The Whatleys

We are enjoying a great Christmas day here in Starkville, and wanted to share with all of you what we got to experience this morning. Will came down the stairs and spotted this new tractor under the tree, which he immediately jumped right on...and hasn't stopped riding for more than a few minutes since! Santa did good! We will post with more pictures after we are home from visiting all of our family next week. Merry Christmas!!

Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks...

The first ones are from the Starkville Christmas parade. Will, Dan, and I walked in the parade with 52 Moms. It was sooo cold, but it was a really quick parade and a lot of fun. Will was mesmerized by all the people, I think. The expression on his face below never left his face the whole time!


Then, for Christmas to Dan and myself, I got us tickets to a Carrie Underwood concert in Tupelo. It was sort of a surprise for Dan. He found an envelope in the mail that had Bancorp South arena on it, when I ordered the tickets. I quickly took the envelope from him, but to keep him from trying to figure out who we were going to see, I told him that they were tickets to see the Nutcracker. He totally believed me because we have gone to Tupelo before to see the Nutcracker and so I think he was trying to get himself excited about going to see a ballet. haha :) Then, after our sonogram doctor appt, I gave him the tickets and we were off to Tupelo! It was a great surprise and Dan was way more excited about seeing his girlfriend, Carrie, instead of men in tights. It was an awesome concert and so much fun to do something just the two of us!

This past weekend, I celebrated my 27th birthday! Nonnie and Papaw came up to spend the weekend with us and we celebrated all weekend long. On Friday night, we went out to dinner at the Grill with Kelly and Brett. Then, on Saturday, Nonnie, Papaw, Dan, Will, and I went bowling. It was so much fun! Will behaved pretty well and cheered us all on! I think we may have found a fun new activity that we can do as a family! YEAH! Then, on Sunday (my actual birthday), Nonnie made lasagna and Dan made some brownies and we had a birthday party at home. It was a perfect weekend and great way to celebrate a birthday! Also, thanks for all the calls and warm wishes from everyone!

Will waiting with the "high five"





If any of you haven't heard of this, it is great! It's a book and an elf that you put out in your house for Christmas time. The story says that the elf reports back to Santa every night while you sleep whether you have been bad or good! Even though he is young, Will is already have fun trying to find where the elf has moved every morning. He has also named the elf, "Dale." We just asked him his name, and that is what Will called him, so Dale it is.

A kiss from my little man!

Boy!! We found out yesterday that we are expecting another little precious baby boy in April. The appointment went really well and the sonogranopher was able to tell very easily that we are having a boy. We got tons of pictures of the baby because we told the sonographer about a friend of ours who thought she was having a girl and found out at 38 weeks that she is in fact having a little boy. So, for our sake, she wanted to show us every angle of the baby and make sure we got lots of definitive pictures. He is 14 oz right now and looks healthy and wonderful! Dan and I are thrilled. I think it is going to be so great for Will to have a baby brother to play with! We also have lots and lots of clothes and things that will get to be used again! YEAH! I have posted some pictures from the sonogram, but I decided to leave the deciding "boy" pictures out so as not to totally violate the little boy's privacy on the web. Many of you will be able to see the rest of the pictures in person next time we see you!
ps..looks like the majority of voters got it right on this one! :)

We made a trip to Jackson last week for Thanksgiving. Dan was off Wednesday through Friday, so we were able to make a nice long trip out of the week. This is definetly one of the perks for working for Mississippi State! Will, of course, had a great time and was given so much attention that I think he is spoiled for good now! :) It is really cool to see the special bond that Will has formed with his grandparents. He is so blessed to have four wonderful grandparents and six great grandparents as well as lots of aunts and uncles who love him so much! This past week, Nonnie (or Goggie as Will lovingly calls her) got the special treatment and the rest of us took back seat to her. He even passed me up for a hug to find Nonnie and give her a hug first! HA!
Thanksgiving dinner was at Nonnie and Papaw's house so everyone came over on Thursday. Amma and Papa, Krista and Danny, Frank, Katrina, Chase, Alex, and Emma, and Missy and Sara were all there! It was a lot of fun with a lot of yummy food! Will took a special liking to Emma and followed her wherever she went. If Emma skipped into a room, Will was right behind her trying to skip too! It was great!
On Friday morning, Nonnie and I went shopping. We didn't make it up with the early birds, but we still found lots to buy and lots of deals!
We also got to spend lots of time with our friends since we had the long week/weekend. We went over to the Kirks house on Saturday for dinner and to catch up with everyone. Miriam, Kristin, Natalie, and Jesse were there and it was great to see everyone. Will and Emily Kay got to spend some time playing together too and that is always great!
As I said in the title of this blog, we have so much and so many people to be thankful for! I love you all!



Best Buds...Emma and Will


Dad (Papaw) and Missy

Will even helped with the dishes!


Will lovin on Emily Kay (Dipoo)!

Will has become a big kid overnight it seems. He is no longer my little baby who is so dependent on me and Dan for everything. He has pretty much weened himself off of his pacifier. He was sick a couple of weeks ago, and so he couldn't keep it in his mouth and breath at the same time so he didn't really need it all that week. We took it as a great opportunity to get rid of it!! I had about decided he was going to be one of those 4 year old kids walking around with a paci in his mouth because he seemed so dependent on it. He has gone back to needing it at bedtime(or I should say that we need it at bedtime to get any shut eye :) ), but he leaves it in his bed every morning and doesn't ask for it anytime during the day. Wahoo!
Also, Will will read books all day long and sit for as long as I will to name off the things he knows. He is talking up a storm and can ask for just about anything he needs. This is nice because it cuts down on the whining and confusion on our end as to what he is asking for. My favorite two new things that he says are "thank you" and "love you." He absolutely amazes me everyday! Just yesterday, he looked outside of our dining room window and saw the truck parked in the driveway next door and correctly called it "red" truck! How did he learn that? He is just such a sponge and the things he picks up surprise us all the time!
He can also throw and catch a football, says "go dawgs" when cheering on MSU, and loves to dance. And as you can see in the pictures, loves to "help" Mommy in the kitchen by getting out the step stool to reach everything a little better. :)
For those of you reading this or who have been through this with your own children, please bear with my overexcited joy about such simple things, but I also know that you know exactly the way I feel because you have experienced it or will experience it with your own child. Isn't it crazy how such a young person can impress you so much?

I am adding a poll on the top right of the blog for everyone to cast your vote on what gender you think Whatley Baby #2 will be! I am only 16 weeks along right now, but will probably be able to find out at my doctor's appointment in the middle of December. We can't wait to find out! A lot of people have asked me what I think we are having, but I can honestly say I have no inclination on this one. So, I will let all of you try to guess! :)

So, Halloween was a week long celebration in a house with a 22 month old! So many things to do! Here are some pictures from the actual Halloween night. We went trick or treating in our neighborhood with Gigi and Jabo, Brett and Kelly, Patrick, and Clay and Michelle. It was so much fun to have everyone around for Will's first real Halloween experience. At first, we started him out in the wagon, but Will did not want to get out at the houses....what can I say? He loves to be pulled around in that wagon! So, after a couple of failed houses, Brett ran the wagon back to the house, and we just carried him or let him walk and he did great. He did just like he did on the row...he knew what he was there for and took it very seriously. After they would drop the candy in his pumpkin, he would give out a little "woohoo" and he was on his way. It was so much fun!

Gigi with green hair!



Bonnie and Clyde..aka Clay and Michelle

My 2 boys! :)

On Tuesday night, we went to a Halloween carnival at Mississippi State and trick or treating on Sorority Row. It was going to be our test to see how Will was going to do on actual Halloween night....and it was better than I could have even imagined! He was so into it and did just what he was supposed to do. He walked up to the first house to get candy and was a little confused..but by the time we left the second one, he knew what was going on and he liked it! He would walk right up to the girls and stick out his pumpkin for some candy and then as soon as they dropped it in, he was turned around and headed for the next house. We even got to stop by the Phi Delt house and saw Patrick and Clay. Will kept his tough cowboy face on the whole time around the guys of course! ;)
Then, we went to the Junction for the carnival. We just bought a few tickets for Will not knowing how many games he would be able to or want to play. He followed us to each game and waited to see what was going on...then jumped right in! He played the fishing game, the treasure hunt, pull a string, and got his face painted. He wasn't even bothered by the freezing cold weather. Dan and I looked at each other several times through the night, saying to ourselves...he is really enjoying this! I also found myself wondering where my little baby went. He is such a big kid now and is doing so many new things all the time and adjusts to new things so well. He is growing up sooo fast!
So, here are the pictures...I took a ton and had a hard time deciding which ones to post so I posted most of them. I mean look at how cute that little cowboy is? I couldn't resist! :)


Urban cowboy...riding around on his truck!

Last weekend, Will, Dan, and I visited another pumpkin patch to get some larger pumpkins that we could carve. So, on Sunday night, Kelly and Brett came over and we all carved pumpkins and roasted the seeds! It was a lot of fun and brought me back to being a kid myself. Dan and Brett did most of the actual carving and they did a great job! Who knew they were so crafty? :)





Also, I have posted some pictures of me as a child around Will's age, carving a pumpkin. I realized after I took some of the pictures of Will, that I had seen very similar pictures of myself doing the same thing! Pretty funny!