Christmas Memories

We had such a good Christmas this year. With the birth of Addyson, we obviously stayed home and Aaron's parents came to our house.

Here's Addyson with her little "My 1st Christmas" socks from her Great Grandma Herring.



Now a family of four!

Our little Miss Santa!

The presents are ready and waiting.

This is how Addyson spent most of her first Christmas - sleeping!

We opened her gifts for her - I thought this outfit was absolutely adorable!

Clayton thinks anything with a hook is supposed to go on the tree. He added my new flip flops and a belt to the tree since they both had hooks. :-)

The sign says it all!

Content on Grandma's shoulder.

We got Clayton a little tricycle - he loved it!

Taking a ride in his new wagon from his grandparents!

Our Little Drummer Boy

We celebrated the Young family Christmas (Aaron's mom's side) on New Years Day. Aaron and I decided to go at the last minute (I think I was getting cabin fever). So, we started getting ready and 2 hours later (yep, everything is MUCH harder with two kids), we were on our way. :-)

Clayton loved their animals - they had 2 cats and 2 dogs.

Fascinated with the presents!

Meeting 11-day old Addyson.

This was such a cool nativity set - Clayton loved it being his size.

They had the neatest music room, complete with all kinds of different instruments. Clayton loved it in here when everybody was making music. Here are a couple video clips when he decided to get in on the action.

Herring #4

One more picture before heading off to the hospital.

And she has arrived!

Addyson Diane Herring, 7 lbs, 13 oz, 20 inches long.

Baby girl makes Herring #4!


Couldn't be happier!

Announcing her arrival!

Check out all that hair!!

At home - content on the couch!

The video clip below is Clayton's reaction when we first came home from the hospital. He was so fascinated with Addyson and kept laughing and wanting to touch her. I think I'm going to have my hands full with these two! :-) (Disregard the beeping - it was the timer on the stove.)

The Debut of Baby Jesus

Clayton made his debut on stage last night as Baby Jesus at the Aldersgate Christian Academy (GBS) Christmas program. I had no idea how he would behave, but he actually did really well. I think he was in awe of everything he was seeing. Unfortunately, I couldn't see him, because I was behind the stage so I could take him in between times when he didn't need to be out there. But, Aaron kept me updated by texts and of course I could hear.

There were two really funny moments. One line from an actor said, "Look Mary, Baby Jesus is sleepy." However, at that time he was flailing his arms and legs and having a good time. Not at all sleepy! :-) The second time was when an actor said, "And now, Herod wants to kill him!" As soon as she got the words out of her mouth, Clayton pointed right at her and started crying hard! The timing couldn't have been better. And the crowed roared with laughter. :-)

I was so relieved that he did good and was also glad when it was over.

Running off some steam downstairs before it starts.

Poor Mary had her hands full, but she did such a good job with him. I think he was wanting down here. :-)

Taking a picture after the program of the actors.

The actors with the director, Kristin Foster. Clayton spotted me taking a picture, thus the "I'm done with all this" face.

I wanted to get a close up picture of Clayton with Mary, but, he was DONE!!

I think he was ready to see me again.

One more picture before we change his clothes.

Baby Time

We had such a good time in Missouri for Thanksgiving! One of the fun things I got to do was take pictures of everybody. I won't post the family ones since several are using them for Christmas cards, but here are a few additional fun shots we did just for kicks.

The four partners in crime: Elijah (Dana/Phil's), Karson (Mark/Jana's), Clayton (ours), and Emme (Jeff/Vicki's).

Just getting all the babies in the same picture was an experience in itself!

And now Tyson joins in on the fun

(Kendall & Leanna's new baby at 4 weeks 0ld).

The KKK: Kaley, Khara, and Kelsey! :-)

Mickey Mouse

We had a lot of fun this weekend with Mickey Mouse, aka Clayton. He didn't mind his costume at all and even left his hood up the whole time.

Deerfield Town Center had trick or treating on Friday night. It was so neat to see all the other children in costumes and just stroll around the shops.

They even had a small petting zoo!

Clayton was fascinated by the tall man on stilts that was juggling.

Clayton's first piece of candy was some Smarties. He loves Smarties and he clutched them the whole night - would not even put them in his pail!

Then on Saturday night we stopped over at Jeff/Vicki's. Here's Mikey Mouse and the Little Bumble Bee (aka Emme).

Clayton's First Haircut!

Today was the big day - Clayton got his very first haircut!! His hair was so long I was afraid they might charge me extra. :-) We went to Cookie Cutters and they were so nice. He got a little certificate that says "First Haircut" on it with a little bag that has some locks of his hair in it and has a place for his picture. He was a little unsure at first, but did really good sitting pretty still. He sure looks like a different boy now!

Sickness has struck!

The little man is sick. I hate to see him not feeling well. When he woke up the other day, this is what his hair looked like. I did have to chuckle. I was so looking forward to his first haircut last week (since he's now one), but of course we have to wait until he's actually well enough to go out.

It's amazing what you do for your child when he's sick. He wanted to ride in the bed of his dump truck and it's getting much harder for me to lean over and push him around the house. So, Aaron rigged up this handy-dandy way for me to pull him around without having to bend over! :-) Clayton LOVES riding around like this and doesn't want us to stop. (I think this boy needs a wagon for Christmas!)

This is for Aunt Cindy: While I was waiting for the video to load, I had to look at some old pictures of when Clayton first "played" with his dump truck. This is when he was only a month old!