Christmas, Part 2

We didn't think we were going to get a white Christmas this year because we really hadn't had much of any snow, but we woke up Christmas morning to this:

Such a beautiful view off of our deck.  Tucker was also enjoying his Christmas morning outside in the snow.  He really loves to be outside, and is in a fairly large pen so he can still run around okay.

And of course, looking down the driveway.  Luckily, it wasn't too much that we could still get down the driveway... but still just enough to enjoy the winter coziness. :)

Once we got up and going, we headed over to the Thackxton home for Christmas breakfast and lots of presents!  Of course, I didn't think to get any pictures of the table full of food, but it was GOOD!  The kids could barely contain themselves, well, neither could Nanny (Cindy), around all the presents, so the opening ensued.

Yes, that pile of presents are all for Ruston!  He, again, loved opening all his presents from Nanny and Pa.

Once the madness of present opening was finished, we headed back home for a relaxed rest of the day.  Ruston decided it was time to enjoy his Christmas present from Grammie and Papa Boo... this horse!


I also had to get a picture of him in his Christmas clothes.  Such a grown up little man!


Trying to multi-task... there's no way that bottle was coming out of his hand!

Merry Christmas everyone!!  We had a lot of fun this year, and know that each year will grow exponentially in the amount of fun and joy we have watching Ruston grow up!!

hiding spot

Ruston loves his hiding spot. Hopefully you can hear the audio on this too because he's talking up a storm while hiding.

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Christmas, Part 1

Well, Christmas is here, and we are excited!  Ruston did SO well with not messing with the presents under the tree, until last night.

We decided to let Ruston open his presents (well, and ours too) last night since we knew we were going to the Thackxton's in the morning.  Ruston LOVED opening the presents, and didn't really care what was inside. haha





See, he even liked his new jammies!  Jason and I had a lot of fun and joy watching Ruston open presents.  It's really a different thing to watch your own child open presents, even if they weren't his!



Ruston got a shopping cart from us.  He was REALLY excited about this, and had to get it all out immediately... which meant I had to put it together immediately! :)
Our little Christmas at home was wonderful, and definitely a new memory as this was the first Christmas Ruston actually did something like open presents (he was only 3 months old last year).  Next comes the Thackxton Christmas morning!

15 months!!

15 months old! Growing like a weed, and non-stop all the time... in words and in walking!

Ruston doesn't say many actual words besides mama, dada, nana, and keee (kitty). But he sure does babble a lot!
He was being silly and refusing to sit up like I was asking. He loves this bear and cuddles with it quite often. Oh yes, and he's starting to get hair!
Ruston's 15 month stats:

height: 31.25 inches (between the 25th and 50th percentile)

weight: 26 lbs. 11 oz (between the 75th and 90th percentile)

head circumference: 49.6 cm (above 95th percentile)

Yes, our poor child has his father's genes when it comes to height, at least so far. But he has a HUGE head for all the knowledge he is obtaining!!!

naked baby in a bathtub

This isn't that interesting for most people, but I just had to show how smart he is... trying to hang the wash cloth like mommy does. PS. I'm doing this from my phone, so sorry if it is messed up at all...

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14 Months!!

14 months! We have the most awesome kid ever! He's just a joy to have around, and he's finally starting to get a few more teeth... he has 6 now. HAHA

Darn kid wouldn't put the bottle down... and no, he doesn't get a bottle all the time!


Yes, that's chocolate milk! Plus one more cute picture because he wanted to pose... sleepy Ruston.

Tooth #5

Ruston did not sleep well last night... as in, he woke up 4 times! The previous night he slept from 700pm to 530am without waking up, and he usually sleeps all through the night or MAYBE wakes up once, so 4 times was definitely out of the norm! Today, when I picked him up from Cindy's after work, I stuck my finger in his mouth (VERY dangerous, as he thinks it is funny to bite down!), and found a 5th tooth! That explains it!

The funny thing to me is that he got his top two teeth first, then his bottom two teeth, and now this fifth one is on the left side on TOP again. He just likes to be a backwards kid. :) Maybe he'll sleep well again tonight... I'm not used to waking up that much anymore!

13 Months!

13 months old and won't sit still! I had to move the bear to the floor this month because Ruston would not cooperate!

Sadly, that's the best one he would give me. :) But at least you can tell his size...

Hunting Escapades

Along with the many other things we have managed to do, Jason has been able to fit in some hunting... even if it was just squirrels. He was proud of them anyway.

He also got his wood duck back from the taxidermist. I wasn't too excited to have yet another dead animal in the house, but this one does look pretty good.
It's standing on one foot, and the other is tucked up in there, but it's pretty amazing how detailed the taxidermist is.
Below is Ruston's birthday deer. Yes, Jason went hunting on Ruston's first birthday, but it was opening day of deer season, so he HAD to go. The arrow went right through her. Someday, Ruston will go with him, I'm sure.
Then about 2 weeks later, he got this one... a bit more blood.
Jason had to get a close up of the blood too... ew.

Then the final pose... of him holding the deer. This must be the "trophy" pose, because all the hunters seem to do it, with the weapon they used laying on or by the deer as well.

Pumpkin Patch!!!

So I have decided that I'm going to just post new posts, and then go back and add in older ones, or else I will continue to be 1 to 2 months behind forever!

Last weekend Ruston and I went to the pumpkin patch with the Barnabi's (Silas, Kaycee, and Alyvia). Alyvia is 8 months old, so it's fun to get to compare and do things with them, especially since Jason went to high school with Silas and Kaycee. After attempting to find 3 different patches with supposedly existed and were not there, we finally found Pumpkin Hill. First, we took a hay ride to the pumpkins.

Ruston wasn't too sure about the pokey straw, and he mostly observed the entire time we were on the ride.


Once we got to the patch, Ruston again observed... all those orange things surrounding him. He really wasn't too sure what to think!
We finally got a smile out of him when we placed him in front of the straw bales that were painted with jack-o-lantern faces. I have a couple more pictures on my phone that I'll have to figure out how to add in here too.

Here is Ruston with his little pumpkin... just his size. He finally didn't mind touching it and holding it, and even chewed on the stem a little.
When we got back to the main area, they had farmer and pumpkin cut-outs, so we just HAD to put the kids in there! Ruston as the farmer, Alyvia as the pumpkin.
Alyvia was mostly trying to climb THROUGH the hole, but it was funny for us.

It was a good fun time and I'm glad we got to go. Jason and I might take Ruston to a different one this weekend to have a family outing since Jason was working last weekend. Then maybe some pumpkin carving will happen!

Birthday Bash!

Another thing we did while the Hall family was here was have a birthday party! We waited to have Ruston's celebration until the Halls were here, and Danelle also celebrated her 5th birthday. She requested a cake with a rainbow, and with the limited supplies I had at the house, I think Dayna did well. :)

Danelle also stressed the NEED for hats. "You have to have a hat for the birthday party!"
Ruston wasn't too fond of his hat, and quickly took it off. Then we took off the rest of his clothing in order to prepare him for his cake.
He was hesitant at first, and wanted to use a SPOON...
Danelle with her cake; I think she was proud of it.

...but once I stuck his hand in it, it was all downhill from there!



Ruston went to town while everyone else ate their cake from Danelle's cake. I think he was finally getting full/tired here...

If I would have been thinking, I would have worn a short sleeve shirt, which would have been much easier to pick him up with! He thought he was pretty cool for being so sticky.

He quickly took a bath, and then it was time for presents!



Ruston and Danelle both had a fair amount of presents, and enjoyed what they got. Ruston quickly went to focusing on his toys... this one from Ben and Kelli.
Lastly, I would say it was a successful day and weekend... for Ruston and Taco both. :)