Merry Christmas!!

This is the picture collage I put together for our Christmas cards this year. Unfortunately the pictures haven't arrived from Snapfish yet, so I don't think my cards are going to make it to our family and friends before Christmas--oh, well, it's the thought that counts! Beginning tonight around 2am my family starts trickling in for our Christmas festivities. My folks get here tonight and the rest of the clan starts arriving on Thursday next week. For the weekend all 12 of us will be together and we will have our family Christmas then. It should be a rip-roaring time!! Those of you that know my family well can imagine the craziness that ensues when you get all of us together playing games, eating holiday treats, and telling old family stories! And this will be our first holiday with 2 grandkids around to spoil. So, I am probably signing off until after the dust settles--Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope yours is blessed with family & fun and that you have much to thank God for as you welcome in the New Year!

My Little Couch Potato

This mommy had the flu bug from Tuesday thru Wednesday morning and am still recovering today, though feeling much better. So, what does one do with a very active toddler when one is out of commission? Let him watch more Disney movies than any sane adult can handle in a 72 hour period!!
Here we are watching Cars, we love Mator...
This one is Toy Story, a household favorite!...
And I believe this one was The Jungle Book. He did, however, get up to dance to the Bear Necessities as always!!

Couple of Candids

Snow Day

Saturday we took Alex to play out in the snow for the first time. I was pretty much exhausted just getting him all bundled up in his snow gear, but he had a good time running around with daddy!

Daddy had to keep a hand on the boy when he went close to our neighbor's fence because he kept acting like he was going to lick it!!! Yeah, he'd be sorry he tried that!

It took a little time for Alex to get used to walking in his snowpants, so he spent a lot of time falling down and getting up! And every time he said his favorite phrase, "uh-oh!"

"I LOVE snow!" By Sunday we had 6 inches or more and it got a lot colder, so I'm not sure if we'll make it out in the snow today, but maybe tomorrow! It's hot chocolate season for sure!

Monet in the Making

Alex thinks that putting the crayons in and out of the baggie is just as fun as coloring!!
Alex used his art time today to color a picture for his good friend Josh. It's his birthday today and Alex is coloring part of the card to go with his present!
I guess he's taking a break in his new bean bag chair (an early Christmas gift, how do you wrap a bean bag chair??) and trying to color his toes!

Desperate Attempts at a Christmas Card Photo

Are we done yet?

Oh, right, DON'T pull the Christmas ribbon to shreds. Sorry! My bad!

You're kidding right? Put this on my head? I don't think so.

Seriously, can I PLEASE get out of this stupid box and go watch Nemo!?!!!!

Don't worry, we did end up getting a few good shots. We'll show you what we chose later, we just couldn't help but share some of the funniest "blooper" shots with you!

"Big Boy" Stuff

Well, we've hit a major milestone--we are completely done with the bottles! He's been down to just one bottle a day for about 4 months now, and the doctor told me that he needed to be "bottle-free" by 18 months--whew...only 3 weeks to spare! It's kind of a bittersweet milestone for me. I'm relieved because I think it will make it easier for him to have a few weeks of no bottles before Sam gets here and is drinking from bottles. But I am a little sad to see my baby growing up so fast! I am also very thankful that the transition was so easy--it only took a few mornings and there were almost no tears!

It seems as though he is turning into a "big boy" overnight! He has really started communicating more, mostly through baby sign language (which I am a big fan of); his latest signs are bird, cat, dog, milk, and help. I really think the signing has encouraged him to attempt to say many words as well because he is communicating so much. He tries very hard to say ball, bird, and more. He is also fascinated with socks and shoes. He often wants to take just one of his socks off and does NOT want it back on. He is also experimenting with trying to get shoes on his feet by himself....

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Another fascination: snow. It often takes us several minutes to get out to the car now that winter is here. And he loves my snowglobe...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

He also is fascinated with lights, books, the computer, the camera, and most of all the TV. He is really into taking off one sock and doesn't want it back on, trying to put lids on canisters, self-feeding (always fun!), and telephones. Oh, and he has started climbing--he has attmepted to climb the bookcase, the crib, the tv stand, and has learned how to climb up on the dining room table chairs (guess the table is no longer a safe place from little hands!). Wow, when I read back over this I know why I am so tired at night!! Like I said, we now have a "big boy" on our hands!

Alex's 18 month Pictures

This is my favorite!

We had a coupon for a free black & white so we had them crop this down to just his face and it is really cute!

Once we cropped this one a little it was really good!

This is my other favorite! We had this one done in 8x10's for the grandparents!

This was the most trying photo shoot so far--and not so much Alex's fault either! He posed like he'd been modeling for years, it just took sooooooo forever long for the lady to crop the pics and upload them into their system for me to view and choose from (seriously, 20-25 min) that Alex and I were both done being there long before I had even seen the pictures!! I felt bad for him because he just wanted to run around, and I had to strap him into that stroller, so I kept him reasonable happy with juice and teddy grahams!! As a reward for making it through the evening Mommy treated herself to a Mocha and Alex got to watch some Nemo before bed!!

A couple pics from a busy week

A little snuggle time with Daddy. I think they were watching Toy Story in this pic. (I'm not sure which one of them likes it better!)

Here's one of the latest of Alex's nativity scene creations. I'm not sure if my favorite part is the angel operating the crane or the monster chicken in the back of the dump truck! Oh, and I love the fact that there are goldfish crackers in the donkey's cart (you can't see those very well). Just in case anyone gets snacky!!

Reasons to Jump for Joy!

We have 2 big reasons to jump for joy today. One is that Alex cut his last two teeth for a while!! He is still slightly feeling the effects of them, but hopefully things are looking up for a while as we shouldn't see any more until his 2yr molars come in. Whew! Reason #2 is that I finished all my Christmas shopping today!!! And I only went to 2 stores--I did most of my shopping online (when you can find free shipping and tons of great internet deals why drag your toddler and your poor pregnant self out into the cold?). Now to just get them all wrapped...

Playing Around

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video HostingObviously, we are feeling better! Alex wanted to wear his new snow boots for a while, even though they kind of got in the way of his playing. Speaking of snow boots, Praise the Lord I found him some great snow boots and snow pants at the thrift shop the other day--all for under $4.00!! Now all we need is some snow!!

Sick & Tired

Alex hasn't been feeling well yesterday and today. We're having some yucky issues that have resulted in some pretty bad diaper rash. I haven't been able to even say the word diaper without him running in the other direction and starting to wimper--it's really sad actually. So, a few times I have changed the boy's diaper on the floor while he watches a movie to distract him--works pretty well! And one time yesterday he stayed there on the floor and watched the movie for a good half an hour. This afternoon he is doing better, so we may head out after dinner to pick up a few groceries--I think we could both use to get out of the house and get some fresh air!

Merry Thanksmas!

Since this was our year to have Thanksgiving with the Coons we decided to celebrate "Thanksmas" (thanks to Auntie Brenda for the catchy title) and exchange our Christmas presents while we were all together instead of mailing them. We had a great time together over the long weekend. We enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner, a "Christmas Morning", some shopping, a quick trip to Java Jungle, and lots of time to talk, watch movies, and play games. Nana & Papa and Alex enjoyed some quality time together, especially. More Thanksmas pics to come later.

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing????

Let's try the donkey up here for a change.
Hmmmm...what do you think?
Yep, I like it!
(The donkey actually stayed up in the angel's place in Alex's Little People Nativity Scene for a few days. This happens some times, especially when we can't find the angel, for though Alex doesn't play favorites with his Little People, Toby has taken a real interest in the angel and it often goes missing for a while!)

"You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry..."

Well, there were definitely a few tears from Alex when Santa came to town this year. We went to Twelve Oaks Mall today to do a little shopping and see Santa. Things went well, the line was short and moving fast, we put in our order, and Alex was in good spirits. Then we started walking up to Santa...and about 3 steps from him Alex stopped...and started backing up! Not a good sign. So, I picked him up and Santa talked really quietly to him and I eventually set him on Santa's knee. I backed up toward the camera as quickly as I could, but not fast enough! Santa was very patient and sweet, but the boy would have nothing of it! Thankfully he gave Santa a smile and a wave before we left, no hard feelings apparently! Well, needless to say, the photos we had to choose from weren't exactly ideal, but they did capture the moment! Merry Christmas!

The Food Group That is Ketchup!

Ketchup has earned it's own category in the food pyramid here at our house. Alex LOVES it! You can put a glob of the stuff on his tray and he would be happy to just dip his finger in it and eat it all by itself. And I have found that on those days when he is being particularly "toddlerish" and won't eat something that I know he loves, a little bit of ketchup on whatever it may be makes the formerly detestable food into a culinary delight!! (P.S. I didn't pose this picture, he managed to get the ketchup all over himself all on his own!)

A smidge of this and that...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video HostingThe boy who never cooperates on camera actually pulled through yesterday! This video shows just a smidge of many of the different things that happen during mealtime. After he figures out that the flash isn't going to blind him, we have a little bit of peek-a-boo & a failed attempt at using his fork, before the kid actually gets some pancake into his mouth! Of course then he must put down his fork to applaud himself and this big accomplishment, and upon hearing the clapping decides a little bit more banging would be fun. That makes him thirsty so he needs some milk, for which he actually does his signs on camera--miracles do happen! (Jenny Pittsley, you will enjoy how his sign for drink is a little off, and his sign for please has degressed from rubbing hand in circle on chest, to rubbing hand in circle on head, to just tapping head! Oh, well, it works for us!) We finish up with blowing some kisses, more blinking for the flash that never comes, and pointing at his eyes when I mention them! It's like his own video version of "If You Give a Pig a Pancake!"

The Search for the Perfect Hat

I don't know if other mommies out there have had this problem, but there seems to be a real shortage of decent winter hats in this world! At least for toddlers--and I do realize that my kid has a large head, he always has (full of brains I'm sure of it!) but one would assume that hats would come in a reasonable range of sizes and not skip from teeny tiny to elem. kid size! The only ones I did find were obnoxious, for example, the green/grey camo hat was looking pretty good until I turned it around to the front and found a skull and bones on it! Umm...NO. Well, necessity is the mother of invention right? And although I did not invent any new kind of hat, I did try my hand at making one that fits! So, this is one of Alex's new winter hats--I bought a few more scraps of fleece (the remnants are around $1.50 at Joanne's!) so I am going to try a few more---now if we can just come up with a way to keep the kid from pulling the thing off his head in the car!

Caught Red Handed!

Often when Alex hears the mixer going in the kitchen he runs in and wants to sit on the counter and watch it. I always keep his hands away from it, and he knows it's one of those "danger" things he's not supposed to touch when it's going. Well, over the weekend I made some cookies, and sure enough the boy came running to watch them mix. After I turned the mixer off I looked over to read my recipe and after a minute I heard "Mmmmmmm!" The boy discovered the joys eating cookie dough and was quite pleased with both himself and this new treat! I let him get a few licks before I put him down, which he was NOT happy with, but it was bedtime anyway--hence the pj's. Guess a love for cookie dough is just one of those things that comes naturally!

Snack Time

In the mornings I let Alex eat his snack while he watches Little Einsteins. He LOVES this! I found him the other day just chillin' in the chair (Daddy's chair--which Alex thinks is his now) with his foot up on the armrest! What a Goob!
Caught ya!

One Crazy Kid

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video HostingYou just never know what is going to tickle a toddler...one day something is funny, and the next day it's no big deal. Well lately most anything that includes Daddy & Toby gets a giggle!

Slowing Down

How do you know when your toddler isn't feeling 100%....when he slows down and sits still for more than 5 minutes all together! Alex is starting to feel better from this whole viral thing he's been fighting, but it has not been unusual over the last few days to find him curled up on the couch or chair, paci in mouth, cuddling with his blankie. Though I hate to see him not feeling well, I do enjoy the extra cuddles I get (until I look down at my jeans and see spots of dried snot! ew!).

And so it begins...

I found Alex like this in his crib after his nap yesterday. He managed to get one arm out of his shirt before he got so frustrated that the tears came and Mommy had to come rescue him. I guess he really is a toddler!

If the Shoe Fits...

Alex looks much better in Daddy's dress shoes than in Mommy's red ballet flats!
What? Too big you say?
This is Ryan's favorite! The boy was anticipating the flash on the camera and kept doing this squinting blinking thing. We hope this doesn't become his new camera face!