Tree Time

This year we decided to look into getting an artificial Christmas tree. We both love the look, smell, and experience of having a real tree. But when you add up what we've spent on real trees for the last 7 years of our marriage it doesn't seem so economical. Thus, we busted out the laptop this weekend in hopes of finding a deal on a tree from Craigslist.

And boy did we succeed!

Meet our new tree. We have named her Lafayette (for her previous home). She is a 9ft, pre-lit beauty that we scored for only $50! The previous owners said they paid $350 for this tree 3 years ago. There were a few burnt out strands of lights but Walter easily spliced in some replacements.

I'm a little sad that we don't have the "going to pick out the Christmas tree" experience this year, but I'm quickly getting over it. Walter assembled the tree while the boys were napping so every morning X tells me "We got a Christmas tree while we were sleeping!"

The plan was to decorate the tree as a family on Sunday. Well I should have known that the boys would be more interested in playing on the step stool (just like last year). Oh, and please disregard X's choice of clothing for the day. He decided that wearing one of Walter's t-shirts would be just the way to ruin my hopes of a "hallmark moment" kind of photograph. Instead he looks like he's going to go finger paint or something :)

The other thing that was the highlight of tree decorating was this old stroller box that I had brought up from the basement to throw away. X decided it made a perfect new toy for him.

Towards the end of the decorating I did manage to get X to hang a few ornaments. Standing on the step stool of course!

This tree is so big that Walter had to balance himself off the entertainment center and top handle of the step stool to get the angel on. Doesn't that look safe!

I did have a sweet moment with Xavier as we got out the nativity and talked about each of the people. I was showing him the shepherd boy and he said to me "The Lord is MY shepherd". How adorable!

During the decorating process Wesley managed to appoint himself the clean up crew. He pushed this sweeper around the room for a good 20 minutes straight. He looked so proud of himself.

It was fun too look at all the ornaments we have collected over the years. Last year Xavier made his first (of many I'm sure!) ornaments. It was a paper ornament he made at story time at the library. I love how the stickers are placed so randomly. He was really proud of this.



It's strange to think that this will be Wesley's First Christmas, and last "first holiday". He seems like he's been here awhile to it's weird to think that he hasn't celebrated a Christmas yet. I need to put his name on his stocking I made last year!

Turkey Day

So you know I was hosting Thanksgiving if you read this.

Well, it was exhausting so the camera didn't make it out much. I got a very poor representation of our guests and our meal.

We celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend with Walter's family. I didn't host yet I don't have a single picture of that either. No excuses beyond laziness for that one :) Maybe I'll do better at Christmas ??

But here's a glimpse of my table setting.

And the first turkey Walter and I have ever cooked. It turned out delicious!

This Thanksgiving also marked another "first holiday" for Wesley. Kinda anti-climactic if you ask me. I'm not one of those moms that has her act together to get  the cute little turkey shirt for my kid to wear and I kinda just threw a bunch of food on his tray. He didn't even seem too thrilled. But he did like the cranberry sauce :)

The Night Before

It's the night before Thanksgiving. My first year EVER to host. Lots to do. Lots to prepare. Probably not much time for sleep :)

Xavier helped me make 2 pumpkin pies tonight. I tried to get a pic but the camera died. It was cute hearing him say the names of all the spices.

I could say it's tough work slicing up the cranberry sauce, but that would be a lie. Ocean Spray, you are one easy holiday guest!

Oreo truffles are chilling in the fridge. (But those are for girls night on Friday!)

My onions and celery for the stuffing are chopped and waiting to be sauteed in the morning.

Turkey is in the sink with cold water. Apparently 3 days of thawing in the fridge wasn't enough :(

I'm waiting for the dishwasher to finish so I can unload it. I'll need it empty for more cooking in the morning.

Washing diapers tonight so they'll be finished drying on the banister before the holiday guests arrive. Cause that would be a little tacky :)

The boys are sound asleep wearing matching pjs. Soooo cute!

Happy Almost Turkey Day!

Gone Huntin

Walter and X went hunting this weekend at his mom's property. Before you go and think that my little boy was "roughin it" in the woods, let me clarify. Hunting includes staying in a fully furnished house with granite countertops, satellite TV, and lots of good food!

This was the first time I was away from X overnight aside from my hospital stay when I had Wes. I was nervous about how he would sleep, if he would eat good, etc. You know, all ridiculous things considering he was with Walter and Grandparents - people who clearly know how to care for a 2 year old!

Well, X did great and had a fabulous time from what I hear. He cuddled up with Daddy for a nap, made brownies with Gma Tina, and went on numerous tractor rides. (All of which was unfortunately NOT documented with pictures - shame, shame Walter!!)

While I was initially apprehensive about the weekend, it turned out fabulous for me and Wes as well. Why did I ever think it was so hard just having 1 kid? It's a breeze!

Wes was a rock star all weekend. He was in a great mood, ate good, played well, was walking a bunch, took good naps, and slept well overnight. I think he really enjoyed the quiet and one-on-one mommy time. X has been tormenting Wes lately so I think he was happy to have full access to all the toys too.

I have to say that I enjoyed the quiet as well. I love X to death, but the boy doesn't know the meaning of "inside voice". I also enjoyed taking a nap at 9am Saturday morning when Wes went down for his nap. I haven't had a morning nap since about 2008. It was awesome to just crawl back in bed with my pj's still on!

Walter didn't get a deer and he didn't end up hunting all that much. But that is ok. He decided he would rather spend more time with X and less time in the tree stand. What a good dad!

Big Kid Afternoon Out

I've been wanting to spend some time with Xavier, without Wes. I think it's important that they each get some individual time. Last week, my mom was gracious enough to keep Wes for the afternoon so X and I could go out. We went to a children's museum. X's favorite people, Daniel and Miss Carrie, came with us too! The boys had a blast running from one activity to the next. X had so much fun that he completely peed his pants in the middle of everything - ha! Good thing we always carry an extra change of clothes. (Now you know why he magically changes outfits halfway through the pictures)

The museum had a special exhibit going on that was all about being Eco friendly. So, the boys played around in a SMART car.

 Then made "lunch" in the little kitchen.

And tried on rain boots.

 Laverne and Shirley rode the bike together :)

 The boys donned lab coats to create some algae thing on this touch screen.

And of course there is always time for climbing, sliding and playing in the sand.

X stopped for a quick pic with Mommy (and now looking at this I realize he'd already peed his pants at this point!)

X was very interested in the mailbox too. Maybe he thought he'd find a check!

Daniel gave the car a tune-up.

Then the boys turned into doctors to check out the babies in the nursery.

Taking baby's temp :)

And I got in a little workout at the pulley station.

I had a great afternoon with my little man and enjoyed spending time together.

And it was really nice to have great friends to share in the fun!

10 Months {Wesley}

Wesley is now 10 months old (as of Nov 1st - I'm a little late getting to this). He's about 20 lbs now and is wearing 12-18 month clothing. He's a little smaller and shorter than X was at this age. Wesley's hair is getting longer and blonder. His eyes have stayed bright blue and have not taken on the multi color thing that Xavier and I have.

Wesley is a climber. He will try to climb pretty much anything. Case in point, he now climbs UP the dishwasher. He climbed face first into a laundry basket full of clothes the other day too.

Wes has graduated from the infant carseat to his new convertible carseat. He was pretty excited as you can see. I had it in the living room for a day and he climbed in and out of it continuously. He was even more excited about the box too! We got him an Evenflo Triumph and we LOVE these carseats. They are soooo easy to use.

 We are trying lots of new foods with Wesley. Lately I've noticed he really likes meat. Despite only having a couple of teeth he can get little pieces of chicken, hamburger, and pork down pretty well. Wesley is also eating yogurt and cheese, big people oatmeal, hummus, and goldfish crackers. Much to my dismay he does NOT like sweet potatoes (I still sneak them in anyway though). He is still nursing although he's cut back during the day. He doesn't have much interest in nursing unless he's tired.

Mama is still Wes' favorite word, but he's adding more sounds. Wes can say Dada and Hi too. He's also trying to "sing along" with me sometimes. He recently learned to clap and loves to do pat-a-cake. Wes has started to make some really funny faces. He loves looking at books lately and is following in his big brother's footsteps of playing with race cars. Wes loves his daddy too. When Walter comes home Wes will crawl right up to him and demand to be picked up.

Wesley LOVES to be naked. He's taking some steps everyday, but is not a consistent walker. But if you take off his clothes he's all about trying to walk across the room. Guess he likes the "free" feeling :)

We are FINALLY making some progress with sleep. Our little man has just learned how to put himself to sleep for naps and night time. He's doing really well. He doesn't really cry, just lays in the crib and talks to himself. Wes is still getting up in the night, but he's up less and can be settled pretty easily. He is also taking more consistent naps - a little over an hour in the morning and about 2 hours in the afternoon.

I know there is so much more, but I'm tired so I'll end it there. Happy 10 Months Wessa Blessa!

Aprons

My grandma {who is 93} made aprons {with help from my mom} for the boys.

Very cute.

Because every 10 month old needs their own apron, right :)

The boys have been wearing them while they play in the little kitchen.

Now if I can only get them to cook real food {for me!}

Please appreciate that X is STILL wearing the crown.

I guess it's his version of a chef's hat.



Yes Jesus Loves Me - The Bible Tells Me So

When we picked X up from his classroom at church this weekend, he came out sporting this awesome paper crown.

He is so proud of it (telling us several times that he got to use GLUE!) and has been wearing it almost non stop. He sets it on the dresser at night and puts it back on in the morning.

Unfortunately I forgot to grab the info sheet that tells what bible story they made the crown for.

I love all the bible stories and songs that he's being exposed to at church. And they make such neat crafts to go along with the stories. I've been singing bible songs to X since he was a newborn. And he now can sing all 3 verses of "This Little Light Of Mine". It's adorable!

Halloween

We started off Halloween morning like most people do....Walter and X went and bought a toilet. What? That's not the norm? Most people's toilets don't start leaking all over the bathroom floor during the middle of the night before Halloween? Hmmmm, guess we're just different kind of folk then.

After said toilet purchase we decided to carve our pumpkins while a wee little one was napping. Unfortunately Xavier really had no interest in the pumpkin carving. He actually looked a little disgusted when I was pulling the guts out of the pumpkin and decided to go back inside and play race cars. So, Walter and I carved away.

Upon completion of carving, our family gathered in our windowless laundry room, shut the door, and did a test run lighting the pumpkins. Xavier was impressed, although when he noticed there was a candle inside the pumpkin he promptly went into a rendition of "Happy Birthday" then tried to blow it out.

Next up was lunch. Wes decided to create his own costume and smear baked beans all over his face and hair. While we had lunch we roasted pumpkin seeds in the oven. They turned out ok. Not the same as the ones in the store, but good enough.

Walter put in the new toilet after lunch. He put the old one on the front porch temporarily and I joked that it should be our "candy bowl" for trick-r-treaters. I know, I'm so hilarious.

We made homemade pizza for dinner and Gma Tina came over to see the boys in their costumes. We didn't put the kids in the costumes until after dinner when we were ready to trick-or-treat. Good thing too because Wes had a blowout that required a hose off in the sink. That, my friends, would have ruined his costume!

Trick-or-treating went well. Wes chilled in the stroller and didn't make a peep the entire time. He just watched all the commotion. Xavier enjoyed going house to house with his best bud, Daniel (Spiderman). And by the end he was saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" without being prompted.

We came back home to find the bowl of candy we left on the porch completely empty. Don't tell X, but we snagged some of his candy to give to a few more trick-or-treaters that came later in the evening. Actually, X has no concept of the big pile of candy he brought home. He asked for some M&Ms, ate those, then told me he wanted some graham crackers.

All in all a good Halloween. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the boys together or a family shot. I think I'm going to dress them up again this week in the daylight for a little photo shoot. There was just too much commotion tonight.