Christmas in Pell City

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas in Pell City this year. Nathan could hardly stop for a few minutes to visit with Grandmama Murphy on the way because he was so excited to be going to see FeFe, One, Amanda and Jonathan. Christmas Eve Nathan attached himself to Jonathan's side and didn't want to be separated. Since Jonathan was willing to get close enough to Santa for a picture Nathan decided he would to. That and the promise of a Santa cookie. And Nathan knows that Jennifer comes with Jonathan now too. She was sweet enough to read his new book to him since he couldn't go to sleep on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning was lots of fun again as Nathan found gifts in his stocking that Santa brought. He was very into presents this year. He wanted to open his and everyone else's too. I think the act of opening a present was just as exciting as the toy inside. We had a wonderful time with all our family, Aunts and Uncles and Cousins and a wonderful Christmas dinner with Grandmother too.

Our Christmas

This year Nathan really began to enjoy Christmas with the excitement of decorating the tree and seeing all the Christmas lights. And he is beginning to understand it's Jesus' birthday we are celebrating and likes singing Happy Birthday Jesus. He amazed me as he stood up in a chair and sang "Away in a Manger" for our Senior Adults at church all by himself. But one of my favorite memories this year is the night before "Our Christmas" at home. We all got in late around 9:00 and we were all exhausted so Shane and I decided to let Nathan curl up in the bed with us until he went to sleep. After all "It is Christmas!" So we all put on our jammies and snuggled up in bed. The lights were out and all was quiet. As I was drifting off to sleep I felt Nathan's pull on my shoulder as he leaned up and whispered in my ear "Merry Christmas Mommy." One of those memories I hope stays etched in my mind forever. - Meredith








This was the best morning for all of us to do the present thing so Nathan had Christmas early. Meredith will write more later I am sure, but I wanted to give you pictures of our family Christmas. Also Nathan and I went to the Auburn Basketball game tonight. He made it all of about 10 minutes, but he had a great time in those few minutes. It felt like a real father/son type thing. - Shane

Christmas Traditions

A sweet lady where I work gave us one of the big popcorn tins for Christmas. We haven't had one in several years but it has been quite the hit with Nathan. He loves popcorn and now he has a new love "brown popcorn". I wish I had the camera ready to catch how big his eyes got when I opened that tin full of popcorn. He knows he can have the yellow and the brown but the orange will make him sick. But he has hardly touched the yellow. The caramel is halfway gone and we've had it less than a week. I've had to do some serious snack spreading with that caramel popcorn. This is a daily repeat.

Nathan: Good morning mommy. Let's have popcorn.
Mommy: Not for breakfast. Let's save it for snack.
(Popcorn for snack.)
Mommy: Nathan it's time to eat lunch.
Nathan: No, not lunch. Let's have brown popcorn.
Mommy: Eat your lunch then you can have brown popcorn.
(Popcorn for dessert.)
Mommy: Nathan it's time for supper.
Nathan: No mommy. Not supper. Let's have brown popcorn.

It's going to be a sad day for Nathan when the popcorn tin is empty. But this may have to become a Christmas tradition for our house.

Pee Pee in the Potty

It may be just a random event again but last night we had another "pee pee in the potty". He tried again this morning but no pee pee. He was pretty excited last night. We gave him a skittle because he's allergic to M&M's and he was wired so we'll have to find a not so sugary reward that still works.

Our Baby's Heartbeat

Yesterday in the midst of recovering from stomach viruses, fighting off a cold, and trying to finish up Christmas shopping I had a doctor's appointment. After the first store I dropped off Shane and Nathan at the bookstore and hurried over to the doctor's office thinking "Oh, I hope this doesn't take forever" so I could get back to Shane and Nathan and we could be on with our shopping and evening of dinner and Christmas lights. The nurse called me right back and I was in the room waiting on the doctor in no time. And I waited and waited and waited. Finally the doctor and the nurse came in and she began to roll the doppler thing over my belly and then I heard it... our baby's heartbeat. In that moment the peace and joy of God just washed over me. I realized I already have the greatest Christmas present I could ever ask for this year. God has given us another child. I don't really feel pregnant yet and I don't look pregnant yet but I want to shout to the world it's true! It's real! We are having a baby! We are blessed and I am so thankful and full of joy this Christmas.

Handy Manny

Handy Manny a.k.a Nathan appeared at our house today with a new haircut. He had a great time cruising the backyard in his truck with his tools and using his tools to repair the truck engine.

Santa Dancing Nathan

When Nathan was a baby we were at a friends house and he saw this reindeer in a rocking chair that sings and he would laugh and squeal everytime we made it sing. Ann couldn't stand for him to enjoy it that much and not have it at home so she sent it home with us. This year I got it out for him not sure how he would react. He still loves it. He immediately went to singing and dancing and went and grabbed his guitar so he could rock out with the reindeer. Thanks Ann for the reindeer and thank you Shane for doing the video and posting it.

Wellness Update

Well, Shane and I have finally recovered from the stomach bug. This one was a rough one and took a few days to recover. Nathan came down with it Wednesday night and is still having tummy troubles. Hopefully another day or two and we'll all be well.

A stomach virus...

...has attacked the Yancey household. Nathan apparently had it Sunday (even though he just threw up once). I had it yesterday, and Meredith has the worst of it and is still sick with it. So there may not be new blog updates for a couple of days.

This is one of those things that they don't tell you about in the "so you want to have kids" brochure. In 8 years of marriage I threw up maybe once. I have been sick to my stomach at least 3 times in the few years that Nathan has been around. Kids are great, but they also are little carriers for all sorts of germs. They should let you know that upfront.

Christmas Parades

This year we got to see two Christmas Parades. We went to the Eufaula Christmas Parade tonight. Nathan was all prepared with his new sheriff car and his jingle bells. He loved seeing the police car (Sheriff) and fire engine (Red) and marching band (that plays trumpees) and horses and Santa.



We also got to see the Mayfield parade last Saturday night. They actually still throw out candy at their parade which was a big hit with the boys but yes we moms gave them suckers to entertain them before the parade even started.

Hill's Bar-B-Que & Santa

Saturday, we all went to Hill's and ate lunch. Hill's is favorite of Shane's that dates back to his childhood. We can't go home to Mayfield without having a Hill's hot dog on a round bun with a fountain cherry Sun Drop. Saturday was a special day because Santa was there. Nathan was very excited when he entered the restaurant and smiled when he came over to see us. When it came time to sit in his lap and have his picture made he was having none of that. Nope, not even for a sucker.

Nathan's New Train Table (Thanks One!)

Ya Ya's Island

Friday morning we found a new treasure in Paducah - a new play place called Ya Ya's Island. It was loads of fun for all. Shane, Sumer and Corey and I were just as excited as the boys to explore this treasure cove.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we spent Thanksgiving at Nana's house in Kentucky. On the way there Nathan did not want to even stop to eat & play at Chick Fil A because we were going to Nana's house. And what a wonderful time we had. Nanny (Aunt Mary) and Nana and cousins and more to play with and declicious homeade cooking galore. You just can't beat it. We are very blessed by the Lord to have him as our Heavenly Father and Savior and then to be blessed with such wonderful families here on earth. Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Life is a Highway

Nathan has had the best time playing with this eighteen wheeler truck that my brother Philip sent him for his birthday. He loves to play out the scene from Cars where Lightning McQueen is riding in the back of his transport truck "Mack". He very quickly picked up on the song "Life is a Highway" that plays in the background during the movie.

Calvary Thanksgiving

Wednesday night at church we had our annual thanksgiving dinner and it was delicious! My first taste of turkey and dressing for the year. Now I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving Day. We are very blessed to have the church family we do. They are our family away from home. This weekend is an exciting weekend for Calvary because we have a prospective pastor coming. Please pray for us that we will know the Lord's will and follow his leadership.

Vrroom! Vrroom! I Like Trucks!

Nathan is a lot like his dad in that when something new comes around he is all about it for the next few days whatever "it" is. Wednesday, Shane was up at 7:30 downloading the Netflix thing for the XBox Live which came out that day. Which I thought was crazy but it is actually a pretty cool thing. Wednesday afternoon Shane found some Fire Engine and City Street Truck videos for Nathan to watch and Nathan loved them. We have now been playing Garbage Truck with his dump trucks for the last few days.

Playing Cars with Daddy

Today Shane got creative with a box cutter and some spray paint while Nathan and I were napping and turned some empty diaper boxes into a little Cars town for Nathan. When he woke up from his nap he played with his cars for probably an hour and tonight when he was saying his prayers he said "Thank you God for playing cars with Daddy." Too sweet.

A Beautiful Compromise

Two weeks of sickness and travel have made Nathan forget that he has to sleep in his own bed. Tonight he would not calm down and proceeded to scream for all told over an hour (if you add up all the the different times we tried to just let him cry himself to sleep). He refused to go to sleep without his mommy and I refused to let him sleep anywhere other than his own bed. This was our compromise.

There aren't many beds that are too short for my sweet wife, but this is one of them. She folded herself up in his little bed and after they posed for a picture it took him all of two minutes to go to sleep.

It was a very beautiful sight for me. Meredith became like Jesus for our little boy tonight. There were rules that couldn't be broken. He couldn't come and be with us, so she chose to be with him. It was a magical moment.

--Shane

Visit to Franklin

Today while Caleb and Silas were at school Nathan got a special trip to the cupcake store, Ivey Cake, in downtown Franklin. We got downtown just as the Veteran's Day parade began so he also got to see lots of cars, soldiers (ROTC groups) and high school bands playing too.

Life with the Yates

This week while Shane is at a Lifeway writer's conference Nathan and I are staying with the Yates. Nathan is sleeping with the big boys (Caleb and Silas) in their room and we are having lots of fun playing together. We've played lots of Cars, Handy Manny fix-it, Warehouse Mouse searching with wobble goggles and yesterday Aunt Sumer set up a cool obstacle course challenge for the boys including a tunnel crawl which Nathan loved.

War Eagle

Saturday we went to the Auburn Homecoming game. We tailgated with some of our friends we went to college with and enjoyed catching up. Then we went to the game for a little while. Nathan was so excited about going to Auburn to see the football game and have popocorn. He talked about it from the time we got up Saturday morning till we got to the game. He loved watching the football players and the band until... the popcorn ran out. Then he was done. We would have enjoyed watching more of the game but I guess a two year old can only handle the crowd for so long. We did have a good day just being in Auburn again.

Football Fever

Saturday we went to spend the day with my family in Pell City. It was wonderful to see them all. Nathan had so much fun visiting with everyone and especially playing football with Uncle Jonathan.

My dad pulled out this child size football helmet that was his when he was little. Nathan thought that was the greatest. It was still a little big for him but oh, he was in heaven with a football helmet and playing tackle with the big boys.