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.