January 2013

We had a wonderful first Christmas and are now ready to start a new year!

New Year's Eve was spent at home with our neighbors this year...  I think it only took us 27 tries to get that picture ;)  And yes, I'm the 3- and yes, it was hard! ha!  The beautiful think about living next to all your friends is being able to spend nights hanging out, and not having to go anywhere!  Or get a sitter!  We love our handy video monitor that allows us to see and hear John William while next door (while he's asleep and doors are locked of course!!)

Right before Christmas John William was wanting to crawl and scoot around SO BADLY!  He had the scoot and the army man maneuver, but he wasn't quite crawling, well about 3 days after Christmas he got it, and hasn't looked back since!  He's crawling and pulling up on everything, and loving every minute of it!

In late January our church, University Church of Christ, had it's baby dedication Sunday.  We were blessed to have prayers over our little family and sweet John William.

the many laughing faces of our boy.  Once you find his tickle spot, you will own him!

he's getting so big, and loving bath time!

We enjoyed watching The Tide Roll to #15

We had a little snow, and enjoyed a snow day at Preschool!

Brett had to do some traveling for work, and we were very glad when he was able to be home for dinner with us this month!

John William got his first pair of shoes

This little contraption is a net bag that holds food (banana in this particular case) in it and allows him to gum it without getting large chunks he may choke on.  He loved it... until I stopped holding it for him.  Stinker!

This rocking chair showed up at GG's house.  We're not sure where it came from, but we are enjoying it!

John Willliam is all over the purple room!  He likes to keep Jennifer & Jenn-Jenn on their toes!

Brett is playing church league basketball and John William and I were able to go to a couple games that weren't too late.  I love watching Brett play basketball, and always have.  It was very nice to see him in action!

Pops even came up for a game!

Mmmm, cookies!

We have had a great start to 2013, and are looking forward to the months to come!!

Blogger Fail

Wow.  I totally stink at this blogging thing!  I wanted so badly to document our lives with pictures and words so at the end of each year I could get these beautiful book printed as scrap books for our family.  Well we are 3 months into 2013 and there is no documentation.  Ooops, well, better late than never, eh?  2013 has filled us with lots of fun and laughs.. along with, stomach bugs, sinus infections, ear infections, thrush, sore throats, and fever.  I have constant smell of Lysol on me!  But, it's all part of life!  And luckily, spring is just around the corner, so hopefully warmer weather will bring better health (and no allergies- fingers crossed!!)
So, excuse the blog entry overload that is about to come, but here comes January and February...

Christmas Card Pictures 2012

Can I just say how awesome it is to have a photographer in the family!?!?  Thank you so much Ashley for some great pictures!  You really have a gift!!

John William was over it by this time!

Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The Paulk house is ready for Christmas!  I was sad last year when we were in the apartment I didn't really get to decorate, so I was super excited to dig it all out this holiday season!  Going through our boxes and bins of Christmas decorations is like opening a Christmas present in itself!  Many of our decorations are from family members, important events in the past, and now fun stuff to look forward to with a baby boy in the house!  So here's a look into our home for the holidays!

The tree.. I'm hoping Brett will let me get a wider tree next year!

Ginger Bread house from our wedding

Manger, that my Grandmother painted

Stockings by "The Three Peas in the Pod"

a little touch of Pinterest

Merry Christmas, Love the Paulks

Ho Ho Ho!!

Yesterday John William and I took advantage of a beautiful Alabama Saturday morning and took a walk down to Anders Toy Store here in down town Northport.  I love down town Northport!  It is historic and all the shops are are 'local', although there isn't too much to chose from any shop you go in will be a right choice!  In many ways it reminds me of down town Greenville when I lived there.  On our way out in the yard Mary Helen came outside and decided to join us, which was a great help to me!  John William already LOVES Mary Helen.  He grins and laughs at her as soon as she walks in the room!  Mary Helen will soon be our number one babysitter! We are very thankful that he has some of the sweetest kiddos we know to show him the ropes, we are blessed with some pretty cool neighborhood children.

 He was ready to go!

He loves just being outside

and there is always so much to look at!

loving his "May-May"

John William wasn't sure what to think about Santa, he just knew there was far too much going on outside to look at than to look and smile at the camera!!  

First visit with santa... Check!!!

Andrew plays at Bryant Denny

Last Sunday after church and before John William got back from Fort Deposit we got to watch Andrew play football at Bryant Denny!  How exciting is that!?!?  I honestly think Brett was a little jealous because he never got to strap on a helmet and cleats on that prestigious field!  However, he did pop the big question there, and that's a special moment at Bryant Denny Stadium I will NEVER forget!  Ok, back to the post at hand!  We were very excited to go and watch Andrew, along with some other friends we knew there!

#12.. Andrew Boykin

we even got to see Zion in action!

and of course there was another game on the side!

What a fun day this was!