A Christmas for the Record Books (2011)

I have so many wonderful childhood memories of Christmas and how special my parents and grandparents would make it for me. As a mother, it is now my turn to do the same for my child (soon to be children). And this year was the perfect year from me to do just that. Our traditions started with making Christmas cookies together, hiding our elf Lego each night, and reading Christmas stories such as the Polar Express and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We decorated the house and tree together and we listen to Christmas music (Eddie was not a fan of the music???). And each night before we fell asleep, I tried talking to Eddie about what Christmas really means. I made sure to tell him that it was about giving and being around family. Although, I did have to throw Santa in the mix since he is only three and told him that all good boys get visited by Santa too! I wasn't quiet sure if Eddie understood our talks about Christmas until I had the privilege to host the most important Christmas tradition, dinner. YES!! I had the privilege to have both sides of the family over for Christmas this year. On Christmas day we had prime rib roast, shrimp, salad, cheese, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole etc... and desert. Most importantly, some of the Mueller family came to our house. Eddie truly enjoyed spending time with his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. And then the day after Christmas the Alberts family came over. We had wings, shrimp, cocktail weenies, chips and dip, and fruit! And once again our little man enjoy spending time with his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. At the end of the each evening he did not want them to go and since then has asked when they are coming back to his house. Here are some pictures that captured our Christmas holiday!
Eddie with Mema on Christmas Eve:Opening one Christmas present from mommy and daddy on Christmas Eve:And of course, leaving out milk and cookies for Santa: The priceless look on Christmas morning:

And even more priceless look:Hanging with cousins Haley and Heather:

Hanging with cousin PJ: Some of the Mueller girls:

Wrestling with Peepaw:

Daddy sporting his new hunting overalls:Hanging with cousins Mark and Jason:

As you can see from the pictures, we will have many great memories of this Christmas. And since I am not quite sure how soon we will have the opportunity to host Christmas dinner again, this Christmas definitely is one for the record books.

Dinner with Santa 2011

Each year the school district I work for puts on a dinner with Santa for the kids of the employees. It truly is a wonderful and magical event for the kids. They all sit at their tables, somewhat eating their dinner, waiting to hear the bells jingle as Santa approaches. The look on all of their faces is priceless but of course no look is more precious then your own child's. And although our evening started out a bit rough from a very busy very long non sleeping weekend, the even turned out just right. As Santa sat in his chair and called out the names of the many kids awaiting their present, Eddie sat their patiently waiting for his present with his friends.

Here is Eddie with Santa: And here is the priceless look on his face when he open his present, a giant harvester!!!!

Country Lights 2011

Sunday 12-11-2011 we took our little man to our annual Country Lights outing at a local park near our home. At Country Lights, our little man got to make a toy in Santa's workshop with an elf and then decorate it with paint and glitter before we went on our wagon ride around the park to see all of the beautiful Christmas lights. Once again, we had an absolute awesome time together. Eddie really enjoys the activities and seeing the Christmas lights. This year as he looked around the lobby he was able to identify the different characters we have watched in movies and have read in books. He pointed out Rudolph, took a picture with little Cindy Lou Who from "How the Grinch stole Christmas", and also took a picture with the Grinch!

Here are a few pictures of our evening together:

Putting some glitter on our tractor with daddy: Painting the tractor with daddy:

Making the tractor with mommy and the elf:

Hanging out in the lobby with mommy and daddy:

The Grinch:

Little Cindy Lou Who (or at least that's who we thought it was):

Santa and Our Elf- Lego

As usual, the day before Thanksgiving we took our little man to get his picture taken with Santa. We decided that this year we would make it our Christmas card since come April it will no longer be just the three of us. Yes! There will be four of us and our picture with Santa will no longer just be our little man. The next time we go to take our picture with Santa, it will be Eddie with his baby sister. We are all very excited for the new addition to our family!!! However, there are times that I sit here an think.... WOW! There is going to be four of us. It's no longer going to be just the three of us!!! And although I am very happy, part of me feels a tiny bit sad. So, I wanted to capture this moment with my little man and with Santa as just the three of us!

And since the holiday season and festivities have begun, this year we added our elf Lego to our Christmas traditions. At first, Eddie didn't really understand the magic of Lego but then when he started to show up in strange places throughout the house, the magic set in. Every morning Eddie wakes up he either tries to find Lego right away or one of us will say, "have you seen Lego?" And then the search begins. When Eddie finds him he will run to one of us and say, "look, look I found the elf." Once he has found Lego he usually stands there with his mouth open and pointing for us to see while letting out a kind of silent laugh. Daddy has really come up with some creative places to hang Lego and I think that even makes it more fun and special for Eddie. Meanwhile, Eddie's behavior has been terrific because he now knows that Lego reports to Santa each night. I know one little boy that will definitely be getting a visit from Santa this Christmas.

Halloween 2011

Our Halloween festivities this year started with a daytime trick or treat at our city's downtown shopping strip. We went last year and had so much fun that we decided to go back this year. This year was extra special because Eddie's cousin's and his Papa and Mema Alberts came with us! Hopefully, Eddie and his cousin's will be able to do this for a few more years together.
The boys with Papa Alberts:
My Buzz Light Year and his older cousins:

Halloween night started off a little rough. My little Buzz came down with a fever at daycare around three o'clock. When we got home I gave him so motrin and once it kicked in there was no stopping him. Peepaw and Grandma Mueller came over for a Sloppy Joe and Mac n Cheese dinner and then off we went with the neighborhood kids.

My Buzz and hippy girl Cassidy:

My handsome little Buzz and I:

Buzz with Cat Grandma and Cowboy Peepaw Mueller:

Buzz and Cowboy Peepaw Mueller:

We had a wonderful evening together despite the fever. However, lesson learned for this mom... when your child has a fever keep them in no matter what, even if it is Halloween. Buzz was home from school the next two days.

A Few Firsts and then some.....

Where does time go? Seriously, I have so many memories to share just from September and October and it seems like I never have enough time to share them. The last few months have been wonderful. We have again spent many weekends with each other and family. Our little man has also done a few things that he has never done before like the circus, Halloween Hay ride, and a professional baseball game! He has also done a few things that he has done before like going to the zoo and making the newspaper!

Here we are at the circus:

Pony ride at the Halloween Hay ride:

Halloween Hay ride with dad:

First professional baseball game with Peepaw and mommy:

And here comes the then some part....

Here is our little man making the local newspaper! The first time he made the paper he was hunting for Easter Eggs, this time his Mema Alberts sent this photo into the newspaper. Looks like Papa and the little man made the cut!

Nana came to visit at the end of August-beginning of September. We spent some quality time together and even had a chance to go to the zoo together! We loved seeing you Nana and we already miss you so much!

Idlewild Park

August 8th and 9th we took our first family trip. We couldn't have picked a better first place for a family trip. Idlewild Park was everything I hoped it would be and was completely and totally toddler friendly. As a matter of fact, Eddie could go on most of the rides and even tried one of the adult slides in the water park section. He also went in the WAVE pool, which he absolutely loved. Thank god I brought his life vest because he charged right at the waves without an ounce of fear. I was more of a bystander and caretaker on the trip but that was okay because my two guys had so much fun together! We played games, rode roller coasters, swam, climbed up big giant spider nets, jumped in balls, walked through storybook forest and we all enjoyed each other.
Here is a picture of my two guys riding the coaster:

After our first day at the park, we went back to the hotel to get some well needed rest. It was Eddie's first stay in hotel so you can imagine how excited he was. He check over the room very thoroughly to make sure everything was good to go. He kept checking every nook and crannie until it was time for bed. He was so cute! We will definitely be going back for some more fun next summer!

Here are a few more pictures of our trip:

My personal favorite:

Yes! Eddie went down this water slide with daddy!

Eddie made it around the whole track using just his arms:

Bumper cars. Need I say more?

Hanging with dad:

Jumping monkey!

My what big teeth you have!

Jack and the Bean Stalk:

Daddy as the Little Engine that Could: "I think I can!"