2012 Highlights

2012, you were great!  I made a resolution to start blogging and I did it!  A lot of wonderful things happened in just 1 short year...Tucker has grown and changed SO much.  Looking back it's crazy how much has changed in Tucker's life in just 12 months....

January- Tucker moved from the cradle, in our room, to his crib in his own room! 

              Tucker had his baby dedication and by the end of the month was pulling up

February- We traveled to Florida for Abbie and John Wesley's engagement party

                We celebrated Tucker's first Valentine's Day!

March- Tucker moved up to a new class at school and said goodbye to the Babybird room

             As a family we enjoyed Spring very much together!

             Loved going to the beach too :)

April- This was a big milestone month...Tucker took his FIRST STEPS!

May- Celebrated my first Mother's Day and it was such a sweet day :)

         Tucker turns ONE!

June- Tucker's first Vann family vacation

          First haircut

July- We celebrated the Fourth of July at the beach this year

August- New school year which meant another new class for Tucker

September- Pretty low key month...just some updates from my iPhone pictures 

October- Loving all that Fall has to offer

              Happy Halloween!

November- More iPhone pictures

                  We also spent Thanksgiving at the beach, which I did not blog about :( but it was fun!

December- Little one turned 18 months

                  Had our first trip to the North Pole Express

                 Celebrated a very Merry Christmas, Tucker's 2nd Christmas

Like I said before, 2012 was great.  We are BLESSED beyond words and I am so thankful for each day we get to spend together as a family!  I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for our family of three, I know it will be awesome.  Thanks to all of my readers for helping my little dream of becoming a blogger this year come true :)  Hope everyone has a wonderful New Years!

Christmas 2012

It is hard to believe Christmas has come and gone again.  We had a very Merry Christmas.  Tucker was much more aware of everything going on this year, as opposed to last year when he was just 7 months old!  We spent time with friends and family, celebrated the birth of our Jesus, ate lots of yummy food, and just savored this time of year together as a family.  

Tucker still doesn't fully understand the whole present thing and was a bit overwhelmed by the whole process.  He definitely has the "less is more" thought process and would have been content with just 

one gift.  Now that we are home though, he is enjoying some of his new toys :)

Tucker's big gift was a train table...he loves it and the look on his face was priceless when he saw it!  Definitely my most favorite moment from this Christmas!

He also received a mini Dyson vacuum from Aunt Jana...our little cleaner has very much enjoyed this gift too!  He does such a great job vacuuming :) 

When we returned home on Christmas night, our power was out due to some thunder storms in the area, so we played with "choo choos" by candlelight until it was time for bed.

We are settling back in at home after lots of coming and going.  We spent Christmas morning here at home just the 3 of us, early afternoon at Dustin's grandparent's with the whole Vann side of the family, Christmas night at Dustin's mom's and my sister and her family dropped by our house later on that night too.  Lots of coming and going!  Tucker was a trooper and did great...he was recovering from an ear infection, sat through 2 church services on both Sunday and Monday night, and stayed up much later than he is normally used to a few times this week.  We had a wonderful holiday though and I hope you all did too!  This was our 2nd Christmas as a family of three and it was truly joyful :)

Christmas Card

From our family to yours...Merry Christmas!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating Christmas and ringing in the New Year with special loved ones.  We are definitely going to cherish these special times.  I'll be back soon with a Christmas post :)

All Aboard...

So like I've said before Tucker Loves trains!  The local railroad museum in town does a Christmas event called "The North Pole Express."  I first heard about this event last year and thought it sounded fun, so I made a little mental note to remember it for this year.  I called around the first of October and the event had already sold out!  I added our name to the waiting list, a little disappointed.  Surprisingly, they opened up a few extra cars and we were able to get tickets!  I was SO excited to take Tucker...so on Saturday night we made our way to board the North Pole Express.

We arrived pretty early, so Dustin was able to do a little photo session of our boy surrounded by his beloved "chop choos".

 

Tucker dressed in his Christmas PJ's along with all the other kiddos for The North Pole Express.  We boarded the train and took about a 20 minute ride to the North Pole.  The lights were dimmed on the train for the ride to the North Pole and Tucker held his own little candy cane glow stick while the story of the Polar Express played aloud.  Once we arrived at the North Pole, Santa and Mrs. Claus were there waiting.  They then boarded the train with us and made their way to visit all the passengers.  Santa's Elves also passed out cookies, chocolate milk, a santa key, and a train ornament to all the passengers while we waited :) 

Needless to say, our Tucker boy was not a fan of the Claus Family this year...as you can tell from the pictures.  Once he was back in my arms though, he did want to touch Santa's beard!  Who can blame him though...it is a pretty scary thing when you are his age to be handed to strangers like this in funny costumes with lots of facial hair!

Overall, it was great trip and Tucker enjoyed riding the "choo choo".  I am thankful for all of these fun holiday memories we are making as a family...so excited for many more :)

18 Months!

Tucker boy is now 18 months old.  I decided I would do these milestone posts when he went in for checkups with the pediatrician so I could have accurate, updated information...so here's where we are!

Weight: 29.6 lbs.
Height: 32.5 inches

Tucker is now in the 50th percentile for both height and weight...so looks like he is right in line with all the other 18 month olds, based on those numbers.  He is still in the 90th percentile for head size.  Like I said before though, that head is housing a big brain ;)

Vocabulary:  Our little one jabbers all the time and I love hearing it!  That jabber is becoming more understandable by the day too!  He can now repeat words when I ask him too...although sometimes it doesn't sound exactly right, he is doing a great job with his words.  He also does a great job signing for more and finished.  Words he uses daily and pronounces very well include:

Mama
"Mom, Mom"
Dada
"Dogga" for Dog
"Tactor" for Tractor
Bubble
Bye Bye
"Mo" for More
"Bo Bo" for Banana
Hotdog
"Tuck" for Truck
Choo Choo
"Buh-bee" for Baby
Sit
Stick
"Digga" for Digger
"Cahr" for Car...this is by far his favorite word right now!  He pronounces it with an old southern accent, it's hilarious.  He says it all day long.  The boy loves cars!

Eating:  Still a great eater!  Not much has changed since his 15 month old post.  Loving fruits, veggies, and chicken.  His new favorite thing is chicken sausage...looks like a hotdog, but more healthy :)

Sleep:  Also, still on same schedule as 15 month post.  Still gets in 2 naps when he is home and 1 during school days.  Bed time is 7ish and he sleeps til about 7am.  No changes in our good sleeper, thankfully!

Play:  LOVES all cars, trucks, and trains.  He enjoys reading very much.  We will sit and sometimes read 5 or more books in a row.  Although, he doesn't watch TV, we watch Barney on youtube occasionally and he really likes Barney! (I like Barney too...singing, dancing, very educational.)  One of his new favorite play things to do is "clean".  He likes sweeping, pushing the swifter, and dusting.  He will also sit with me in the kitchen and help me cook too...quite the little helper!  Outdoors though, is still his favorite place to be!  He loves it outside and will explore, discover, and find all sorts of things to play with.

So hard to believe Tucker is 18 months old now...he is full of energy and so active!  We are having so much fun playing, teaching him new things, and watching him learn everyday.  He is SO loving and gives the best hugs and kisses :)  We cannot get enough of his laugh either, it is amazing.  We are blessed beyond words and beyond thankful that God gave us Tucker :)

And here he is at his 18 month old checkup...big boy!

And here is that amazing laugh we can't get enough of...

  

Life Lately...According to my iPhone

Happy Halloween...

We celebrated Tucker's 2nd Halloween with a pretty low key, family day.  

Starting off the day with the annual Halloween parade at Tucker's school...

 We had a pretty cute "one-eyed monster"

And there's the one-eyed monster making his debut in the parade :) 

After the parade, nap time, and some dinner...we did a little trick or treating around our neighborhood.  Of course, Tucker still hasn't quite figured out the whole concept yet...but he enjoyed seeing neighbors, riding in his wagon, and a lollipop!

We had a very fun Halloween as a family and are excited to kick off the Holiday season!

And look at the difference in just 1 short year...

Can you believe how big our little lambie has grown?!  If I must say though, he has grown into the cutest "not so scary" monster I've ever seen! :)