The Christmas Post

I've been a slacker in blogging department and this really bothers me, just for the simple reason that I would like to go back and remember the stories behind the pictures. 
Can you guess what one of my New Years resolutions will be?
Ha! we'll see!

Oh Christmas tree...

Or as Kemper calls it "mistress tree"  We really need to work on that one!

We had two Christmas trees this year. Why two? A few days after Christmas last year we came across a 9 ft pre-lit Christmas tree at a hardware store & they were practically giving it away so we had to get it. We put it in the living room and put our old 6ft tree in the den. We called the smaller tree our "sentimental tree" because that's where we put all of our favorite and gifted ornaments.The larger tree was nicknamed our "Show off" tree.;)

 My husbands favorite holiday is Christmas, so it's pretty much the only time I can get away with going out and buying stuff to decorate the house. We had fun as a family decorating the house with the movie Christmas Vacation playing in the background

Next year my hubby wants to "Griswold" the outside of our house. That should be interesting...

Thankfully we have a very well behaved toddler that never got into any of the decorations. He loves them all so much, I'm not quite sure how to break it to him that they have to be put away soon.

Speaking of my sweet Baby K, lately when I try and take a picture of him he tells me "No more pictures momma!" So we had to get a little creative in order to get pictures by the tree. We told K and his cousin Nolan that they could get under the tree IF they let us take their picture. As you can see it worked! My favorite is the "Home Alone" pose in the first picture.

Visions of sugar plums...

 Kemper and I did a little holiday baking. He is always asking me to get out my bowls and spoons so that he can pretend cook, so I knew he would have a blast cooking for real. He had so much fun mixing and pouring all the ingredients. We made his favorite sugar M&M cookies. We also made jars of cookie mix to give to all the neighbors and K's teachers. We called them "Kemper Kookies"

We also did some gingerbread house decorating  with my sister Maria and nephew Nolan. It took K a little while to grasp the idea that you are supposed to decorate with the candy and not eat it, at least not yet. ;)

All aboard!!

We made many trips to the mall this season, to get gifts for everyone and to see the trains of course! The Trains at Northpark were amazing, too bad my iPhone couldn't quite get all the details. K's favorite was the scene of Big Tex from the State fair.
One of the other malls has a train that you can actually ride. We were not quite sure if K would ride it because he normally won't do anything like that alone. We took the risk and bought him a ticket and sure enough he got on that train alone like a big boy. We were so proud ;)

Here comes Santa Claus...

Kemper is at the age where most children are scared of Santa. So this year I did a little trick to get him interested and wanting to visit Santa. Each time we would go to the mall we would stop by Santa's workshop. We would only stay and watch for a minute or two, then I would tell him we needed to go.(I know this sounds mean)The first two times he didn't mind, but by the third he was begging to see Santa. So we finally went to see him. The wait was about 45 minutes and he was very patient for a 2.5yr old.

When it was finally his turn he turned to me with a nervous look and said " I want to see Santa, no pictures." Ha! he was more upset about getting his picture taken than meeting Santa. So I did what all good parents do and bribed him with a cookie afterwards if he let us take his picture. Mission accomplished!

  

Twas The Night Before Christmas...

It was so fun getting to teach Kemper about Christmas this year. He still pretty young but he is beginning to grasp some of the concepts. He loved hearing the stories of baby Jesus and Santa Claus.

We started the tradition of leaving milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.
(Please ignore the pacifier, it's a work in progress!)

Christmas Morning...

At last it was Christmas morning. We took K downstairs to see all the presents Santa left him. At first he just stared at the presents, not knowing what to think. After we told him they were toys he was ready to open them up. He would unwrap a present and then want us to take it out of its packaging  immediately so that he could play with it. I don't quite know why manufacturers insist on making toy packages so hard to open, by the time we got one opened he was already onto the next toy. We found it funny that one of his favorite gifts was a simple $1 slinky I got at the grocery store. I think he liked it more than his new bike. Oh well that's a toddler for you!

Later that day we went over to my parents house to celebrate and open more gifts. K and Nolan were surprised with new cars! Their awesome aunt Maria got them for them.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, and are looking forward to many more.
We are so blessed and thankful for Him and all his wonderful gifts.

The greatest one being the love of our family near and far.

 Welcome Christmas. Bring your cheer,
Cheer to all Whos, far and near.

Welcome Christmas while we stand
Heart to heart and hand in hand.

Dr Suess

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Halloween !!

Halloween Weekend 2011

Doesn't he make the perfect Woody from Toy Story?!

We found these pajamas at the Disney store and they make the best costume.

The best part is that when the night is over I can just toss him in bed!

 He was so excited to be Woody.

I think the hat was his favorite part. He never took it off.

K with his cousin Nolan, a.k.a Buzz Lightyear, at the church Kids Carnival

 Kemper playing some of the games and having a balloon animal made.
He loved the catapult the frog into the bucket game the best. He was actually really good and won every time.  Each time he got ready to launch the frog he would stick his tongue out Michael Jordan style.

Full concentration!!

I have never bee a fan of clowns, they kinda creep me out.
K had no problem.
He kept wanting to visit him over and over.

K with his Daddy who was wearing his most "cowboyish" outfit.

Halloween day at Gymboree and all the kids get to wear their costumes to class.
I thought it was a perfect time for me to bust out my Halloween tights ;)

 K pretending to jump in a big pile of leaves.

K pretending to plant pumpkin seeds.
 Riding his trusty steed Bullseye.
Working hard popping bubbles with his bubble poppers. (notice the tongue again?)

Daddy, all decked out in Halloween colors, visited on his lunch break. Lucky us!

And last but not least....
Halloween Night!!

  Each year my brother and sisters meet up at my parents house with us and we go trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.

 K had a great time. He's usually pretty shy when it comes to talking to strangers but he had no problem saying "trick-or-treat!" "Happy Halloween" and "thank you!" to anyone passing out candy. 

Oh the power of candy!! 

He also had no problem telling us where to go next. He would point and say "This way momma!!"

I had to put in the middle pic of my husband doing a cochlear implant check. I think he did about fifty of them. Yep he still has them! ;)

Enjoying the fruits of his labor!

Hope y'all had a safe and Happy Halloween!!

oops almost forgot... our costumes ;)



Toddler Tricks

ten on tuesday

Ten random things that are going on or on my mind...

1. Today K went to the audiologist for a check up on his cochlear implants. They checked his settings and did a hearing test. In the sound booth he consistently responded to sound at the 15 decibel range. ( my non C.I. peeps- that  is considered to be in the"normal hearing" range.) Yay! I wasn't too surprised with this result because he has been doing so well with his listening and speaking.  K has become our new pet parrot, repeating EVERYTHING we say. He even dropped his first "F bomb" courtesy of his father and a stubbed toe.     Whoops!!

  I love how his shirt says "I'm all ears!"

2. I will admit that I dabble in some reality TV....... well maybe a little more than dabble, so naturally I had to check out Bravo TV's Most Eligible Dallas, since I live in Dallas.

Um yeah, it's the epitome of why people hate Dallas.

Watch it and see, or better yet don't. We don't need any more haters. Makes me want to move. My friend said they need to rename it to Most Disgusting Dallas. I agree.

 Speaking of watching Dallas reality shows, the one you should watch is Children's Med Dallas . Its a five- part documentary behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at this children's hospital. I might be a little biased since I have a "slight" connection to it. ;) You can catch up via You Tube.

 3. Move over Elmo, Mickey Mouse has taken over our house. K has fallen in love with that little mouse and his friends. He talks about them all the time and wants to watch old Mickey cartoons or the new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show on the Disney channel all day and everyday. We have had to really limit his TV watching time because of this new obsession. I really get a kick out of how he says Goofy- "Foopy"

Our latest trip to the Disney Store- he made out like a bandit!

4.  The other night we went out with some old friends. Just out to dinner and a local bar. ONE "Mambo Taxi"  at dinner and this momma was ready to call it a night. We ended up going to the bar with everyone because we had the sitter booked, but ended up leaving early. This old lady just can't hang anymore :(

Mambo Taxi

5.  Anyone else out there hate Bathtub crayons? Unless you enjoy scrubbing your bathtub every night do not buy them. They take some serious elbow grease to scrub them off. No kid could do it alone. I even had to bust out the bleach to get the crud left in the grout lines. Serious UGH!

6.  Why is it that pretty much everyone I know:  Just had a baby,  is pregnant, or is trying to get pregnant?

Except for me- the jury is still out on that one.

I'm not complaining, just an observation ;)

My sweet boy on his birthday

7.  Yesterday was back to school. K doesn't start his school until next year, but each time I heard it mentioned my stomach dropped. I'm already nervous and we still have a year to go!
 

 Do you take this as good or bad?!

8.   We are slowly making our way on the potty train, as in potty training. K doesn't seem too interested in it at all. Each time I ask him if he wants to potty in the toilet he tells me "No, I pee-pee in diaper!" I can tell this is going to be a long ride. Here is one of the "potty" books I bought him. His favorite part is when they talk about changing the baby's diaper. Go figure!

9. I'm slowly becoming  addicted to Pinterest. I now have recipes, crafts, and home decor ideas to last me a lifetime. They are simple ideas, which is why it is so addicting. The only dumb thing about it is that you have to have an invite to join the site.  If you want an invite, just shoot me an e-mail.

10. And because I don't like to live drama free and I enjoy spending all my free time at the doctors office, I now get to see a hematologist ( blood doc). I have been having issues with my blood vessels breaking at the slightest touch. I have always bruised easily, but now the vessels on my hands and arms are causing too much discomfort. So far may basic lab work has come back normal, so that is why my PCP wants me to see a specialist. Fun times!

my latest friend

11. I know this post is TEN on TUESDAY, but my stupid computer would not let me post it until today. Oh well!!

We are still here! Summer recap part 1

( Sorry MeMe for the lack of posts)

We have been busy enjoying our fun but VERY HOT summer.

  This is our very first summer in the new house and we are very happy with our decision to buy a house with a pool.  Summer in Texas can be brutal!

Just to show you,
This weekend's forecast: HOT HOT HOT!

 We have had 37 days straight of 100+ temps, and if this continues until next Friday we will break the record for the most continuous days with three digit temps.

What's a few more days?, we've come this far I want the record!

My little swimmer. Isn't he adorable? 

Um no, he's not wearing a Speedo.

I just couldn't find his trunks that day and so he's just wearing a swim diaper  ;)

 K's hearing processors are not waterproof  so early in the summer I ordered a LOKSAK, a waterproof  bag, so that I could put one of his processors in it and he would be able to hear while in the pool. 

It was pretty much a no go.

Only for the reason that he hates the actual process of putting the swim cap on to hold the bag in place. It's tough trying to keep the processor on his head and put the tight swim cap over it to hold it. Once he has it on he's fine, but he'd rather swim without his "ears" than go through the process.

I guess we will try again later. I also think he doesn't mind having his "ears" off because then he can't hear me when I tell him that it's time to get out of the pool !

My fishies! 

K with Daddy.

Our nephew John, from Georgia, visited us for a few days.
K loved having him around. I guess he thought he was his very own personal playmate.
Each time John left the room K would ask " Where John go?"

Cousins. So sweet!


 Here are some of the pics from the 4th of July.
It was K's 1st year to see the fireworks. Last year it rained and the year before he was too young, so I had to take him this year.

He loved it!

It made my heart melt just watching him get so excited.

Stay tuned for part two!  If I ever get around to it ;)

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