We began our Christmas festivities on Christmas Eve by going to church with Katie's family. So Santa could come visit all the kids in the same place we spent the night at their house that night. It was so fun to watch the kids the come down all together to see what was left for them. Maddox got a 4-wheeler, some tools, a tee-ball stand, books, puzzles, and The Jungle Book movie. We then headed to Mom's for lunch... YUMMY! We hope you had a very special CHRISTmas with your family and loved ones!
We had Christmas with the Greer crew Christmas night. BB & Grin gave Maddox his very own table and chairs! He will love having his own place to eat & color. We got lots of great gifts and enjoyed the time together!
Yesterday my family (minus Stephen) went to visit my Maw-Maw (my daddy's mother) for Christmas. She such a sweet lady and my daddy was so much like her. Below are some pictures from our visit.
Also... yesterday would have been my daddy's 61st birthday. Can you imagine the birthday party he had yesterday??!! I know it was better than any one we could have had for him here!
On Saturday we headed to Stephen's parents to spend some time with his family. We began our night with a breakfast dinner... YUMMY! Then we headed out for.....
Ok... not really sure how this tradition began (Suzanne, I think with you) but the Greer family goes "barfing". What they do is go around town (Jackson, Pearl, Madison, Ridgeland, Richland, etc) and try and find the most outrageous Christmas lights. Due to the rainy weather we were only able to see a few things this year. But... what we did see was AMAZING! It was this little cul-de-sac street in Madison and every house is decorated. There were a few decorated more than others as you can see from the slide show. We had to tune our radio to a specific station and the lights moved to the music on that station.
Stephen, Maddox, and I got to Jackson on Friday night and have been going strong since. We had Christmas with Marcia, went barfing with the Greer family (pictures to follow), Stephen's hunting, and we're looking forward to much more!
This is my mom's best friend from college, Marcia. She is basically our second mother and here she is with all of her adopted "grandchildren"!
We are proud to announce the birth of our new niece/ Maddox's new "little sister"! For those of you that frequent our blog you have seen many pictures of the Buckler family (mainly Alli and Maddox). You also know that Maddox and Alli are "brother & sister". Well, on Wednesday, Britt gave birth to their second little girl... hence Maddox's new "little sister". Her name is Elizabeth Parham Buckler and she is just beautiful! Maddox was so funny with her. He wanted to hold her for all of two seconds and when he was done he tried to push her off his lap. He has a lot to learn before he has another real brother or sister!!!
Alli helping Elizabeth get her footprints!
Stephen and I have been talking some much lately about how we want our children to remember why we really celebrate Christmas. Even though it's all fun, it's not about the presents, parties, shopping, baking, etc, etc.
Some of you may have already seen this, but I saw it for the first time on another friend's blog (thanks Amanda!) and just had to do a post on it. It is a song that Sara Evans and Brad Paisley have recorded about the Crucifixion. After watching this I'm still sitting here in tears and in awe. This video is a great reminder to us all of how much we are loved and the TRUE reason for the season. Click on the link below, turn your volume up, and..... grab the kleenex!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NaSROohLzs
We have had a great 2 days! Becky (BB) and Steve (Grin), Stephen's parents, came to Augusta to spend Thanksgiving with us. Nobody ever comes to visit because we live so far away so we are SO excited to have company. When they arrived Tuesday Becky said the outside of our house needed some "curb appeal" to help our house sell~ we're putting it on the market at the end of January. So.... on Wednesday we went and bought 5 flats of pansies and three window boxes. Becky (who has a major green thumb) worked so hard planting and my house and yard looks great!!! It was such a nice treat! Tomorrow she's going to help me decorate for Christmas. I'm so excited!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal today. Brad was working today so Britt and Alli came and joined us. It was sad not being with my family, but it really wasn't too hard because all I could think about was this was our last Thanksgiving away from home!!!!
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends! I will leave you with just a few things that I am thankful for:
10. Maddox's MDO teachers
9. friends both far and near
8. good health
7. FOOD (all kinds)!!!!
6. wonderful family (both immediate and in-laws)
5. 2 patient dogs
4. a precious little boy
3. caring husband/father to Maddox
2. roof over our heads
1. God's Grace
OK.... so I'm a little behind on this post! Stephen and I went to Hawaii in October for the Oral Surgery convention. We didn't do a whole lot of "conventioning", but a lot of vacationing. We flew to Honolulu on Sunday and spent one night there.
This is the view of Honolulu from our hotel room. Honolulu is VERY commercialized and busy.
We left Kauai on Thursday and headed back to Honolulu. We stayed at a resort on Waikiki Beach that was unbelievable. It was like a little town with dining, shopping, 7 hotel towers, etc.
This is the view from our room at the Hilton Hawaiian Beach Resort.
The sunset at Waikiki Beach.
Maddox went to his first MSU football game. My sister and her family, my mom, Maddox and I went to Starkville and did the whole tailgating thing with my brother. We really didn't know how Rett and Maddox would do sitting in the heat in the stands for that long, but they did GREAT and had so much fun! As you can see from the pictures below, Maddox's favorite part was all the food. He grazed the entire time! Better yet.... MSU WON! GO DAWGS!
Three weeks ago Maddox came down with a terrible virus. He woke up in the middle of the night Sunday with 103.5 degrees of fever. He ended up having a double ear infection also. On Thursday he started throwing up and threw up Friday also. By Saturday he was finally fever free and back to his old self. Well... on Wednesday of this same week, Stephen came down with the same virus! By Saturday night he was so dehydrated we ended up in the ER of MCG.
It was crazy... Britt and Brad came and got Maddox and he was at their house all day Saturday and ended up spending the night with them Saturday night. We cannot thank them enough for all they did. They are our family in Augusta so I guess that's what happens during situations like this. We're hoping to return the favor in December when baby Elizabeth decides to make her appearance!
This was Monday evening. He fell asleep in Stephen's arms while eating his graham crackers. PITIFUL!
Oh my goodness! I just looked at the date of my last post and realized how long it has been. So Sorry!
Being WILD with Dadeeee!
Hey.. you can't be that sweet all the time!
I'm proud to announce that Maddox is now pappy (pacifier) free! Saturday night I looked at Stephen and said, "It's time. We're starting tomorrow!". While Maddox was eating breakfast Sunday I took the pacifier and cut a slit down the middle. When he asked for it we acted shocked and told him it was broken. The look of confusion on his face was priceless! He only put it in his mouth about 10 minutes all day but held it in his hand. He took his nap and went slept that night without a fuss, but pappy in hand. When he was eating his breakfast Monday morning, I cut almost the entire nipple off. He didn't really ask for it. He saw it on the counter and once again we told him it was broken. He just looked at it strangely, but didn't want it all. He took his nap and slept last night without it! He did wake up once in the night and Stephen went to check on him. When he came back to bed he said Puppy Dog (Maddox's companion) was soaking wet. So, instead of sucking a pacifier he was sucking on Puppy Dog's ear. YIPPEEEEE!!! As much as I dreaded it, I think this may have been the easiest thing we have done since he was born!
This is the story (in pictures) of a boy and his dog. Maddox LOVES Lexie! As I've posted before, we are very thankful that Lexie puts up with him. These are some scenes of everyday life for the two of them.
