New Years Eve

GiGi bought hats, crowns, blowers and horns to bring in the new year.  Trenton, Riley and Chase sure enjoyed playing with the items.  I think Trenton could have done without the hat, but Mommy wanted to get some cute pictures so she kept putting the big thing on him.  Trenton lasted until 10:15 Franklin time, so that is a pretty big accomplishment since that is 11:15 Marietta time.  The cousins played the night away!

 Trenton loves party blowers.  Look how talented....2 at once! 

 Happy New Years GiGi and PaPaw!

 Told you he loved blowers......every picture has them either in his mouth or hand.  I think he gathered several here.

 GiGi also had poppers you would pull and a prize would come out.  Trenton got a key chain calculator--CPA in training, I guess.

 Daddy and Baby Hutch

GiGi told the grandkids bedtime stories.

Welcome Cousin Hutch!

Christmas came early in Tennessee, and we were excited to meet the newest addition to the family while up in Franklin.  Hutch Jackson Wagers was born December 23 just before midnight.  The 7 lb healthy baby boy was such a blessing!  You forget just how tiny they are!  This was Trenton's first time holding a little baby, and he did a fantastic job.  He was so excited about the opportunity to hold Hutch!  Guess he is in training for being a big brother! 

Franklin Christmas

We enjoyed extending Christmas and celebrating with Daddy's family the following week. 

 Trenton, Daddy and GiGi look for the hidden pickle in the tree.  It is a Wagers tradition.

 Trenton sings (really just blows hard) into the microphone of his new cd player.

 Bubble wrap is just as fun as the gifts!

Trenton continues helping people open presents at GiGi and PaPaw's house.  Leopard was GiGi's Christmas theme this year.  PaPaw got him PJs and one of the gifts we got her a decorative leopard printed shoe wine holder.

Christmas Day

It was a very merry Christmas in our house the morning of the 25th!  Trenton absolutely loved opening presents this year.  Not only did he open all of his, but he helped each person open their presents, too.  He had to make sure all tape and wrapping paper was completely off, and I mean completely.  If even the tiniest was left on the box, he'd say, "Ut-oh" and insist on getting it off.  His cozy coupe car and doctor's kit were among his favorites.  "Tools" (doctor utensils) are now carried around on a regular basis.  The thermometer has even joined "Hank" in his favorite toy category.  He must take that tool with him everywhere--store, bed, bath.  Of course, Hank still goes everywhere, too, but there are currently two items in hand.

 He's a chauffeur......

 A fisherman.........

 Baseball player........

A cashier.........

A doctor....... 

 Christmas lunch was prepared by Granna.  Trenton woke up from his nap with quite an appetite.  We take advantage of this these days!  He had turkey, green beans, kiwi, strawberry and a roll.  Yummy!

 After helping us open presents all morning, Trenton helped Aunt Jacquelyn and Uncle Brad open their presents. 

Christmas Eve Service

We love the fact our church offers children services on Christmas Eve.  It sure makes it easier to bring a child there and not have to worry about the commotion or noises he or she makes.  We attended the early 3:00 service knowing Trenton would get an early nap in and still be ready for bed at 7:30.  Trenton's infamous words from the service were:

1."Yay!" (after every song, sermon, prayer, and just when it went quiet, of course)

2.  "What's that?" (when he heard a baby cry or another noise)

Our church also does a neat activity to involve the children in the service.  The children get to dress up as nativity characters.  The nursery and preschool age children were angels.  That is a more difficult attire to convince a boy to wear, even at the young age that he is.  We told him he was Buzz Lightyear and he graciously put the wings on.  The gown and halo were too much and was all we got on him this year.  He was the cutest angel there, of course!  :)  He walked down front when the angels were called with all his "toys" in hand to join Mary, Joesph, Baby Jesus, the wisemen and shepherds at the alter.  Paper, envelopes, and pens had been occupying his attention in the pew--anything when you are in church!

Afterwards, we visited with the Powell/Bickford family and Tucker/Hopkins family on the church's lawn.  The Grandparents and adults chatted while the boys climbed on the nativity figures set up out front.  It was nice to let them burn off some steam on the beautiful afternoon. 

We went to dinner after with Granna and Opa and then headed to bed, excited about Santa's arrival the next day.  You see, Dax our elf had been reporting to Santa about all Trenton's good (or naughty) behavior lately.  (Are you familiar with the Elf on the Shelf book?)  Although the elf was around last Christmas, of course, Trenton named him Dax this year.  It took several days for the name arise.  Trenton would just call him elf in the beginning, which unfortunately sounded like "ass"--oops!--so we really couldn't keep that. 

Another neat thing was that we found a 30 min. TV show titled the Elf on the Shelf, which we watched numerous times a day for the weeks leading up to Christmas. Trenton absolutely loved it!  Each time the Elf in the show, Chippey, would fall down or lose his flying magic, Trenton would instantly shout, "He's ok!" even before he would hit the ground.  He knew what was coming next.  That is another popular Trenton quote of this age.  He says it about himself all the time when he trips or purposely falls down to get your attention.  He likes to say it, and he will even ask you about if  you are ok if you cough or do anything he needs to check up on you with. 

 



Owners of.....a Nebulizer

Our little boy came down with his first serious cough ever this winter.  Although we initially thought it was a cold, once the wheezing started, we knew it was something more serious.  Now, we our the fine new owners of a nebulizer.  Dr. Clements prescribed a nebulizer treatment every 4-6 hours, a steroid, and another medicine to cure the bronchial infection.  Trenton was surprisingly good with the nebulizer and was holding it to his face on his own after one day.  Soon thereafter, Mommy caught it, followed by GiGi, PaPaw, and Granna.  It was a mad strand of something bad!

Daddy gives Trenton his nebulizer treatment the first night. 

Raven's Cliff

To expose Hank to the great outdoors in Georgia, Katherine and I planned a day trip to North Georgia to hike.  Hank grew up in Colorado and always takes Katherine on an adventure on west whether skiing, show shoeing or simply hiking.  Here, although there are tons of great hikes, she never had done it.  I think we have now made it a tradition that when they come back into town we'll take a scenic hike because we had such a fun time this go round. 

We drove to Raven's Cliff just outside of Helen.  Mommy had done the hike several times before.  She had hiked it growing up with Granna and Opa, then after Daddy and she started dating she introduced it to him.  If I remember correctly, Uncle Brad and Aunt Jacquelyn got engaged along the trail.  Now, it was Trenton's turn to be initiated into the Raven's Cliff hike.  We always remember the hike for the heart in the tree along the trail. 

It was the perfect day; cool, but sunny and beautiful.  That week, there had been rain so the stream was full and the waterfalls were flowing.  Round trip it was a 5 mile hike traversing the stream via boardwalks.  It was the ideal length for Mommy who has a little over 4 months pregnant and Daddy who had to carry an extra 25 lbs on his back.  Most of the journey Trenton took in the pack and was a trooper loving the ride Daddy provided him.  However, he did have times he wanted out and to hike himself.   He marched along with us, even finding his own hiking stick along the way.  Lily was there on the hike, too, so he would tell her, "'c'mer, c'mer" so she would follow.  Once we were at the falls, Trenton insisted on continuing on the steep part as well.  Daddy helped him go to the second falls.  Once there, he added a rock to the stack of rocks started by previous hikers marking the top of the summit.  On the way back to the car, Trenton took a nice nap on Daddy's neck.  Hikes can wear you out! 

Lily, Hank, Katherine, Daddy and Trenton at the trailhead.

The infamous heart tree--we have many different family pictures from this spot.

Trenton likes the song, "A Hiking We Will Go" to the tune "The Farmer and the Dell"--a Mommy creation.

Trenton determined to hike further even when it got rocky and steep.

Trenton marking the summit top.

Group shot

Trenton had fun throwing rocks in the stream.  (See the rock in mid air?)

Cutie pie plays peek-a-boo around trees with Hank.

Dinner at Melnicks

Mommy's best high school friend Katherine and her hubby Hank (yes, we named Trenton's toy pilot after him since he flies in the Navy) were in town for the holidays.  It was great to visit with them and it was an extra nice treat that they brought their dog Lily, Trenton's long lost friend from Virginia Beach, with them.  Trenton loves her as much as Kiki (as Trenton calls Katherine) and Hank themselves, and I'm pretty sure Lily enjoyed him since every other piece of food made it to the ground.  Pretty soon he realized it and would give Lily his food on purpose.  Now that is what we need around our house while it is on the market! 

Mrs. Karen had toys sent out from went Katherine and her brother Michael were little.  He liked the blocks best and would take them apart.  He didn't like to put them together.  That was an "ut-oh" to him and he would quickly pull them apart as fast as you could build anything.   Mr. Larry was goofy with Trenton as usual, and taught him something very naughty--to say "Go Gators!" Can you believe that?......in a bulldog/crimson tide family!  Luckily it only stuck with Trenton that night.   

We had fabulous Chili, and Trenton made a meal off cheese, chips, and an apple.  That is how he is these days.  Our wonderful, not-at-all-picky-eater at all has vanished just like that.  According to fellow parents, we were lucky to have that eater for over a 1 1/2 years (they usually don't even last that long!)  We hope to see that eater back again one day! :) 

I think it was this night that Hank persuaded Kevin into running the Tough Mudder in Feb.  It's man time, as they would refer to it.   It is an 11 mile run through mud and various obstacles.  Best of luck boys! 

 Larry gave Trenton a Gator and said, "Go Gators!" only once before Trenton started repeating it.  At least he isn't doing the Gator Chop!  :)

 Trenton plays hide and seek avoiding putting his pjs on.  As he likes to say, "I'm nake!"  It is really cute!

 This picture cracks me up because Trenton looks HUGE!  By the angle, you'd never guess he was not even two years old!

Kiki would tickle Trenton, and he loved it!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

A dear teaching friend of Mommy delivered a baby at 27 weeks last year.  The 1 lb. 5 oz. baby girl was a fighter, and we felt very blessed this past weekend to celebrate Olivia's 1st birthday!  She is a such a miracle and her parents are extremely strong individuals--we all can learn a lot from this family!  Olivia, we hope your 2nd year is just a blessed as your 1st!  Thanks for letting us celebrate the day with you!  We love you!

 Olivia digs into her Pink Sock Monkey birthday cake!

Trenton tries to hold Olivia's hand, but she doesn't look too interested. 

Carriage Ride

Horses are one of Trenton's favorite animals.  Yes, he has always been a fan of animals in general, but once Daddy put the horse on the ipad a couple months ago, Trenton became obsessed.  Together they named the horse "Joe" and now Trenton refers to almost all horses as "Joe" thinking they are all his famous ipad horse. 

When we heard the Avenue offered carriage rides during the holidays, we thought this was the perfect outing for Trenton.  He was delighted as he rode the horse drawn carriage with Mommy and Granna, but not so enthralled as he had to wait his turn to go on the carriage ride.  Patience has been a hard concept for Trenton to learn, but we are working on that and hopefully as he gets older he will get better with it.  Luckily, Opa was there to chase Trenton around, Granna waited in line, and Mommy could rest some--the pregnancy is wearing her out these days!

 Trenton learning how to wait his turn.

 Yay, Trenton and Granna are ready for the carriage ride!

 

Curiosity Hits

At our house, we couldn't keep presents under the tree.  Trenton would get into them before you knew it.  At Granna and Opa's house, Trenton doesn't dare get into the presents, but you can certainly tell he is curious about them. 

Santa Party 2011

The annual Santa party, hosted by our good friends the Powells, was another hit this year.  Trenton was the first to run up to Santa as he entered the room, he immediately brought a book to Santa to read, which then kicked everything off.  He became the first child to "talk" with Santa.  Not much talking happened this year.  Trenton's smile, which was a mile wide, was enough. You could certainly tell Trenton was a big fan of the jolly ol' fellow!  The sang songs, put on reindeer noses, danced, and even received a present from Santa himself. 

Looking forward to next year when there are two children on his lap!  Hope the next little one likes Santa just as much! :)