Christmas 2008 Memories

In my Christmas Jammies

Two ferocious dinosaurs

CHEEEEEEEEESE!

Santa's newest reindeer recruits. (With Evi after making S'mores at the clubhouse)

A precious gift under the tree!

You take it...

...No, you take it!
In these difficult economic times, I have so many wonderful memories of a very "rich" Christmas! It is not how many packages under the tree that matters. It is the time we spent with one another that counts.

Leprechaun or Incredible Hulk...You decide!

Mac was supposed to be napping this afternoon when I started hearing noises like he was up on a counter. I slowly came out of my room and saw him come into the kitchen and sing "I'm sticky, sticky, sticky!" Holy Cow, You're Green! - Rewind to about 3 hours earlier. I went to the store and bought Mac a new, electric SpiderMan toothbrush. He was ecstatic. He dry brushed his teeth for about an hour! Very exciting, especially for me, the dental hygienist. - OK, now fastforward to nap time. I guess the excitement of having a new "toy" was just too much for the Macster, and you can see the result! There was toothpaste EVERYWHERE! It was all over the bathroom wall, floor, and counter. And his room! All over the carpet and on his "thinking chair." It is ruined. But, I did get a good laugh out of the whole thing. :) Did I mention that earlier in the day, Mac had pooped/pee'd in his underwear and dropped dingleberries everywhere?! Yeah, I had that too clean up first. Then shortly after, Eli had a blow out. Then when I finally got Mac into the tub, his pull up was full of poo AGAIN! I can't wait to not have to deal with poop on a daily basis!

Good times!

A game of pretend

Too cute...I was following Mac upstairs with Eli so we could have a little play session, and he turns around and says "I'm Mrs. Stovall and you be my friend." (Mrs. Stovall is his teacher)Then he proceeded to walk backward while I followed him. He said "You keep your eyes on me and hands behind your back." I was cracking up. Then, as we get half way up the stairs he sits down and pretends to be asleep. I said to Eli "I think Mrs. Stovall fell asleep. Let's go upstairs and play quietly until she wakes up." After a few minutes he came bounding up the stairs and said, "I am Sportacus! I needed my sleep so I could have energy!" (That's what Sportacus says on LazyTown, a show Mac watches.) His imagination never ceases to amaze me. Right now he making a castle.

Mac at the range

Nathan took Mac to the driving range yesterday to hit balls. To me, this looks like a promising little swing: head down, weight shifted to the front foot, and most importantly, the ball is off the tee! Mac's favorite part of this little outing, according to him, was going into the "house" and eating a hot dog. ;)

Eli's first professional hair cut

This was Eli's first time in a professional salon. Now, I must admit that Daddy actually cut his first a few months ago, then I trimmed a bit here and there. But for his first visit, he did AWESOME! Mac was a big helper too!

December update

Eli is getting so big! It cracks me up to see them wrestle around like this already. I can only imagine what it will be like as they get older. I hope that the wrestling will always be this "happy." I am sure that it won't though.

We are getting ourselves ready for our first Christmas away from our extended family. As much as I will miss the traditions we have with them, I think it will be fun to start some new ones here in our new home. Nathan already said he wants to start a tradition for Christmas afternoon where the family plays golf together. Hmmmmm. Is that tradition for the good of us all or for the older boys? :) Seriously, I don't mind. I think it will be fun. Nathan and Mac did go out today and hit golf balls at the range. When Mac concentrates, he can really whack the ball!

Eli now has 6 teeth and will very soon have 8. He is eating pretty much everything Mac eats. It's so funny to me, b/c I have given him foods much earlier than when I gave them to Mac. I was so afraid I would kill Mac. With Eli, I am like..."Eggs are good enough for Mac for breakfast, then they are good enough for Eli. They are soft and not that much of a choking hazard." :)

Eli really is "communicating" much more distintly than even 3 weeks ago. He really went through a transformation while we were in Indiana for T'giving. He became so much more aware of others and trying to communicate with them through his eyes. He is more expressive with his face. And, after a rough first 3 days or so, he really took to going to other people much more readily than when we first got there. (Thanks to Aunt Holly and Nonnee for "sticking it out" with him and not taking it personally when he cried for me!)

He also laughs so much at Mac. Just tonight, I was chasing Mac around our kitchen and Eli was just cracking up. There truly is nothing better than a baby laugh. He was sitting in his booster seat, and you could see how much he wanted to be down and in the mix with us.

Eli is finally sleeping through the night now! He wakes around 5:30 or 6am, but goes right back to sleep for another hour or so after a bottle. It's Mac who is now getting up in the middle of the night! Just last night, he was up at 2:30am. OY!!!!

I keep telling Mac that Santa is watching for his good behavior and really wants him to stay in bed at night. His response when he has less than perfect behavior is..."I won't do that again. Santa will bring me presents anyway." How can he know that already!? So savvy!