Magical Christmas

Kisses for You!

Christmas is such a special season....especially when you have a baby in the family! I know Skyler won't remember or even understand her first Christmas, but I guarantee you that I will forever absorb how ridiculously excited I got. Wonder and merriment were abundant!

Our morning pictures.

Skyler getting ready to open presents.

Even for Santa....The famous tongue!

Tom and I woke up to a singing Skyler that Christmas morning. After her bottle, we gathered around the tree to open gifts. Her first present was a Jack-In-The-Box. A classic baby toy to help encourage imagination and learning. With some help from Daddy winding the toy, popped came the weasel and Skyler was not frightened at all.

Here is our sweetie opening a few more gifts. Wrapping paper and boxes become brilliant play for Skyler! It was such a treat to watch her excitement. She wasn't even fazed when we stuck ribbons in her hair. Her focus was on that paper!

Tom & I were so blessed to have most of our family share in this joyous holiday. Glammey, Papa, Auntie Kevie, Uncle Larry, Cousin Jodi & Jared arrived on Christmas Day. Two days later, my sister, Cheryl, and her husband, Charles, drove from Tennessee to spend the rest of the holiday week with us. They finally got to meet their niece and it was love at first sight!

I trust you all enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did! I took over 200 pictures of Skyler with her loving family and I hope you love these memorable pictures as much as I do. Although we missed Auntie Nicola & Uncle Bogie and cousin Nikki, it was great skyping with them! It made our holiday feel complete.

Stay tuned for my next blog dedicated to the building of Skyler's new Wooden Gym Set. Yes....Our dear, wonderful family helped Tom assemble this huge playground. It took ten hours and I sure have some great photos to share! You'll be impressed and will get a good chuckle out of it!

THE DRESS!

The Shorts.

with Glammey.

and Papa.

The proud Grandparents.

Auntie Kevie and Uncle Larry.

Cousin Jodi & Jared.

relaxing with Papa & Daddy

I am honored to finally introduce Uncle Charles and Auntie Cheryl

Christmas just would not be complete without Uncle Larry making sure Skyler had her first airplane. Thanks to all of you for the lovely gifts you bought Skyler for her first Christmas. I'm looking forward to taking pictures of her playing with them or wearing the clothes, so you all can view it on her blog.

**Happy Holidays**

Christmas Goodies

This week, Skyler's been a big fan of sticking her tongue out as far as possible, then clapping and squealing with joy. She is using the muscles in her mouth and tongue to work on sounds that are approaching real speech. Quite delightful, for sure! I captured her in pure form and threw in an extra pic to show off her beautiful baby blues!

These past few days leading up to Christmas have been quite exciting for our little Skyler. Not only did she receive her very first letter from Santa, but she got her own personalized stocking stuffed with goodies from Auntie Nicola and Uncle Bogie. Definitely a timeless treasure! Another ornament was gifted to her from my Kiwanis club treasurer, Richard Sellers and his wife Judi. Glammey & Papa added to the collection and bought Skyler a crystal ornament that was personalized reading, "Skyler Leona. Merry Christmas 2009. We love you dearly, Glammey & Papa." Sure wish my camera could photograph this lovely trinket. Below are pictures of her arrivals.

Skyler is a true chatterbox, loves stimulation and continues to be a truly happy little girl. When the camera is on, she's 100% ready to show off!

3 Generations......and Santa, too!

It was an ALL girl Saturday! Skyler, Laney and I drove to St. Petersburg to spend the whole day with Glammey. After Sky received countless kisses from her Grandparents, Papa gave her the cutest red antlers for some Christmas fun. She got a kick out of them and just looked absolutely adorable! Papa played with Laney while the 3 of us enjoyed a day of shopping. It was a fabulous sunny day. Plus Skyler got constant sugar from her Glammey!

Here's Skyler looking at herself in the mirror immediately after the antlers were placed upon her head. Just had to throw in the other 3 photos....too cute not to share.

Introducing Skyler & Santa........

During the middle of last week, Skyler accommodated me and my Kiwanis Club to The Florida Baptist Children's Home to help host a Holiday party for the children. We ate a wonderful breakfast, sang Christmas carols and enjoyed watching these boys and girls open all their gifts. Skyler even got to see Miss Helen, her football buddy! (Miss Helen works for the Baptist Home)

I have been apart of this amazing organization for over 4 years and it has always touched my heart as I learn more about their the tragic and heartbreaking circumstances, such as neglect and abandonment. How truly blessed our precious Skyler is because of all YOUR love that you give so unselfishly!

After the party, Skyler was introduced to Mr. Claus for the very first time. She, of course, loved his hugs and hearty laugh. I apologize for the background and for not taking these pictures at a different angle. Silly me was standing next to the Christmas tree. (Yes, I'm still a novice at all of this!)

Skyler wearing her new holiday outfit from Auntie Kevie & Uncle Larry.

Here she is (above) focusing on all the children and their toys!

And even Mrs. Claus enjoyed our little sweet angel.

For Iona.....

I apologize for the delay in updating all of the exciting news that has happened in Skyler's World! We sure had a busy and very eventful weekend. As you have probably guessed, Saturday's are occupied with lots of playtime.

Although Skyler can not stand on her own, she sure loves the assistance and glows once she's upright, feeling quite proud of herself, as you can tell in these next two pictures!

We traveled to Merritt Island to see Auntie Kevie, Uncle Larry, and Cousin Jodi & Jared on Sunday. We spent the day remembering and honoring Skyler's Grandmother, Iona. For it was exactly one year ago of her passing. (December 13th) Auntie Kevie cooked a delicious meal that happened to be one of Mom's favorites. We even drank Bloody Mary cocktails (another fave of Mom's) to celebrate her miraculous life. It really was a lovely day. How I wish Skyler just had that opportunity to meet her. Iona was such a wonderful, caring, and loving person and I was quite blessed to call her my Mother-in-Law! We certainly miss her......

During our visit, Skyler got to play with Cousin Jodi's dog, Dingo. She just adores dogs and Dingo was quite captivated with Skyler. I guess the dog finally had someone his own size to buddy around with! Here are some cute pictures of her newest pal.

Even Daddy & Jodi joined in on the fun!

After playing with Dingo, Skyler worked up an appetite, so Auntie Kevie fed Skyler one of her prized meals.......Oatmeal! She gobbled every spoonful and a bottle soon followed.

Skyler even got to see her cousin Nikki......well sorta. We skyped using the computer. Here's a pretty neat photo of Nikki on the computer screen and Skyler sitting on Auntie Kevie's lap.

After the computer fun, we relaxed with the family and enjoyed watching Skyler concentrate on the train that continuously went around the Christmas tree. She's never seen a train, so it was another first for our precious angel.

Play time with Uncle Larry & Cousin Jared.

It was such a special Sunday and we hated to say goodbye. I'm comforted knowing that we'll all be together in less than two weeks!

Now, I can not end the weekend wrap up without mentioning Friday Night Football. The State semi-finals were held on a cold, windy night at Bryant Stadium. Our Lakeland Dreadnaughts were shut out by Tampa Plant Panthers 20-0, ending their quest for a State 5A Championship Crown. Although it was a sad night, Skyler got to see her #1 football buddy, Miss Helen and at the end of the game, we all wished each other well and promised to return for the 2010-2011 season. By then, Skyler will be holding my hand as we climb up the stairs to our reserved seat. It really was an amazing football season and Skyler made so many new friends each Friday night.

All wrapped up in Miss Helen's embrace.

Our final picture to end the season. Yes, Skyler was a bit sad and yes, that's me with short hair.