Ward Christmas Day Gathering

Please go back and check out all of the new pictures that have just been uploaded. I urge you to even go back to November; there are lots of new picture to catch up on.

After opening gifts at home, we went to see Gran, Poppie, Uncle Matt, Aunt Tara, and Uncle-For-the-Day Richard.

Lila started the event wearing her Santa suit, though she only made it through about half of the gift giving. (Notice she's still holding onto the Eeyore she got this morning.)



She was so happy to see Aunt Tara again. She had to feel of her face to make sure it was really her.



Uncle Matt and Lila were twins for the day, minus the camo t-shirt.



Gran and Poppie went overboard buying Lila gifts. You can definitely tell that she's a first grandchild!



Daddy loves his little girl SO much!



Mommy holds up her shirt to see if it will fit Lila. From the look on her face, it looks like Lila likes it.



Lila had a special "Baby's First" stocking this year at Gran and Poppies. She really seemed to like the velvet texture, and mommy liked all of the practical things Gran stuffed inside it, like teething tablets, baby toothpaste, baby spoons, and a sippy cup.

Christmas Morning

Lila's first Christmas morning was great. Even though we were still stuck in our townhouse (just a few more days to go), we still made the best of it with our little tiny Christmas tree. Lila didn't know that difference.



Mommy and Daddy had to help Lila open her gifts. Once they were open she knew exactly what to do with them. Everything goes straight into the mouth.



Lila's favorite present was her baby Pooh characters. They were by far the cheapest present at $1.00 each and they don't do anything, but they fit perfectly in her tiny hands. She screamed every time we tried to take them away.



Since Lila finally started crawling a few days ago, it's hard for her to focus. She was so interested in crawling that she didn't care anything about presents.



Overall, Christmas morning was wonderful. We didn't have to get up early or rush to anyone's house. It was a fabulous baby's first Christmas.

Baptism

We finally had Lila's baptism on Christmas Eve. It was held at The Vine service at First Centenary United Methodist Church. Uncle Brian performed the ceremony and Uncle Matt assisted.



Uncle Brian showed off Lila to the entire congregation and she couldn't have been better behaved.



We chose Christmas Eve for the ceremony because we wanted so badly for Aunt Tara and Uncle Matt to be able to attend. They made a special trip in from Sweetwater to be there for Lila's special day.






Mommy was so proud of Lila for being such a good girl during the ceremony.



We are so thankful for all family members that chose to attend in support of Lila.



From left to right: Great Aunt Cathy Luttrell, Great Granny Johnson, Great Grandad Johnson, Gran, Uncle Matt, Aunt Tara, Poppie, Mommy, Lila, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Melanie, and Uncle Brian

Davis Family Christmas

Lila celebrated Christmas with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Brian, and Aunt Melanie on December 23. She got lots of great gifts from everyone.



She even received an early baptism gift from Grandma and Grandpa.



She was so happy to see Aunt Melanie; we hadn't seen them since their wedding in November!!



After a night of gift giving and receiving, Lila was pooped.

Johnson Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with our Johnson side of the family on December 23. Granny, Grandad, Gran, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Larry, Uncle Jimmy, Great Aunt Doris, Granny, and cousins Cristal, Breanna, Justin, Colby, Donna, Brandy, and Sidney were all there. Daddy was sick and couldn't make it.

Aunt Cathy got to get to know Lila a little better.


Even though Colby gets to see Lila most days at the babysitter's house, they still took time to pose for a picture together. Colby got Lila one of her favorite gifts: a Little People set. She won't let go of her Little People.



Still holding onto her Little People, Lila got acquainted with Great Granny again. She seemed to be very interestd in Granny's expressions.

Ward Family Christmas

This year's annual Ward family party was held at Uncle Randy and Aunt Mechelle's house. There was great food and great fun to be had by all.

Cousin Holly got to hold Lila in practice for the upcoming birth of her baby. IT'S A BOY! We can't wait until Caden's birth in May so Lila can have another playmate.



Mommy even got to hold Lila for a few seconds. This is rare at any type of family get together.


Great Mamaw and Papaw Ward were among the people to give Lila some great gifts. They got her a super cute new coat, some new outfits, two baby dolls, several stuffed animals, and the best gift of all - ELMO TMX! We aren't sure how they found him, but he had us cracking up all night long.



Here is Lila with Great Mamaw and Papaw Ward as they were showing her some of the smaller stuffed animals, all of which make sounds.


Of course, the night wouldn't have been complete without a picture in front of the tree with Poppie.

December in Review

Lila has had a busy month. She's been standing a lot more; this is definitely keeping Mommy and Daddy on their toes!



Even though we've been gearing up to move, we have been preparing for Christmas too. Lila prepared got into the spirit by reading Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.



About a week before Christmas, Lila got sick for the very first time. At first she just had a virus with a bad runny nose, but of course it turned into double ear infections after a few days. She's now on her first round (hopefully last) of antibiotics.

Knoxville Visit

On December 9, we made our way to Knoxville to visit Great Mamaw Davis. We regret not making this trip much sooner so that we could have ensured that Mamaw would know for certain who Lila was. We are, however, grateful that Lila was able to meet such a special person who we are positive loves us all in her heart.



While in Knoxville, Lila also got to see Great Uncle Benny (see below), Great Aunt Judy, Great Aunt Janice, Great Aunt Pat, Great Uncle Jimmy, Great Uncle Jerry, Great Uncle Hut, and Great Aunt Maxine, as well as cousins Kristie, Mike, Nicole, and Kaitie.

Trimming the Tree

Since we've been in limbo lately with our moving situation, we decided to wait about putting up a tree. However, Lila and Mommy did help Gran put up her tree on December 1. Lila wasn't too excited about the lights, but she loved some of the ornaments. She especially liked this angel; too bad it was breakable, and we couldn't let her play with it.



Here she is with some baby friendly ornaments, one of which Mommy painted when she was a little girl.