first of 2011

We've had a great first week of 2011! It was nice to have a nice long break with Adam off of work and Camp out of school, but it's been really nice to get back into the swing of things and back to our little routine. Camp went back to preschool this week and practically ran into his classroom! I think he really missed his friends! We also celebrated Mary's birthday with a wonderful dinner out at Bella Bella. Here are some pictures mostly from New Year's Day that I wanted to share...

adam smoked his famous boston butt on new years day...

it smoked all day long and it was delicious as always!

since I didn't get in any pictures on Christmas, I made sure to get in some on new years day! :)

loose leaf sweet tea

our new years day fare...this is adam's plate (because you know I wouldn't have that many greens!) I had one bite of collards...I'm going to be rich!! ;)

Camp can almost always be found playing at his train table...

jammin' out with elmo...

Mama and her sweet boy!

camp's been so silly lately!

when he kisses me he'll say "ooohhh sweet boy" because I say that when he's a lovey boy!

he's also been saying "i love you, mommy" or "i love you, daddy" out of the blue and it makes me melt!

the other night he was counting to 10 and once he got to 10, Adam and I cheered for him...then he bows and said "thank you, thank you" (where the heck did he learn that?)

we're heading to Disney in a few weeks and I made the terrible mistake of telling Camp that we were going! He asks to "see meeka?" and "see donwald guck?" alllllllll day long! He woke up this morning and when I walked in to his room he said "Hey Mama...see Meeka?" Oh my, how do I teach the concept of time and being patient to a two year old??? :)

he's recently become fascinated with "monta trucks".  (monster trucks :) )

when camp and I were out shopping one day this week, we passed by an aisle of picture frames...camp looks at the models in the picture frames and asks "who dat?"

(Bebe, am I going to have to torture Camp with my own Michelle Louise story?? Maybe Christopher Brian? :) )

I can't believe it's already Friday! This week seemed to fly by for me!

Happy weekend!

last of 2010

Happy New Year to you and yours!! We had a low-key New Year's Eve at home and we were all actually asleep when the ball dropped! We were awoken at midnight by lots of fireworks and even (celebratory) gun shots, so I guess technically we were awake to ring in the new year! :) Lame-o, I know, but it was exactly what I wanted to be doing!

The first decade of the new millennium was filled with lots of change and excitement…I graduated high school, started dating Adam, graduated from FSU (GO NOLES!!!!!!!!!!), 6 weeks later married Adam, gave birth to our first child…wow! I’m sure this next decade will be just as wonderful!

I have a few pictures from the last week of 2010 and wanted to share them before I start on 2011 pictures. Enjoy…

It flurried the day after Christmas...we ran outside to enjoy it, but there wasn't much to it! If you look closely, you can see it falling in the background and on Adam's shoulders!! Pure excitement for us Florida natives!!

Camp and Daddy blowing out the garage!

Santa brought Camp a custom sandbox filled with dump trucks and bulldozers...

It's been pure bliss for Camp!

We are trying to teach Camp not to bring the sand inside...I might be cursing Santa in a few weeks! :) just kidding...

our backyard is officially a child's backyard! how many riding toys does one child need?? :)

watching mater...we are excited that 2011 will bring the release of Cars 2!! Yippee!

New Year's Eve Eve, (or New Year's Adam as we liked to call it) we had a fun impromptu cookout at the Edenfields!

I spent the evening with this glass in hand so I guess Thursday served as my New Year celebration!! :)

Mr. M not wanting his picture taken!! :)

Happy, Happy New Year!! May 2011 bring lots of happiness to our family and friends!!

CHEERS!

Christmas 2010

Get ready for lots of pictures of just CAMP. I have NO pictures of our little family on Christmas day and none of ME at all! :( Oh well...

Camp definitely surprised me...I thought he'd open one present and not be interested to open more. He opened, played, open, played, and then asked to "open presents" all day long...and even continues to ask each day!

Camp walking out to see what Ho Ho brought him!

the first present of the morning was his t-ball set

then he moved on to his stocking

Ho Ho brought a train table and it's been a huge hit! The train table has been moved to Camp's bedroom and he spends most of his day in there! He'll ask us to "play choo choo trains?" and Adam and I happily oblige. Adam and I have actually enjoyed playing and setting up the train tracks! We tried to attach as many trains together as we could to see how many trains could go up the bridge at once...we were like two little kids!

He also brought a Woody doll that talks and Camp loves it!

Santa brought me a Happy Everything platter with two extra attachments!! He picked them out all by himself and did an excellent job...he even finished his shopping on December 1st!!!!

He also brought me a new pair of Jack Rogers...modeled by Camp!

Santa brought so many cool trains and tracks!

Camp got a Toy Story shaving kit and he's had so much fun pretending to be just like Daddy!

I made my great grandmother's coffee cake and a breakfast casserole for Christmas morning breakfast.

One of Adam's gifts from Santa!

Had to go look in the big mirror!!

Camp had even more presents to open at Yaya & Bop Bop's!! He got an awesome set of lawn equipment including a blower, weed eater, chain saw, lawn mower, gloves, and goggles! Camp's been so cute trying to help Daddy work outside.

Our Christmas dinner ready to go in the oven...cornish hens!

We had a fabulous dinner of cornish hens, wild rice, squash casserole, extremely yummy green bean bundles, and rolls...Yaya is an excellent cook!

For dessert we had coconut cake and candy cane martinis!

We had the perfect Christmas day and were able to do a lot without being too stressed or exhausted!  Bebe, Papa, Chandler, & Nina even came over early Christmas afternoon! Adam and I have had to learn what works the best for holidays...one Christmas Adam and I went to seven different places in one day and after that year, we knew we couldn't do that every Christmas!

And I'm happy to report that 'operation no paci' is still successful!! There was no mention of it last night when he went to bed and not one mention of it yet today. I'll be honest...I had a little meltdown Christmas night when it was time for bed. I knew he wanted it, I knew he'd go to sleep instantly if we gave it to him...but I was strong and didn't give in!! I cried knowing that my baby was really growing up and it was just another milestone that pushed him closer to being a big boy!

We went cold turkey with the whole paci thing...our pediatrician recommended we throw all of the pacis away because usually the parents are the ones that cave and give in. I threw away all of the pacis we had around the house...there was one in Adam's medicine cabinet, one in my jewelry box, several in the kitchen drawers...I'm crossing my fingers I found all of them!! And don't you know that dumpster diving crossed my mind at several times! :) BUT the whole experience was NOT BAD at all!! Really, the hardest part was the anticipation of taking it away...I was almost dreading Christmas! Camp didn't just like his paci...he loved it!! He was seriously addicted to it and I thought I'd be pulling my hair out by now. I just knew that he couldn't keep it forever and I'm sure the longer we waited, the harder it would have been! I'm thankful we did it when we did and he had his new toys to distract him. I think the whole "santa took it and gave it to the babies who need it...you are a big boy now!" phrase helped a lot.

We've been enjoying the continued holiday season and love the fact that Adam's been off of work!!! I can't believe that tomorrow is New Year's Eve!! Where has the time gone?

I'm hoping to do one more blog post before the close of 2010, but if not HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Silly Santa

Camp put on the Santa hat and got a little silly...

Christmas pictures soon!!

Christmas Eve

Bebe, Papa, & Chandler came to town for Christmas and spent Christmas Eve with us. We grilled burgers and exchanged presents...it was such a nice evening!

Bebe & Papa brought fried pies from Mercier Orchards...

totally made my day!

 Adam tried them for the first time and is now hooked on them too!!!

We had an absolutely fabulous Christmas and I'm so excited to share pictures and little details. Santa took Camp's paci away and he's now been without it since 11:30pm on Christmas Eve...when Santa went in Camp's room and took it away. So far so good...he asked for it yesterday when he got tired, but ended up going to sleep last night without it! I think I'm actually having a harder time with it...my sweet baby boy is growing up!! I just know how much he loved his "patdi"/"uh oh" and it made me sad to see him lay in his crib looking for it, just wanting to get all comfy to go to sleep!! I just know that it's not going to get any easier and we might as well do it now!!! I'm hoping the hardest part is behind us!!

baking!

I don't have many pictures, but I had to share this favorite holiday tradition of mine! My mom came over yesterday to bake goodies. Since we got a late start this year, we decided to only make caramels, fudge, and cookies. They are my three faves of the usual lineup. ;)

We started making caramels...one pound of butter...no wonder they are so yummy!!

then fabulous fudge...

and then the tri kappa cookies! I only set the fire alarm off about 8 times, but our baking session was a huge success!! Our ADT smoke alarm is extremely sensitive and LOUD and the littlest bit of smoke seems to set it off!

We packaged up a few plates and plan on giving them out to some friends, family, & neighbors today!!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!

krismas kremes

We had the annual Gunter family Barnaby's Pizza/Krispy Kreme/Christmas lights night last night!

We started at Barnaby's where Camp was more concerned with playing in the game room rather than eating his pizza! He ate two pieces and then spent the rest of the night "playing" race car games. Thank you to Yaya & Carrie Anne for providing arcade supervision! :)

Then we headed to Krispy Kreme!!

 "wook kitma twee"

Our last stop was Dorothy B. Oven...I was so excited to see Camp enjoy the lights!

He was pretty mesmerized the entire time...just walking from lights to lights and inspecting each and every one.

v\

Then he saw the lights set out just for him...the tractor and truck lights!

The favorite attraction of the night though was the choo choo train!! He did not want to leave that choo choo train!

We've been getting so many wonderful Christmas cards in the mail, but I had to show my absolute FAVORITE one of all! Besides the card being absolutely precious, the Christmas card from the Wells included two Chick-fil-A coupons!! Now that's spreading some Christmas cheer!! Thanks Wells family!!! :)