Merry Christmas from the Dixons!

Thank you Carmen for making crazy bird noises and getting Delia to look up and smile for our Christmas card pictures!

Delia spent her first Christmas Eve in Yazoo City visiting with the Nolans. Aunt Laurissa helped Delia play dress up.

"I pity the fool who has to get these off me for a diaper change."

Rachel, Nancy, and Joe had fun hanging out with Delia.

They even helped her open her presents!

After sleeping the entire 2-hr drive home, Delia got to stay up and play with Nana, Granddaddy, Gerald, Sarah, and Mammaw, who were patiently waiting for us to return...

...as were Buddy and Miller.

"I love my pups!"

"Hey Buddy! We need to set some boundaries!

4 generations!

In this picture, can you find:
-evidence of someone spending a lot of time around the turkey fryer "Turkey, pork, chicken - what else do we have?"
-a double case of pink eye

Uncle Gerald and Aunt Sarah helped Delia play with her new Leapfrog Learn & Groove.

"My first phone! Thank you Anna!"

xmas=awesome. call u latr.

This is by far our favorite picture from the day. Delia was having so much fun, she wouldn't even think about taking her morning nap. She finally went down right after lunch, but fought it all the way, finally falling asleep sitting up in her crib.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

3 Days Until Christmas!

In the spirit of Christmas, we are giving and receiving pink eye at our house. Please stop by if you would like some. We caught Delia's pink eye really early, thanks to the sharp eyes of the day care workers, and the eye drops seem to be clearing it right up. My case is lingering, with lots of itching and watering. yuck.

Delia participated in her day care's Christmas program a few weeks ago. Her class's (The Turtles) role was to wear pajamas and listen to "Twas the Night Before Christmas." She did great. Grady took these pictures from the balcony. Delia is the 5th baby from the left. The scattered baby dolls are not being sacrificed, but are in place for the following number "Rock Baby Jesus," performed by the Ducks.

The two oldest classes, the Pandas and Lions, performed the Nativity story with lots of wiggly angels and wise men.

Delia in her Christmas PJs.

We enjoyed a quick visit with Wesley a few weeks ago as well.
"I think I can handle a present thiiiiiis big!"

"Let me show you how this is done."

New books!

What fun!

7 Days Til Christmas!

Delia turns 11 months old today! I can't believe that next month she will be ONE!

Santa came to visit her day care and, of course, there was an opportunity to purchase a photo package. What scrooge can resist 5x7's and wallets of this?? Here is a collection of pictures of babies w/Santa that I scammed off our friends' blogs. Why are the screaming pics so funny? I love them. Enjoy!

Only 13 Days Til Christmas!

Delia's Adventures

Delia was very busy last week. She attended a Blufish Client Appreciation Happy Hour, a GeoSciences Christmas party at Grady's building, and the GeoSciences Christmas dinner.

Saturday we went to our moms' group for yummy brunch and a fun gift exchange. What stinks Olivia? Hope it's not Delia.

That afternoon we bundled up and went for a walk around the neighborhood.

We visited Charlie, who is building a train out of old lawn mowers for his grandson, Little Charlie. The finished train should be ready for riders soon!

After Delia went down for her nap, we heard a commotion in the yard. It was our neighbors chasing after their new 10-week-old redbone puppy Copper.

Baby in a Basket

Video Updates.

This first video is a few weeks old, but we are just now getting around to posting it.




A friend of Delia's great-grandmother gave her this dancing bear. As you can see, she is a bit unsure of it.



Finally, Delia has started crawling. She has been crawling very short distances since Thanksgiving, but this was one of the first times it was caught on video.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This post runs backwards and includes a lot of things that I meant to post a long time ago. I got scolded at Thanksgiving for neglecting the blog, so I will try to do better!

Delia celebrated her first Thanksgiving in Yazoo City with Grady's family. It is usually a pretty big event with lots of food, family, and fun!

"Don't eat us Cousin Emily!"

Delia enjoyed her first 4-wheeler ride... I think.

Just your average Thanksgiving Day: turkey, pie, and rides in Uncle Paul's tricked out Ranger. Delia, Emily, Regan, Aubrey, Grandma Amanda, and Wesley are ready to roll!

"Aunt Laurissa, where is the turkey?"

Someone managed to get a bow clipped in Delia's hair!

Nana and Granddaddy stopped in Starkville on their way to celebrate Thanksgiving with my brother Gerald and his wife Sarah in Arkansas. Delia is opening a new toy from Nana.

Delia with her Nana

Delia and her Granddaddy

Tuscaloosa Tailgate

Grady and Bryan at the Alabama game. Grady is directing your attention to the fire in the trash can. So that's how they do it in Alabama.

Our whole crew: Me, Delia, Grady, "Alabama Pants," Bryan, and Christine. It was in the upper 40's that night, but Delia stayed cozy in her "Bundle Me," which is basically like a baby sleeping bag. Delia got in trouble with her Daddy for dancing to the Bama fight song. It's just so catchy!

Delia and Kelsey, one of Grady's former grad students, at the Kentucky game.

And last, but not least, a play date/family reunion. From left to right, this is Buddy, Pedro (Miller's friend), Miller, and Chief (Miller's son and Buddy's brother). Coincidentally, Buddy has 2 black brothers who are both named Chief. This Chief lives in Jackson with Bryan and Christine. He has eaten a $20 bill, as well as some of the siding off their house.

Pitiful Pups

The long battle between Miller and Grady has come to this. Both dogs got neutered last week and are recovering nicely.

It began over a year ago when the neighbor's dog went into heat. Miller would somehow escape our nice big fenced-in yard and cause trouble in the neighborhood. We couldn't figure out how he was doing it, because if we were home, he wouldn't leave. It took me actually leaving the house and Grady staying home on a stake out for us to see how he was getting out. Our yard has a 6-ft wooden fence on all sides except for the back side, which is bordered by a 4-ft chain link fence. Miller was jumping the 4-ft fence and proceeding to pester the neighbors.

So, Grady put up a wire extension to make the back fence about 2 feet taller and we waited. Miller climbed it. He also climbed the 6-ft wooden fence.

So, Grady purchased an electric fence system. He dug a small trench around the perimeter of our yard and and buried the electric fence wire. Then we put the electric fence collar on Miller and waited. When he got 5 feet from the fence, it would give him a warning beep, then if he kept going, he would get a pop. This deterred his efforts and Grady took the fence extension down.

Then along came Buddy, whose registered name is "Grady's Dixon's Buddy for Miller." We were sure that with a new pal, Miller would be content to stay in the yard and play. Little did we know that Buddy was just a pawn in Miller's master plan. Soon Buddy began digging up the electric fence wire. When the circuit was broken, there was no longer any electric charge, allowing Miller to jump over the back fence, no problem.

So, Grady got an electric fence collar for Buddy as well ($35). That kept him from digging up the wires. But Miller had another plan up his doggie sleeve. Buddy began chewing Miller's electric fence collar. Eventually he chewed it entirely off, and Miller was free again. Poor Buddy would bark and bark saying "Wait! Where'd you go??"

So, Grady bought Miller a new electric fence collar ($35). Buddy chewed the battery out of it within minutes. We bought another collar ($35), and Grady put cayenne pepper on Miller's collar with Crisco. Buddy loved it. He licked it off, then cleaned up what happened to drop on the ground. Then chewed the batteries out again.

At this point we were out of ideas, and Miller was leaving a trail of the neighbors' cat food, pet food bowls, soccer balls, and shoes in his wake.

So, Grady loaded the dogs up and took them to the MSU Vet School, where they were happy to do the deed. Now we wait...