Getting Ready for Baby

This past week I have been shopping online for some things I know we will need for baby Nathan. Thomas loves when boxes start appearing at the front door! On Saturday, we got our newest purchase...a LIME green Bumbo. I used the Bumbo when I watched kids in the house last year, and I really loved it. They didn't have things like that when Thomas was a baby. I found this LIME green Bumbo and tray and had to get it since that color isn't sold locally in our stores (or at least that I have noticed). This morning, after giving Thomas a little bowl of Cheerios, I noticed he was quiet. Too quiet. (Which means trouble in our house.) This is what I walked in to see. Here's Thomas sitting in Nathan's room using the Bumbo. He just giggled when he got caught!

A Trip to Blue Springs

Because of the chilly weather, this is a great time to visit Blue Springs State Park and check out the manatees. Apparently, we weren't the only ones with this idea. We packed a lunch and once we arrived we were told that the park was closed due to overcrowding. We went down the road and had a picnic near the river. The sun was nice a warm, so it made for a good time. Then we tried to go the park again.....nope....still crowded. We decided to go back to the end of the line and with any luck by the time we got back up to the ranger station, enough cars would have left the park for us to enter. And luckily, that's what happened! We finally got in the park! The rangers counted 198 manatees today, but we only saw about 50. The weather was perfect. Thomas had fun walking along the newly restored walk-ways and rolling down a grassy hill. It was such a peaceful and relaxing day.

A Chilly Morning

The mornings this past week have been so chilly. On Thursday, Thomas got dressed and asked if he could wear a hat to school. This is the hat he chose! Luckily, it keeps his ears warm and he looks super cute in it. He saw himself in the mirror and said, "Mom! Take my picture!"

More Christmas Fun

On Christmas day we went over to see Ken's family. Thomas loves playing the kids and it's so fun to see them play with each other. We talked about how only a few years ago we all met on Christmas when we didn't have kids and look at us now!

Here's a picture of Thomas with a new set of dinosaurs and dragons.

On Saturday after Christmas we went to my mom and dad's house to celebrate Christmas. Before we made it over to their house we went to the Crib 4 Life store in Altamonte and ordered a crib and dresser for the new baby. We also picked out a swiveling, rocking, recliner. We just have to pick out the fabric to have it upholstered. The website doesn't have a picture of it in the stain we ordered, so I may go back there on Monday and take a picture of their floor model.

Once we got to Nana and Papa's we had a lot of fun. We ate a yummy lunch and opened more presents. It's nice that we can spread out the holiday!

Lastly, I think this is my favorite picture of the season. Here's the back of our front door covered in Thomas' holiday artwork from school. They are so beautiful and something we will save and treasure!

Merry Christmas!

We hope that everyone has a wonderful day. We've been busy and I have some photos to share. We are off to celebrate with Ken's family later this afternoon and we will celebrate with my family on Saturday, so there will be more photos since we are stretching out the holiday.

On Christmas Eve, Thomas put out reindeer food in the backyard. Here's the little poem that goes with it.

"Be sure to take this magic food and sprinkle it on the lawn.
On Christmas, Santa's reindeer travel miles before the dawn.

The smell of oaks and glitter path with guide them on their way. And you'll wake up to Santa's gifts next morn on Christmas Day!"

On Christmas Eve we went over to Nana and Papa's and went to their church. Uncle Mike, Aunt April and Chrisitan were there, too.

Thomas REALLY wanted a fish tank for Christmas. I bought a little beta fish and put it in the new tank, and low and behold....the fish was dead this morning. Luckily, I found it before Thomas did and tossed it. I told him that Santa brought the fish tank and that we get to go to the pet store and buy a fish. He was excited that Santa came to the house. We left a special key by the front door since we don't have a chimney. Santa brought a "Toy Story" christmas tree, train set, and all the gifts under the little tree were Toy Story. Thomas loved it. Then we opened the other gifts. He loved the HUGE bag of lollipops, the new workbench, and the game "Whac-a-Mole".

Thomas' Christmas Program

Today was Thomas' Christmas program. We battled a meltdown first thing in the morning because Thomas wanted to wear cowboy boots with his church clothes and I said no. So, we weren't able to get a photo of him being so handsome at home. I had to drop by work real quick this morning to deliver a pointsettia to a teacher and I asked Thomas if I could PLEASE take a picture. He agreed and thankfully it turned out cute.

I dropped him off at school and had an hour until the program started so I went to Target (of course!) I met up with Ken at the program. It was so cute. When Thomas' class came in the church I went over to take his picture. Bad idea....he cried when I told him I couldn't sit with him. Thomas was a ham during the show. I have NEVER seen him to wiggly, talkative, and touchy-feely. He couldn't sit still to save his life. I thought for sure he would have stage fright since this was his first program. Here are some pictures of him goofing around when he was supposed to be listening. We weren't allowed to have flash photography, so these are the best ones.

Thomas and his best buddy, Luke.

Thomas playing with Bennett's shoe. Why? I have no idea!

Preparing for Christmas

About two weeks ago we started decorating and getting ready for the holiday. Thomas had so much fun placing his special ornaments on the tree. It's funny that most of them are towards the bottom of the tree....which is arm length. I left it the way he decorated it. It kind of captures his age. It was so sad when he told me he didn't want to visit Santa at the mall. He said that he was too scary. So, this year I will not have a photo like the other years. Good thing we saw him at SeaWorld.
I am enjoying watching him be excited about Santa. He totally gets the concept. We were having some issues with "potty talk" (imagine that....) and all I had to say was "Do I need to call Santa?" Ever since then we no longer have potty talk. I asked my mom if it works like that with the Easter Bunny and she said no. Oh well, at least my ears have had some relieve for the past few weeks.
Here are some pictures of the boys putting up the tree. Placing the star on the top is Thomas' favorite part!