3 Days of Christmas

I think we’re finally recovering from all of our celebrating.  We had three whole days of celebrating this year.  We started off at my parents’ so we could exchange gifts.  Nicholas was excited about everything he received from a basketball hoop for his room to a LEGO organizer to an office set to a brand new Wii.  My sister always gives the best gifts (as Nicholas says) and the last one was from her.  Daniel did quite well with some new clothes and various toys that make noise and light up.  He was playing with his little steering wheel (also from Aunt Amy) and hitting the same button over and over again.  It was a nice low-key celebration and a nice start to a lot of running around.  

My mom took Nicholas to the dollar
store to buy us some presents.

Here's mine (hat included)!

My sister made our grandma a gift basket.
Check out the cute boys in the picture.

So he can be just like Poppy!

G.G. with her great-grandsons

Then, we had Christmas Eve with my mom’s side of the family.  There were a lot people there to give one-on-one attention to both boys.  Nicholas and Daniel both were blessed with a lot of presents.  I am part of a women’s exchange with the other women in my age group.  Everyone had some great ideas this year.  The guys are a little less creative.  They just buy gift cards and find some way to steal the one they want from someone else.  Evan was pleased with the one he received though.

We never got out the camera that evening,
but here is Daniel earlier in the day testing out his
 portable high chair.

Unfortunately, Daniel reached his limit of fun.  He let us know almost the entire drive home.  He didn't just cry, but did his angry cry.  We got both boys in bed at a reasonable hour, hoping that they would both sleep in.  But, Daniel woke up first – at his normal time.  Nicholas was last with about 10 minutes of extra sleep than normal. 

We read the Bible as a family before heading downstairs.  We had the boys take turn opening gifts.  Evan and I didn't really have anything for each other – just a stocking stuffer – since we bought ourselves a new bedding set as the first step of fixing up our house (can’t have a ratty, old one on the bed).

We don’t buy the boys too much since they are majorly blessed by many other people.  Nicholas got several LEG* sets and books.  Daniel got books, a couple toys, and a hat.  I gave him a couple of his gifts earlier in the week, which bothered Nicholas the most. 

He kept it on for awhile.
He looked so cute in it.

Everything except his ornament

Most of Daniel's gifts

After giving Daniel a nap and Nicholas a short rest time, we were off to Evan’s parents’ house.  Daniel showed off his crawling skills and Nicholas was able to play with his cousins.  He received more LEG*s to add to his collection.  Evan and I were happy because we both enjoy putting them together.  In fact, we only have one more set to go. 

Showing Grandpa his gift.

Nicholas had Haley's name in the gift exchange.
He was not happy to buy her this gift.

Evan had Wednesday off of work, which gave him nice day to relax and stay out of the potential blizzard we were supposed to have.  I think we’re finally getting back on schedule.  Our tree is already down and that has brought a smile to my face.  I only have to keep Daniel away from the blinds now.  And, all the toys are organized and the house looks a smidge bigger again.  Now we’re going to relax for the next week and a half until life really goes back to normal.  Our next focus is the house and getting it ready to sell!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Looking back, we can really plainly see God’s blessings this year!

Can’t Stop Me Now

I feel like my life has changed drastically in the last couple of weeks.  If I could sum it up in one word it would be REDIRECTION.  That is what I do during most of Daniel’s waking hours.  Now that he is mobile he is always headed somewhere.  Most of the time, he is crawling to the tree or the blinds.  Evan is digging out the baby gates this weekend.  I also think that the Christmas tree will be coming down sooner than later after the 25^th.  Between Daniel and the cats, I’m surprised it is still standing.

Even though I’m doing a lot of redirecting, I am enjoying his new milestones.  Daniel is so much fun.  He interacts and he understands what we say a lot more now.  He’s also sitting much better.  And, he can get himself from sitting to his stomach without doing a face-plant. 

Playing with Nicholas is fun.

Especially when he gets to climb on him.

Watch out world because here he comes!

School is out for 2012

We had our last day of school today before Christmas break.  I kept it light because I gave us this week as catch-up for a couple of our subjects.  Nicholas did complete All About Reading Level 1 though.  I’m debating about when to buy Level 2. He is in Level 2 Spelling.  I think it would be a great review that would build upon what he’s learning now.   I just don’t know if I should order it now, or start later this year.  He will also move into First Grade math in the middle of January.  He’s done really well this year so far.

Evan and Nicholas also did their last science experiment this week.  They made a volcano like is found on Mars.  It is nice when the experiment actually works!

Before

The eruption is starting!

Here comes the "lava".

When Daniel isn't taking a nap, I've been trying to get him to sit in the high chair while we do school.  Today I asked him, "Where's Daniel?"  He responded by putting the ring over his face and smiling.  He's been into playing Peek-a-boo a lot lately too.

Both boys have been blessing me lately by sleeping in the past two mornings.  Nicholas almost made it to 8:00 two days in a row.  This is a rarity since he is usually up by 7:00 without fail.  Daniel has been almost sleeping to 7:00 himself.  I only wish Evan didn't have to get up so early, and then maybe I would have had some extra sleep myself.  I did enjoy the peace and quiet though.

We went to the roller skating rink a couple of nights ago with our church’s youth group.  All the advisers were able to bring their families.  It was Nicholas’ first time skating.  It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.  Initially, I didn't think he would last long.  With the first couple of falls, the tears looked like they were going to start.  But, he persevered and by the end told us how much he liked roller skating.   Daniel held up well too.  With all the people, music, and flashing lights, he was very entertained.  He didn't fall asleep until the last 5 minutes and ended up sleeping well the entire night.

Slow start

He got around a lot faster when Evan helped him.

. 

We are spending some of today watching Christmas DVDs.  I guess we can consider it our school’s Christmas party.  Daniel seems to be enjoying the snow.  He spent at least 15-20 minutes just watching it out the sliding glass door.  I think that is the longest he’s been still during his waking hours in a while!

Watching the snow

I don't really let Daniel watch television,
but when you have an older brother . . .

Well, back to our “Christmas Party” . . . 

Watch Me Grow: 7 Months Old

I cannot believe that Daniel is 7 months old!  He is a real joy!  He’s a smiley guy.  He is generally happy, but still hates naps.  He’s getting better, but he still likes to let me know how much he hates them.  As I told you in my last blog, he crawls.  He loves playing with toys, especially our nativity sets.

Daniel still babbles a lot.  Now that his adoption is finalized, I am more comfortable taking him to the church nursery if he is awake.  When he’s sleeping, I keep him with us.  I think he likes the variety of toys there though.  I enjoy being able to hear the whole sermon.

He also loves our cats.  They still have been pretty good around him.  If he annoys them too much then they walk away.  Our one cat likes to sit in the recliner to take a nap.  Daniel likes to stand (we put him there) and hold onto the chair and stare at her.  She usually wakes up with an annoyed look on her face while he is laughing at her.  I've noticed he crawls by the chair looking for her sometimes.

Hi, Gabby!

I love this cat!

He’s eating a lot more baby food.  I actually have to be careful when I feed him solids because he hasn't liked his formula as much.  The formula is supposed to be his main nutrition right now, so I’m trying to work all of that out.  Overall, Daniel is not an eater.  He is one of those eat to live kids rather than live to eat.  It's a new world to us.

And with the good comes the bad interesting.  Diaper changes are the worst now!   Daniel just wants to roll over on his stomach.  I have had a little naked baby crawling away as fast as he can on more than one occasion.  I think I've even seen a little smile on his face too.  Sometimes handing him a toy distracts him, but not always.  He had a doozy of a change the other day that my poor sister had to witness.  The bad thing is that Evan and I were both trying to hold him down with horrible results.  

But, if diaper changes are our biggest problem right now then we can handle it.  We are just enjoying him so much.  He gives hugs now too.  Evan said the other day that he likes the hugs but he wishes that Daniel wouldn't pinch our faces when he does it.  He also gives one heck of a kiss.  We're talking open mouth with as much slobber as humanly possible.  

Finally, he continues to love Nicholas.  He smiles so big when he sees him.  He likes to crawl over to him and just be by him.  Nicholas doesn't always enjoy the slobber, but I think he still enjoys Daniel a lot.

Today's pictures went a lot better than last month.  The worst part is that he blinks every time the camera goes off.  It is really hard to get a shot with his eyes open, but we got a few good ones.

He's probably wondering why we do this each month.

Our only real smile with his eyes open.

He's had enough.

One week until Christmas!  We can't wait to celebrate it with our family of four!

Back in Business

Well, I bit the bullet and decided to pay a small monthly fee for more picture space.  I was going to go around it, but the other ways seemed more time-consuming.  This was just easier.  So, I’m back.  I did change the name of the blog though.  The address will be the same, but it is now "Better Than I Planned".

See, I am a planner by nature.  I have already started working on Nicholas’ 1^st grade curriculum and schedule for next year.  I actually do it to relax.  It helps me to de-stress.  I know nothing is set in stone and I am flexible, but it is fun for me to start planning.

I've always planned my life too.  If God had given me my initial plan then I would have four children between the ages of 4 and 10 right now.  This plan was pre-Evan.  Then, when I married Evan the plan was for us to have our first child shortly after our second wedding anniversary.  Scratch that one too.  

Was it disappointing that my plan(s) did not work out?  Well, it is a bummer that God did not agree, but I cannot imagine my life without my boys.  If God would have let us conceive when we wanted to then we probably never have gone to Russia.  I doubt Daniel would be a part of our family too.  Having Nicholas and Daniel is better than I planned.

So, I'm back in business.  Sometimes on television shows they say, “Here’s what you missed on the last episode” or “Last time on . . .”.  Well, basically, here’s what you missed since the last time I blogged:

As you know, we finalized Daniel’s adoption on December 3^rd.  I could not load pictures at that time, so I’ll show them to you now.

Nicholas made himself dead weight.
The judge went with it and joked,
 "Let's make it awkward!"

Evan’s mom’s work has a Christmas program for kids and grandkids of employees each year.  There is a breakfast, activities, a show, and of course, Santa Claus.  Nicholas had a really good time as usual.  Even Daniel held up well with only a short nap before the show started.

They had a bird show again this year.

Daniel and I are together all the time.  Other than when he is sleeping, I’m with him.  So, about 2 weeks ago I went out with my sister for a couple of hours after church.  It was a nice time and a chance for me to have some alone time.  Well, Daniel decided that should be the time when he starts crawling.  Granted, it is more of an army crawl, but he really moves!  I’m happy that Evan was there to share that milestone with him, but of all the times to choose to crawl . . .  But, I get to see him crawl plenty now.  In fact, it makes our days a lot busier as we chase him around.  Our Christmas tree is rather enticing.

Nicholas sang up in front of church last weekend with the kids from our church’s Wednesday night program.  Since they had to sing in two services, he had already heard the story that was read after the singing.  So, when they were asking a question to the kids at the second service, guess who very loudly gave the answer!  

He looks thrilled to be up there.
 This was the first performance, so he was probably a little nervous.

Well, it is good to be back.  I'm going to close with more random pictures so everyone can have their picture love tank filled until the next post. ;)

Hanging out

Eating is hard work

Getting another haircut.

Waiting for the train at the mall

More soon . . .