Christmas morning

Macen wasn't interested in opening his gifts at first but he was beyond excited each time James unwrapped something for him. He made this face each time.

He wasted no time crawling into his dump truck.

He finally got interested in opening a present.

Merry Christmas

Macen says Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Day Sledding

We still have snow on the ground from last week so we got Macen out on the sled. He loved it and so did James!

Texas trip

We headed to TX for a vacation after James being gone for a year. Since we missed our annual Thanksgiving day game, James thought being at the last game ever in Texas Stadium would be the next best thing. Some of our military family joined us from WA for a day at the Dallas Zoo and the game.

Macen was not a happy camper starting off our trip and then to be completely thrown off schedule with his sleep = not a pretty sight. We had several late nights and Macen didn't adapt well. He was fantastic the 3 times we needed him to be - for both flights and at the game. The other times - steer clear of the toddler. He did have the freedom of running around at the zoo playing with Marti and giving Chris kisses.

As James mentioned the game did not go as wanted but we had a great time. Macen played for most of the game. He loved all the loud music, screaming and watching people. He fell sleep the last part of the 3rd quarter and slept the rest of the game.

We had bought tickets to see the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan Resort and had planned on seeing all the Christmas activities they had going on. There was Mrs. Claus with live reindeer, a life size gingerbread house, etc. We got in line to get to the line to enter the exhibit and Macen was beyond hysterical. I have never seen him so miserable (Misty, he was worse than after the game if you can believe that). Needless to say there was no way we were going to take him into a confined space of 9 degrees with lots of other people. So we decided to leave and wouldn't you know as we are winding thru the resort to get to the car, Macen is as happy as can be. So Macen, if you are reading this 15 yrs from now, you have heard this story hundreds of times and will probably hear it another hundred times. Thanks for making us throw away $40 ;) And just so you know, you didn't get out of it - we're taking you back next year. Love you little guy!

Balls, balls, balls

We had a snow day last week so we brought out the balls for some indoor entertainment. We filled his swimming pool up and Macen and Daddy had an afternoon of fun.

We Survived!!!!

This is James, just letting everybody know that we have survived our whirlwind trip to Texas for the football game. While for the most part things things went well, other than the outcome of the football game, I have learned one thing.......use birth control. So for those of you anticipating, or thinking we should add another child to our family.......FAT CHANCE !!!!!!!!!! :) Macen is more than a handful and I don't think I want to take the chance that we'll have another one that turns out just as ornery as he is.

With that said Shantel will have pictures from the airplane ride, airport, the Dallas Zoo, and the football game up in the next couple of days. Unfortunately there will be no pictures from the Gaylord Texan ICE! display.....see the above paragraph for the reason.

Happy Holidays everyone.

You light up our life

As I mentioned before, he loves the lights. I had an extra strand out for him to play with for a few days. Mostly he just wanted to stick the bulbs in the vent. Haha!

Tree Helper

Macen enjoyed helping us set up the tree. His favorite part was when we turned the lights on. His face lit up and now he reminds us to turn them on daily. And everytime they come on, he says "Awww". He has done really good with the tree too. Right after we got done with the ribbon and ornaments, he started taking all the ornaments off by handfuls but we told him they needed stay on the tree. He has pretty much left them alone since. He does like to touch them a couple of times a day but they stay on.

The furry people say Merry Christmas

Even the cats in the holiday spirit. They love the tree - climbing it, sleeping under it, playing with the round ornaments and this year hiding under it from Macen.

He's home!!!

Welcome Home James. We missed you a ton!

James came home on Saturday. Macen went to him immediately and has been showering him with kisses since. He also follows James everywhere around the house which is really funny because he doesn't do that to me very often. James has had to work (out process) everyday since he has been home. Hopefully that will be over soon and he can relax and get some down time. It's a huge relief to have him home and safe.

Shreds of fun!

It's that time of year again where I shred all of our statements. Normally I am able to take them to work and do it but since I have stayed at home there was 2 yrs of statements that needed to go bye bye. Macen wanted to help and to distract him I put some on him. He loved it so I kept shredding and throwing more and more at him. Before long we had a huge pile and we had a blast with it! It was everywhere. I left it out all day and I'm still finding strips here and there 2 days later.

The cats even loved it. Macen would put some on Mo and then he would take it back off and brush him off. Mo would chase it as I pulled it from him and slide into the pile. Myles played with his mice in it for awhile and then later took a nap on the pile.

And it wouldn't have been an activity without the cars and trucks.

Busy, busy boy

Macen has been very busy learning this month. He is still "counting" alot. We count everything. He is also learning his alphabet, mainly the phonics. He loves his leapfrog fridge set and has started repeating the sounds of letters. I also point out letters on my shirts so he will do the same.

He still loves coloring. When I mention it, he runs for the kitchen table and climbs up on the chair. I introduced painting to him and he loved it! I think his favorite was playing in the water with the brush though. He started playing hide 'n seek or I guess I hide and he comes to find me. We've played this long enough now, I've had to find new spots to hide. The pic below is his face when he finds me. He also cracks up when I jump out from behind something and scare him. We also started playing ring around the rosy.

Parents as Teachers did their developmental assessment on him and he did great. She was impressed he could stack 8 blocks for her. She said they look for him to be able to do 3 at this age and don't even think about 8 until after he is 2. He has also started lining things and she said that was great. It is preparing him to read as we read in a line. I didn't know that so I thought it was pretty interesting. He is saying the amount of words he should be saying. The only thing he is "behind" in was taking off clothes. And well, I can't say I am too terribly upset about that. You always hear stories of kids taking off their clothes when they should be wearing them and I am glad we don't have that problem...yet (I should throw that in there so I don't jinx myself).

We have entered into negotiations at mealtimes. Once he is ready to get down from the table and I can ask him to eat 1 or 2 more bites of something and he is happy to do so. How long do you think that will last? And do you want to know how he eats strawberries now? He bites off the tip of each one, lines them up next to his plate and then goes back and eats them later. Quirky kid!