End of the Year

I am finally going to get this posted! The pictures have been uploaded since two days after Christmas. I've just been busy and tired.

Before Christmas I got pictures of Georgia doing several different things, like eating, playing, and getting into lots of stuff!

At the beginning of December we had two parties in one night, so we had to manage time. One was the Thanksgiving meal for my dad's family and the other was the Christmas meal for Shawn's mom's family. We had the Thanksgiving meal the weekend after because my one of my aunts had been in Israel that week. We went to it and ate and then went to the Busbee Christmas party. We got there after everyone had eaten and a few people had already left. But we were able to give out Christmas cards and see some family we usually only see at that party.

Later in the month we went to the Beaver Creek Christmas gathering with Shawn's dad and his sister and some of her kids. It was interesting to say the least. There were some people that were part of the tribe that had blonder hair than I do! And the only person they could convince to play Santa was a teenager. It was so funny. He was wearing flip flops!

For Christmas Eve we went to Shawn's cousin's house for a party that night. Then after we got Georgia to sleep we wrapped presents and put out her Santa gifts. We couldn't put anything under the tree before hand because Georgia would have torn into whatever was there. She took all the ornaments off the tree that she could reach and we just wanted to keep as much in tact as possible. While I was doing the wrapping Shawn put together out gingerbread house. It was kinda sad, it fell apart very slowly. So we took a picture of it and then threw it away.

The next morning we brought Georgia downstairs and she got to see all the presents under the tree. Her eyes were so wide and it was as though she didn't know what to play with first. We let her play for a little while and then we went to church. After church my family and Shawn's family came over to eat lunch at our house (we decided that would be easier for us than going to too many different houses in one day). We exchanged gifts with his family after lunch and then had a little down time and went to my mom's house to exchange gifts with them. We went from there to my aunt's house for the Gunter Christmas party. We got home way after her bedtime and she collapsed almost as soon as we got home. I think she had a really good Christmas.

Here is Georgia eating broccoli. She loves it!



Shawn was playing with Georgia while she was supposed to be eating.



This is apparently what happens while I'm getting ready for church on Sunday mornings.



All ready for the Clemson Carolina game. Fortunately for Georgia, she was not awake to see that horror show.



At the Busbee party. Shawn's dad had already taken the kids home so we didn't manage to get a family picture with everyone in it.



Georgia wanted to help decorate the tree.



Watching tv with her leg propped up.



She loves to empty out her book and get in the drawer.



The Beaver Creek office with lots of artifacts.



The Beaver Creek Santa (flip flops not shown).



She also empties out her toy bins and sits in them.



She also takes her shoes out and play with them (the love of shoes start early in girls).



Our sad gingerbread house.



Christmas Eve story time.



Her Santa stash.



Too many toys to play with.



Ready for church.



Opening gifts at with my family (her new favorite thing, a car).



At the time her favorite toy was the cat's new toy.



All my family at the Gunter get together.



The "big" cousins.



The "little" cousins.



Georgia sitting on anther teen Santa's lap.



Santa's siblings ganging up on him.



Going to sleep with her new baby.

Catching Up

Since Georgia's birthday we have had lots of growth developmentally. She also had the first Halloween that she actually enjoyed. Last year she slept most of the time.

The week after her birthday she started walking. Since then she has started walking faster and faster. She attempts to run, and mostly ends up falling over. She is saying several words as well. She can say eye, hi, bye, baby, daddy, and mama. She waves and says hi to just about everyone she sees. She also loves to give kisses. On the down side, sometimes you can't tell if she is going to kiss you or bite you. And she bites pretty hard. And since her birthday she has added two teeth to the bottom, bringing her total to 8. She can also point to her eyes, nose, and occasionally her mouth and ears.

Georgia has also had lots of ear infections. We've taken her to the doctor 4 times for ear infections since Labor day week. The last time the doctor told us that if she gets another one he wants us to see an ENT to talk about getting tubes. I know that it will be better to have tubes to prevent all the ear infections. I just feel anxious about Georgia having to have something like that done.

Since it has cooled off a lot we've been taking walks on the afternoons when we get home from work. We aim for 2 or 3 days a week. We've met a few of the neighbors on our walks and it is a nice time to spend with one another way from the tv. This is also me getting some exercise. I hate to exercise, mostly because I just never get into the habit, never really had an example set for me to do so, and I hate sweating. But I really want to lose the rest of my baby weight and this is a way to exercise that is not a solo type of thing.

For Halloween we went to the Fall Festival at our church on Sunday night and then to the Trunk or Treat at Trinity on Halloween night. Georgia had a ball both nights because there was so much open space to walk around. She walked and walked most of the time we were out both nights. We dressed her in a lady bug costume. She looked so cute!

Here is Georgia spending time with her daddy.



Perfecting her standing while clapping.



Playing in Shawn's work boots.



She loves to point and then touch fingers with someone. It looks the "The Creation" by Michelangelo.



She also loves to play with noses.



She she loves my glasses. So I thought I would let her see what they are like to wear.



She loves to take our her books.



She is trying to sort her shapes as well.



She gets read to before going to sleep at night.



She, or course, also loves Clemson.



Here, Georgia is sporting her puppy slippers.



All bundled up for a walk. This was before the weather turned warm again.



She loves to tote things around now that she is walking. This is her walking her piano.



Here is Georgia playing in the ball pit. She got one ball for each hand and kept them the rest of the night.



Here we are together. We don't get many pictures of me with her because I take pictures most of the time.



Her Aunt Whitney took her outside to swing.



And this is what she did most of the night, walk around.



Here are all of us together.



And us with Whitney.



There was a lot of standing in line at trunk or treat.



While walking around she saw Aunt Joye.



So she stopped to talk to her. It was the first time my aunt had gotten to see her in a while.



There was a great house set up that Georgia got to walk up to. It fascinated her.



Then we saw our friends Mandy and Kevin. This is their daughter Addie.

Brithday Party

The Saturday after her birthday we had a party for family. This ended up being just about the most people in our house that we've ever had. While Georgia has been around crowds before, they are usually crowds of people dispersed in a large space. We had a bunch of people in our not too large house. So she seemed to be a little overwhelmed at first. Some gifts I would open and she didn't really pay attention to them. Some things I would open and she would play with until something else came along that got her attention. One of my aunts gave her a gift bag full of books, which she loves, so she looked at them for a very long time. She has since played with everything she got that day so I'm sure they will be well used.

After we opened gifts came the cake and ice cream. We knew from prior experience that she wasn't a big fan of ice cream (I think it's too cold for her). So after we blew out the candle she got a piece of cake. At first Shawn fed some to her. They she tried to feed herself a little. Then she just played with it.

By the time it was all said and done I felt like I didn't get to talk to very many people. Between opening her presents and serving cake I was tied up the whole time. But I think that everyone had a good time. The only bad thing about that day was that Georgia didn't get a nap, all day long. So she was worn out by the time everyone left. Our friends George and Shanna stayed after the party because we don't get to see them as often as we would like. That meant I was able to get another picture of George and Georgia.

Before everyone got to the party we took a picture of Georgia. She is on top of the mat we put under her high chair.



Now without the mat. She really wasn't into smiling at this point.



Opening presents. This bag was full of books, which she loves.



She took the bow off of this present before I could get to it.



Musical instruments.



Some more books.



A play pocketbook.



A Clemson cheer-leading dress.



She posed for this picture.



Her cake with the candle lit.



Singing "Happy Birthday."



Waiting for cake.



Not sure what to do with it.



Daddy is feeding her.



Then her Uncle Jonathan started to mess with her.



She started to try to eat on her own.



Pop came to see how she was doing.



The fork was very interesting to her.



There was much less mess than I thought there would be.



After everyone left we got a picture of Georgia with George.



Some things I left off the last post: Georgia has been clapping for a while. She also waves bye, although mostly it's after the person telling her bye has gone. She did wave bye to a car in the parking lot at my allergy doctor's office this week. A few days after her party she took a few steps. She has since progressed to taking almost 10 steps at a time. She slowed down in the last few days because she has a double ear infection. We have been trying to get Georgia walking on video, but every time we have the camera, she only walks a step or two. On the other hand, if no one is paying attention, she will walk across part of the living room. Maybe next time.