Giving thanks!

I am such a blessed boy and have so much to be thankful for. No wonder I'm always smiling!



There's my new little brother, my awesome grandparents, and all my family and friends, there's also a warm place to live, plenty to fill my belly, and of course an amazing God who made me and moon and stars. To celebrate Thanksgiving, we headed north to visit with our families.
We gathered with my Grandma and Aunt Nessa, Uncle Tyler, Cadence, Kyrie, Brayson, and Brannen to give thanks on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I had a great time! We played A LOT.

I was a pretend barista, brewing coffee and drinking several cups of it, I practiced some parenting with a little babydoll, and I watched Jungle Book with my cousins just to name a few things.
I ate like a champ, but that is easy to do when you're putting away delicious turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and hand made butter horns. Seriously, I cleaned my plate! To show Grandma my appreciation I helped out with the dishes.
We helped Grandma set up her Christmas tree, too. This year, she got a toy train that steams around the base of the tree. I sat and watched as it roared through the family room.

For the remainder of the weekend we went to Grammy and Papaw's house.
Papaw put me to work as soon as I got there, helping him paint the trim on the patio.
I showed Woody around the place, since this was his first trip there. Grammy introduced me to Frosty the Snowman while I was there. I cuddled up next to her to watch the famous film.

Then, I asked to watch it over and over again as the weekend went by. We stopped by to see Owi and she had a Frosty that sang and danced.

I was a little intimidated at first, but then I warmed up to him, giving him hugs and letting him sit on my lap.

We helped Grammy and Papaw put their monstrosity of a Christmas tree up, as well. That thing is humongous!

On Sunday we went to church and then went over to visit Grapes Grandma. She had a feast prepared for us! I ate like royalty once again and then played at her place. She had her Christmas tree up and decorated too, so I played with the lights. I took a break just long enough for a hug though.


Advent is here! Mom and I are starting our study today as we prepare for Jesus' birth at Christmas. Last night we put up our Christmas tree. I helped hang the ornaments on the tree. As is our tradition, we ate Christmas cookies and drank special hot chocolate. I helped decorate cookies this year (a big fan of the green sprinkles if you couldn't tell) and also got to try the special cocoa for the first time! It was tasty. Daddy and I cheers'd to the Christmas season!

I hope you had a great weekend reflecting on all that you have to be thankful for. May this Christmas season be a blessed one, focused not on shopping and presents but rather on THE gift of our Savior!

Full House!

This past week we were blessed with lots of visitors. My Grandma, Aunt Nessa, and four cousins came to see us! We played ball, cars, read, and of course I introduced them to my Buzz and Woody toys. We had a great weekend.

Lots of our family and friends came too see my little brother get dedicated at church.

The surprisingly warm temps resulted in one last trip to the park for Emerson and I. Usually we stick to the slide, swings, and other playground essentials, but on this final outing for 2010 we thought we'd play bleacher drums and find precious rocks. Our Moms think we are hilarious!

I am continuing to put sentences together. After dinner with our friends, I proceeded to tell Mommy that "I had good time with Daniel, Yorn,Emerson tonight." What made it such a good time? Well, we made turkey hats, ran around the house, and had races down the stairs on our bellies!

My new night time routine involves a look out the window or a walk out on the deck. I do this because I have taken quite fondly to looking at the moon and stars each night. I tell my folks that "God made moon, God made stars. Goodnight moon. Goodnight stars. See ya tomorrow!" Mom just eats that stuff up.
This week I found some new friends that I like to see each day: the Monsters of Sesame Street. I like Elmo a lot. I even learned his theme song and like to sing and dance to it. I am a pretty big fan of "Abby Dabby" too. There's Murray and Big Bird and Ernie and Oscar. I look forward to watching it each time Mommy feeds Deklan!
I stopped by to say hello to Great Aunt Mimi and also spent half a day with Grammy and Papa recently, too. I love seeing my family. With next week being Thanksgiving, I can't wait to spend some extended time with them!
Safe travels to everyone this coming week!

Back to normal...

One of the best parts of my day is when my Daddy gets home. Over the last few months, while he studied for his test, that was not as early as I'd prefer. Thankfully, he took his test last week and we now get him home earlier! He was such a trooper...he came down with the flu, compliments of my Mommy and I, on Thursday, took his test on Friday, and still managed to play with me that afternoon and take Mom out on a date that night. He's my hero! We're all healthy again and things here are back to normal.
We've been pretty busy around our house. I keep growing leaps and bounds each week. I forgot to tell you guys my stats for my 2 year appointment: I am weighing in at 30 lbs and stand 35.5 inches tall. I started jumping this week. I was kind of doing it before, but one foot or the other always seemed to stay put. Now they're both actually off the ground. I think I've got Mom's vertical, but hopefully I'll get better at it and find that I have Dad's instead. I am learning phrases and sentences now. Today I told Mommy the following: "Daddy is so smart." (Mom replied that he is) "Daddy is so nice." (Mom replied that he is) "Daddy is so beautiful!" (I did this in a high pitched, sing-songy way) Mom laughed and asked who taught me that. I told her Mimi did, and also corrected myself-Mimi is so smart, nice, and beautiful. See, Mimi and I spent the day together on Monday so that Aunt Nessa, Grandma, and Mommy could go Christmas shopping on their annual outing. Deklan went with them. I had all kinds of fun playing with Mimi, playing in the leaves, watching my new Toy Story 3 movie, and doing some shopping of our own. I did get to spend some time with my Grandma and Aunt, too. Aunt Nessa and I threw my Woody doll around, and I showed them how fast I am, too.

I got to see my pal Brayden a couple of times this week. Mom and Dad celebrated their third anniversary, so he came over to play with us and they went for some sushi. I am trying to teach him how to walk and talk and throw and catch. I think he'll get the hang of it all soon enough. Of course, a week wouldn't be complete without some time with my bud Emerson. We hit the park to take advantage of the unusually warm temps while they are still here. We have so much fun together! I also got to see my Aunt B and Uncle E. We had dinner together and then played the rest of the evening. They brought me some super fun jammy jams that look like Woody and Buzz outfits. I tried them on. I make a pretty cute cowboy, don't you think?

It's been a great week here. We got our family pictures back recently, too, so click this link and check out some of our favorite photos. See you soon!

Mostly Treats...

This weekend was Halloween and as is the custom, it consisted of both tricks and treats. Thankfully, it was mostly all treats.
Treat #1: Lunch with my new pal Andrew. Our Mommy's got together for lunch and he and I (and snoozy Deklan) got to hang out for a bit.

Treat #2: Card from Grapes Grandma. She wanted to wish me a Happy Halloween...I love knowing she is thinking about me!
Treat #3: Play date with Emerson! It never gets old, no matter how many times the two of us get together. We laugh hysterically at who knows what and run around the house playing and pretending. We could do this everyday if they'd let us.

Treat #4: Play time with Brayden! His family came over to play so that Mommy and Daddy could go out on a date. Silly parents; all the fun was right here!

Treat #5: Surprise from Great Aunt Teresa, Uncle Tom, and Brandon...they came to see Deklan and I and drop off a giant orange bucket of treats for me. Yea!
The TRICK: Mommy and I spent the entire day Saturday on the couch with the stomach flu. Yuck! We were quite the pair. The upside is that Daddy and Deklan managed to avoid it. Phew!
Treat #6: My first shave. Daddy taught me how to get all smooth, just like him!

Treat #7, 8, and 9: Halloween, which consisted of trunk or treat at the church, visiting with Mimi, Vance, Connor, Chandler, and "Parter", and stopping by the Kernodles to show them what a cute Buzz I make. What a great week!

I got some more pics of my birthday party, so I'll throw those on here, too.


 

Have a good week! Stay warm...