Okay, okay, I know I've been a slacker at getting these Christmas pics up it's been busy but honestly I don't have a great excuse just hadn't gotten around to it, but I figured since my sweet friend Celeste dropped the hint that I was behind schedule and tomorrow is New Year's Eve I better get with it. I have a few pics I want to make some notes about and then I'll finish the post with a whole mess of random photos from the holidays. We had a wonderful time but are looking forward to hosting Christmas for all our families next year in our new home! Oh and this post wouldn't be complete without letting everybody know the best part of this years Christmas, we found out my brother Ross and his wife Thea are having a BOY! Yeah Deals will have a boy cousin to play in the dirt with, we're so excited!

Mimi (Matt's mom) gave Deals his first Christmas ornament and it was too cute. How appropriate it was an orange m&m....hee...

I don't know if you can tell but this cute little fleece suit is about to fly off D's body, it was so tight, I bought it last Christmas trying to guess his size and I was WAY OFF...he was busting at the seems, but hey who doesn't love fleece spandex!

This present was the best my sweet Gma knitted this sweater for D she's in her late 80's and was so proud to have made this for him...doesn't it look sweet with his blue eyes...

This picture depresses me even now...Yes you are seeing correctly it was 60 FREAKING degrees on Christmas day....ahh isn't Texas wonderful...sigh...

Here's more pics from the holidays lots of D opening presents, he LOVED the paper, bows & ribbon! Next year he'll love the boxes too!

:6 MONTH UPDATE: We went to the doctor today and I wasn't far off on my estimates of D's height and weight. D weighed in at 17 1/2 lbs and he's 27 1/2" long! Our big boy, he's in the 75th percentile on height and 60th on weight and his head was in the 75th percentile as well. He's growing good and strong the doc was very happy with how he sits up on his own and how strong he is when he stands. He switches object from hand to hand which she said was awesome! So I guess we've all survived the first 6 months, they say it's a milestone, I guess it's because it's amazing the kid is still alive although I think it's a miracle I'm still alive....

It's hard to believe that Deals is 6 Months old....It was just before this time last year that we found out we were pregnant and from that point on it's been a world wind of a ride. Deals is doing great developmentally and health wise I'm not sure how much he's grown since his last dr. visit but I do know that even before he actually turned 6 months the little man is high watering in his 6/9 month clothes so we will soon be moving on to 9/12 month clothes at least in pants, onesies seem to fit a little longer but I bet by 7 months I'll be packing all the 6/9 away :oO

I'll make a guess on weight and height and I'll have to post an update after our appointment on Wednesday. I think he's about 28" tall and at times I think he must weigh 40 lbs but realistically I think he weighs about 17 lbs so I can't wait to see how close I am. Here's some other updates on him:

Has eaten all the stage one foods!
He liked: peaches, pears, apples, sweet potato, green beans,
banana & carrots
He didn't like: peas, pumpkin or squash
( I guess I can't say he tried all the stage one foods because I didn't give him prunes, but honestly why would you give your kids prunes if they weren't having any problems, knowing what it does, I think he poops plenty already, hee.)

He talks just about the entire time he's awake

He USUALLY takes 2, 2 hour naps a day (but with travel it's been a little inconsistent)

He sleeps 10 hours at night, we do miss the days of 11 hours in NY but hopefully he'll work back to that...we can dream huh?!

He's dying to crawl he works hard on it everyday and is so close I wouldn't be surprised if he was crawling by the end of the year!

His favorite position is still standing so my guess is as soon as he figure out how to crawl he'll start pulling up on stuff, I've tried to warn the furniture of this pending action so hopefully they're prepared.

He now loves the sound of his voice and screams just to see what happens. It's actually pretty cute.

Lots of other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting but I'm sure after reading this long post your ready for the picture, so here it is, Deals @ 6 months....

Matt's sister Megan & her husband Chad had their baby Ella Grace Copeland on Tuesday evening and we are so freaking excited. It was a little sad because Meg had StrepB and spiked a 102 fever during labor so because of precautions Ella was taken to the NICU for 48 hours of antibiotic it's crazy to walk into the NICU and they had her hooked up to a few thing but unlike the other parents/families in there we were all still happy because Ella is healthy, she just wanted to be fashionably late like her momma and figured she should start life off that way and what little girl isn't a bit high maintenance huh?!

Welcome Ella your Uncle Matt, Aunt Rachel &
favorite Cousin Deals love you so much already!

This is proud dad Chad, he faked us out a few times before this during Meg's 2 hours of pushing just to be mean, we think, hee! But the final time he had too big of a smile on his face we knew our little Ella was here!

We weren't able to get pics from Ella's first minutes so these are
the day after, but Meg and Ella were bonding, the hat cracks me up,
one of the nurses made it for her so she could be all girled out!

Ella was all smiles when Uncle Matt first picked her up....

But then she wasn't sure who the heck the dude was and gave Matt a look that we know all too well. We get it from D regularly but I think he's thinking, crazy people can't you stay in one place for two seconds, it's nearly a look of disgust at times :oO

Matt and Meg must have gotten into a deep conversation and Ella had to let them know, hello crazies I'm still here"!

The whole day wasn't full of tears though, D spent almost the entire day at the hospital and was such a trooper, but the real excitement came when Matt's cousin Tabitha and Aunt Jeri showed up. They usually bring the party and they had D laughing hysterically. Who knew balloons could be so funny?! I think we'll get a room full of them!

And boy do balloons taste yummy! We are definitely at the see object open mouth stage!

: new things :

Most everyone knows we've put an offer on a house in Richardson, the offer was accepted and after the inspection we have about a dozen things they need to fix but over all it was good and we are excited about the idea of having a home again. We are scheduled to close Dec 28 right now but that may or may not change depending on the owners ability to get everything done and move out in 2 1/2 weeks, we'll see. Also it looks like we're going to have a new addition to our family however we have to wait and introduce Abby and see if she likes Sophie before we make our final decision, but Deals definitely likes Sophie A LOT! Here's a pic of Deals & Sophie and some pics of the new house!

The snow fell in NM last night and we woke to a beautiful powdery white landscape. So I had to take D out and let him touch snow for the first time. He touched a couple of times and decided he didn't love it, I think it was just too cold...I loved the idea of living in NY so much because of the seasons, so I'm so glad we have Angel Fire to bring Deals to so he can experience something some Texas children will never get to have, a true winter and a white Christmas! Our time here has been relaxing (mostly) and I've had a ton of time to think and reflect on all parts of my life. For better or worse I'm glad I got this chance to get away. Here's a few pics from today.