Christmas with the Powells

After we were done opening our stockings and eating breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's, it was off to Mamaw and Papaw's to spend Christmas Day. As soon as we got there, it was time to bust open the presents!!! There were another set of stockings waiting for everyone there as well. Aunt Sara is helping Michael explore his.

Then Michael began the present passing once again. Way to go buddy! (Although, this time, he wanted to give most of the presents to Papaw regardless.)

We were able to rip Michael away from his new toys for a few seconds...long enough to make him eat some food and take a much needed nap. While he was down for the count, Marion's Uncle Mark came over and we indulged yet again in another delicious meal. Needless to say, the remainder of the evening was well spent exploring new toys!

Mamaw and Michael playing with the barn Santa gave him

Oooh look, I found a new toy! Daddy's sawhorses!

Spending some QT with Aunt Sara



MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Santa Came!

It's Christmas morning and someone paid Michael (and others!) a visit! Everyone came downstairs, still in their jammies, to to discover all sorts of goodies in their stockings. Since Michael was very insistent on playing with his new shopping cart right off the bat, we loaded it up with stockings, and he delivered them. Santa's helper, once again!

Michael got to open even more presents, which included some new Baby Einstein videos!

Then came the big Santa present under the tree. Michael got a Fisher Price farm set from Santa.

I guess the kiddos need a break after all that present opening...

Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Eve is finally here!!! Where has the time gone?? Since this year we are doing split Christmases between my parents and Marion's, we decided to have our 'big' Christmas dinner and present opening at my parents on Christmas Eve. Adam and Danielle made it down this year as well, and it was nice having everyone there for the holiday!

We partook in a delicious ham dinner, compliments of Mom, with all the traditional trimmings. Everyone's favorite dishes, and of course way too much food. And guess who was in the kitchen, dressed and ready to 'help'?

After the food was eaten and the dishes were washed, it was time to get down to business...present opening!!! We figured that this year we should pass on the present-passing torch to Michael, and he did such a good job! He was so cute delivering the presents to everyone in his little Santa outfit.

Leave it to Adam and Danielle to get Michael the biggest present. They ended up getting him is own little chair, which was super cute, that they delivered in a box that I could've fit 3 Michaels in! Michael had a ball opening that present...and playing in all of the packing paper after the gift was unloaded.

Needless to say, everyone made out VERY well this year. Michael has more toys than he knows what to do with, and he is slowly taking over my parents' house as well as our own! And we still have another Christmas to go...

Michael's First Haircut

Michael and I were lucky enough to be able to go back to Kentucky for Christmas and see Grandma, Grandpa, Mamaw, and Papaw. And to top it all off....Marion got to come home too! We were all there by the 20th, so we had a few days to get settled in before the festivities began.

We started off the vacation by taking care of business...Michael's first haircut!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he is one day shy of 20 months, and this is his first haircut. Poor guy comes by it honestly though....I've been told I was bald til I was 2. Mom had to tape bows to my head so people would know I was a girl.

Well, enough reminiscing....back to the haircut. We went to my hairstylist that I've gone to for years, and he did well, relatively speaking. We made sure to come prepared with snacks and Baby Einstein, and ALL got utilized to get the job done. The mini mullet is finally gone! Don't worry, I saved the curls.....

Pre-haircut picture: proof the mini mullet really did exist.

During the haircut. He wasn't too happy about this strange lady touching his head all the time.

Unfortunately, I failed to upload the finished product picture correctly on my computer, so that will have to wait. I know...the suspense! :)

My Little Boy Is Growing Up

I don't like messes. Yes, my house is not always in perfect order, but if it stays that way for too long, it drives me nuts. So of course, I don't particularly care for unnecessary, completely preventable messes.

Michael has been in a 'throwing' phase for, well, a long time now. Of course, this includes flinging all sorts of food off of his tray at mealtime onto the floor or my shirt, wherever it may land. To alleviate this problem, I had taken away all forms of utensils for awhile and was simply giving him anything that wasn't finger food myself.

However, after seeing my neighbor's daughter earlier this week do such a good job feeding herself applesauce, I accepted the fact it was time to endure the mess and let Michael practice honing his self-feeding skills as far as utensils are concerned. So I prepared myself, fully prepared to mop up the entire floor later that night as I set a cup of applesauce on his tray with a spoon in it.

To my great surprise....he started eating like a pro! No flipping the spoon upside down, no completely missing his mouth, no huge spoonfuls landing on the floor. I must say, I was speechless. I was so proud of him, and I could tell he was pretty happy with this new skill himself. Marion - I caught it on video tonight so you can see him in action!

Sidenote: I took Michael to see Santa at the mall today, hoping to get the annual picture. However, he wanted nothing to do with the hairy guy in the red suit. Yeah...no picture for that one....

Yes, I'm horrible.

Yes. I am aware it has almost been 2 months since I have posted to the blog, and I am fully aware of how ridiculous that is. My apologies....life's been kicking some serious butt lately. It's way too much stuff to put in one post, so make sure you back up a few (or several) posts to get it all!

Give Thanks....

For Thanksgiving we got a wonderful surprise....Marion would be joining us!!! He found out that he had time off for the holiday, so he flew back up to spend it with us. My parents also drove up for the holiday, so it was a nice, cozy Thanksgiving had by all.

The best part was Marion and Michael got to spend a lot of time together. Both of them enjoyed that!

Dad was nice enough to fix my table while they were here along with 5 million other to-dos I had been accumulating and not getting accomplished. Michael decided that he was going to be Grandpa's helper while attempting the table. Dad had every wrench Marion owned in his hand, whether he needed it or not. That's where Michael insisted they were supposed to be.

Bye Bye Daddy!

Well, today was the dreaded day. Marion was all packed up and ready to go...off to training in Louisiana for three long months. We drove him up to the airport to see him off, and of course we were running late as always. Security was nice enough to give me a pass so we could go all the way to the gate with him though. We said our quick goodbyes, and he was off.



We will miss you!

PIctures for Sandy

So last October, when we went out for our North Dakota visit, my Aunt Sandy gave me a liederhosen that she had bought for her son when she was in Germany. She said I just had to try it on Michael and take pictures because it was just the cutest thing. Well, forgetful me completely forgot about it buried in the closet until she reminded me again this year. Luckily...it still fit! He wasn't in a wonderful picture-taking mood, but I got some just for you! Thanks for the loan!

As we were changing him back out of the outfit, he discovered Marion's boots and decided they were just the right size to go on his feet. I think they fit, don't you? He's so darn cute.

Happy Halloween!

Since Marion was leaving in a few weeks, we managed to sneak in a trip back home before he left. Luckily, it just happened to fall over Halloween, so Michael could show off his awesome costume!!!

The first thing we did was go to the pumpkin patch with Mamaw...which was tons of fun! We always love going to pick our own pumpkins! Of course Marion insisted on having to find the biggest one there for his own....

I don't think we got enough....do you?

That night, we got to carve the pumpkins with Kenneisha, Adam, and Danielle to decorate for the plethora of trick-or-treaters the next day. Not to shabby if I may say so....

Then it was time for trick-or-treating!!!!!! Last year Michael helped Grandma pass out candy, so this was going to be his first year actually fully participating in the festivites. We started with a Trunk-or-Treat at a local church, and then made it back in time to trick-or-treat with the early shift. He actually did a pretty good job and made it around the loop (although in a stroller half the time). Don't forget to trick-or-treat at Grandma's....she's got the good stuff!

Once the crowd died down, my mom decided to enlist the help of her dear son-in-law Adam to get the crowd to pick up again. So, the good sport he is, he goes out to pass out the candy in full costume. What do you think he is?

To me, this costume seems pretty self-explanatory. He's a wizard, people. But did anyone think that? No. Are you Moses? Are you Jesus? Are you SANTA??? Yes, kids. Santa is known to wear blue in the off-season. And a headband.

Ya gotta love our Adam.

Boo At The Zoo

The Philadelphia Zoo was having a special Halloween event that included trick or treating around the zoo and going on scavenger hunts....costumes encouraged. We'd been wanting to go to the zoo for awhile and were looking to get some more use out of Michael's costume, so it turned out to be the perfect combo! Michael LOVED seeing all the animals, and even got to pet some goats in the petting zoo! Luckily the rain held off and it turned out to be a really fun morning!

Oooh peacock!!! Can I chase it Daddy? Pleeeease?

Let me jump in! I wanna play!

Good goat.....



Snake!!!! Kendra would LOVE that!

Unfortunately, his face began to break out into nasty hives, so we had to wipe of the whiskers and take off the costume early. But he still enjoyed going around the rest of the zoo looking at the animals in his pj's!!!