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!

A case of the Mondays?

Not a the Flynn house. 

Dad is back at work this week.  For those that don't know, CONGRATS to Robert.  He started his new job at The Hartford on Monday.  The family will be seeing some changes in the future, but one step at a time. 

We are left to ourselves once again.  We loved having Dad home for the week, but I think Ethan missed his friends too.  We made it a great Monday.  We started out with a pudding painting playdate.  One of the moms in our group is a brave soul to let seven young toddlers come over to paint with chocolate pudding.  I think they all had a lot of fun though.  Some of it was short lived and others were content to stay to play for awhile.  That may be due to finding out the pudding is delicious.  We started out with attempting a spider.  Some more successful than others.  Mine liked to squish it around.  So a spider we did not make.  Then we just put them on the plastic covered floor and let them at it. 

A little hesitant at first

Discovering that it taste good too.

And this is after we cleaned them.

A brief milisecond of peace.  How chill is my child.  Loving his buddies.

And about a second later!

We were pretty tired from all of our crafting.  After a nice nap we decided to play outside.  Turk showed Ethan that there are some dogs next door that love to irritate the rest of the neighborhood. 

Wait for it, they will be here in a second

Hey buddy!



After all of this playtime we went to Kroger for our first Halloween event.  I will post those pictures tomorrow!  All of this fun was not to be outdone by our pre-bath fun that Ethan decided to have.  He found the cowboy hat Uncle Mike gave him when I was getting him ready for a bath and took off. 

Warning: inappropriate photos ahead. :)

Thank you Turk for censoring for me!

We somehow managed to get through this without any accidents on the floor!  Miracles do happen!  Hope you all had a great Monday like we did.  Mom was definitely tired by the end of the day! 

16 months: go, go, go

At 16 months old, this kid is one busy kid.  We have gone to some pumpkin patches, the fair, and so many play dates it is hard to keep up.  But, he has a blast going and doing.  He gets cabin fever so quickly we have to keep busy.  I feel like he changes with each passing day.  He is finally starting to get some hair, slowly.  He still only has his front eight teeth.  I feel like this first molar has been taking forever to come in.  He is such a slow teether.  We have had a couple of nights that he has woken up for about an hour, I assume due to teething. 

Taking our first carousel ride at the mall with Mom and Dad

We don't really have any new milestones this month.  But, some of the smaller, yet just as fun, milestones we have met are eating with a fork, jogging, and climbing onto the couch.  I think we have finally settled into a good bedtime routine that has limited fussing and lots of snuggles.  It is basically, bath, pjs, reading his bible and prayer book and off to bed with a little song (at least when I do it).  Robert has his own thing going on some nights.  But, whatever works.  He is definitely a little snuggler.  I sometimes can't wait until he is in a toddler bed so I can lay with him and read.  Don't rush it, I know!

A little snack with Mom, for the short amount of time he is still

Morning milk with Mom and Turk

This looks like a relaxing spot.

Some other fun things he has started is mimicking and a little bit of focused play, like finger painting.  Any noises we make he will repeat with the same pitch and tones.  We even got him to do the Home Alone scream.  But, of course he won't do it for a camera.  He also tried to blow me a kiss when we FaceTimed the other day.  That one is a work in progress.  It somehow always turns back into him doing the indian call.  He is starting to follow some directions.  He will help put things up when asked, sometimes.  He will give me a hug, not too many kisses. 

Naked painting time with Abigail

Other things he loves: stacking things, pushing strollers, playing with shoes and being tickled.  He is so ticklish.  If we get right on his inner thigh he will just squeal in laughter and then come back for more. 

Playing in Mom's shoes

Some of the moms got together this past weekend for a Busy Bag Swap.  We each made 16 of the same activity, each person a different activity.  Then we got together for a MNI and swaped all of our bags.  There are so many great activities for them to grow with.  They are there for a quick pick up too if you want to take them to dinner or something, plus there was wine.  Good night all around.

This little game is great for about 10 minutes of fun (that's a long time in the toddler world)

Tantrums have been minimal, thank goodness.  It is really just when we put him in a shopping cart and occasionally when we take something away.  But, they are usually short lived when ignored and then offer a distraction. 

Hanging with Uncle Mike

Living up to his name BBQ baby.  The kid loves food!

Halloween is coming up next week!  I can hardly stand the cuteness that will be!

Up in Flames!

Last week we took full advantage of Robert having a little time off over this week and last and went to the fair.  This is our second time taking Ethan to the fair.  Anyone remember this little guy from last year?

We left as soon as Ethan woke up at 9 to ensure us a good mood baby for as long as possible.  Lucky for us we picked canned food day and got in for $2 each.  Yea for saving money!!  For most the day we just walked around taking in the sights pulling Ethan behind in his wagon.  Our first stop was the corn dog stand.  Ethan got to have his first Fletcher's Corn Dog.  I couldn't feed it to him fast enough.

We decided to bypass the crowd at the petting zoo since Ethan never seems too interested in that right now.  Our next stop was my favorite building, The Embarcadero.  I just like the name.  We browsed through booth after booth resisting all of the things we really need.  Such as the special hairbands that hold your hair better, the magic juicer, and clippers that can cut through a tree trunk!  We did make a stop at the nuts and candy stand.  I think it was a hit.

My first gummy worm!

Most of our time was spent at the AutoShow.  I don't know who had more fun, Robert or Ethan.  They both enjoyed going from car to car just to sit and dream, Robert about having some of these fancy cars, Ethan just steering to his hearts content.

Ethan and Dad hanging out.

Hey, Mom!

There may have been an accident that required no pants for a bit.

Dad, I've got this!

Once little man started getting tired we made our way through the Midway, only playing a few games and learning we aren't as young as we used to be.  All in all I think we all had a great time.  I already look forward to next year with the hopes of taking him at night to show him how amazing everything is lit up. 

I am very glad we picked Wednesday to go.  Our beloved Big Tex was accidentally cremated on Friday morning.  At the young age of 60, DFW has lost a local icon that has always been looked up too.  With his giant Dickies and giant cowboy hat and boots, he greeted us every year to new fall season and posed for many photos with not one complaint.  He is as important as the midway, the fried food, Fletcher's Corn Dogs and the Ferris wheel.  It just isn't the same without his signature "Howdy Folk's!".  Fortunately, it is said he will back and better than ever for the 2013 season. 

My sweet boys

Family photo with Big Tex