Christmas Part 2, Santa Came

When Barrett woke up Christmas morning, he was ready to see if Santa had come.

He had to wait to open the presents until Nana, Paw, and Ray came over, but he knew exactly which one he wanted to open first... the big one.

Once Nana was here and he had told her all about Santa eating the cookies and the reindeer eating all their food, we told him he could open whichever present from Santa he wanted.

He went right to the big present.

Once he got it torn a little, he peeked inside.

As he peeked inside, he started jumping and saying it was a "stampoline".

He's never been on a trampoline or around one, so we were surprised at his reaction. We knew he'd love it once he knew what it did, but we had no idea how excited he would be just by seeing it.

He climbed on it as soon as most the paper was off.

He started jumping on it like he'd been jumping for years.

I guess all the practice on our bed and the couch really helped out.

After he jumped for a few minutes, he remembered there were other presents too.

He chose to open the other big gift, and he again tore enough paper to peek inside. He seemed surprised to see a Diego big wheel, and he turned to tell me what it was.

He also told Nana that he got a bike just like hers. (No, Nana doesn't ride a big wheel, she has a Diego ride on thing at her house for Barrett.)

It took him a while to get all the paper off of the big wheel, but he kept working on it until it was done.

Santa also brought toys for Fisher, but he was more interested in Barrett's toys.

Even though Mommy and Daddy weren't exchanging gifts, Daddy still had a couple things from Santa. Here is Daddy showing Barrett the shirt Santa gave him.

Fisher really wasn't too into the opening of the gifts, but he did find two things on Christmas day that he really enjoyed...

The boys had a wonderful Christmas day with Doug's family being here in the morning and mine in the evening. By the end of the day, they were both exhausted, but they did manage to find the energy to jump a little more before they went to bed.

Christmas Part 1

We've had lots of Christmas celebrations over the past week, and we still have one to go this weekend. I'll try and cover them all, but I'll start with the first one.

Last weekend, we drove to Dallas for our Christmas with my Aunt Jeanne and her family. Even though we have to drive four hours in the car with the boys, it is still probably my favorite part of Christmas.

Friday night, Aunt Jeanne let all the boys open one present.

They were laughing so hard at each other. It was too cute. Fisher didn't get a hat, but he had a good time trying to get to a present.


On Saturday morning, all the men went to play golf and the little boys stayed home with the girls. Jeanne was brave enough to make cupcakes with all the boys. Her former kindergarten teacher came out as she had them all helping make the batter.


After the baking fun, Aunt Jeanne sent Gretchen and I off for pedicures, and we gladly accepted the pampering! It was wonderful to totally relax in the middle of the chaos of Christmastime.

Once nap time was over for Barrett, the boys were ready to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, but some of the adults were otherwise occupied...




After waking up the adults, we sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles.

Fisher was the first to open a present, and as soon as he could see the toy through the torn paper, he said, "ewwww!"

Barrett loved his presents from Aunt Jeanne, but his Noah's Ark was by far the favorite. (I have to admit, I like it more than the instrument set too!) This picture isn't the best, but his expression is priceless.



He has played with his Noah's Ark nonstop. Unfortunately, he can't find Noah or one of the elephants which is causing him some major issues at times. We tried to put Joseph from the nativity in the boat, but he knew that wasn't right.

We had so much fun at Aunt Jeanne's, and Barrett complained about leaving for the first half hour as we drove home. Once we explained that we were headed to Gran Gran's for another round of presents, he recovered and settled in to watch Diego for the five hour drive!

Parrot Boy

The boys and Christmas have been keeping me so busy, that I just haven't had time to blog. There have been so many times I've had something blogworthy happen, but getting myself to sit and write just hasn't happened. As I looked at my list of things I must accomplish today, I decided to procrastinate by typing.

Fisher is growing like crazy. He is getting steadier on his feet everyday, and we've seen him standing without help more and more. He wants to walk so badly that it's probably not far away.

He has mastered climbing. If you don't pay attention, he'll be on the couch, coffee table, or toy box within seconds. His brother is even nice enough to help him climb up when he gets stuck.

He is still eating everything he can get his hands on, and his brother is more than happy to help him with that too. Yesterday, Barrett not only shared his lunch with him, but he also shared a couple of stickers, a leaf, and some paper. Our Christmas tree is becoming bare on the bottom due to Fisher's desire to eat all the ornaments. Most have been moved up on the tree, but all the legless gingerbread men have been laid to rest.

While his eating habits are the complete opposite of Barrett's, he does seem to have Barrett's love of talking. Fisher tries so hard to talk, and he will attempt to mimic anything you say to him. He's figured out a few words like Mama, Dada, no, uh-oh, hey (used as hi), moo, and baba, but his newest addition to his vocabulary he can thank Nana for.

Nana was holding him the other morning, and Paw was in the kitchen looking for something. Nana was a little irritated with Paw, so she said with a lot of attitude, "HELLOOOO!"

Not but a split second later, the parrot on her lap said, "hellooo." It was as clear as it could be.

I guess we need to watch what we say around him now too. :)

Santa Drives a Car?

Yesterday, Santa was at Barrett's school. It is so nice to get to see a great Santa who actually talks to the kids, get to take my own pictures, and pay absolutely nothing for it!

Barrett was so excited to get to school to see Santa that I had a hard time convincing him to let me get dressed.

Once we got to the school, he literally skipped all the way in.

Since we got there early, there was no line, and Barrett walked right up to Santa. He wasn't the least bit shy or nervous. He climbed on his lap and told him all about the bike at Walmart that he wants.

I wish the photo taking part went a little better, but he was WAY to into Santa to stop to look at me.



I tried to get a couple of both boys, but that didn't go to well.

Fisher did really well once Barrett was off Santa's lap, but Barrett was upset that Fisher couldn't tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.




I told Barrett to tell Santa what Fisher wanted, and can you believe that Fisher wants a bike from Walmart too?

After pictures, Fisher and I ran errands all day, and then headed back to pick up Barrett.

Barrett's teachers informed me that while Barrett's class was on the playground, Santa was leaving the church. They all went running to the fence to see him, and to their horror, Santa got into a car.

They all waved as he drove away, but there was mumbling that Santa was supposed to have a sleigh with reindeer.

While his teachers were about to come up with a story, Barrett turned to his little group and said that he's probably just going to feed the reindeer. Apparently, they all bought Barrett's story because they all went back to playing. :)

Tree Trimming

I was going to wait until much closer to Christmas to put our tree up, but part way through the day Saturday, I just couldn't wait anymore. Decorating the tree is one of my favorite things to do, so Saturday night, Doug got all the boxes out of the attic.

Barrett was so excited that he was running around screaming. I don't think he even knew why is was excited, he just knew I was.

I had the stocking that my mom made hung before anything else. I told Barrett they were stocking and that Santa will put presents in them when he comes. When Doug came in, Barrett screamed, "Look Daddy bean stalks!"

I guess my Texas accent makes "stockings" sound like "staulkings"? We've corrected him a bunch of times, but he keeps calling them bean stalks.

While I was setting the tree up, Fisher was climbing and chewing on the boxes, and Barrett was watching my every move. When I had the tree part way up, Barrett noticed the needles that had fallen off. He was VERY concerned about the mess on the floor. I told him I would vacuum once I finished, but he was not happy with that. He ran off frantically looking around while mumbling about the mess.

Here is what he was looking for:

Even though he didn't clean up the mess at all, I think it made him feel better that someone attempted to vacuum. (He's so my kid!)

Once we had everything ready, it was time to decorate the tree. In my visions of what having a family would be like, it always included the family decorating a tree. Since Doug and I have been together, he's always left to house while I decorated. I was so happy to have Doug and the boys here to help.

I put the boys in their matching Christmas jammies, popped cookies in the oven, gave Doug the camera, and we started decorating!



Barrett was immediately drawn to the big bag of gingerbread men. Here is he putting the first ornament on the tree.

Because all of the ornaments were all being put on the bottom foot of the tree, we brought out the step stool for Barrett to use. He loved standing up "tall like a big boy" to put his ornaments up, and Fisher loved trying to climb up with him.

Barrett worked so hard to get all the ornaments unwrapped and on the tree. He would get so excited to see all of the ornaments especially the ones with his picture in them! He worked until the whole tree was done.





Fisher had an entirely different mission.


Fisher wanted the plug to chew on so bad. He kept crawling back there, and Doug kept pulling him back. I finally went and got out a stack of wrapped presents to block it, and so far that has worked.

Since Fisher was unable to complete his plug chewing mission, he found other things:




It was a perfect day. It was exactly how I wanted it to be. Hearing Fisher laugh and clap as he chewed on everything. Listening to Barrett talk about the ornaments and bean stalks. Laughing with Doug at how cute our boys are.

Even if the rest of the season gets crazy and hectic, it's ok. I've already had my Christmas. :)

Backyard Fun

Last night, we went one of Barrett's favorite parks, our neighbor's backyard.

The kids were having so much fun kicking all the leaves, that I ran to get the rake and make them a pile to jump in.

They had a blast!

Fisher wasn't too thrilled about the leaves, but he had fun watching them. He would clap every time they would jump in!

The Story of Jesus

I've mentioned before how much Barrett enjoys talking to Jesus, and now it's gone to a whole new level.

He now recognizes Jesus every time he sees him somewhere. Basically, any white man with a brown beard is Jesus. He loves pointing him out to everyone around.


The other night we were at a visitation service at a funeral home, and as the son-in-law was tearfully talking about his father-in-law, Barrett jumped up, pointed at the stained glass, and said, "Look Mommy, it's Jesus!" Luckily, he didn't yell and only the people right around us heard him. After that, we went outside to walk around for awhile.


After the service had ended, we went back in and Barrett wanted to look at Jesus. He asked a million questions about his appearance and insisted on giving him five because Jesus wanted him to. (Jesus' hands were spread open, so in Barrett's defense, it did look like he was waiting for a five.)



Since he has this obsession with Jesus (I hope he always does!), he is very interested in the Christmas story this year.

My Aunt Jeanne sent him two books about Christmas, and he was so excited.

After reading the books a few hundred times, I brought out the Little People nativity and we set it up together.

He loved setting up the scene and listening to me explain the story.

He also thought it was so neat that his books had all the same characters as the nativity set.

He's been playing with all of it constantly, and Fisher has even chewed on Joseph when he can get him.

Last night, NeeNee the neighbor was over, and something happened that just melted my heart.

As I watched, Barrett told her the story of Jesus' birth. After he was finished explaining who all the people were and why they were there, he told her, "that baby growed up to be a big boy that loves me."

My Favorite Jammies

When Barrett was about 7 months old, I bought him the pajamas that have been my favorite, and since my kid doesn't grow fast at all, he was able to wear them up until a few months ago.

I was so sad when it was time to put them away (even though he wore them for 17+ months) not just because he would never wear them again, but because they were too stained and worn for Fisher to get them as a "hand me down".

Now, for a complete change of subject that will make sense in a minute.


Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I wanted to list ten things I am thankful for:

1. God

2. My family- ALL of them, even the ones I want to disown at times

3. Having a group of friends that are amazing Christian women to go through motherhood with

4. Being born and raised America


5. Being lucky enough to be a stay at home mom


6. My friend Dawn - not just because she was able to bring her baby, Ben, home from the hospital this week, but because she is THE most inspirational Christian woman I have ever met. (Read her blog from the past two months if you need a little inspiration!)


7. Target's dollar bins


8. Tylenol & antibiotics for kids- I don't know what people did to get through ear infections in the olden days! :)


9. Cold fronts

10. Outlet stores

#10 on my list is where this whole blog ties together.

If it wasn't for the Gap outlet, I would never have been able to have these picture of my favorite jammies:

I literally danced in the store when I found them!

Serenading Fisher

I haven't put a video on in a while, so here is one from about a month ago. Barrett loves to sing songs, and here he is singing his current favorite.


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Hmmmm

I don't know why I haven't blogged lately. I just haven't been able to sit at the computer for any length of time to type anything. So, sorry if you've been checking the blog only to be disappointed.

So, as I sit here holding Fisher who is less than happy, I'll try to give you a brief update.

- Fisher now has 7 teeth. He has the two top and bottom middle ones like a normal kid, but the other three are all on the left side, two on the top and one on the bottom. Hopefully, the right ones will appear, but right now we're enjoying his crooked smile.

- Fisher is apparently left handed. He favors his left hand when grabbing, pinching, and feeding himself. Since I am left handed in everything except writing, I think it's neat. Doug claims it's hard to teach a lefty to shoot. I would be fine if Fisher never shot a gun.

- Fisher's doctor is a little concerned about his left eye. It seems to be a little lazy. She said we'll look at it at his one year visit and decide if he needs to see an eye doctor.

- What is up with his left side?????

- Barrett talks ALL the time. I couldn't even begin to list his vocabulary. See Webster's dictionary if you're interested.

- Barrett has always been a ladies man, but he has taken it to a whole new level. On the playground at church there is a plastic tree thing the kids play in. Barrett's teachers for Mother's Day Out, MOPS, and the church nursery have all noticed that he likes to be in there with the girls. He has been seen on many occasions kissing them in there. They are about to redo the playground and the teachers are all joking about what Barrett will do when the kissing tree disappears.

- Barrett has two little girls he loves playing with more than any others in class, Abby and Chloe. I hear about them all the time. While he does kiss them daily, his new interest is Elizabeth. She's the cutest little thing, but there is a problem. She is one of our pastor's daughters, and Mike is feeling a little threatened by Barrett. Barrett told Mike that he loves Elizabeth, and Mike warned him that he was watching him. Barrett of course was oblivious to the threats and ran in class to hug Elizabeth.

- Fisher is all over the place. He can crawl at an amazing speed. Barrett at times loves his brother's ability to move and at other times, he hates it.

I realize that was as run through random things, but that's all I have in me right now.

Ugh, Barrett just woke up and wanting out of his room, so I am off to watch Barney, Dora, Mickey Mouse, Clifford, or Tom and Jerry!

Have a great day!

Did He Just Say That?

Barrett ate more for lunch today than he ever has.

We drove through Chick-Fil-A and got him his "chicken-bawk-bawk" and fruit, and before we were home, he had already eaten three nuggets.

Once we got home, he ate the other nugget and all of his fruit. He then asked for peanut butter crackers.

Half way through his first cracker, he obviously was trying to poop.

I asked if he needed to go poop on the potty, but he said no.

I told him that I was pretty sure he was pooping, but he said he wasn't.

I then could smell that he had pooped, so I again asked if he was pooping.

His response to my persistence, "No Mommy, I am not pooping, I am making room for more food."

He did end up eating all the peanut butter crackers, so I guess he really was making room.

He just cracks me up!

Trick or Treat

Both boys seemed to really enjoy Halloween last night.

Nana came over early to help convince Barrett that he needed to eat dinner. After he ate one nugget, she gave him his Halloween present. He has been begging me for this ball at Kroger for about a month, so without even knowing it, Nana made him REALLY happy.





Barrett was really excited to put on his costume. He was roaring the whole time.



Fisher was a little less than thrilled with the costume, but he was a trooper. I don't think he really wanted to sit still for pictures. I think he just couldn't move. :)



Both boys seemed more excited about how silly the other one looked. They kept looking at each other and smiling.



After we took a few pictures, Barrett was ready to get candy. The kids on the street were all waiting until later to go as a group, so we let Barrett go to one house. My neighbor, Laura, dressed up as the witch from Wizard of Oz and was sitting in her driveway with a cauldron of candy. Barrett wasn't too sure about her, but once she handed him candy, the witch wasn't so scary anymore.



We only went to a few houses when Barrett said he was ready to go to his house. He was ready to get out of his costume because he was hot, but he was also ready to eat some candy. So, we took a couple more pictures at the spider in the front yard, and then we headed in.




Barrett and Nana sat on the floor looking through his candy. Barrett would get her to open a piece for him, and as he ate that piece, he was looking for what he would eat next. I'm not sure how much he ate, but I know he was loving his Nana!




Barrett also loved seeing the big kids come to the door for candy, and he at first thought he was going to give them his candy. I was surprised that he was ok with that, but he did seem pretty happy that I had different candy for them.


I'm pretty sure Barrett loved Halloween, but I know he over candied himself. He had opened a lollipop when Doug said it was bath time. Barrett ran to the trash can, dropped the sucker in, and ran past me while saying, "Yea, I take a bath, I throwed my candy in the trash." Normally, he would NEVER throw away a sucker.

As we were sitting on the couch last night right before bedtime, Barrett was telling Doug and I all about Halloween. He told us how he wore a lion costume and Fisher was a duck. He talked about the other kids and getting candy from the witch. He got all excited telling about the big kids at the door. He also added in how he shot two coyotes in the living room? (He's had quite the imagination lately.)

He went to bed last night with a huge smile on his face. So, I know some people think Halloween is bad and evil, but they obviously haven't seen it from my little angel's perspective.

Pumpkin Carving

Barrett has been ready to carve the pumpkin ever since he and Daddy picked it out at the pumpkin patch.

Barrett was so excited when I told him it was time yesterday afternoon.

He was sitting next to the pumpkin as I carved the hole in the top, and he couldn't contain himself. He sat there with his "green shovel" in his hand ready to clean it out.

Then, he saw the inside.



That is as close to the pumpkin as his green shovel got. Barrett wanted no part of the big mess that was in the pumpkin, but he liked watching me clean it out. (Just like every other mess!)

After I finished carving the pumpkin, Barrett just sat next to him and clapped.

He was so happy to have his own "pumpkin face" as he called it.

He is going to have so much fun tonight trick or treating!