One Weekend, Not Long Ago.....

Ok, so sorry this is a little late being posted, but it's been a little crazy as always around here. On January 16th, we had Caleb dedicated at Powell Church where we attend worship services. Caleb did great and even scrunched up his little nose at the crowd and smiled. He then slept the rest of the service on Grandmommy. It was great. You can view the video of the dedication below if you choose.



That Sunday as we sang "How Great Is Our God," I couldn't help but think of how truly awesome He is. As I sang, I looked down the rows and saw all of my family, my church family and my immediate family. I saw my nephew, who is now five, sitting there and couldn't help but think of how just yesterday he was Caleb's age. It made me realize even more than I already had, that time goes by so fast. In James 4, he reminds us that our life is but a vapor, it's here for an instant and then vanishes. The older I get, the more this verse, and so many others like it, really close in on my heart. I'm learning more each day to be thankful for the time I've been given. For the family, love, shelter, food, forgiveness, salvation, and grace I've been given. The list can go on forever. Jason and I have so many people that love us and care for us and would do anything for us and for Caleb. We are so blessed. Thank you to all who dedicated themselves to being an example for Caleb that day. We're going to need all the help we can get. :)


On another note....


On Saturday the 15th, we celebrated Jason's 30th birthday with friends and family over dinner. I had planned on it being a surprise, but eventually told Jason in order to get his feedback on where he wanted to have his dinner party. I did surprise him with an awesome cake (thanks Melissa!) and a few other gifts. His cake was so tasty, but it also told a story. Each tier represented a decade of Jason's life and had things that represented important milestones through his life. It was so cute! I believe he had a great time and once again, it was wonderful to be surrounded by all of our family and friends.

Caleb loved the soft pretzels!

I would love to post pictures of everyone who came, but there were so many! Thank you again to all who came out Saturday and Sunday in support and in celebration of my boys. It meant so much to us.

R

10 Months

January was a busy month, despite my lack of blogging. I'll catch you up soon enough, but until then, enjoy the few pictures I could get of my little boy when he turned 10 months old. It was not a great day in the Norris household. Caleb was not having a good day due to teething and mommy was not having a good day due to Caleb teething, so these are the results. Sorry.










Yep, that last picture pretty much describes it all. Not any smiles this time around. Oh well.

R

Christmas: Take 1! (and 2......and 3)

I know most of you have long fallen out of the Christmas spirit, but here's my Christmas post for Caleb. If kids that get presents make Santa's good list, then Caleb must have been at the top because the amount of presents this kid got (at 9 months old) was ridiculous! To be honest, there are still tons of toys (still in the box, I might add) sitting in our dining room because we just don't know where to put them all. I'm not complaining, Caleb is very blessed to have such a giving family, but dang. There's no way pictures can do it justice, but here's some shots of Caleb's three Christmases.

Christmas #1 (Grandmommy & Granddaddy's house) - December 23rd

It's rare to get all 4 grandkids together.....I'm sure you can imagine why. Thanks Uncle Jared for trying to hold it all together!

Caleb LOVES books. He gets that honest! He cared less about anything else after opening this book.

Caleb had lots of help opening gifts. Cousin Will was his handy helper!

Sweet Ezra coming in to make sure we're doing it right. All three cousins have a way of always making Caleb smile.

Carter toughed it out as long as he could, but alas, he drifted off sporting his new hat from Aunt Rachel and Uncle Jason.

Uncle Jared reading Caleb's bedtime story. Thanks Uncle Jared!

Christmas #2 (Mommy & Daddy's house) - December 25th

Since this was Caleb's first Christmas, we decided to go easy on the gifts. Jason and I got each other one thing and we didn't even wrap it. We just stuffed it down in the stockings and called it done. Jason gave me two books and I gave him a new Tennessee Vols hat. Merry Christmas. For Caleb we got him five things, I believe. One from Mommy and Daddy and Santa brought four gifts. Our Christmas was very quick, but the part we enjoyed the most was relaxing together as a family for our first Christmas together. We had tons of food and fun waiting for us that day. Here's a few shots of Christmas Eve (we always give each other ornaments) and Christmas Day. Please remember make-up did not exist that day......

Caleb's ornament from Mommy & Daddy

Jason's ornament from me

My ornament from Jason

Caleb's ornament from Grandmommy and Granddaddy

Our attempt at a family photo on Christmas Eve.....they just kept getting better...

See?

Told you so

Caleb's first Christmas present from Mommy and Daddy

Nana and Papa joined us on Christmas morning via skype


Merry Christmas everybody!!!

I love the look on his face here. What is this?

He loves books!

We all know who the center of attention is around here...

A beautiful white Christmas!

Overall, Caleb played his little heart out. Christmas will never be the same.

Christmas #3 (Nana and Papa's house) - January 1st

We drove to Nana and Papa's house on December 30th for New Years and we celebrated our Christmas with them on New Year's Day. We had a fun night on New Year's Eve playing games with family and friends, eating (of course), and playing with Caleb. Our friends Jay and Leigh from Knoxville also happened to be in Nashville, so we invited them to join us on New Year's Eve for all the fun at my parents' house. A great time was had by all!

Our great friends, Jay and Leigh

This is what you get when Jason and Jay get together....

Jenny & James

Sisters!

Does it get any better looking than this? I don't think so! :)

Momma and her girls.....her short girls.

Brother-in-laws and their beards

Dad with his two "sons"

Christmas morning!

Look what Santa brought Caleb!

He LOVES his wagon

Cat and Dog that sings "Jesus Loves Me" to go along with his bunny

Yay! More books!

Going for a ride

He was scared of his new tunnel, but he was cute anyways

This kid loves his bath time!

Jenny and James at their new house!

Congratulations Aunt Jenny (Nini) and Uncle James!

As many photos as I've uploaded for you, they just can't do our adventures justice. We had such a great time and I wish I could share more photos with you, but it takes forever! You can always find me on Facebook and look at all of the photos from our trips. Trust me when I say there are some funny ones. It's not everyday you can work Kenny Chesney, a shake weight, Jurassic Park, and creme fraiche into Christmas, but we did. Inside jokes are priceless. Thank you to everyone who made our first Christmas as parents so memorable. We love you all!

R