My Baptism

Today I was baptized at Holy Cross Church. I was very fortunate to have most of my extended family in town for the big celebration!

The "guest of honor" was truly my Great Grandma B (or GGB as we like to call her).

Here I am laying in my GGB's arm while sunlight streamed into the church. It was beautiful!

My Godparents - Uncle Teddy and Aunt Jackie - vowing to be my "spiritual leaders."

And I was all smiles as the holy water was poured over my head!

Thanks to my family for coming to Syracuse and making this day so special for me and my mom and dad! I love you....

Getting Ready for Baseball

Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus, stockings, Christmas presents....and a fever of 104.7!

That's right, everyone....I got a terrible viral infection on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, instead of opening lots and lots of gifts, I spent most of the day cuddling with my grandparents.

I did perk up a bit after taking a nap on Grandma, and of course, I was super excited to get my very own train table.

Opening presents was a lot of fun...especially the ones that were wrapped with my favorite Disney friends.

I was also super excited about my other big gift....my very own kitchen! It was tons of fun cooking breakfast for everyone and making coffee on Christmas morning.

Despite being sick, we still managed to have a great holiday. My Great Grandma B came from Chicago to celebrate, which was the best gift of all. We have lots of pictures of her visit, so stay tuned!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Holiday Decorating

A few weeks ago, everyone came over to the house for a "tree decorating" party. We had lots of fun setting up the tree and putting on the ornaments. Nani even brought over a new ornament to add to our collection....a crystal spider! Here I am doing my signature "spider shake and scream."

This year my mom and dad decided to put up the fake Christmas tree...but that didn't stop me from smelling it!

Everyone helped to decorate the tree with ornaments, and I was in charge of the bottom half of the tree (go figure)!

Tyler was too young to help decorate this year, but he had fun listening to the Christmas music and watching everyone!

Mom wanted one quick picture with the Santa hats on, but as you can see, she wasn't fast enough!

When we finished putting the ornaments on the Christmas tree, I went upstairs with G to perform my "special job."

With a little assistance from G, I was able to put the angel on the top of the tree.

Perfect! Well, maybe just a little crooked.

All in all, it was lots of fun decorating for the holidays. It sure put us in the Christmas spirit!

Stay tuned for some pictures of Christmas morning!

Bath Time

Bath time is always a favorite in the Dera house!

In the Holiday Spirit

Hope everyone is having fun getting ready for the holidays!

Snuggles with Mommy

Mommy and her Boys

Silly Boy

Daddy and Tyler

Sibling Love

Mr. Blue Eyes

Lots To Be Thankful for

This Thanksgiving, we have a lot to be thankful for, especially my little brother, Tyler. Since this was Tyler's first Thanksgiving, I knew I had to show him the ropes and make everything extra special for him.

The whole family gathered at Nani and G's house for Thanksgiving dinner, and the party started with some delicious appetizers. Then, we went in the backyard for the 3rd Annual Turkey Shoot. Even though Tyler and I couldn't participate, we had fun cheering for everyone!

See what I mean about showing Tyler the ropes....obviously, he gets his dance moves from me!

The Turkey Shoot was a lot of fun, and Grampa Eddie and G shared the victory this year.

And, of course, Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without watching football. Here is Tyler just hanging with "the boys" (Uncle Teddy and his friend, Jon) and watching the big game.

Unfortunately for Tyler, he was too little to eat turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes this year. At least he doesn't know what his is missing!

Dinner was delicious, and I ate lots of turkey, sweet potatoes, and applesauce - my favorite!

Tyler sat in his bouncy seat while we ate dinner, and he was giving us lots of smiles!

Thanksgiving was also G's birthday this year, so before breaking out the pumpkin pie and apple crisp, we sang, "Happy Birthday," and ate ice cream cake. Birthday parties are just about my favorite thing in the world, so to have a birthday party on Thanksgiving was just "icing on the cake."

I absolutely loved singing, "Happy Birthday," and blowing out the candle on G's cake!!!!

I was so excited about eating the cake that I couldn't wait until Nani cut it. Instead, I went head first (or should I say, "mouth first") right into the side of the cake. Yummy!

This Thanksgiving was a lot of fun....as I looked around the dinner table, I was so happy to be surrounded by the people I love so much. I know that I'm a lucky little guy and I have so much to be thankful for.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and had fun celebrating with their families and friends. Happy Turkey Day to everyone!