Month: December 2009

Wade had today off work so we both got lots of time with Alex. Alex rediscovered his monkey pillow and gave it lots of hugs:

Madison and Alex played a game of “keep away” and Madison won.

The rest of the day we played away. Here are the faces of the day:

We decided on dinner out and went to Cranky Al’s. We loved it just as much the second time around. Alex even tried a few bites of pizza. Then it was home and bed for Alex.

Wade and I rang in the new year with chocolate chip cookies, a fire, and the new Super Mario for Wii (one of my Christmas presents).

New toys are fun for a few minutes:

Then it’s back to the coffee table:

Happy Birthday Emily!

Today’s project was turning part of my office (Wade’s old one) into a playroom. I filled the cubbies on the side of the desk with baskets of toys:

Alex seemed to adjust pretty well to more toys:

Alex had a blast with all of his new toys:

I’m not sure he has figured out the frog in his overalls yet:

Alex is a great eater – when he feels like it. Today he ate all his meat sicks.

Alex has recently discovered blankets and stuffed animals. He loves anything soft:

I tried to teach him peek-a-boo. I’m not sure he understood, but he laughed constantly.

Alex finished up the day with some kisses from Madison:

We arrived home last night and I was determined to get unpacked today. Wade and Alex ran errands so I could focus:

And once all of our new loot was put away I felt the need to accomplish more. Wade and Alex had bought new paint for the bathroom so I went ahead and got that done too:

In all the craziness of Christmas we hadn’t found time for stockings. We had them first thing this morning:

Then Alex played with Gram while Wade and I packed the car.

The ride home went pretty smoothly. I was amused to look back and see Madison with her head in Alex’s lap:

Alex headed straight for his balloons as soon as we got home. I should have known.

Santa came and brought Alex some goodies. We weren’t sure how he’d react, but he headed straight for the toys.

Then we drove out to spend the day with Wade’s family at Granny and Papa’s.

After breakfast we gathered to open presents:

And of course we have a group photo:

We made it back to Mom’s house in time for Alex’s nap. He woke up to his big present from Gram and some play time with Aunt Lissy:

Our last Christmas celebration is with the Upshaws (namesake of my blog). We had most everyone present – except for Ben, Stephanie, and their girls.

Mom changed things up this year and served us buffet style (note Grandma’s macaroni and cheese on the left):

Alex is the youngest of the second cousins. I was surprised he ended up the center of attention. Cole and Addi both wanted to play with him:

We started the group pictures right after dinner. I wanted Alex in them and that 7:30 bedtime comes quickly.
First we have all the grandkids and their spouses (except Jeremy, Christina’s husband, who had to work). Then we have the great-grandkids with Grandma.

Mom, Aunt Beverly, Uncle Tommy, and Grandma smiled one more time. Then we have the entire group.

We arrived at Mom’s house just in time for Alex’s nap. He hasn’t been interested in the presents so we decided to start opening without him. We decided Melissa got the most gifts this year. She opened two every turn.

Alex joined us before long and found quite a few things to chew on. Being a typical little one, Alex loved the paper and boxes.

Madison also got a treat (Thanks for the idea Edie). She loves the Kong Snugga Wubba.

Mom is hosting Christmas Eve dinner tonight for her family. I had promised long ago that she could give Alex his first bite of chocolate. She saved some of the cake just for him:

Alex woke up early and ready to celebrate. Thank goodness his Aunt Lissy was ready to play:

Dad and Laura couldn’t wait to give Alex his gift:

While the big people were getting ready to open gifts, Alex discovered there were dogs outside too:

Then we started the gifts for everyone else. Dad had requested a large sum of money – and Melissa did what she could to provide:

Alex had no problem entertaining himself during this time. He visited with Ken (Laura’s Dad):

Then he found another set of windows:

We attempted a group shot, but I didn’t get one with everyone looking at the camera.

We started the day with a trip to see Grandma

Grandma always brightens up when she sees Alex. I was pleasantly surprised (and shocked) when she called him by name – especially after just asking us three times in a row what day it was.
A new Grandma Story:
My Mom and Aunt Beverly make sure that someone goes daily to visit my Grandma. This particular week my mom had noticed Grandma was sleeping quite a bit during her visits. She leans over and loudly (Grandma is a little hard of hearing) says, “Wake up. You have company.”
Grandma looks around and says, “Who?”
My Mom replies, “Me.”
Grandma looks at her and says, “You aren’t company.” and goes right back to sleep.

We had a family breakfast this morning and Alex finished his meal with a special treat – his first gingerbread man cookie (made by a Burch family friend):

We arrived back in Paducah to an all better Gram. Mom was so excited to play with Alex:

Then Carolyn stopped by for a visit:

I always manage a trip to El Chico when I am in town. Tonight Alex tasted his first tortilla chip.

After dinner we drove through Noble Park to see the lights. I’m not sure Alex realized what was going on, but he laughed quite a bit. Then Wade and I had a date to see Avatar – which we both enjoyed.

We had a family breakfast and then gathered around the tree:

Alex’s morning nap occurred during our breakfast. We let him eat in the living room as we started opening presents:

Madison got her treat first (in retrospect not a good idea – she ended up sick from it):

Alex helped me open one present:

and then lost interest:

In the pile of presents, Alex managed to find his gift. He was fascinated by the wheels. (Jerry says this is a true vintage toy. It came with the house – purchased thirty years ago):

Christmas celebrations begin with high school friends. Johnna, Amy, Jenny, and I met for lunch at Flamingo Row. Then I picked up Alex and we exchanged gifts at Amy’s new house:

Then it was back in the car for a trip to Memphis to see Wade’s family.

Wade, Alex, and I had our stockings before leaving Milwaukee.

I received an awesome gift in my stocking – a new ring.

Alex opened one of his basket presents and loved the firetruck.

Then we were on the road for our trip to Kentucky. The drive wasn’t too bad and Alex slept quite a bit:

We arrived in Paducah just in time for my Dad’s annual Christmas Party. My mom was sick (probably for the first time in 40 years) so Wade and I put Alex to bed before leaving.

I’m not sure why, but Alex’s favorite destination is the downstairs bathroom. He especially loves the Santa hanging from the drawer who has bells for legs.

The TV stand is the perfect height for Alex. He’s not reaching over his head just yet:

Alex is fascinated by the presents under the tree.

Madison normally doesn’t get into things she shouldn’t. However, I came home from running errands to see this on her pillow:

She found the one present for her and decided to open it early. The funny part is it was from Wade so I had no idea what was in it. Madison left no trace – other than the outer wrapping – so I had to call him at work to see if I should be worried. We eventually discovered most of the rawhide sticks hidden in various couch and chair cushions.
In other news – I had a slumber party tonight. I’m ready for games, food, and 80s movies!

It seems I am never happy with our Christmas cards. We always have grand plans and something doesn’t turn out quite right. Most of the time I have a problem with the quality of the printing (we always have a picture). Last year I have to admit the printing was good, but the cards weren’t delivered to me until the evening of 12/23 (I ordered on 12/9) which made it impossible for anyone to receive them before Christmas. Here’s what this year’s picture should have looked like:

Anyone want to recommend a place to print Christmas cards?

Wade and I made six loaves of strawberry bread. We had quite a mess in the kitchen but I loved the smell of the bread baking. After the bread cooled, we wrapped it up and tied the bows.

Then we all got bundled up to deliver the bread to neighbors. We made three out of five deliveries (the sixth loaf is for us).

If you know Wade, you know he tends to forget things. He’s always happy to help or run an errand, but I’m never surprised if he forgets to do something or comes home without an item on the list. Typical Wade behavior is also to come up with a plausible reason he doesn’t have the item – such as they were all out. He’ll always confess to the truth if asked, and I always ask.
Tonight he was making a run to the grocery for ice cream and I made two requests. I asked him to put the Christmas cards in the mail and to buy me some Harvest Bars. When he got home, I noticed there were no Harvest Bars in his bag. I asked and he told me there was a huge sale and they were all gone. I looked at him and asked if he forgot to buy them. He says, “I know my wife.” Then he pulls out his iPhone and shows me a picture of the empty shelf at the grocery.

Oops. He did remember and obviously knows me a little too well. I am still laughing about this one!

Alex has pulling up and standing down to a science. He was more than happy to have his snack at the coffee table – with Madison on clean-up duty:

Then he moved the standing over to the chair:

Then he decided to make a little noise with his tambourine/drum:

Wade and I worked in the church nursery today. We had our hands full with four little ones:

After we got home, we hung a magnetic snowflake to hold Christmas cards:

Alex helped Dad wrap a present (the present is for Alex):

Then we went across the street for Abram’s birthday party. Amber was able to get all the kids on the couch for a picture (Alex’s babysitter Naomi is holding him):

Then we have a typical Abram and Alex picture:

Happy Birthday Mary Ann!

What a wonderful Saturday – we had nothing planned. Alex had fun amusing himself in the living room.

First stop was his rocking chair:

Then he discovered Madison’s tags:

Then they were playing and I’m not sure who pinned who:

And the playing from Madison’s viewpoint:

Thursday night Wade and I got to play Spades! Jason and Alya (and their son Luke) returned the favor by coming to our house for dinner. Before they left we taught Alya how to play and got far enough along to know that the girls were soundly beating the boys! I see more card games in our future.
Today Amber and I loaded the boys up for a trip to the outlets. Alex took a nap on the way and Abram was happy to chat away. The boys did pretty well for being all bundled up in their strollers most of the morning (darn cold temperatures). Amber and I found quite a few Christmas presents and made a couple of stops in the children’s stores. It was nice to find a child-friendly spot in Gymboree for the boys to get out of their strollers. I have decided it is not possible to get a picture of Abram and Alex both looking at the camera.

Then it was home to wrap some gifts and try a new pizza place for dinner – Cranky Al’s. Wade and I loved the personal pizzas, but not the garlic bread.
Alex still makes a beeline for the dishwasher whenever the door is down. Now I just need to teach him how to carefully take the dishes out (or put them in).

Years ago my Mom began the tradition of basket presents for my sister and me. We each had seven small presents in a basket. We opened one each day for the week before Christmas. Before we could count or understand the concept of a week, we knew that the day we opened the last present Santa would come. Now Alex has my old basket and seven presents waiting to be opened:

I am trying to teach Alex to love snow. So far he is fascinated from afar as he watches it fall:

This snowfall was very heavy and wet so I didn’t take Alex out to play in it. I can’t wait for pictures of him crawling in the snow.
Wade had the day off work due to a power outage – but he didn’t realize it till after he got up early, cleared the driveway, and got ready for work. He and Alex had fun playing:

I had worried about Alex and all of the presents under the tree. Initially, I tried to keep him away from them. Then I realized he just wanted to use them as a place to stand:

More impressive than it’s done – the ginger bread house is actually standing.
Wade made a base out of a few boxes:

Then we used lots and lots of icing to get the sides attached to the boxes:

Next Wade held the house together while we hoped the icing would harden:

Finally we have our finished product:

Happy Birthday Travis!