Driving Mr. Baby

We drove a lot over the holidays and stopping to stretch was always exciting for Andrew. We had a little too much fun pretending he was driving.

Carefully manuevering a tight turn.

10 o'clock and 2 o'clock...

Please don't distract the driver.

"Get outta the road, buster!"

"Is that a handicapped spot, or can I park there?"

Putting it in reverse.

Is it normal to have this much fun with a 7 month old?? And yes, I'm caught up now. Only 4 posts to catch up. Whew.

All About Andrew

A typical mischievous look from Drew.

Fun with Daddy.

Times 2.

He tipped this over, grabbed two socks, and crawled inside and ate the socks. It was adorable. I love that kid.

I love him in hats.

His newest favorite - sticking out his tongue.

Admit it. He's cute.

Not About Andrew

For extending my service agreement, I got a new phone for free. Cute, huh?

And here's a birthday card I made for Mike's grandpa that I thought turned out really cute.

That is all.

Christmas!

We had a very fun, very hectic time this Christmas. We traveled to Salem, then to St. Louis, then back to Salem, then to Arkansas, then back to Salem, and then home. I never want to see a car again as long as I live. Andrew and Michael agree with me. :)

Here's the baby opening/eating his present.

Andrew putting up his stocking. He got a baby spoon and a jar of baby food. :)

Michael hanging up his stocking. He got nothing.

Me hanging up my stocking. Again, Ol' Santy didn't visit the adults in the house.

Drew with his cousin Kaitlin at her house in Arkansas. So cute!

Twins

I turned 28 on December 17th. We celebrated on the 17th here at home by opening presents and organizing the house (hence the mess behind me).We took this one with forced perspective, so my carmel brownie look humongous. Hilarious.

My friend Natalie and I share a birthday. It was kind of fun to find out I had a younger twin. On the 18th, we celebrated by eating out at the 68 Diner, eating carmel brownies and ColdStone cupcakes, playing Guitar Hero with Natalie's parents, going to see the Magic Tree (www.magic-tree.org), and going to the mall to play Glow-in-the-Dark mini-golf. It was a lot of fun. :)

This is hands-down the best group shot we've gotten so far. (taken at the Mini-Golf course)

Happy really, really, really LATE birthday, Natalie! :)

Reading

I love to read. Here's a list of the books I read last year. Some of them I had already read before, some I hadn't. Some were just for fun, some for inspiration, some because they were easy to read. I hope to get more reading done this year.





1. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott


2. Little Men - Louisa May Alcott


3. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery


4. The Ordinary Princess - M.M. Kaye


5. The Princess Test - Gail Carson Levine


6. The Fairy's Return - Gail Carson Levine


7. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch


8. Anne of Avonlea - L.M. Montgomery


9. Fairest - Gail Carson Levine


10. To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee


11. Tuesdays with Morrie- Mitch Albom


12. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling


13. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows - J.K. Rowling


14. The Princess Bride - William Goldman


15. Priceless Memories - Bob Barker


16. Abraham Lincoln- James M. McPherson


17. The Word Snoop- Ursula Dubosarsky


18. Marley and Me- John Grogan


19. Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great- Judy Blume


20. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe- C.S. Lewis


21. Prince Caspian- C.S. Lewis


22. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- C.S. Lewis


23. The Silver Chair- C.S. Lewis


24. The Horse and His Boy- C.S. Lewis


25. The Magician's Nephew- C.S. Lewis


26. The Last Battle- C.S. Lewis


27. All Things Bright and Beautiful- James Herriot


28. All Creatures Great and Small- James Herriot


29. The Fire of the Covenant- Gerald N. Lund


30. Little House in the Big Woods- Laura Ingalls Wilder


31. Little House on the Prarie- Laura Ingalls Wilder


32. On the Banks of Plum Creek- Laura Ingalls Wilder


33. Dave Barry is from Mars and Venus- Dave Barry


34. A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens





What did you read this year?

Still Alive

We're still alive and still Christmas-ing. Having fun with family, driving a lot, and missing home all at the same time. Have a great day!

What we've been up to:

(mostly the kiddo)

Where is he? See him? Sleeping at night, with his faithful rhino watching o'er.

Shopping at Hobby Lobby for Natalie's present...

Wearing really cute (girl) pants, trying to decide what he should watch.... (He has no TV privileges by the way.)


Glistening with drool in the morning light. I love that little smile he gives sometimes.

How can one kid be so adorable?? I see this view a lot. I love the way his hand looks holding onto the TV stand.

Maybe the cutest outfit ever. (minus the bib)

Christmas Activity Days

I had the girls over last night for a cooking night. We made beef taquitos and ice cream sandwiches. Can you guess which they were more excited about? Especially when they asked, "How many can we make?" and I replied, "As many as you want." Their eyes popped right out of their wee little heads.

It was a huge success, because who doesn't love going to leader's houses? One of the girls apparently lives across the street from me, much to our surprise, and she mentioned it..........I believe 85 times. Another little girl went into the bathroom to wash her hands and exclaimed, "OHH! It's so cute! It's like a little shower station!" Not really sure what that means, but it did crack me up. Another girl said, "Nice place you have here." Ah, to be so grown up.

I gave them all a paper ornament and a Christmas card before they left. They were soooo excited. I have to admit I had fun, too, and we're planning a Valentine's Day party here. Any ideas?

Go, Go, Go!

Andrew is a crawling maniac now. He also has learned how to sit up, and how to pull himself up. This results in lots of climbing, falling, hitting his face on stuff, etc. I've taken to putting him in his playpen when I can't watch him, which he hates. That kid loves to move. Sometimes if I'm cooking or something, I'll leave him for brief spurts of time. And I'm not kidding when I say - Sometimes I can't find him.

"Andrew! Where are you?" Should I REALLY be having to say this to my 6 month old?

Behind chairs, all the way across the room, between the TV stand and the movies (which he had to crawl over a semi-high stack of movies on the floor to get to), by the kitchen, etc. I always find him (obviously) but I'm often shocked at how quickly he gets from here to there. He is so cute.

I should have known he'd be a mover and a shaker. My ribs took quite a beating before he made it into this world, officially. And....I'm tired.

Food Fit For Heaven

Ever had a meal that makes you wish you could never get full? I got a recipe for White Chicken Chili from a friend a few years ago that is to die for. Mike and I just had leftovers for lunch and he said, "I think this is the chili they serve in heaven." I completely agree. PLUS, it's super easy and relatively cheap. I make up two batches and it makes several meals for us. One bowl will fill you up, so it lasts us for several lunches after. Try it. You'll love it!

White Chicken Chili

1. Chop 1 medium onion and 1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic and put in skillet with 1 tbsp oil (I use olive oil)

2. Add 1-2 lbs cooked chicken breast (It's good shredded or chopped small. I use less because we just don't eat that much meat. I also add it to the onions and garlic raw and then brown it all up. I've found it gives it a richer flavor.)

3. Add 1 can chicken broth, 2 cans great northern beans, 1-2 cans green chilis, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cumin (I tend to add more salt and cumin), 1 tsp. oregano, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper.

4. Simmer all for 30 minutes.

5. Stir in 1/2 c. whipping cream and 1 c. sour cream

It's super good with a crusty bread and a salad on the side. Perfect for when Jack Frost is nipping at your nose. Oh, and another thing. What's the difference between Old Man Winter and Jack Frost? And don't even get me started on the Winter Miser. He is just completely complicating the whole issue. Do you think they have some sort of rivalry going, or is O.M.W. just Jack Frost as he's gotten a bit older and forgotten who he is? Maybe we'll never know.

O Christmas Tree

Does anyone really know the words to that song? Well, last night we and the Bells braved the cold and went to get our Christmas tree! YAY! Here's the lucky little deformed fella.

Did I mention it was cold? Look at that glowing angel that made it into our cart. Oh, wait. That's Andrew.

Double layers of everything and socks on his hands. Looking cute, even in a Home Depot cart.

And speaking of cute, here's a random picture of me in the truck. Kind of looks like Mike is using me as a marinette.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without me making Mike re-enact Mr. Krueger's Christmas. Thaaaat's right...put those mittens on the tree. And NO SMILING. *Like the Astrosnik spaceship for the tree topper?*

We even have an ornament that looks just like Andrew.

He had so much fun putting it on the tree. Can't you tell?

Oh wait. That's right. He didn't know what was going on.

His main goal for the evening was to eat the lights.

The whole crew

*Don't you hate when you lean in a photo because you aren't sure if you're blocking something or someone only to discover that you would have been fine AND not looked like an idiot if you had just stood normally?

Well, Santy...

Playing with Lil Santa to butter him up.

"Well, Big Guy....Little Guy....whatever. For Christmas this year, I'd like good grades on my finals. Or I'll squish your tiny little legs."

And when did Santa become a rapper? Look at those arms. Wiggity wiggity.

Santa Baby

I don't like that song, by the way. Especially not when it's sung by Madonna. *Shudder, Shudder*

Bass Pro Shops has free pictures with Santa so we went on Tuesday. The Santa was really nice and it was decorated really nice. I'm glad we went. So was Andrew. Can't you tell? He basically made that face the whole time.

6 months......

Well, I can hardly believe it, but tomorrow my little guy will be 6 months. I remember playing dolls with Jeanette and my baby was always 6 months because that was the age where they started doing stuff. (Little did I know how much fun they were before then, too.) He certainly has been on the go....

Here's my little hiker all ready for church. He looked so stinking adorable, although this is the closest to a smile I got. He would smile like crazy until I hit the button. Michael said he looked like an environmental activist.

Playing with a musical keyboard thingie at the Jacobs family Thanksgiving. He LOVED that thing and played with it almost the whole time we were there. As you can see, he can stand up when supported. And actually, he pulled himself up to that position. I can almost hear him saying - "I've been waiting a long time to come to earth, and I'm not going to waste a single second. Ready, Set, Go!!!"

With his sweet cousin who bravely came in and told her mother, "I'm gonna need a new shirt because Baby Andrew frowed up on me. I didn't even know babies DID that!"

This is fairly typical of a day with the neices. Cries of "UNCLE MIKE, COME AND FIND ME AND TICKLE ME!" and "Michael Mike, wanna wrestle?" can be heard from these seemingly fragile girls who in reality can pull quite a punch. (Notice how Andrew is engrossed in that keyboard? Seriously. All day.)

And lastly, (while ignoring the cans of soup in the background) here's my little guy crawling on his daddy yesterday. Happy 6 month anniversary, little guy! We sure love you. Thanks for coming to live at our house!