Oh Eight

Farewell 2008!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Almost died laughing

Literally! I was just playing with Devin on the floor and I needed to get up, but was having a hard time because he was leaning on me. Alex got behind me and told me, "I'll help you." I just knew he was going to wrap his arms around my neck and start pulling. Sure enough, that's exactly what he did. I started laughing so hard and he was choking me, which only made me laugh harder. And you know how you feel weak when you're laughing? Well, it took all my strength to pull his hands off my neck. The kid almost choked me to death and I couldn't stop cracking up! Who knew playing with your kids was so dangerous?!

Success

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Our Christmas was wonderful. We opened presents Christmas morning and the kids made out like bandits!

This is just some of the loot they received.

Alex's favorites were the air craft carrier, from Santa, and the die cast B-52 plane, from Grandma. That's the B-52 in the box he's holding. He was so surprised and happy when he opened it. He has been asking for that thing for a long time and it's not something you can just pick up at your local Toys R Us (believe me, we've looked). I think Uncle Lance actually found it on Ebay or something. A collector's item apparently.

Devin's favorite toy was this Wonder Pets boat. We don't watch the Wonder Pets and I wouldn't have even known to get him this, except that we were at a friend's house a few weeks ago and one of the toys her children shared with us was this one. Devin would not put it down the whole time we were there! Which was perfect for me because I was really at a loss as to what to get him. Well, it was a big hit! He loves it!

And the toy they both love is this Handy Manny Tool Set. It was so great to see them playing together so well.


The other thing that made our Christmas a success was Christmas dinner. I was determined to make my Dad's German Rouladen this year. He helped me with a recipe I found online and gave me very specific instructions and tips that were very helpful! I am not a natural in the kitchen so I needed all the help I could get! As the rolls were simmering I was seriously worried they wouldn't turn out as planned. I took the first bite and thought, "Not bad." Tried another one, "Actually pretty good!" They were delicious and I was very proud of myself that I had pulled it off! It was a very lengthy preparation, but well worth it!

I could not have asked for a better Christmas, except of course if we could've had more family to share it with. Maybe next time...

The Grinch doesn't stand a chance.

We have someone guarding the presents at our house. Alex stayed right by the tree most of the day today. He started out just sitting on the floor, then he got smart and dragged his little couch out of his room. He was either guarding the presents or admiring them, I'm not sure which. One thing I do know for sure, he is super excited for Christmas!

Here he is earlier in the day...

and in the evening.

If I had let him, he would've slept there too!

This one's for you Sis

"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."
-Marion C. Garretty

And we sure do have a lot of those childhood memories! Sometimes they pop into my mind randomly (Pet Cemetary! You know you've got too many minnows buried in the garden when you've got to make a MAP of the darn thing!). And sometimes it's just fun to sit and reminisce about all the crazy things we used to do (walking home from Great America?). Our times together have gone from school and weekend antics, to emails, facebook messages, and the rare phone call (I can't help it that I'm two hours ahead here!). Our conversations have gone from "How do I get the boy at school to notice me?" in high school, to "How do I get my kid to poop?" in motherhood. I don't know how I could've survived both of their first years without your support and advice! So thanks, little sis, for being the best big sister a girl could ask for! See ya in cyberspace...

oh yeah, and

Happy Birthday!

Musical Milestone

This morning we attended Alex's very first Christmas program. It was super adorable! Alex did so well and really got into it. It was a Proud Mommy Moment for me. I was able to capture some of it on video and have already watched them a bunch of times (and now I have the songs stuck in my head). Each time they make me smile and laugh. Here are a few videos for you to enjoy!

Melody lights

A couple weeks ago Joey and I stood in the aisle at Costco trying to decide if we should go ahead and get the new LED Christmas lights. Energy efficient, okay, how much do they cost, how long are the strands, how many lights on each strand, white or multi-colored, small or big, decisions, decisions! The whole time we were discussing this Alex thought we were saying, "Melody lights." So that's what he likes to call them, after his little cousin, Melody.

Did one thing productive today.

Well, I'm not sure if you'd consider creating a blog productive, but here it is nonetheless. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now and finally decided to just jump right in. Since we live so far away from a lot of our family and friends now, I thought it would help to keep everyone up-to-date with what is happening in our lives. I'll start ya off with a bunch of recent pics for now!