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...