The Bassham Blog

After East Texas, we loaded up the car with presents and food (thanks Mamaw!) and headed to Dallas. Donnie slept the whole way since he wasn't feeling well, and I was sure Rhett would take a good nap as well. No luck. He talked to me from the backseat the whole time, which turned out nice since it kept me alert while driving! :)

After a pit stop at a sketchy truck stop outside of Dallas where all of the truckers were busy buying their Christmas gifts, we got to Plano about 4:30 and headed to my parents house for Christmas dinner.

Our family tradition is to do an untraditional dinner, since most of us have already eaten turkey and ham at our other Christmas meals that same day. My dad grilled steaks and my mom made all of her fabulous side dishes.

Here's a shot of the whole family, minus Larry who was taking the picture...


Here's a picture as the kids started to pass out presents. It got so crazy that Rhett would open presents and I wouldn't be sure who they came from and would have to make sure each present was actually HIS before setting it aside. A pic of the opening...


Rhett checking out his Tickle Me Elmo, which was a HUGE hit...


Getting down with his Tickle Me Elmo...


Making him laugh again...


As with most cousins near the same age, Rhett and Jordan tend to like the same toys, even when those toys are pink babydoll strollers. Here's Rhett checking out her present...


I was trying to get Rhett to put his arm around Jordan, but it turned into this creepy picture where he's stalking her toy :)


Even though we tried to keep him up, Rhett passed out about 30 seconds after we left my parents house. He was SUCH a trooper for all of the events and we couldn't have asked for an easier going kid. Merry belated Christmas!!

Christmas morning came early, but we were so excited to show Rhett what Santa had brought him the night before. This was the first year he started to understand the idea of Christmas and Santa Claus, so it was very exciting to see his reaction that morning!


The big hit...




Etch-a-Sketch from Santa...


Checking out his sit and spin...


After breakfast with the grandparents (always homemade pigs in the blanket on Christmas morning which rock), we headed to Tyler to have Christmas with Donnie's bigger family. Donnie's uncle is a doctor, so when he's on call, we do holidays at their house. The food is always amazing and it's always so great to see the extended family.

Here come the gifts...


More presents...


Starting to look a little overwhelmed. I think this was a few hours past his naptime :)


Taking a break to see Cousin Ryan's fishtank. Rhett was so impressed!


Waving bye-bye to the fish before we left for Dallas...


We had a wonderful visit and Rhett got to spend some quality time with the family. Donnie and I were both sick, but we had time to relax and start to recover from our hectic days leading up to the holidays.

My mom has a very sweet tradition where she will make sugar cookies (which are YUMMY) and then have all of the grandkids over to decorate. She normally has them over in batches since it's hard to corral 5 excited kids, so Rhett and Larry's kids decorated together.

A pic of Miss Jordan. Such a sweetie...


Rhett checking out his supplies...


Being silly...


Testing out the goods...


Parker trying out his cookies...


Donnie's parents were sweet enough to take Rhett back to East Texas a few days before Christmas which gave me time to finish wrapping and packing for the holiday while Donnie was able to get some hunting in after a long football season. It was really nice!

Here's a pic of Rhett and Jasmine waiting for Donnie's mom and Mamaw to come pick him up. Jasmine was sniffing around in the grass and Rhett thought he might find something interesting as well.


While Rhett was in East Texas, he had plenty of time to ride every tractor, 4-wheeler, Mule that his grandparents own and he loved every one of them! Here's a pic of the little guy about to go riding...


Helping Daddy wrap the rod and rod case Donnie got for his dad (and used every bit of wrapping paper we had!)


Donnie's family normally opens presents on Christmas Eve, and here's Rhett checking out the presents that night...


This was the first Christmas Rhett was able to open presents without much help, and he really enjoyed it! He wanted to help everyone open their presents :)






Helping Daddy with Grandpa's gift...




It was a wonderful Christmas Eve and we were so blessed to have such a fun little guy to enjoy it with!

So, I haven't updated my blog in ages. I realize this. The main reason I'm starting again is because I see the blogs that Chrissy and Amanda keep up and I want to have those memories for our families to see! Thanks for being such good examples, ladies :)

So, here is a montage from the last month or so. I've obviously missed some months, but you get the drift :)

Here is a picture of the little man these days. We started in the back of the house trying to get into the car, and somehow we ended up in the front of the house. He has very good dawdler skills :)



He is turning into such a boy. He loves to make fart sounds, he loves to touch bugs and dirty things. He loves tractors and trucks and train. But he also says, "Mommy, k?" or "Daddy, k?" followed by a big kiss if either of us aren't smiling at all times. He has really turned into a sweet boy.

He talks constantly and I love to hear the things he picks up from us. We apparently say "Uh huh" a lot, because he uses it all of the time. He also likes to tell Jasmine, "Jazzy, get in your house!" when we're putting her up and if she doesn't come, he'll try to whistle which is really just him shrieking. :)

Here he is playing on his slide on a Saturday morning, which is one of his favorite things to do on weekends...




Lounging in Mommy and Daddy's bed...


Trying on his new hat and mittens...


So yes, he has exploded in size since the last time I posted, but I'll try to keep up better from here. :)