For Your Viewing Pleasure

You may remember one of Nicholas' favorite Christmas gifts from last year, the jumper. I posted a video of him jumping all around and thought it would be fun to post another video of him one year later. He still loves it to this day and his skills have become quite advanced. I don't know how he doesn't make himself sick!!

A Very Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!! We hope your holiday was as great as ours, even though the ice and snow made it a little difficult to get around. We got up Christmas morning and brought Nicholas in to see all the presents Santa had left under the tree. He was so excited he sat down smack dab in the middle of the floor and went about checking things out.

We quickly got ourselves settled with a roaring fire in the fireplace and got busy opening the gifts. This year he really enjoyed ripping off the wrapping paper and discovering what was hidden inside! Santa brought him all kinds of little goodies, including his very own potty chair!!! I bet you didn't know this, but a potty chair is perfect for holding all your building blocks, or for standing in, or just for wearing on your head. :-)




We spent the rest of the afternoon at home relaxing and playing in the snow. We had quite a bit as you can see!

Then we decided to brave the elements and head for Mimi and Grandpa Jaggi's house for Christmas dinner. We made it safe and sound and had a terrific time eating and opening more presents!!


On Saturday, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Cindy, and Cousin Jillian made it up all the way from Texas. So we had another Christmas celebration that evening! Jillian is walking everywhere now and she's not even 11 months old yet! WOW!!!

Check back later this week for Christmas #4 highlights from Grandma & Grandpa Hawkins' house. We had to postpone until New Year's Day because Grandpa was working out of town. We can't wait!

It's Gonna Be A White Christmas!

We were dreaming of a white Christmas and that's exactly what we got...and then some. We didn't quite need all of the blizzard like conditions to go with it though! Greg's out working in this horrendous storm right now and I'll be relieved when he's safe at home later tonight. We're praying that we can still share Christmas Day with family but the festivities may have to wait until things clear up. Nicholas has really enjoyed watching his first snow storm from the window. It's like his new playhouse is calling to him from the frigid, blowing snow! We're sure glad we put it together early!

And here's the view from our front porch so far. YIKES!

We hope everyone is having a merry Christmas Eve, wherever you may be. Hopefully not stuck in the snow somewhere!!

Christmas Came Early!

Christmas came early for one little boy I know! This year we decided to go in with Mimi & Grandpa Jaggi to get Nicholas his very own playhouse for the backyard. Yes, it's tacky and no, I dont' care. He loves it and it makes him happy which is all that matters to us! It was delivered last weekend by a big freight truck and here you see him intently watching at the window. I'm sure he was thinking "That doesn't look like Santa's sleigh!"

We had some pretty nice weather today so Greg was able to get it put together for him. He ran right up to it and began climbing all over it. We tried explaining a few times that there was a door he could use but he preferred the challenging route - climbing over the little table. He was also way more excited about trying to climb up the slide instead of going down it! He's an adventurer so I'm totally not surprised. The house also came equipped with a ring toss and he quickly became obsessed with carrying the rings around. As you can see, they're present in every picture. Unfortunately, it was getting dark and cold out so we had to call it a day. He wasn't happy to leave it to say the least, but I'm sure there will be plenty more days of fun to come.

"Hmmm, what would I like for Christmas?"

A very important meeting...

I was so nervous about this year's meeting with Santa Claus that I almost decided to sacrifice it in order to preserve my sanity. But, the little voice inside my head kept urging me to give it a try and I'm so thankful I did. Waiting in line was definitely not the easiest task, but thankfully Grandma & Grandpa Hawkins went with us and gave me a few extra hands. Nicholas was probably the antsiest child there, but he was also the smallest except for the really tiny babies. He just wanted to get an up close and personal view of all the action behind the velvet ropes that were blocking him from Santa and I can't say I blame him. After a pretty short wait, it was our turn. I was so apprehensive about what his reaction to Santa was going to be this year because last year wasn't so great. At 6 months old he just didn't quite know how to handle the jolly bearded fellow. But it all turned out to be needless worry because this year went perfectly!! He ran right up to Santa with a giant grin from ear to ear, put out his little hand which Santa reached down and gave a little shake. Before I knew it, he was sitting on Santa's lap posing and eating up all the attention. The wave of relief that I felt was immense and I was so proud of my awesome little boy. Just look at that mischievous little smile! What a special memory!!

18 Months Old!

18 months old means one thing.....18 month check up at the doctor's office! As soon as we pulled in the parking lot he turned on the water works. I guess 3 months is not enough time for a toddler to forget the pain of shots. He cried quite a bit during the visit but he also laughed and played quite a bit, which was great. I was so worried about this appointment because we no longer had the trusty, pain-numbing pacifier to turn to. But the whole thing was quick and he only got one shot, then we couldn't get out the door fast enough! He weighed 27 pounds (66%) and was 33 inches long (71%). A big, healthy, energetic boy!

We've been doing a lot of Christmas decorating lately. Last weekend, Greg put all of the lights on the house and they look so awesome! We also had to buy a new tree this week because our old one didn't want to work anymore. I've been really, really nervous about putting a tree up at all this year because of Mr. Busy Hands, but I got it up yesterday and so far, so good. He's tried to check out the ornaments quite a few times but he seems to be learning "No touch. Just look." It'll be a miracle though if we get through the holidays without any broken ornaments! Here is our new tree and our pretty outdoor lights. Hope everyone is getting in the holiday spirit!