Our "Pink Nightmare"

For those of you who know us, we love the movie A Christmas Story. Grandma R has been working on this surprise for quite some time. In the movie, Ralphie's aunt sends him a pink bunny suit for Christmas. Ralphie's mom makes him put it on, and when he comes down the stairs, his dad says, "He looks like a pink nightmare!" So, carrying on that fun tradition, Bennett sported his handmade pink bunny suit made with lots of love by Grandma R!

Christmas Afternoon

After a nice long nap, it was time to head over to Grandma and Grandpa R's for more festivities.

Bennett is fascinated with Brandy--Grandma and Grandpa's dog. He loves to talk to her and gigles when she comes to see him!

Godparents Craig and Becky gave Bennett a Santa snowglobe and a Leap Frog who sings the alphabet. This was the first time cousin Bobby even got close to Bennett, much less hold him! As you can see, it may be that last :-)


Both Bennett and Daddy got to choose a music box from Great-Grandma R's music box collection. Great-Grandpa is slowly passing on her belongings to the family. Each family member got to pick one--Daddy picked Robin Hood and Bennett picked Fantasia. Afterwards, both great-grandpas posed for a picture.

Finally, it was time for more gifts! Mom and Dad got many gift cards and money to put towards the purchase of our new computer. We also got some movies, a game, and a digital photo frame with 240 pictures of our beautiful boy! Bennett got a new outfit, books, and toys. We are so fortunate for all the wonderful gifts our families gave us--especially the time we got to spend together. And our best gift of all is our little boy, who seemed to enjoy his first Christmas!

At the end of the evening, we took the long drive home (it was snowing and sleeting--not fun!) and put Bennett to bed. Ryan and I sat down, each with a slush, popped in Home Alone, and played our new Christmas Story edition of Monopoly. It was a wonderful holiday!

My New Activity Table

Here is a fun video of Bennett playing with the neat activity table that Aunt Heater, Uncle Dave, and cousins Mattea and Paloma sent!

Christmas Morning

Our Christmas morning did not turn out quite as we had hoped. When Ryan went in to get Bennett, he found that the poor thing had gotten sick during the night. His bed, his jammies, and Bennett were covered in not so nice remains of his Christmas dinner. Our morning was spent doing laundry, giving a bath, and cleaning up. Despite his rough night, Bennett was in good spirits and ready to open more presents. Bennett gave Daddy his gift--the new Bo Ryan book.

Then it was time to dig into our stockings. Bennett got a beautiful stocking from his aunt, uncle, and cousins. It was filled with animal crackers, cereal bars, and a new board book.

Next, we dug into the gifts. Santa brought Bennett a dump truck cart that he can push around as he learns how to walk. Santa also brought our family a trailer to put on the back of our bikes so Bennett can go riding with us this summer! From mom and dad, he received some books, a basketball, his very own toy remote control, and a Christmas ornament. Aunt Heather, Uncle Dave and cousins Mattea and Paloma sent some wooden blocks and an activity table.

Bennett was helping Daddy put his new dump truck push cart together. Ryan has made a new "rule"--Santa only brings assembled gifts on Christmas morning!

Our little boy had a wonderful time on Christmas morning! I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the gifts that surrounded him. He is such a lucky boy to have gotten so many special gifts.

Christmas Eve

Our holiday season began with the snow falling on Christmas Eve morning. It was beautiful, although not fun to drive it. Later in the afternoon, it was off to church for candlelight service with Grandma and Grandpa T--an hour and a half of Christmas music, the story of Jesus' birth, and glowing candles! We then headed back to our house for a wonderful meal and visiting.

Present time quickly arrived! Bennett wasn't quite sure what all of this was about, but he did attempt to pull at the paper and play with the bows and ribbon.

He got some wonderful gifts--snowpants, jammies, shoes, a baby's first Christmas ornament, a pounding toy with a hammer, and a stacking toy that lights up when you put the stars on. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for all the wonderful gifts!

We also opened up one gift from Aunt Heather and family--a tradition that she passed on to us. Each year, my nieces get a new pair of jammies to wear to bed. Bennett got the neatest pair--brown and blue with peace signs. The are very soft!

By that time, it was late and Bennett was ready to head to bed. Enough excitement for one day! The rest would have to wait for Christmas morning.

The Next Step!

Yesterday, our little Bennett took the next step in development--no, he's not walking! But, he has finally learned how to crawl on his hands and knees!! It is too cute to finally see him doing it the "right" way, but many times, he'll go back to his army crawl as it seems to get him where he wants to go a little faster. We'll see how long it takes for him to start moving with his feet!

A Visit With Santa!

This morning, we woke up to another snow day--perfect timing! Santa was visiting at daycare today, and I had considered taking the morning off to go hang out with Bennett. But thanks to our crazy midwest winter, the weathermen had thought we would get 5-10 inches of snow, starting around 3 a.m. and so school was closed. The roads were fine by the time we ventured out. I put Bennett on the floor and he just stared at Santa. He wouldn't crawl to him. But when I took him over to Santa, he reached his arms up and sat on Santa's lap. At first, he wasn't sure what to think, but he sat quietly and looked intently at the big man with the beard.

As he sat, he smiled a lot and made some funny faces--all of which I caught on video. Before getting down, he did give Santa a high five. Here are some of the fun images Daddy caught with the camera:

Busy Week Ahead!

Last post for tonight--I seem to have a lot to say :-) This will prove to be probably the busiest week of the year--here's what's I have going on

Monday: school, meeting at lunch, work after school until 5, errands, haircut, made a Snicker
Doodle cake for colleauge's birthday, blogging
Tuesday: staff meeting (it's 9:40 p.m. and I still haven't read my chapter for tomorrow!), school,
meeting at lunch, hang out with Bennett while Daddy has a basketball game
Wednesday: school, meeting at lunch
Thursday: school, Chrismas gathering after school
Friday: school, Christmas party for Ryan's school
Saturday: Christmas party for Sylvan

Okay, I think there are too many meetings in my week and just enough Christmas parties and celebrations to get me through all the craziness! I hope all of you have a wonderful week!

Getting To Know Me--Holiday Edition

At the request of my big sis (and because it sounded like fun), I decided to do my own version of getting to know me and my holiday tastes. After reading my sister's, I realize are very much the same!

1. Real tree or artificial? Ever since I moved out of the house, I have gotten a real Christmas tree. I love the smell of them! Every year, we go to the same place to pick out a tree that is entirely too big for our living room, but Ryan loves the tall, full trees. When I was younger, we had to have an artificial tree because our mom was allergic, but now that I have my own home, I will always do a real one. We've talked about when Bennett gets bigger that we will go cut one down--that's if I can stay warm long enough!

2. Favorite Christmas carol? Like my sister, I would also have to say O Holy Night, although I've heard some wonderful female versions. I do not like country music in the least, but I remember Martina McBride's version and it was gorgeous! I have lately become attached to O Come, O Come Emanual (I think I spelled it right??).

3. Favorite Christmas treat? I, too, do not do any holiday baking. But some of my favorites include the snowballs and the peanut butter cookies with the kiss in the middle. Not much of a fan of frosted sugar cookies. Fudge was my big craving last year when I was pregnant.

4. Favorite holiday drink? I have never tried eggnog and really have no interest, but I do love to have cranberry vodka slush or white wine this time of year (just kidding--I like white wine ANYTIME :-) I missed the slush last year, but I will get to enjoy a glass or two this year!

5. Favorite Christmas decoration? I love my large Starry Night (Partylite) candle holder. Right now, I am burning a pear and quince pillar and I love to have it burn in the dark with only the Christmas lights on.

6. Favorite Christmas movie? Hands down--A Christmas Story. I will watch it several times during the 24 hour run on T.V. I think back to the first time I saw this movie--I was in first grade and we were all piled into the small gym at our elementary school. I remember HATING this moving for years because at 7 years old, I didn't get any of the humor. But now, it totally cracks me up!!

7. Favorite holiday book? I love the Polar Express! The pictures are beautiful and the story reminds us to believe that this is a magical time of year to feel blessed and excited! So this brings me to the next topic . . .

8. Believe in Santa? Absolutely!!! I think that's part of the magic of the holidays. Don't get me wrong, that should not be the focus of the season and I don't believe in an overindulgent Santa, but there's something to be said about waking up and finding that someone has left you treats in your stocking and gifts under the tree. As Ryan and I begin to think about our holiday traditions now that we have Bennett, we have decided that our Santa will bring one gift. As an assignment at school, my kids were asked to write a letter to a family member. One child wrote to Santa who wrote back to him. We shared that letter in class and that has sparked a major letter writing frenzy in my room! I have gained the help of "Santa" to respond to these letters, and I have never seen my kids so enthusiastic to write--even during their choice play time!

9. Snow or no snow? Definitely snow to make it feel like Christmas!!! But it is perfectly fine with me to have it melt the next day and not come back for the rest of the winter :-)

10. Gifts--Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? As a child, we always opened family gifts on Christmas Eve and then awoke to Santa's gifts on Christmas Day. I love this tradition! We spend Christmas Eve sharing ameal with one of our families, going to church (which has to be the candlelight service--my favorite part of the day!), driving around to look at some lights, and opening some gifts. We always used to watch a holiday concert on T.V. as well, which is something we have failed to do in the last few years.

11. Christmas communication? I used to love picking out the perfect Christmas card every year to send to our friends and families. Now, I am loving the Christmas pictures--they are so easy and a fun way to see how everyone has changed over the past year. I am not into writing Christmas letters at all!

12. Christmas shopping--ahead of time or last minute? I am a total planner when it comes to holiday shopping, partly because as the season nears, I get so excited to buy my loved ones gifts. Also, because I need to get things packed up and shipped to my nieces, I try to get it done early to avoid the rush. I started my shopping in early November this year and still had to deal with a ton of crowds!

Christmas is my favorite holiday--I love the decorations, lights, and spirit that surrounds this time of year! While working in retail, my love for this time of year almost disappeared--I hated working on Christmas Eve, dealing with the shoppers who waited until the last minute and couldn't understand why we didn't have the most popular items left, watching men aimlessly point and say "I'll take that" without even looking at it, and the music became annoying since it began the day afer Halloween. But the more time that passes, I am starting to regain my love and excitement for the holidays. Merry Christmas to everyone and God bless you and your families this incredible season!

Tree Decorating

Bennett has not really gone after the Christmas tree since we put it up. Yesterday, I had him touch the tree and he would scrunch up his nose and pull his hand away. Today, he decided to get a little more brave. As Ryan and I put up the ornaments (on the top half only), Bennett was pulling at the garland and touching the branches. He did help us take out some of the ornaments and show us where to put them.

I finally got around to putting out more of the decorations, and Bennett was fascinated with the singing snowmen!

The finished product!

11 Months Old!

Today, Bennett turns 11 months old! I tried to be on the ball and get my pictures taken yesterday. Unfortunately, Bennett really wasn't in the mood--probably the first time ever! He did not want to sit still :-) Here are a few of the pictures I managed to get. Since last month, Bennett has gotten two more teeth, can wave "hello" and "bye-bye," uses the "more" sign, and gives great hugs!!! He can also say mama and dada and seems to understand what he's saying. He celebrated his first Thanksgiving and loved the turkey! Playing catch is something he loves to do with mom and dad, and he's pretty good at it! He has learned to shake is head "no" and his whole body says "yes". He even does the "I don't know" shoulder shrug. When he lays on the floor and raises his arms over his head to do "so big," I take the opportunity to tickle him under his arms and he laughs hysterically!! The hematoma on the left side of his head has seemingly disappeared--thank goodness! He continues to be a happy, smiley boy and loves to stand. Dispite our earlier thoughts, he doesn't seem to have any interest in walking right now. He cruises along the furniture and will occassionally let go with both hands, but when we hold his hands, he wants to jump with both feet instead of walking :-) I'm okay with that for now! In this next month, we look forward to celebrating our first Christmas as a family of three.

Thank you to my cousins!

Yesterday, we received a package from our cousins Mattea and Paloma. We opened it up to find all sorts of new toys to play with. We thoroughly enjoyed the pink tissue paper and the Tupperware container! He smiled when heard the animal sounds on the See N'Say, especially the duck! He started pounding on the shapes on the turtle's back, too. But most of all, he loved his new hammer :-)

Thank you so much to my cousins for sharing all their wonderful toys!

Snow Day!

All day yesterday, teachers were talking about the big snowstorm that was headed our way. I tried not to get caught up in all the talk, just in case it missed us--that way, I couldn't be disappointed. When I got up at 5:50 this morning, I went right to the TV to see the school closings and sure enough, no school today! I said yahoo and went right back to bed. Like the students, us teachers enjoy and occasional snow day and I was in definite need of one today! The only scary part is that we used our only built-in day and it's only Dec. 9th. Oh, well--it was a great day. I slept until 9:00 because my husband was nice enough to get up with Bennett. We lounged around the house before deciding to go out and get our Christmas tree. It stopped snowing around 11 and the roads were fine (the same couldn't be said at 5:00 this morning when Ryan was shoveling!). So we picked out a huge tree, ran some errands, and enjoyed some family time. As we were bringing the tree in and setting it up, Bennett watched from afar, not really sure what to think--although he was crawling in the dropped needles and had one by his mouth. And so the holiday season with an infant begins :-) Anyway, here are some pictures of the beautiful tree we picked out. Our house smells great and it is starting to feel like Christmas is near!

Christmas Photos

Kelly's friend, Ryan, came to our house last weekend to take some pictures for our Christmas cards. Here are just a few of the awesome pictures he took! I love the editing he did with the colors and black and white. I had wanted some in the snow but none had stuck around. The next morning, though, the ground was covered and the sky was full--it was beautiful, just a day late :-) Of course, I saved the best ones for our card so you'll just have to wait until it arrives!

Playing With Toilet Paper

Who needs toys when there's toilet paper?