babysitting for us!!

Saturday was sunny, breezy and cold so I took Stafford and Ryan their own little tent to play in.  It was awesome! Big enough for the both of them to play and it blocked the wind...those boys were nice and toasty!  Since the game was at 6:00, we figured that we wouldn't stay for long...nighttime in November = even colder PLUS those night games really mess up Stafford's routine.  We did head to the stadium for one quarter, though! Unfortunately, we missed THE BIG WIN in person but it is still just as sweet.  Welcome home big, golden egg...oh, how we've missed you!!  Hotty Toddy!!

cousins just hanging out in their tent

love this guy!!

stafford and papa

beautiful sister

YES!!! welcome home egg!

Thanksgiving Fun!

How is it possible that Thanksgiving went by that quickly AND that it was so warm, too?!  The Stacy family had a fabulous Thanksgiving in Jackson with the rest of the Stacy clan.  We ate and ate and ate AND I didn't have to cook one thing...which made it even tastier!!  See below for a few pictures from our fun day with family...can you tell that Reedy doesn't like being in pictures?!!

my sweet  little man

hanging outside

little turkey loves being in oxford

A Tubular Day

Last Wednesday, Stafford experience his first (and hopefully only) surgery...tubes! We have been battling ear infections, runny noses, congestion and the like for months now...literally MONTHS.  We decided to pay a visit to an ENT to get his opinion on whether or not tubes were needed.  After conducting a few tests, Dr. Sneed (HE IS AMAZING, btw) recommended them for Stafford.  Basically, our baby had fluid buildup in the spaces behind his eardrums which was resulting in the constant ear infections.  He also mentioned that Stafford was hearing sounds but muffled, almost like he had cotton balls stuffed in his ears.  Dr. Sneed said since this was such a critical time for speech development that tubes were highly recommended so it was a no-brainer for us! Stafford went back for surgery at 7:40 am and he was out by 8:00 am...I was one happy momma to get my baby back so quickly!!  It has been less than a week but I will say that I have noticed a change in him already: no runny nose, no congestion and he is talking up a storm!!  He's also figured out how to stand up by himself with nothing to hold on to.  SUCCESS!!!

reading before surgery

all smiles and playing

listening intently to the doctor

all better!!!!

Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt

We had big hopes for the Ole Miss versus Vanderbilt game...sadly, the 'Dores ended up winning the game but they certainly did not win the party! The weather was perfection, we had a crowded tent packed with friends, family and babies AND we were in The Grove...such fun!  Just a few pics below:

mesmerized by Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

loves his sis

he makes me happy!

cutest face in the world

my honey!

November Visit to Dyersburg

Since the Stacy family will be in Mississippi for Thanksgiving this year, Stafford and I took a little road trip to Dyersburg to visit with Honey, Papa, Sis, Uncle Ronnie and Memama.  It had been a while since Uncle Ronnie and Memama last saw Stafford (his birthday in September) and we decided Christmas was just too far away to wait SO we headed North for a long weekend!  I always love going home especially in the Fall.  Below are a few pictures from our visit:

horsing around with uncle ronnie

getting some lovin' from memama

angel baby

An Ocotpus and a 5K

October just blew right in and blew right back out again! Geez Louise! October (well, Fall in general) has always been one of my favorites AND we have actually done something other than watch football all month long!  During the latter part of the month, Reed ran his first 5K (in a long while) out in Flowood and HE FINISHED FIRST IN HIS AGE GROUP!! Whoop!! I can't remember his time but it was fast...like, way fast...as in, I-wouldn't-have-been-done-with-the-first-mile-yet fast. 

Another reason that I love October is that it always brings Halloween!! This year we had an octopus stop by and boy was he CUTE!  Being the planner that I am, I found Stafford's costume back in June and I loved it so much that I had to jump the gun on that purchase!  We went to CCJ for their annual Halloween Party and Stafford had a blast.  They had an area specifically set up for kids his age so he was able to play and explore away from all of the "big kid craziness."  We decided not to take him trick-or-treating this year because, well, he can't eat candy, he barely has any teeth AND our neighborhood stinks in the trick-or-treating department.  Reed and I have owned our home for five years and we've only had ONE trick-or-treater in all of those years: our nephew Ryan.  Sad, huh?!  Oh well, maybe next year will be a big candy collecting/giving year for us!!

PS: that PRECIOUS appliqued/monogrammed t-shirt that Stafford is wearing came from Decked Out...SUPER CUTE stuff.  Check them out (to the right on my blog list)!!!

BRRR!!! It's COLD outside!!

Stafford was ready for Daddy to cross that finish line!!

cutest octopus EVER!

playing at the CCJ Halloween Party

Happy Halloween!

sweet bug...oops to the torn-up pumpkin!

Football Football Football

Fall = Football.  Literally. Every. Single. Weekend.  BUT, IT'S FUN!! The Stacy family has been burning up I-55 and Highway 6 this month.  We had back-to-back weekends (Texas A&M and Auburn) during the early part of the month and back-to-back weekends of "no driving" the latter part of this month.  Texas A&M weekend was COLD and rainy but we braved the Grove for a few hours at least.  Reed had the best idea of the weekend, which was opting to spend the actual game on the couch, in our pj's!  Auburn weekend, in typical Mississippi weather, was HOT!  Reed couldn't make that game so Stafford and I headed up on our own to watch the Rebs win their Homecoming game!  Because Reed didn't come, Stafford got his own seat in the stadium! I think he liked having that cushy seat all to himself but he definitely missed his daddy...as did I!!

homecoming with sister

ole miss vs. auburn

texas a&m game = COLD!

me & sis at texas a&m

Mississippi State Fair

The Mississippi State Fair rolling into town constitutes one of my favorite events in the fall.  Of course, I'm a Dyersburg girl so the fair has ALWAYS been a big deal to me.  This year, I was able to attend the fair, just not the Dyer County Fair! The Mississippi State Fair is a fun-filled 10 days of rides, food and "interesting" people...and I love every second of it!  Even though Stafford is a little young, we thought he would enjoy looking at the lights and the animals so we decided to take him.  HE LOVED IT!!!  His little eyes were about to pop out of his head...he couldn't get enough of the lights! We let him sample a few fair food favorites (pizza and a funnel cake), too!  That child is definitely his momma's boy...he chowed down on the funnel cake, literally couldn't get enough.  Below are a few pictures from our little fair adventure:

first carousel ride

on the midway

chowing down on a funnel cake

Back to September

September needs a little recap!  I have been so caught up in Stafford's birthday and posting those pictures that I have totally neglected the rest of September....please forgive me!  September was a busy month for the Stacy family.  We spent A LOT of time in Oxford last month and we even took in a little concert by someone named Elton John...heard of him?! :)   OMG is all I can say about that concert.  I am a B-I-G Elton fan so when I heard he was coming to Jackson (WHAT?!) I made plans immediately to be in attendance.  Let me tell you...he DID NOT disappoint.  This truly was one of the best concerts that I've ever been to.  Our seats were fabulous (thanks Sarah for selecting those seats!), the music was awesome and the company was FUN! We went with four other couples, did dinner beforehand and had an absolute blast! Let me note, this was the first time that Stafford spent the night away from us (thanks Mimi and Pop Pop) and we (or I) made it without any tears!

All of the hype surrounding the Ole Miss/Texas game did not disappoint either.  The Grove was slammed and it was awesome!  Although I was a teeny bit disappointed that I didn't have a Matthew McConaughey run-in, he was present and accounted for (or so I heard!).  Miss America sang the national anthem and Betty White did the Hotty Toddy...so neat!  We did take Stafford to the game and I was pleasantly surprised by how well he behaved and how much he liked being there! Since the game had such a late start time (8:15 pm) we only stayed until half-time.  Stafford did so fabulously well that we're going to take him again this weekend!  See below for a few pics:

with my man, Ole Miss vs. Texas weekend

love my bestie!

Stafford meets his new friend, Jack Ray

just chillin'

love my Sis!

hanging out with Papa in the Grove

little man was AMAZED by the lights and the crowd at V-H Stadium

date night for the Elton John concert

Elton John...perfect seats!!