Saturday, December 31, 2011

Christmas 2011

Jason, Ian, and I had fun and busy Christmas in Enid.  Our "events" included Christmas with my mom and stepdad, Christmas with my dad, stepmom, and grandparents, and a Christmas Eve party with much of our extended family.  Ian definitely got spoiled...I mean blessed...with some fun gifts!  We were able to attend church on Christmas Day with my mom and stepdad before Jason had to head back to Wichita to work (yup...he had to work on Christmas Day).  Here are a few pics from the weekend:
Ian surrounded by his "loot"...I think the boxes were bigger than he was!

Cars 2

Another car toy...

Antique pharmacy sign

A car blanket I made for Ian...

Cars tent...(can you catch a theme here?)

Pic with my friend, Emily, and her daughter, Hailey (we've been friends since 1st grade!)

Tractors from a farm set - courtesy of Great Grandpa and Great Grandma

My brother, Alan, got a Medicine sign

Resting up!

Playing "stick stuff in our mouth" with cousin, Hudson

My litte elf

This is the best pic we could capture of the kiddos
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, too!!!  Just got the tree and decorations taken down today.  We're ready for 2012!!

Happy New Year!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Happy 15 Months, Ian!!


Dear Ian,
Happy 15 Months sweet boy!!  Wow, are you a little busy-body?!  You never sit still!  The past 3 months have flown by, and you have changed by leaps and bounds. 
You are saying quite a few words now!  Your favorite words are “car” and “ball,” but your vocabulary also includes “mama, dada, baba (for bottle), wawa (for water), night night, dog, duck, nana, nanny, papa, and mimi.”  I’m pretty sure you also said “Jess-ca” (Jessica is your babysitter).  You now have 12 teeth – the top 4 and bottom 4 in front, and 4 molars. 
You are OBSESSED with cars!  You could play with them all day, and you never get tired of them.  You are starting to get more imaginative with them, and will have them go on little “adventures” around the house, on the sofa, on your chair, etc.  You also are really starting to love books.  Your favorites are “Peak-A-Who,” any book with cars, any book with flaps, and the “First Words” books with pictures of real objects.  You enjoy playing with non-toy objects too, like small bottles, Tupperware, silverware, cardboard boxes/tubes, and pretty much anything else you see lying around.  Lately you’ve found it funny to drop all of your toys through the baby gate and onto the stairs.  Mommy has to go up and down the stairs every evening to pick up your little treasures.  Oh, you also love to “drive” your big cars around…the ones you can sit on.  We love the sound effects you make as you chug along!  I’m sure you’ll be asking for keys to the real car soon! J
You have now perfected your walking, and you have actually started running!  You love to be chased by mommy and daddy, and you run all over the house!!  You started walking just after your first birthday, and you’ve mastered the technique so quickly since that time!  We have to put shoes on you all of the time now, but you’ve figured out how to take off your socks.  It’s pretty cute because you laugh and squeal when you take your own socks off.  We’ve also started to see signs of your first “temper tantrums.”  Especially, if you don’t get to go where you want (i.e. at other people’s homes) or if you don’t get to hold what you want (i.e. remotes, phones, etc.).  It seems like you’re learning to mind pretty well!  Hopefully that continues!
Jessica Lucas still watches you while mommy and daddy are at work.  You love spending time with her kids, Brennan and Zoey, and Miss Jessica always says such sweet things about you.  She helped you do your first craft projects around Thanksgiving, which included a handprint turkey and a brown bag of “leaves” containing things that you were thankful for…yours included, God, mommy and daddy, cars, pacis, milk, and puffs.  So cute!  The other day, you made a little handprint/footprint reindeer! Mommy better get the big storage box out for all of these special keepsakes!
Your diet is getting more and more diverse.   Bananas probably still top your list of favorites, but you also love mandarin oranges, yogurt, cheese, deli turkey, turkey hot dogs, pizza, chicken, graham crackers, and even veggies.  The funny part about the veggies is that you like the pureed baby food veggies better than the whole veggies.  Oh well…mommy doesn’t mind if we drag out the “baby phase” a little longer. J  You’re drinking milk out of a “big boy” cup, and usually have it in the morning, before your nap, and at bedtime. 
Your bedtime routine hasn’t really changed.  You usually go to bed around 8:30pm after you bath.  Your newest thing is to throw all of your toys over the side of the tub and on to the floor.  Mommy is not a big fan of this because it takes a while to clean up your mess!  You generally sleep until about 6:00am when mommy wakes you up for milk, then you go back to sleep until about 8:30 or 9:00am.  Your nap occurs around 10:30am.  You don’t always take an afternoon nap…just sometimes.
In the past 3 months, we haven’t really done anything too “big.”  We did spend Thanksgiving at Lake Texoma with nanny, papa, and family.  You had a great time playing with your cousins and seemed to really enjoy running around outside.  Mommy and Daddy are excited about your second Christmas (2 days from now) because you will probably have a lot of fun playing and opening gifts.  You also went to see Santa again last week….and tolerated him!
Well, that about wraps it up this time around.  We love you more than words can say, and we’re so thankful that God put you in our lives!  We look forward to all of the excitement in 2012!
With Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Thanksgiving!

This year, we spent Thanksgiving with Jason's side of the family at some cabins by Lake Texoma.  We all had a great time, but Ian loved seeing nanny, paw paw, aunts, uncles, and cousins!  One of his favorite things was to play in the dog cage.  He spent a LOT of time in here!  haha!!  I wonder if it would be considered punishment to lock him in one of these at home?!

 
Jason helped his mom with the cooking! 

Ian thought Eden was hilarious!

Jason's parents (Harland and Cathy) with all of their grandkids!

The whole gang!

Jason with his mom, dad, and sisters (Kellie and Heather)

Our little trio

Our accomodations for the stay - it was pretty cozy!

Eden and her Aunt Kellie pulling the wishbone

Ian playing with pawpaw

Ian with his Aunt Kellie

Ian with his Aunt Heather (he's laughing at his cousin, Eden)


Such a happy boy!!

The biggest tumbleweed I've ever seen!  Eden rolled it up from the beach!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Fall 2011: Halloween

Man, am I getting way behind on blogging??  Yes!  I will try to catch up, but for now, let's take a look back a few weeks ago...

Our "celebration" of Halloween, was mostly at our church Fall Fest and Trunk-or-Treat



Ian's friend, Joshua, came over with his mommy, Erin, on Halloween evening.  We handed out candy, ate, and played! 




Ian also made his first "art projects" at Jessica's house.  I love that she did a project with him!  Time to buy the giant storage box for kids artwork!




Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Valerie & Christina's Double Baby Shower

This past Sunday, we had a double baby shower for my two coworkers that are expecting.  We had a "book"-themed shower...similar to the one that my friends and family had for us (remember?).  I LOVED that Ian received a bookcase to match him nursery decor, so we decided to do the same thing for these girls.  I was so happy with how they turned out!

Christina's nursery bedding is an "Under the Sea" set.  Millie, the wife of one of my other coworkers, painted the bookcase to match this ensemble.
Christina's "Under the Sea" bedding


Valerie's bedding is a brown/cream/tan set with animals and the alphabet.  I was in charge of painting this one.  I had so much fun!
Valerie's Bedding





The treats were themed after the "Good Morning, Good Night" children's book.  I did the lamb cake, and Millie got adorable star & moon sugar cookies.

Book garland to help decorate
We had such a great time!  Can't wait to meet these two little blessings!