On Santa's Lap

Sydney had her first experience with Santa at the church Christmas party. She was very restless the entire evening during dinner and singing and finally fell asleep just as Santa was making his grand entrance. However, like most naps these days, she only slept for a few minutes. She went to Santa without crying, but not smiling either. She was very intrigued by the pink stocking and the bright colors all around.

4 days 'till Minnesota

We only have a few more days until we leave to spend Christmas with David's family in Minnesota and South Dakota. Sydney will probably sleep through most of the events. We have tried to get her used to unwrapping gifts, but it just does not work. Everything goes in her mouth!

Cabela's fan already

Micahael (soon to be Uncle Michael) came out every night when he was home from school. He really likes little kids and it very good with them. There was a stack of Cabela's catalogs by the chair for the guys to mark things they want for Christmas. Sydney thought she wanted something out of the catalog too...

More Texas pictures

As we finally get into a routine back in North Carolina, I have finished uploading all of the pictures we took in Texas. Several of them are of close family friends holding Sydney. Ann and Jim have known my family for a very long time. Jim works for us on the farm and was the tracotr driver of choice for my sister when she was little. Of course he cheated by carrying gum for her and now he carries gum for the newphews. He stopped by the house one morning to see Sydney.


Sharon and Karson come over Thanksgiving night to see Sydney. Of course Sydney said hello to Sharon by spitting up on her clothes. At least Sharon is somewhat used to it as she is a Kindergarten teacher.








Glenda was the first person to hold me in the hospital, other tahn my parents. She is very proud of that and reminds my grandmother often. She was so excited to see Sydney and thought she was beautiful. Of course, we do too.

Only 18 days until Minnesota!

We will be going to see David's family in Minnesota and South Dakota for Christmas. Grandma Jean and Dennis visited us in North Carolina in September, but they will be amazed at how much Sydney has grown. She will get to meet her Minnesota and South Dakota cousins Lucas, Nathan, Kylie and Nikki. We are very excited about this trip and Sydney's first Christmas.

Joel's Magic Duck

Our friend Joel came over on Saturday to go to the hockey game with David. He brought Sydney a present...a cute little rubber ducky. However, the duck lights up with all these different colors. Sydney thought the duck was pretty cool. Thanks Joel for the neat gift, now you will be responsible for battery replacement so she does not cry. :)

Happy Turkey Day!

Sydney's first Thanksgiving was spent in Texas with a lot of family. She was a very good baby and played with her cousins- Tyler, Michaela, Ryan, Casey, Davis and Kinsley. She was dressed in a very cute outfit that had a turkey on the back.

The Agee boys

Sydney went to visit the Agee's on Saturday while Daddy and Carl went to the hockey game. She had not seen the Agee's since she was a few weeks old. Brandon and Lance were so excited to see her. Lance was so sweet with her. He would sit int he floor and put her pacifier back in when she spit it out. Here is a picture of Brandon and Lance tickling Sydney after I changed her diaper.

Gettin cozy

Sydney is such a snuggle bug at times. She loves to sleep on people and will just get so cozy. This picture is from a while back but it is so sweet.

John Deere Pink

Sydney is just so much fun to play dress up with, until she gets tired of it. We dressed her in a cute little outfit that my department gave us. Of course it is John Deere, but pink. She and daddy had to pose with their John Deere outfits on.

p.s. she really likes chewing on her hands...

Drake...a man of few words

Drake and Sydney are 1 year and 1 week apart. He is such a sweet boy and very loving to Sydney. At times a bit too loving (he loved pointing to her eyes and accidentally got a bit too close once) but just so sweet. He loves to pat you when you hold him; he got down in the floor one day while I was changing Sydney. Aunt Jodie was trying to keep him away but couldn't. He got down beside Sydney and put his head down on her cheek and patted her. Then he tried to touch her eyes.

Sweetest cousin

Jaxon is an experienced baby handler. With 2 little brothers he is very good with babies. The first time he saw Sydney he walked up to her and reached out to touch her. He said "she's pretty soft. And pretty cute too."
When he would come out to Kiki's to visit you could hear him yelling "we've got to wash our hands before we can touch the baby!" Then he would proudly walk up to whoever was holding Sydney and offer his hands for the sniff test- Kiki has blue raspberry smelling soap so she can tell when they wash their hands.

Like father, like son

Sloan was quite the character. He loves babies and was always wanting to hold Sydney-his father was the same way and still is. He got upset when she would cry and told his mommy to make her stop. In first grade his daddy who wrote a letter to Santa Claus asking for a baby brother. Sloan has also inherited the tremendous talent for modeling and showing off his muscles as seen here. He prefers boots and Ninja Turtle undies.

Clothes optional


The boys seemed to strip down as much as they could when they came to Kiki's. They were too cute playing with Sydney in her crib.

Those boy cousins...

Sydney is a very lucky little girl. She is the only little girl in the nursery at church, the only little girl in our neighborhood, and the old granddaughter on the Rowland side. While in Texas she had quality time with her cousins. Here are Sloan and Drake coming to spend the night in their pj's and boots...a real Texas tradition.

Sydney's Pawpaw

Sydney met so many people in Texas, all of whom loved her. She watched her cousins play and make loud noises, was fought over by her 2nd cousins and was pestered by her Pawpaw. Every morning we would get up and go into the kitchen to visit. She was the center of attention and was a very happy baby. Her Pawpaw has officially made her squeamish when you go to tickle her.