Christmas 2012

Once again, we had a very busy Christmas. We started out going to visit my family in Red Oak on Christmas Eve. We got there early so that we could ensure a pretty good nap to keep a certain little one in a good mood through the chaos. We met Gram for lunch at McDonald's once we got in town.

 

Dad was brave and climbed all the way and went down the slide!

After lunch we went to Gram's house for a nap. Once naptime was over we got a visit from Nanny and Grandpa. And unfortunately, I didn't even think to get a picture while they were there. Soon after they left it was time for our Christmas Party. There was a great turn out. Ethan had a great time playing with his cousins. He doesn't often have children that age to play with that are boys. He followed Colton around everywhere. And Colton was sweet enough to share his cars and not get too mad when he had a hard time getting them back.

 

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Hanging with cousins, Aunt Carissa, and Gram

After presents were done and all of the cookies were eaten it was time to go. Little man was up way past his bedtime. And he sneaked enough sugar from people to give him a sugar rush.   His Pop was no help in the matter.  He made it almost the entire hour home before he fell asleep.

Our little family on Christmas Eve

 

On Christmas Day, little man caught up on his sleep from his late night by sleeping in an extra hour while Dad went to church. When he did finally decide to grace us, he woke up to see the presents that Santa brought him. He got a new Radio Flyer 4-in-1 tricycle and a new Dump Truck. And of course there were many presents under the tree from Mom and Dad

 

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Checking out of all our loot.

After we opened all of our presents at the house, we went over to Uncle Chris', Aunt Diana's, and Emma's house for Christmas with the Flynn family.  Aunt Diana and Grandma Flynn made a great meal for us consisting of ham, sweet potato casserole, brussel sprouts, and green beans. 

After lunch, some of us were pretty tired.  The little ones made sure to go pick on Uncle Mike while he was trying to sleep.  And, we really enjoyed the view of our first White Christmas!  

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 We had a lot of fun spending time with family.  Thank you Chris and Diana for hosting.

 

 

 

Emma playing cars with Grandma

Kisses for grandma

Grandpa showing the grandkids the snow

The best shot of them together.

Some mom love

Once we got home that night Ethan finally decided to play with his new toys.  He loves the new 4-in-1 tricycle the Santa brought him.  It will be great come spring.  Until then, he can push it around the house. 

 

Trying out the new trike

He also decided that Gil was pretty cool.  He really enjoys taking his hands to make him clap.  And he enjoys his new Bubble Guppies book that was in his stocking. 

Ethan and his friend, Gil.

This book is very interesting

Dad reading some Bubble Guppies

We hope all of you had a fantastic and blessed Christmas. 


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Merry Christmas Eve Eve

Waking up with a sore throat this morning, I didn't have high hopes of a fun day.  But, thanks to Robert for letting me take actual Nyquil last night and getting up with Ethan this morning.  This was a big help to sleep it off.  Great husband award for the day!

While waiting for Martin to come over for dinner, we had a little fun with Ethan in efforts to get that perfect Christmas tree shot.  Congratulations to those parents that are able to do this.  It is no small feat!  My trick to getting what I did?  I was browsing the Nick Jr. website, as all adults do.  And what do I find?  Bubble Guppies ornaments that I can print out on cardstock, cut out, and go to town.  I was worried he may not be interested in them.  Man was I wrong.  Ethan had a great time playing with these.  His face lit up when he saw them!  He recognized immediately, Gil, Nonny, BubblePuppy, and the gang.  We played for thirty minutes or more placing them on the tree and taking them back off. 

This precious face!

 

So proud of himself

Yes, Dad, I will take another to add

This looks like a good spot

 

This gives me an inclination he is going to love what Santa has in-store for him.  Christmas this year is definitely more interesting.  A lot busier.  And a lot more fun!  I love watching him discover the fun things to do around this time of year!

And this is just from a night or two ago.  He really doesn't sit still.

Happy half birthday, Ethan!

Wednesday marked Ethan's half birthday.  He is now 18 months, closer to two than one.  Ugh!  His personality is really starting to shine.  He is sweet, affectionate and generous yet, strong willed and stubborn.  He is definitely my little cuddle bug.  Whether sitting and watching a Christmas movie or just having some milk, he likes to just in my lap or snuggle into my side to get relaxed and comfy. 

Just a little goldfish while at our Christmas card photo session

 

Cuddling with his Texas Ranger pillow pet

These are the only types of pictures he lets me take lately.  You take what you can get

Relaxing while making a call

While I wouldn't consider him shy, he does have to warm up to most people he meets.  Even at playgroup some days he will hang on my leg for just a minute until he starts to recognize all of the familiar faces.  But, once he is comfortable he is all fun and games.  He loves to give his friends hugs and sometimes even a few kisses. 

Kisses for mom!

We had his 18 month check-up on Wednesday too.  Weighing in at 26 lbs 6 oz, he only gained 3 ounces since his 15 month appointment.  He is 33 inches tall, which is a 2 inch jump.  He is definitely started to shoot up and slim down. 

 

Meals these days pretty much consist of muffins or a cereal bar for breakfast with a banana.  Sometimes he will eat eggs or a pancake.  He has chicken with some sort of fruit or veggie for lunch and dinner or a PBJ.  And of course applesauce or yogurt for snacks.  Sometimes I feed it to him.  Other times he wants to do it, which is of course messy and takes forever.  He is very particular about what he eats these days.  Things that he loved just a few weeks ago are now considered poison.  It is amazing how quickly those things change.

 

He really enjoys "reading" these days.  At night when I finish a book he will hold up his little pointer finger to indicate one more and giggle when I say "One more?"  His other favorite toys right now are trucks and cars!  He has really started enjoying lining them all up and then pushing them around the house.  I guess when we move we should consider less carpet.  He has also recently taken a little more interest in the character every child loves, Elmo.  But, he can't seem to take the place of his Bubble Guppies.  Santa may have a few Bubble Guppies related items in his stocking next week.
And to say he is into everything is an understatement!

Checking the expiration dates in the fridge

 

We have also been working on all things Christmas this month.  He can point out any Christmas tree, tell you where Santa is, elves, Ms. Claus, and of course "Ru" (his term for Rudolf).  He can point out almost anything we ask him.  However, he is taking his time on saying the actual words.  He has a few of his favorites like Bye and Ru that he will say consistently.  Everything else we are lucky to get the one time.  I am told he can say truck.  I have yet to hear it.  I guess we will just have to believe Grandma and Grandpa Flynn.   

He is growing up too fast!!

Ethan's first Santa visit

I am not sure if it's just me, but I am jazzed about the Christmas season being upon us.  Maybe it having a cute little man to enchant with the magic of the season. 

We opted not to visit Santa for Ethan's first Christmas last year.  We thought he might enjoy it this year.  And since some of us don't particularly care for crowds, we took our chances that the malls wouldn't be too busy today.  I guess everyone got their shopping out of their systems on Friday because we were right.  There was no line.

Ethan was not sure what to think of the man dressed in red.  I have been trying to introduce him to pictures of Santa in efforts to prepare for this moment.  I wouldn't say my efforts went to waste, but maybe we should have rethought our plan of action since we started out like this......

He was not immediately impressed.

Once I sat down with him he was ok.  He actually befriended him after a second.   Next time we will know to request the high five first, then attempt the photo ops. 

As close to a smile as we got.

By the end of it he actually walked back over to see the bearded man and take a peek at some of the props around him.  He even chose to read The Night Before Christmas tonight for bedtime and was able to point to Santa on each page. 

Let's get the Christmas season started.  Gaylord, you are next on the list!  The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!!

17 months; my happy birthday; Thanksgiving celebrations

...all rolled into one post!

So I may be a few days behind on things. Thanksgiving and the fast approaching Christmas have been keeping me busy cooking or crafting, not to mention our teething toddler. FYI - teething is for the birds! A month later and we are all drool and cranky with no tooth breaking trough! Poor kid just has swollen white gums!

Our photoshoot for Gram's birthday present!

     

    

At 17 months little man is full of energy and spunk.  In the last month he has really started to mimic everything.  He will copy most sounds we make like mooing and quacking, etc.  Against Robert's efforts, he is sure to have a bit of a Texas twang.  He even moos in Texan.  Just this morning he actually addressed me as Mama, thanks to Robert's assistance.  A one time occurrence so far.  He also loves to blow kisses with a emphasized MUUAAH!  He even blows them during FaceTime.  He hasn't added a lot of words to his vocabulary quite yet.  I can see him trying though.  He will repeat the inflection in what we say.  He just can't quite say the words yet.

He has also recently learned to dance.  He will spin in circles when a song catches his attention.  Other milestones this month: he has started using a fork regularly.  He trys to undress himself sometimes.  This was an unsuccessful attempt!

He loves his friends!  He will hug them all.  He loves going on play dates.  They don't really play with one another yet.  But, they do like to be near each other.

But, mostly, he loves Bubble Guppies.  We don't have cable so he is forced to watch the iPad.  He will sit and watch one or two episodes while I make dinner.  He has gotten a little more this week with long car rides and also being a little under the weather.  But, he when he asks for 'Bub" it's hard to say no.

Happy birthday to me.  I spent the day watching the new Twilight movie with my mom and sister and then mom watched Ethan while we went out with friends for dinner and drinks.

The number this year is not important.  What is important is that my awesome husband bought me a new car, reasons are not important either. See here. I love it. It is spacious without being huge. We have navigation, my Ford touch, Sirius xm, and it talks to me. Robert's favorite features are the hands free lift gate and the 20" wheels.

I had a great birthday this year! Thanks to everyone that contributed to that.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We had a great day with family just eating and relaxing.  And thanks to Aunt Carissa for his Thanksgiving present to get ready for Christmas.  He loves his Rudolph.

Words cannot describe....

As I lie here not being able to sleep, I go through my Facebook page reading the days of thanks, day 11. While I don't post a daily thing I am thankful for, I am just that, thankful.

The past few days have been, how shall I say, stressful yet blessed. For those that don't know, Ethan and I were in a bit of a car accident. I won't go into details, but Miley looks like this. And, yes, I name each car I get.

I guess this picture explains how one can feel stressed and blessed at the same time.

This is also the reason I am so thankful.

I am thankful that Ethan and I and the other drivers escaped unscathed. A little shaken, but unharmed.

I am also thankful for an amazing husband that has handled everything so great! There was no yelling, no blame, no resentment for changed plans. He has handled everything. Along with a new job and school. You are my hero!! And I am sorry for adding to your list.....eek face!

I am thankful for great in-laws that have lent a helping hand and car for a few days.  Not a lot people have in-laws they actually like.  I am happy say that I do.

I am thankful for a great group of friends that I have acquired over the past few months. It has been sooooo long since I have had a great GROUP of women that I felt I belong with. While I lost a couple of friends once Ethan came around, I have gained so many that I may have never met had it not been for Ethan. I am truly grateful for each of you. All have offered a helping hand over the past few day for the upcoming week of possible no transportation so we are not stuck at home. The immediate response to having to decline activities brought tears of thanks and joy, that I rarely get.

I am thankful for my sister. I have the best sister in the world! She is one of the few people in this world that truly gets me. She doesn't see me as weird, but entertaining and fun! Good or bad she is there.

I am thankful for the friends that stuck around after Ethan came into our lives. Who knew there would be so few of you? So for that, Kristin, Chris, Sherri, Martin, Lindsay and Bern, thank you!

I am thankful for my mother. She is the type of person one should aspire to be. She is patient, kind, and understanding. She would do anything for her children. She is type of mom I want to be. I know that her lap is always there for me when I need a good cry or just a good hug.

I am tired now, but I intend to continue to add to my list as the month goes on.  So check back for your name here.

It's the Great Pumpkin,Charlie Brown

Happy Halloween! 

Robert even taught him how to hold it up

Our plans were changed for the day early in the week when one of Ethan's little friends came down with strep throat.  Don't worry she is feeling great today. 

But, we decided to reschedule our group's Halloween party until next week so everyone can participate.  So with our change of plans, a few of us went the costume party at Chick-fil-a.  They do such a great job of handling the amount of toddlers that come through there every Wednesday morning.  Today, they had a backdrop set up for photos.  They even took pictures of each child and print it out for us to take home.  We went as Clark Kent/Superman this morning so we didn't ruin our costume for trick or treating.  Smart move, we had strawberries all over it. 

After our pictures, there was a little pumpkin craft waiting for us.  While ours are still a little young to figure it out, they did their best. 

Then, Chick-fil-a was kind enough to pass out free chicken minis.  Ethan had no interest.  Mom was hungry.  So, thank you Chick-fil-a! 

Tonight, when Dad got home we went out to do some trick or treating for the first time!  We made our way around the neighborhood for a little bit with The Reed's.  Ethan and Abigail were so happy to see one another since it has been a few days.  Ethan thought it was funny that she was in costume.  He was fairly hesitant at first going to people's doors.  I don't think he truly ever understood what was going on.  However, he did know not to let go of the candy bag and to knock on the doors.  He loves to knock on doors.  Abigail kept walking into everyone's houses.  Both kiddos enjoyed themselves.  And we appreciate the neighbors that gave regular size candy bars since they knew Mom and Dad would be the ones to indulge. 

A little fuzzy but too sweet!



We then went over to Bernadette's house for some familiar faces.  Good 'ole Bern had some treats for Mom and Dad too. 

Happy Halloween from our Little Monster!