Our Christmas holiday was wonderful!
I have some updating to do so we will go back to December 17th. I finally finished my master's degree and walked the stage to receive my diploma. It took me 3.5 years and a lot happened during that time - I had a new teaching job, got married, got pregnant, and then gave birth! I am SO happy to be finished and so glad that I stuck with it. There were MANY times that I thought about quitting. It was just a lot of work and life kept throwing a few curve balls (most of them positive ones!) at me and school just seemed like a burden. I never could have done this without Brad Johnson. He put up with my complaining, late nights of studying and writing research papers, editing papers for me at the last minute, holding down the fort when I spent hours away at class, and encouraging me to keep at it when I was at my wits end. I remember the second week of class this semester when we didn't have anyone to keep Field while I was at class (my mom kept him every Wednesday afternoon while I was at class, but she wasn't feeling well and we didn't want to expose Field to anything if she was sick). I had to drive him to Brad's office so that Brad could take over and I could get to class. I was in tears. I had a crying newborn, I needed to pump, and I was late for my 2nd class of the semester in which the professor takes attendance. Brad gave me a pep talk and pulled me out of my funk like he does for me so very often. I am thankful because now I am done. I have to extend a HUGE thank you to my husband, my family, and my friends for all of their love and support while I attended school. It took a toll on all of us and I never could have completed this degree without the help and support of so many. Bye bye, grad school, don't let the door hit you on the way out! :)
The very thankful graduate!
Can you see me? I am somewhere there in the middle!
After the graduation we had a wonderful celebratory dinner with my family and then Brad and I continued the celebration by hitting up a champagne bar afterwards with my sister and Michael. The best part about it was that Field had a slumber party at Nonnie and Granddaddy's so mommy and daddy got a full night's sleep!
That following Sunday we had a wonderful Christmas brunch at Oak Hills Country Club with my family and Santa, of course. We had the best time and Field was so good. Field's cousin, Ellie, wasn't in to Santa this year but Caroline and Field liked the guy! I liked him, too, until I caught him chugging spiked egg nog behind the Christmas tree. Bad Santa!
The Barnett Fam
Elle is not a fan!
Shhh...don't tell Ellie Santa is in the pic.
The only way we could get a pic of the 3 cousins with Santa was if mommy held Ellie.
Pretty Aunt Tara and Silly Uncle Bubba
During Christmas, we enjoyed spending time with both the Johnson and Barnett families. How lucky are we that both families live in the same city?! And oh how very fun it is with a little one! Field was way more into the paper than the gifts, but we've loved having our little one with us this Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, we celebrated by having a delicious dinner at the Johnson's. If you haven't had a meal cooked by my father-in-law, Buddy Johnson, you are MISSING OUT. That man can cook a mean meal and Brad and I are always blown away by the deliciousness of every meal we have over there. Pat, my mother-in-law makes the most delicious sides too. Can you say prime rib, roasted new potatoes, sauteed green beans, strawberry salad, delicious wine pairings, and Brandy freezes for dessert - yumm, yes please! It was fantastic! The Master Field sat at the head of the table as we all ate ourselves silly.
Helping Nonnie open her gifts
What did you get, Nonnie?
Field LOVES playing with his Granddaddy
Master Field at the head of the table
Reading with Nonnie before bedtime
Love these precious boys!
Santa left Field a note!
Sitting up like a big boy and checking out his new toy from Santa.
Santa brought Field his very first set of golf clubs!
After that, we headed back to the Johnson's for Christmas brunch. Once again, the meal was delish! We opened our Santa stockings and loved giggling at the silly things my father-in-law chose for our stockings. I love the tradition that he does the shopping for the stockings!
On Christmas night, we headed over to my parents' house for the Barnett family Christmas. It was a little quieter than usual since my brother and his wife spent Christmas with Tara's family in Houston. We missed you, Tara and Clayton!
We missed them so much!
Christmas at the Barnett house is always a BLAST! Wrapping paper, toys, clothes, people, kids, etc. everywhere. I looked over at Brad a few times and I think he was overwhelmed to say the least. Hey, what can I say, the Barnetts celebrate hard and there is nothing quiet or relaxing about it. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the giggles, excitement, and fun that we have as a family. After our gift exchange we had a delicious dinner together. Field crashed before dinner so he got in some good shut-eye while we enjoyed our meal with the family.
Checking out his cool, new toy
Sweet cousins
These 3 are going to have so much fun growing up together!
Chaos!
Field riding his new elephant rocker!
Caroline waited patiently for her turn.
Hangin' with Uncle Mikey
Helping Uncle Mikey open gifts
Ellie always finds herself playing with Field's toys.
Here she is in the exersaucer.
We headed home around 10:00 on Christmas night. We had to transfer Field from the crib at my parents' house to the car seat and fortunately, he stayed asleep during the process. Brad and I decided to drive around looking at Christmas lights on the way home. We are SO motivated for some serious Christmas lighting decor next year. Our little tour inspired us to go all out next year - watch out!
Sunday we spent some time with my 91 year old grandmother. Physically, she isn't doing too well, but mentally, she is sharp as a tack! It was great to visit with her and she loved seeing smiley Field. I forgot to snap a picture of the two of then giggling at each other.
We did find this picture of me when I was a baby at my Omah's house. Does this look like Field or what? Everyone says Field looks just like his daddy and I always agreed until I saw this pic of me at around 6 months.
Looks just like Field - other than my huge forehead - they didn't take head measurements back then but I am sure my head size would have been a concern. Haha!
Sunday night we all crashed hard - it was an exhausting but very fun Christmas holiday. I think all 3 of us were in our beds and asleep by 8:30 the last 2 nights. I went to download the Chrismas pics and found a bottle of breastmilk in the camera case - wow, you know you had a fun weekend when you find random things in random places - haha! I really have no idea how that got there but I laughed pretty hard when I found it. In our defense, the camera case does look a little similar to the small cooler we use for breastmilk when traveling.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!
