Here comes Christmas!

The Daniels are ready for Christmas....minus the Christmas shopping! Last week we went to visit Santa, picked out a tree, and put up our decorations. We thought Tucker may be scared of Santa but he wasn't at all. He was actually more interested in the candy cane Santa gave him. We also started a family tradition this year of going to Hambrick's Christmas tree farm and cutting down our own tree. Tucker really wanted to get dirty and saw it down with Daddy. Hope to see or hear from you all closer to the holiday!

Bye Bye long hair:(

Tucker got his first haircut last week. It was not my idea....Wes said he was tired of people asking him when we were going to cut it and calling him a girl. He still has plenty of curls, its just a little shorter. Of course I cried that night but I am getting used to it and he is still cute as ever! Most people can't even tell it was cut! He did so good and sat still in the chair the whole time, with the help of a little candy! It looks really long when she's cutting it in these pictures, but she had brushed out all the curl and made it look extra frizzy. It looks a lot better when I style it!

Trick or Treat!

Tucker had a great Halloween! We dressed up as Betty and BamBam Rubble but couldn't get Wes to be Barney! Oh well, maybe next year! He enjoyed trick or treating with his friend Coley around our neighborhood and got lots of candy.

The Ladies Man

Tucker loves sharing kisses with his best friend Coley! She's not sure about him, though!

My First Birthday!

I know I'm almost 2 months late with this post but I finally got the pictures from Tucker's first birthday party uploaded. We celebrated with a pool party at our house. Tucker and all the kids (and adults too) had a lot of fun! It's hard to believe he's already one. Before I know it, he will be turning 2!

Show Boatin'!

I hope I don't come across as one of those braggy Mamas, but I just had to share this video of Tucker doing all his new tricks. I can't take credit for any of them. They are teaching him sign language at school and his friend Coley taught him how to do the Indian. He is so much fun these days, but quiet a handfull. My parents call him "Bam-Bam" because we spent last weekend with them and he tore up their house and banged his toy hammer on everything in sight! Sorry Nonna and Papa.

Fun to be One!

It's hard to believe Tucker is a year old! I promise to post pictures of his birthday party soon...my sister took them on her camera and I haven't been able to download them to my computer yet. Until then, I wanted to let you all know how he's been doing. He is still enjoying his new class at day care and has made lots of new friends. He is saying a few words like Mama, Daddy, dog, and goat, but for the most part he speaks Japanese. He has learned to say and sign "more"...they taught him that at school. At his one year check up earlier this week, he weighed 22.5 lbs. He is in the 50th percentile for weight and height, but his head is still in the 90th percentile! Maybe that means he has a big brain! His new thing is books....he will bring one up to you and crawl in your lap and make you read it to him 15 times. Unfortunately, he is still fearless and will climb on top of anything then attempt to jump off if we don't get to him in time! And best of all...he is FINALLY sleeping through the night (at least most nights, but we still have our moments!). We are really enjoying his personality as he grows into a little man!

Tucker's First Year

Movin on up

Tucker moved up a class at day care this week. He is no longer a baby bumblebee, he joined the Brown Bears class for 1 year olds! He has handled the transition so well. He literally jumps out of my arms when we get there and runs to play with the other kids, and when I pick him up I have to pull him out of the room. They are learning basic sign language and supposedly they are trying to teach them to pick up their toys but I doubt he will learn that anytime soon! All the kids sit around the table at lunch time and feed themselves, it is so neat! And like his Daddy, I can always tell what he had for lunch when I pick him up because it's all over his clothes! I'm so glad he hasn't had a hard time with the change; however, me and his old teachers aren't doing quiet as well. We all cried when we stopped by to visit them Monday. They had taken care of him since he was 6 weeks old, and we were all a little attached to each other. Here are a few pictures of him in his new classroom, and a picture of him with his old teachers (aka second mamas), Ms. Teesa and Ms. Diane.

Almost a year!!!

It's hard to believe that Tucker is 11 months old this week! He is growing so fast...it doesn't seem like its been a year since we were getting his nursery ready, having baby showers, and anticipating his arrival. He is now walking all over the place...literally running at times and we have a hard time keeping track of him. He's also climbing, which I know is extremely dangerous!!!! He can climb our stairs in 9 seconds (we timed him, with supervision of course), and yesterday I turned my back for just a second and he had climbed up on the fireplace to get a better view of the tv! It is definately time to bring out the baby gates. He's saying Mama and Dada, giving high fives, and pointing a lot now. We are also so glad that he is a really good eater. He has not rejected anything so far. We grew our own tomatoes this year and he LOVES them!!! Last night he ate a whole tomato by himself. He also loves oatmeal, eggs, quesedillas, and any kind of vegetable. We are planning his first birthday party for August 22nd, so hopefully yall can all make it. I've included a few pictures from our trip to the coast on July 4th. Tucker had a great time riding in Daddy's boat and playing on the beach. Hope to see you all soon!

10 months and walking!!!

Tucker is officially walking! He's been taking one or two steps for a couple of weeks now, but this weekend he starting taking up to 10 at a time! He usually falls down once he realizes what he's doing. I know we are going to have our hands full now....we just went and bought the child proof latches for our cabinets because he has learned where we keep the pots and pans, and his snacks, and he keeps dragging everything out in the floor! Please pray for his safety and our sanity and he becomes more mobile!

Daniel Family Staycation!!!

We enjoyed a family "staycation" at our house with GG and Pops, Uncle Matt and Aunt Leigh, and cousin Ridge this past weekend. Everyone enjoyed hanging around the pool, grilling out, and watching Tucker and Ridge splash around together! We were so glad that Papa Wolfe and Nannoo could come over on Saturday to visit with the boys. Tucker is about 2 months older than Ridge but they are about the same size now and can really play together. Here are some pictures of them enjoying each other's company!

Another Beach Vacation

Tucker took his second trip to the ocean last week....he is quickly becoming a beach bum! We went to Panama City Beach with my parents and my sister's family. Once again, Tucker loved playing in the sand, even though he didn't eat quite as much this time. We had a lot of fun with him in the pool....he loves to float on his back as you can see in the video.

He started standing without holding on to anything last week and is trying to take a step but usually crashes when he does! He's also eating some table food now and loves to feed himself cherios. And I guess I should quit denying it and admit that he has said his first word....Da-Da. He doesn't necessarily say it when he sees Wes, but if I say it, he repeats it after me. My philosophy on why babies usually say Da-Da first is because they never have to call for Mama because she is always there! He is growing too fast...where does the time go?

Baby Beethoven

Check out Tucker's newest talent. He is going to be a musical genius on the piano...just like his Papa Harper.

Tucker's First Beach Trip

Tucker took his first trip to the beach last weekend! We went to St. Simons with our friends and neighbors, Chandler, Jodi, and Coley. Coley is 6 weeks younger than Tucker and they had a great time playing together. He loved the sun and water...and especially the sand! He kept trying to eat it so we had to sit him in his wagon most of the time. We can't wait to take him to Panama City at the end of the month with my parents. He is going to love it....but hopefully eat less sand:)

Ready or not, here I come!

And he's off!!! Tucker has officially started crawling! He has been rocking back and forth on his hands and knees for a few weeks now, but when I picked him up from school yesterday his teacher told me he was going all over the room after toys! We were so excited to see him in action when we got home, but of course he wanted us to hold him for the rest of the afternoon. However, after seeing the remote across the room, he decided to change his mind and go after it. Here is some video of the first "official" time he crawled at home. I'm also including a little video of him learning to drink out of a sippy cup. It's amazing how the littlest things he does are so important to us!

Hittin the streets for little feet!

Our family took part in the March of Dimes March for Babies in Valdosta last weekend. We were so glad to have several friends join us. Our friends and neighbors, Jodi, Coley, and Amanda came along. We were also so excited that one of my friends and co-workers, Julia, joined our team and raised almost $1000 on her own! She got the award for raising the most money of any walker. It was great to have her family join us...especially her precious little boy Nate, who was born premature a year ago but is doing great today! The babies had so much fun walking together. Tucker would especially like to thank his friends and family who sponsored him...Papa and Nonna, GG and Pops, Wolfe and Nannoo, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Larry, Aunt Nora, Aunt April and family, Aunt Connie, Jodi and Coley, and Amanda. Combined with Julia's fundraising effots, we raised a little over $1250 for the local March of Dimes chapter. Hopefully we will help them in moving one step closer to preventing premature birth!

Happy Easter!

We celebrated Tucker's first Easter this weekend. We started out the day with church and sunday school, then went to MawMaw Culpepper's house in Sylvester to hunt eggs. I know, Tucker is too young to hunt, but he did grab at a few eggs and tried to eat them! Hope yall had a great holiday!

Tucker's New Tricks

Tucker is doing all kinds of new tricks these days. Yesterday he got up on all fours and rocked back and forth, but he still hasn't started to crawl yet....and I'm kind of glad. I won't be able to take my eyes off him once he starts! Here is video of his newest tricks....he is starting to pull up on his own. Sorry the video is sideways...I can't figure out how to make it turn. Just tilt your head and you can see it better! He's also learned to blow bubbles. It's especially fun when he's eating....food gets EVERYWHERE!

We survived the flood of '09!!!

Whewwwww!!! This has been an eventful week to say the least. As most of you already know, many of our neighbors received major damage to their homes this past weekend. We got so much rain last week that the Withlacoochee River flooded the horse farm and stables beside our house, then it kept rising until it got to to homes beside and across the street from us.

If it had risen 2 more feet, it probably would have been inside our house but thank goodness it only got halfway up our driveway. It was amazing to see all the neighbors come together to help everyone evacuate and get all their belongings out. Wes drove his boat door to door taking neighbors to and from their houses. It was an unbelievable sight.

I'm including a few pictures from the weekend in this posting, but I've got a lot more I'll be sending out in an email soon. Hopefully Tucker will never see this sight again, except through these pictures. On another note, Wes celebrated his 29th birthday on Saturday. It wasn't a good time or place for a celebration, but we did have birthday cake with the neighbors in our muddy yard. As for now, the water has gone down about 6 feet and isn't endangering any of the homes anymore. Several of our neighbors are literally stripping parts of their house down to the studs....it is so sad. Please keep them in your prayers.

Go Southern Storm!

This weekend Wes, Tucker, and I cheered on Taylor and Harper at their cheerleading competition. Yes, you read right, Wes endured 4 hours full of screaming cheerleaders....only because it was such bad weather that he had to cancel his fishing trip!
Both girls did great and won first place in their divisions. Tucker loved all the loud noise, cheers, and music. I'm sure the girls will have him decked out in their uniforms and learning their cheers before long.
Here are a few pictures from that day. That's Taylor at the top of the pyramid. Their stunts and tumbling were awesome! Go storm!

Welcome to our blog!

Hello family and friends! I know I attempted to start a blog when I was pregnant, but now that Tucker is here and growing like a weed I thought I should follow through with it this time! That way, through pictures and video, those of you who may not get to see us as often can watch him grow. He is sitting up really well now and is getting ready to crawl. He goes from the sitting position to his knees, then rocks back and forth a few times and lands on his stomach! We have been working on patty-cake and waving bye-bye, and he's learning both but getting them a little

confused as you can tell from the video.

He also loves riding around in his red wagon. Wes and I try to pull him around the neighborhood in it every day since the weather has been so nice. Can't wait for you all to see him again in person!