The Christmas Post is Finally Here!

It's only a few weeks after Christmas...I'm not too terribly late in posting a blog about it! We had a great Christmas and it's all still a bit of a blur. We go to my mom's house on Christmas Eve for lunch and presents with the entire extended family. It's pretty much mass chaos. :-) But the kids love it. Ethan had a great time with his cousins. It makes me a little sad that he is getting so big when he spends the whole day running with the other kids and I don't have to have my eyes on him the entire time. The weather was nice so the kids played outside most of the day. Caleb had fun in Santa Land and eating his way through the day. There are way too many pictures but, hey, it was Christmas!

Family photo op #1 in front of the Christmas tree. One out of two kids looking isn't too shabby.

Checking out his Handy Manny toolbox.

Christmas morning at Nana and Papa's.

Caleb sporting his new robe. He kept it on for hours!

Ok, so this isn't technically from Christmas morning but it was the only time he put on his robe that Santa brought him.

"Uh, could someone put some coffee in this sippy cup???" Check out his bed-head. So cute.

Ethan LOVES his Leapster. He looked like such a big kid playing it on Christmas morning. Now it lives in the car to keep him occupied.

Chowing down on "Christmas morning breakfast". We all look forward to it every year. Thanks for cooking it Mom and Dad!

He couldn't even look up for a picture. He was too busy shoveling it in.

Ethan and Hailey enjoying their Christmas breakfast. Notice what Ethan is eating? Yep, cheesy ghetti.

Caleb loves this little zoo toy. I'll hear him turning it off and on in his room.

One of Caleb's presents from Santa.

Ethan and Hailey plaing with their laptops.

Thanks for the bike Santa! I was suprised he wore all of the protective gear. He said "I have to wear this so I won't get hurt if I fall." And yes, he was riding his bike in his pajamas....hey, it was Christmas!

His a picture of Santa Land. You can see why the kids love it. It's full of those little stuffed animal noise makers. You can't see it but there is a train that runs on a track hanging from the ceiling. Next up...Valentine Land!

Family photo with Aunt Lou. Again, both kids not looking. Actually, in Caleb's defense I think Caleb was looking at another camera.

Caleb playing in Santa Land.

Ethan helping Papa crack nuts in his Kung Fu Panda pj's. He would wear those every night if he could.

Roasting marshmellows in the fireplace. Everytime there is a fire going he needs to roast a marshmellow.

Yep, Christmas in Texas. Caleb is swinging outside in his pj's and doesn't even need a coat.

Santa Pic

Here's a little Christmas teaser. This is a picture of a picture. It's what people without a scanner do. :-) Caleb had been awake for about 5 minutes before this was taken...at least he didn't cry!

Gaylord Texan

One of our Christmas traditions is to go to Gaylord Texan to see the light and train displays. It was fun this year to take Caleb and let him walk around. Of course Ethan had a super fun time. We were a little early to see Santa so we skipped it since the boys had just visited Santa in the mall earlier that day. We did get to see Mrs. Clause with a real live reindeer. We didn't go to the ice display. Who needs to spend lots of money to freeze to death? Not us! Especially not with two small children. They would be miserable and not even remember it years from now. Anyway, I digress...here are the pics.

This is the best I could do with this pic. I was trying to get a picture of all the lights hanging from the ceiling.

This was so funny. Ethan was trying his hardest to hold down Caleb and Caleb was trying his hardest to get out of his kung-fu grip. Both of them were cracking up.

We did manage to get a good picture out of it.

That's a giant gingerbread house behind him. Looked good enough to eat!

I'm giving up on trying to get these two together! Ethan was trying desperately to hold Caleb in place for a picture of them standing together and all Caleb wanted to to was walk!

This was in a sleigh. Caleb didn't have much room to escape so we got a pretty decent picture. Look familiar to some of you?

Holiday in the Park

Every year we say we're going to go to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags but never do. This year we finally did. We were going to take Caleb too but it was way too cold and late so we left the little guy at home. He can go next year when he's bigger. Ethan had a good time. It was his first trip to Six Flags. Mondo and I hadn't been since high school. He loved the Mexican Hat and all the Looney Toon rides. We even met Batman and Robin while we were there! We had french fries and hot chocolate (not together). I was disappointed in the hot chocolate. I remember having awesome hot chocolate there as a kid but that night it tasted weird. We took him over to the Superman ride, the one that shoots you straight up. I asked him if he wanted to ride it (kidding of course) and he said no way! I told him he could ride it when he was bigger but he didn't think that was a good idea either. Well, on to the pictures!

There were fire pits scattered around the park to help warm us up. It felt so good. We all had on gloves and my hands were still cold. Having a ponytail wasn't a good idea because my ears were frozen but I didn't want to mess with my hair in the wind. It was so windy!

Ethan warming up by the fire.

Mondo and Ethan riding down the snow hill. What a good Daddy to ride with him.

This was right below the snow hill. I could hardly smile because my face was so cold!

This was inside the cave ride. I took this picture. Notice Ethan looks a little nervous. He wasn't too sure of the dark cave with creepy music on a boat banging into the walls. He was better once he saw Bugs Bunny but Yosimite Sam was too loud for him. There were a couple of parts with gun shots and explosions that were pretty loud and he had to cover his ears. I don't think he enjoyed that ride very much. It was always one of my favorites.

That's Ethan and me on the Mexican Hat. We rode it twice and he laughed hysterically when it started going high. So cute.

This was the highlight of the evening. Batman and Robin were standing outside of a store just haning out. Ethan was in awe. He really thought it was them.

Love this picture. These were little airplanes that went up and down and in a circle.

Little swings. No one was there that night. Ethan and this little girl were the only ones on them. They went pretty fast but he loved it. I was dizzy just watching.

Inside the ferris wheel. It wasn't so fun. Too much stopping to let people off and on. And it was pretty breezy at the top...super cold!

This was his all time favorite. Little trucks connected together like a train. He rode this four or five times, always sitting in the front. He really thought he was steering it. He was so exited and kept saying "I want to ride the trucks!"

Waving to the crowd.

Where Did My Tiny Baby Go???

I can't believe that Caleb is already one year old. Was I not just pregnant with him??? He has definitely added some spunk and fun to our little family. My mom jokingly called him Rowdy once and boy was she right! He is so busy. The inside of our house is like Fort Knox for babies. There are baby gates to lock him out of the kitchen and several other doors remain closed at all times...mainly the ones with bathrooms. If he sees a bathroom door open, he will look over his shoulder at me then walk as fast as possible to get to the toilet before I catch him. What can I say, the kid loves to play in the water. Giving him a bath is like being on the front row of the Shamu show. I get drenched! He is almost running now. It's crazy how quickly he progressed in his walking. He still isn't talking much but he does babble a lot. He loves his big brother and wants to be near him all the time. Unfortunately, Ethan has his days when he just wants to play alone and poor little Caleb gets his feelings hurt. It's pretty sad. As far as sleeping goes, he's still the anti-sleeper. Some days he naps great (up to 2 hours) and other days he'll only nap 20 minutes. And then there is night time...ugh. He still wakes up 2 to 3 times. He doesn't wake up to eat. I think he mainly wants to make sure I'm still there and usually wants to take a trip to my bed. I try my hardest not to take him but once I've reached the point of exhaustion that's where he ends up. Everyone says he needs to cry it out but it wakes up Ethan when we try to let him cry and that's a whole other issue. Any other suggestions??? Well, there are tons of pictures so I'll get to them so you can see what he's been up to!

How did he get from this.....

....to this.....

....to this so fast???

He still loves to swing. Look at those toofers!


If he finds a sock on the floor he will put it in his mouth and carry it around. Totally weird.

Enjoying his first Happy Meal. Excuse the crazy hair. He had some mac and cheese before the Happy Meal...and we all know how he likes to play with his hair when he eats...

See what I mean?

His first birthday party.

I had to add the #1 candle and star candles. When we picked up the cake it just had a big bare spot where a plastic Winnie the Pooh was supposed to go. I told them I didn't want the Winnie the Pooh since his party didn't have a theme. So they just left a big blank spot and squeezed the writing in at the bottom. I was disappointed with Tom Thumb. But I think it turned out cute with the extra candles.

Playing with his birthday balloons.

He did a lot of walking with presents on the fireplace.

Ethan helped Caleb ride his new fire engine. I think Ethan has ridden this more than Caleb!

He had this same look on his face the whole time we sang Happy Birthday. He had no idea why everyone was looking at him and singing.

Ethan had to assist in blowing out the candles.

I had no doubt that he would dig into his cake. He picked up the whole piece and took a giant bite.

Yum! That's the good stuff!

What a mess...but so cute!!!

Gotta wash it down with some milk.

Playing with his balloons and new toys the next day.

Of course big brother got to play with all of the balloons and only gave Caleb one. Typical of a big brother. :-)

The Bug

I've had a delay in writing Caleb's burthday post because we've ALL been plagued by the stomach bug. Ethan and Caleb started throwing up on Monday night/Tuesday morning (while I was at work...I had to leave at 0300) then Mondo and I started it on Tuesday. Let me tell you how aweful it is to be so sick when you're trying to take care of your sick kids too. Luckily, I got sick a few hours before Mondo so I got a little sleep in the morning while he took care of the kids. I lost 6 pounds in 24 hours...I don't recommend trying my method. :-) Everyone is over it now...except for me. I was ok by the end of yesterday but it returned today. I took Ethan to school and spent the next 3 hours on the couch in between taking care of Caleb. He's been a little whiney today so he may not be feeling better either. He is going for his one year check up tomorrow morning so that is good timing!

Christmas Fun at NRH2O

Working weekends definitely has it's downside. I have to miss out on some fun activities. Last weekend Mondo took Ethan to NRH2O for some Christmas fun. They met up with Mike and Traci so Ethan had some extra fun with Colton. They had hot chocolate, went on a train ride, roasted marshmellows, and rode down a snow hill. I'm proud of Mondo for getting some good pictures!

He got his own hot chocolate.

It was a Daddy bonding day.

Roasting marshmellows with Colton. I'm sure he was wondering where the chocolate and grahm crackers were.

Mouth full of marshmellow.

Riding the train with Colton.

Best buds.

He got to watch people carve ice sculptures with a chainsaw.

And the ultimate fun...tubing down a snow hill! I was actually suprised he wasn't scared.

Yeah for Mondo for getting a video of Ethan tubing down the hill so I could feel like I was there. He is in the middle. Colton is on the left with the red jacket. Check out Colton's eyes when he gets toward the bottom...I think he was a little scared.