Merry Christmas!

What a fun Christmas week this has been! I've really loved spending time with my boys. Although Daniel is just 2 years old, this was his 3 Christmas, and I have to say that each year has been more fun than the last! I kind of feel the "magic" of Christmas returning. You know. That exciting feeling you had as a kid? That's how I felt!

Christmas Eve was pretty much perfect. Jacob and I even talked about how sometime it feels like Christmas Eve is more exciting than Christmas because there's so much anticipation!

I had to work in the morning, but when I got off, Daniel and I went home and picked up Jacob for a last minute crazy trip to WalMart. It was just about as crowded as I had anticipated, but we had a good time none the less.

We made our traditional junk food. I got Daniel down for a nap. Then Jacob and I popped in Home Alone. Daniel woke up about half way through which was odd for him. He was crying, so I went in and he ended up snuggling with me during almost the rest of the movie. He had a bit of a tummy ache.

Then we watched A Muppet Christmas Carol...one of Jacob's Christmas favorites!

After that we took a break so that I could finish cleaning up the kitchen, get the breakfast casserole ready and get the roast in the crockpot so I wouldn't have to worry about anything in the morning.

Next we went to look at the lights at Christmas in the Park. They had some really cool displays!

Then back home to let Daniel open his Christmas Eve gifts. He got jammies (a new tradition I started last year) and a new book.

This was followed by, A Christmas Story, The Night Before Christmas, read by Daddy, leaving out milk and cookies for Santa (or HoHo) as Daniel calls him. Bedtime for the little guy. And last but not least, the movie that makes it OFFICIALLY Christmas....National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!

We didn't get to bed until midnight and I was awake by 7:00. I was giddy, but the boys were still asleep. We were finally up and ready to roll by 8.We decided to let Daniel open all of his stuff first, eat breakfast and then open our things. My mom had mailed their gifts to us, so we had a lot to open!

 











It was just so much fun watching him open things. He would pick up each gift and say, "What's this? Ooooh!!!" I think each of his gifts was a hit. He played with everything yesterday.

Jacob and I had fun opening our's too, but I think we'd both agree that watch Daniel was the best! We got some great things from each other and from my parents. I feel pretty blessed to have 2 wonderful sets of parents and a wonderful husband!

The rest of the day was filled with talking to family and playing, playing, playing! I'm very proud to say that Daniel knew that yesterday was Jesus' birthday as well. Very exciting to teach these things to him!

Today I had to work again. I'm glad I took Daniel because it was just me and him. No other kiddos showed up, so we called it a day a half an hour early. Actually, before we even got in the building I discovered my tire was flat, so I called the local place and had them tow it and repair it for me. Thankfully it happened on Jacob's break, because I was able to just take the car seat out and then have him come get us when I was done!

We stopped to pick up my car, dropped it at home and headed on our adventure to Springfield. We hit up Best Buy, Olive Garden for lunch, Target and WalMart. Daniel was so so good. We were really proud of him. I didn't know how he would be without a  nap. He did have a meltdown just before we came home, so I assumed he'd nap on the way back. Nope. He stayed awake. He fell asleep at 7:45 tonight. He was a tired little guy, and I'm a tired Momma, but had a great day!

Tomorrow I work and then we're heading to Villa Grove. We planned to go Saturday but decided today to see if we could come a day early. So, we'll be spending tomorrow night and Saturday night there. Can't wait to celebrate Christmas with Jacob's parents and watch Daniel get excited about his new things again!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

The Boy

I realized that I haven't made a post about Daniel lately. Well, of course he's in all of my posts, but I always like to write about the things that he does and brag on him a little.

I mentioned in a previous post that he had his 2 year check up. He weighed in at 29 pounds and 36 inches! He's a very tall boy. I finally got on the ball and ordered him a new car seat. He had pretty much outgrown his rear facing (and we all know where I stand on that!). It finally arrived the other day, and he couldn't wait to try it out! He kept climbing into it while I was trying to figure everything out. I think I should get at least another year of rear facing now!

That child never ceases to amaze us. He can count from 1-10 and knows what each number is. He knows all the letters of the alphabet, although not in order. He knows the words to songs that we sing. He can recognize shapes and name some of them. He also knows almost all of his colors. Again, he can identify them, but can't say a few of them.

He insists on calling himself "Baby". I am 100% convinced that he could say it, but now he thinks it's a joke. He'll just giggle and give a big cheesy grin when we say, "What's your REAL name?!"

He likes routine. (Wonder who he got that from? :)) He also puts all of his toys away where they belong. If you put something in the wrong spot he will pick it up and move it to where it goes.

He still loves to read. We read countless numbers of books during the day...but I'm thankful he enjoys it.

He is very good at saying, "Please" and "Thanks", although sometimes he doesn't use them quite right he really tries.

He understands plurals. I mean, what 2 year gets that so well?

We've been working on potty training, but I'm still not hardcore into it. Exciting news though! He pooped on the potty for the first time the other night! Now he talks about how it "plops" all the time. Haha!

He is a total spit fire. His favorite word is, "NO!!!" Sigh. This too shall pass.

He has a memory that is a million times better than mine. He pulls things out of the air that happened several months ago and starts talking about them!

Sometimes I enjoy trying to figure out how his little mind works.

One of my favorite parts of the day is bedtime. Not because I'm ready for some quiet time (although that's a huge perk), but because I love our routine (once I get him settled down). I like reading him stories and then rocking with him. He wasn't a super snuggly baby,  but he's coming around, and I LOVE when he snuggles with me each night! We pray and sing songs before going to bed.

Yeah. He's pretty much the best kiddo I could ever ask for!

Christmas Is in the Air!

We got home from Iowa on Sunday afternoon. It was a pretty uneventful drive. Oh yeah. Except the part when Jacob looked into the backseat to discover Daniel brushing his teeth! What a hilarious kid! He got into his suitcase and took it out of the plastic bag it was in without us even noticing. That's what you get where you're belting out Christmas songs!

Monday I decided to get out the Christmas tree. I was feeling kind of bummed because I don't like when Thanksgiving is so late. Everyone was posting pictures of their trees and I wanted mine up! I decided that it wasn't in my best interest to carry the tree up the stairs, but Jacob wasn't home. I sort of though maybe I could do it without killing my back, so I dragged the box across the basement. I then decided I was not getting up the stairs with that thing. Last year the box fell apart so I duct taped it back together...but it all fell apart again. Finally, common sense took over and I realized I could carry it up one piece at a time. Duh!

Amazingly, it only took me maybe 15 minutes to get it up this year. I'm pretty sure it took WAY longer last year because I had never done it before. I was pretty proud. I even managed to get it decorated before Daniel woke up.

He was very excited about the "Big-a tree!" (He likes to add A's to the end of words lately).









I waited until yesterday to put up my other decorations. I carried them up in small loads in a laundry basket. I didn't put everything out, but I like how everything turned out.

Today, I dropped Lola off at the mechanic. The day we were leaving for Iowa, she decided to start making a weird humming sound, so we decided to take Jacob's car. I'm glad we did. It turned out to be the alternator going bad. Got that all fixed up and kissed a little more money farewell. I really like the place we take our cars though. They are so friendly, and pretty fast too.

I'm feeling some relief as I think I've finally picked a new insurance plan for Daniel and I. It'll cost more, but it's going to cost more no matter what. I feel pretty at peace with it though. I've researched the heck out of stuff and talked to 3 different companies today. This new stuff really sucks, but I'm pretty excited that as of January 1st I will officially have maternity insurance again! :)

We've got snow on the way. 60 degrees today. 30 degrees tomorrow and snow tomorrow night and Friday. Bah Humbug. Guess I'll suck it up and enjoy some Christmas music and maybe even bake something.