Gentry's First Christmas

There are a TON of pictures, so BEWARE! We started our Christmas with Christmas Eve service at the chapel here on base.

Our first Christmas as a family of three :)

Gentry in his Christmas outfit.

Santa came!!

Breakfast on Christmas morning.

Gentry crawling to his presents...his picked the dog's present first.

Hangin' out in front some of his gifts.

Let the unwrapping begin!

"I can't get this paper off fast enough!"

"Wow! The move & crawl ball from Grandma & Grandpap! Thank you."

Opening his gift from Grammy.

A pair of pj's and an outfit. There was also a Baby's First Christmas ornament.

He chose this one next.

Daddy's got to help him get the paper off.

Still working on it...

"Yumm!! This paper is tasty!"

A turtle to hold all his bath toys.

I think he likes it.

Thank you Great-Gramma!

He loves the bows and ribbons best.

He got this one open all on his own.

"My first tool set! Thank you Great-Gramma."

He's excited to see what Santa brought him.

His first set of wooden blocks :) Santa picked them out all by himself, too.

He wanted to see what this big blue thing was...

"Thank you Grammy for my new swing!"

Daddy & Molly wanted to help Gentry unwrap this one.

"Yay! My first block/shape sorter. Thanks Grandma & Grandpap!"

This is after a little nap. There was so much going on he had to take a break.

"If I can only get little pieces off, this is going to take forever!"

Good thing Daddy was helping him.

"Thank you Aunt Laura & Uncle Matt!!"

Concentrating so hard.

He loves the ribbons.

Cheesin' for the camera.

Mommy wanted to help unwrap this one.

"Yay, a busy ball popper! Thank you Aunt Laura & Uncle Matt!"

Gentry checking out his new toy from Aunt Laura & Uncle Matt.

--We would like to thank everyone who sent Gentry a gift. It was so fun to see the joy on his face as he unwrapped each gift. We had an amazing Christmas and were blessed to be able to talk with both sides of the family. Though we weren't able to be there in person we thought about all of you and can't wait to see you next time we're home.

"I'm gonna get you Daddy!!"

The days leading up to Christmas...

Gentry opening his present from his friend Evan (and Lianne). He loves to chew on the wrapping paper and try to eat the bows. Yum!

"This paper is yummy! Thank you!"

"Woa, my very first Steelers t-shirt!" Molly wanted to join in the fun as well.


Look who's working on pulling up!

Even though we had already seen Santa when Grammy was here, we decided to see him again. Santa came to the clubhouse in our neighborhood and we got to have breakfast with him. Gentry wasn't as fond of this Santa as he was of the first one we saw.

Our little ham playing with his toys.

First video of Gentry crawling. He's pretty fast!

Caught him pulling up again.

We decided to surprise Daddy at work. Mommy and Gentry took Daddy his lunch. Gentry is sporting his new Steelers t-shirt and also it was his first time wearing his Nike tennis shoes from his Uncle Matt :)

He's getting around VERY quickly. Of course, his favorite thing to get in to is the basket of dog toys. As soon as we put him down on the floor, he heads right in that direction.

Many Adventures

So I haven't been very good about updating very frequently. I'm sorry! We've been so busy with all our company.
After my dad left, Mitchell's mom (Wanda) arrived on Wednesday. We had such a good visit. We didn't do much, but were happy just to be together. But of course we went shopping :) Gentry really enjoyed the extra attention. Mitchell and I were thankful she babysat Gentry so we could go to the Tran-Siberian Orchestra on Friday night. What a great show! I can't wait to let Gentry unwrap his gifts from his Grandma & Grandpap.
My mom arrived on Saturday, so Gentry was extra spoiled with BOTH Grandma's here! We went shopping, to the zoo, and baked cookies. I really enjoyed her being here. It's going to be tough being away from our families for the holidays. We're so thankful they made the trip out to see us. We're also thankful for the gifts they bought us and Gentry.
Wanda left last Monday and my mom left on Saturday, so our house is back to it's normal self. We sure to miss having them around! After we dropped Mom off at the airport, we decided to do something fun since we were all the way down in San Diego. Since it was raining, we couldn't go to the Historic Gas Lamp District, so we went and toured the USS Midway instead. We really enjoyed ourselves. Unfortunately, we couldn't take the stroller so I wound up wearing Gentry the whole time...good workout for me! It was very interesting and a great way to spend a gloomy day. We probably spent about 4 or 5 hours just wandering the ship. It was nice to finally so something as a family. Gentry was so well-behaved throughout the whole trip. He's such a good baby.
For now, we're just gearing up for Christmas. I'm trying to make sure I got all the cards sent out, presents mailed, other presents wrapped and the house in order. We can't wait to see Gentry unwrap his gifts! However, I'm thinking we should have just gotten him a box since he seems so content with that. Silly boy!
Here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

I think this was his first taste of green beans...

I walked away for a second and came back to this...what a ham!

Munchin' away on cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes (not together).

After his "Thanksgiving" meal. Such a happy boy!

First taste of bananas (the store bought kind, not home-made).

At Seaport Village in San Diego with Grandma.

All dressed up for our date to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Yay! Gentry's first Christmas package! He couldn't wait to get into it!

"Yummm, this paper tastes great!"

"Who cares what's inside?! I have a box!"

Chari got him a lovey with his name embroidered on it. Now he has a lovey just like his Mommy did...okay, still does.

"Reading" the card from Chari.

Touring the USS Midway. Pardon the headphones, it was a self-guided audio tour.

View of the Coronado Bridge and Coronado Island from the flight deck.

Flight deck of the USS Midway.