Let it snow!

We got about 10" of snow on December 22. We brought a bowl of it in to play with. Stephen loved it! I gave him one of his spoons as well. He stirred it, touched it, tasted it, and had a great time.

This was right after he took a bite.

Christmas 2011

We enjoyed a very nice Christmas this year. We got our tree the Sunday before Christmas. Stephen loved the pretty lights and ornaments. We had to remind him several times not to touch the tree, overall, he did a good job of just looking at it.

Admiring the lights

Our tree with the tree skirt I made this year

We met Grandma Rose and Aunt Anne for Mass on Christmas morning and then went to Grandma's house for breakfast. After that we went back home and opened our presents. Stephen was very excited to see all the presents under the tree when he got up in the morning. He did a pretty good job of opening his gifts. His favorites were the bows. There's still one he plays with and carries around with him.

By the last gift, Stephen has resorted to opening it laying down. 

Steve had to go on a treasure hunt for his last gift.

Stephen with his gifts from Mom and Dad

We took it easy all afternoon. Then we headed back to Grandma Rose's house for round 2. We had a lovely dinner cooked by Aunt Anne. Stephen got to open more fun gifts.

Hanging with Grandma Rose

The next evening I did pictures with his Christmas pajamas. Stephen likes to make the reindeer on his feet dance.

Merry Christmas!

Photo credit: Linda D.    Photoshop effects: Megan B.

Christmas goodies

I love baking cookies and making sweets at Christmas time. I had a list of Christmas goodies that I wanted to make this year, especially since I didn't get any made last year. Today I crossed the last one off my list! I have a couple plates ready to deliver to neighbors and will take a big tray to our Christmas dinner. The rest are for us!

(clockwise from top left) Spritz cookies, almond bark pretzels, fudge, peanut butter balls, puppy chow

A step in the right direction

Stephen took 3 steps on his own yesterday! I'm sure he'll be off to the races soon.

A big boy

Stephen started using a plate when he eats this week. I did it the first time to avoid a macaroni and cheese mess on the highchair tray. I was hoping his food wouldn't end up all over the floor. He did a great job! At mealtime, Stephen is usually so intent on eating that he wouldn't even think about dumping the food all over. The only time he tries is when it's empty and he wants more food.

The thrill of the chase

Stephen loves it when Daddy chases him around the house. Stephen will crawl a little bit, stop, turn around to see if Daddy's coming, and then take off, giggling the whole way. I got a video of one of their chases.

Stephen's 1 year photo shoot

We went to Sears on November 20 for Stephen's 1 year photo shoot. I had a great coupon and ended up being very happy with the results. The coupon was $10 for the session, with a 10x13, 5x7, 4 wallets, and a single image CD. I was able to get 3 different poses. Plus, they later sent me an e-mail with a great deal for ordering more online, so I got an additional pose. Stephen was very cooperative during the session until the very end, so we were able to get some great pictures.

Advent/Christmas at our house

I love this time of year! So many pretty decorations to put up. It's so much more fun when you have a little boy who admires them as well. Stephen loves the colored lights on our windows. He's enjoying playing with our 2 nativity sets at his level. Here's pictures of a couple of new decorations I made this year.
This is our Jesse tree. Obviously, Stephen has no clue what any of it means, but now I have it made for when he does. The tree is felt. The ornaments are printed out and glued onto felt circles. They're attached to the tree with velcro. So far, Stephen has done a good job of leaving it alone.

This is our Christmas card display. I found the mini ornaments at Target and tied them onto ribbon. The cards are attached to the big ribbons with little clothespins.

I'm looking forward to hopefully putting up our tree soon.

What Stephen's been up to...

Playing with Flat Stanley - sent to us by Clare,

Helping Mom with the laundry,

Having very animated phone conversations.

All the better to bite you with, my dear!

At the beginning of the week, I noticed that Stephen's 1-year molars have popped through on the top and bottom of the right side. He's now up to 10 teeth!

A belated Thanksgiving

Stephen and I ventured to Nebraska this past weekend for a late Thanksgiving celebration with my family. We flew for the second time together. We left on Thursday, and it was snowing in Denver. We got to our gate around 8:00 am for our 10:04 flight. The aircraft we were supposed to get on was late coming in. Once it got there, there was a maintenance issue. We finally boarded around 11:15. Then we sat on the tarmac for about 2 hours as we waited in line to get deiced, got deiced, and then waited for our turn to take off. We finally landed around 3:30, only 3 hours late! Considering the circumstances, Stephen did a great job. He was definitely excited to get to Aunt Megan's house where he could be "free."

On Friday, Stephen and I went to Clare's school to eat lunch with her. I also got to see some of my former coworkers. That evening we all went to Grandma and Grandpa G.'s house where we spent the rest of the weekend. It was the last time for all of us to gather in my parents' current house in our hometown. They'll be moving to the "big city" in a few weeks. Our Thanksgiving meal was wonderful! (Thanks, Mom!) Stephen loved getting to play with his cousins, aunts, uncle, and grandparents. The flight home on Sunday was much less eventful. It left on time, and Stephen slept the entire way. We had a great time. I'm glad we were able to go.

Looking out the airport window

Bonding with cousin Monica

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house

More cousin bonding

Bathtime with cousin Jacob

Crazy after-bath hair

Jacob, Stephen, Clare, Monica, Emily

Sisters, sisters

Introducing Baby

I had my 12-week ultrasound today. It was fun getting to see our little tyke. Everything looked good. The heartrate was 170 bpm.

Car show

We went to a car show yesterday. Stephen loved walking around with Daddy and riding on his shoulders.

I had never seen a black fire truck before, so I had to take a picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving we went to Grandma Rose's house. Stephen enjoyed eating turkey, broccoli, roll, and mashed potatoes. He also had his first tastes of pumpkin and apple pie! He had fun playing with his cousins Audrey and Morgan as well.

Playing with Uncle John and Morgan

Playing with Audrey and Morgan

Aunt Anne and Uncle John

Stephen didn't want to leave me, so I got to be in the cousins picture. :)

12 month stats

Talking on his phone

Stephen had his 12-month appointment today. He did really well. He didn't want to let the doctor look in his mouth, but he allowed everything else. He even survived 6 shots! He did cry but recovered really quickly. Here are his stats, as measured today:

• Length: 29 1/2" - 34.13%
• Weight: 18 3/4 lbs - 2.79%
• Head: 17 3/4" - 13.23%

He's definitely on the small side for his age, but I think that's partly because he is SO active. He burns all the calories he takes in. Guess he'll have to start eating more...not that he'll complain. :)

Here are a couple other things I forgot to mention about Stephen last week...

• He is my little cuddlebug. He loves cuddling and snuggling up with me, and I love it too!
• He has a phrase that sounds like "Where did Daddy go?" Daddy likes to play peek-a-boo and hide under blankets, and this is what I say. Stephen has started imitating it. He'll sometimes say something like "Where did it go?" when he drops something as well.