Merry Christmas!

We had a very, Merry Christmas! It was Mitchell's 2nd Christmas and the last one where he was the complete center of attention! He loved opening one present after another :) We enjoyed having my mom and step-dad here for the celebration, and my Dad and Sherri too! Here are a few pics!

Yeah, it's Christmas! Come on down, Mitchell and see what Santa left for you!

The excitement is building as he reaches the bottom of the stairs :)

Believe me Santa....I'm nice!

We ventured outside to sled...he didn't make it too long! It was COLD!

Grandma and Mitchell in their Santa hats.

Mitchell's reaction when he told him that Christmas only comes once a year!

The holidays were VERY happy this year!

We're celebrating Mitchell's 2nd birthday today! I'll post our pictures later!

Trip to Oklahoma

We took a short trip to Oklahoma this weekend! It was really nice to spend some quality time with Jacob's Mom and step-dad and Jacob's grandparents too. We celebrated Christmas and Mitchell's birthday...he was very spoiled with presents!





Singing happy birthday to our almost 2 year old :)

Gran is well aware of the disadvantages of having a birthday around Christmas. Her birthday is TODAY (Dec 20th!)
Happy Birthday, Gran!



We Granny & Papa (Jacob's grandparents) while were in town. We also visited his Dad's Mom, Lois...but I neglected to get a picture.

Mitchell behaved even better than we expected on the 6 hour trip each way!

That was our last pre-baby trip! Now we're staying put 'til little brother arrives! We are so excited to celebrate Christmas and Mitchell's birthday this week :)

Folks' Fast Fixin' Fudge

Jacob's Dad has a yummy recipe for quick fudge. It's become a family tradition to make around Christmas and Mitchell was so helpful this year!

Chopping the nuts

One for the fudge, one for me....

First taste...very cautious as always!

Carefully considering whether he likes it or not...

He likes it!

Unfortunately, Tex was also REALLY tempted by the fudge and managed to eat an ENTIRE tray of it while we were away! :( Chocolate is poison to dogs, so obviously we were worried how he'd fare. He vomited most of it up (and have a nice new chocolate stain on our carpet), but otherwise he has been doing just fine. We had to unload him onto my dad the day after he ate it because we were headed to Oklahoma and he nursed him back to health....making him special rice to eat and everything. Thanks to many consulations with my "might as well be a vet" sister and Dad, Tex will be just fine :)

San Antonio

We're back and had a GREAT time! Mitchell was a joy MOST of the time and Jacob and I enjoyed spending some quality time together...unlike most of our evenings spent catching up on DVR'd shows on the couch while simultaneously working away on our laptops. :)

Here are some pics and trip highlights!

The riverwalk was all decorated for Christmas! Apparently 2 men do ALL of the decorating by using a bucket truck. It takes them 3 months to get it decorated and another 3 months to undecorate, so essentially the riverwalk is atleast partially decorated over half of the year!

No trip to San Antonio is complete without a trip to the Alamo. We quickly learned that it was a little confusing for Mitchell to see "Elmo" one day at SeaWorld and the "Alamo" the next. I think he was a bit disappointed with this old building :)

We all enjoyed a guided tour boatride through the riverwalk. It is beautiful scenery and landscaping - lots of restaurants and people. Mitchell enjoyed the waterfalls and ducks! There are no railings on either side of the riverwalk, so we tried to keep Mitchell confined to his stroller as much as possible!

My Kansas City men on the San Antonio riverwalk boat. The weather was really nice on Saturday...70s and sunny. It was chillier (60s) and overcast the other couple of days, but still beat the 13 degree weather we came home to yesterday!

The riverboat ride wore our little boy out; he was sound asleep by the end of it. We were often in the middle of activities at Mitchell's bedtime or naptime, but he adapted so well...usually by either falling asleep in my arms or in his stroller. Twice (once on the bus ride home from SeaWorld and on the plane ride home) he alerted me that he was ready to crawl up in my arms and take a nap by asking me "Mommy, can you rock me like a baby?" What mother can refuse that sweet request?! :)

While at SeaWorld, Mitchell visited the real Santa AND Shamu Santa...I'll leave it up to you to determine which is which :)

We visited the dolphins at SeaWorld. Mitchell loved watching them and we all enjoyed being able to get so close to them and even pet them!

We bought some dolphin food (fish) to feed them. Mitchell really enjoyed watching me feed, but wasn't quite so sure about picking up the dead, slimy fishies. Can't say I blame him!

We all really enjoyed the Shamu show...actually so much that we watched it twice. Once during the day and also caught the last show of the night too. Given the overcast weather, there were NO CROWDS at SeaWorld! There are literally maybe 1,000 people in the entire park. We never waited a minute for anything - it was great! We did avoid the 3 or 4 water rides though (many of which Mitchell and I couldn't have gone on anyway). There were some brave families doing them though....and I could already picture Mitchell and his little brother dragging us on them at age 10 or so.

Daddy and Mitchell with Shamu in the background

Two whales jumping - aren't they amazing creatures!

Here is Mitchell on one of our many of bus rides. We chose to take public transportation rather than rent a car or take cabs. It was a little slower and a pain to figure out all of the routes at first, but a huge money saver.

A little transportation story......

We had connecting bus routes to get us to the basketball game (see below). It was rainy, chilly and getting dark that night. One bus dropped us off at the bus stop, and we were pleased to see that our connecting bus was already there! We quickly unloaded and ran towards our connecting bus only to inhale fumes as it took off as we were waving furiously in their rear view mirrors. :( A police man happened to be at the bus stop and quickly approached us and offered to take us where we needed to go. We rode safe and sound to the basketball stadium in the back of the police car. We told Mitchell that this was the only time we wanted to see him in the back of a police car! He called the man a "very nice police man", which the police man got a big kick out off :)

We took Mitchell to his first professional basketball game on Friday night. The Spurs took on the Charlotte bobcats (sorry, Celeste, the Spurs won). He REALLY enjoyed it! He was VERY entertained by the game, sitting so nicely in our laps to enjoy it!

We calculated that we spent a grand total of ~$500 on our 4 night, 5 night vacation. We used frequent flyer miles to book free flights and hotel points to get a free hotel stay, so the $200 was merely meals and entertainment. Although we were thrify, there really wasn't anything I wished we would've done that we might've avoided due to cost. We really had a great time!

First snowfall

This was taken on our last "nice" weekend in Kansas City! We now have 2 inches of snow covering the lawn! We bundled Mitchell up last night and ventured out into the snow covered yard - he LOVED it! He was so fascinated by how he could see his own footprints in it! He did figure 8's all through our yard and around into both of our neighbors yards, laughing and giggling while he walked. Our next door neighbor called later and said "it looks like Mitchell enjoyed the snow" :)

I just thought I'd share a few of my recent favorite Mitchell quotes....

1. "I want to pet Tex. He is sooooooooooo cute."

2. Jacob and Mitchell picked me up the other day in the car. I asked Jacob "How are you doing?" Jacob responded "Good." And then this little voice piped up from the backseat and said "I'm good too!"

3. Mitchell and I were reading a book about a whale who ate a fish and Mitchell looked over to Jacob and said "Daddy, can you believe it?"

4. On my 3rd try at getting Jacob out of bed the other morning, I said "Jacob Folks, get out of bed!" Mitchell said "He's not Jacob Folks. He's Daddy."

The 32 week check-up went great on Monday. I'm measuring right on target and the little guy remains active! He's not 'head down' yet, so the doctor will monitor that over the next two appointments and hope that he'll move in that direction!

The doctor was fine with us travelling to San Antonio for our last pre-baby vacation! We leave Friday morning and return Tuesday afternoon. We are really excited for our first professional basketball game, SeaWorld and to see the Riverwalk all decorated for Christmas! We're also a little anxious for slightly warmer weather!

Visit to Santa Claus!

Mitchell got to see Santa Claus today! He was excited to sit on his lap...not the least bit scared :)

~
Cheese!

Is that beard real?

Do I have a beard?

Christmas Book Advent

On December 1st, Mitchell started his Christmas Book Advent! We wrapped up a little Christmas story that he can open each day until Christmas day. I missed the first two days due to traveling to Des Moines for work, but Jacob took some pictures of his first book opening.


What's this here under the tree?

Let me carefully rip off this paper to see what's inside!

Oooh...it's a Santa book!

Let's read it!

I can't wait to open tonight's book with him!

Almost 32 weeks!

So here I am....almost 32 weeks! It's hard to believe this little guy will be here in 8 weeksish! Ah!



He is still an active little fellow! He kicks around quite a bit, seemingly to remind me that he's there as if this huge belly isn't reminder enough :) Mitchell honestly doesn't seem to notice my bulging tummy at all! I like to call him a typical male..."Honey, notice anyting different about me?" "Ummm...is that a new shirt?"

Although I still have no major symptoms to complain about and have really enjoyed this pregnancy, I'm getting to the point where I'm ready to have my normal body back. Carrying around this bowling ball on your tummy is a lot of work! I'm ready for my old wardrobe back and to be able to attend my regular exercise classes at the gym.

I'm dying to know what this new baby will be like! Will he look like Mitchell, act like Mitchell...or be completely unique? I look back at baby pictures of Mitchell now in disbelief that he was every that tiny! I continue to try to explain the fact that Mitchell will soon be a big brother to him...but I think he's still in for a shock.

Christmas time is a fun time to be pregnant! The time flies so fast and before I know it, it'll be the new year and the arrival will be only a few short weeks away!

I have a doctor's appointment on Monday. I was supossed to be going every 2 weeks, but since everything is going so well he recommended just keeping up with my monthly appointments for now. I'll post a little update after Monday's appt.

Happy 23 Months, Mitchell!

Happy 23 Months, little boy!

His level of oneryness is increasing with each and every day! He is STUBBORN and very strong in his convictions...a little like the other man in my household :) Usually when I ask him "Mitchell are you a good boy or a bad boy?" He will respond "I'm a bad boy." I will then assure him (even if it's not necessarily true at the time)..."No, honey, you're a good boy." He'll continue to insist.."No, Mommy. I'm a bad boy."

Usually distraction is our best friend when he starts fussing about something. Jacob was trying his hand at the distraction trick yesterday. Mitchell was fussing for something or other and Jacob picked him up and started showing him some framed pictures in our entry way. There is one of us from Orlando with Pluto in it. Jacob asked "Who is this, Mitchell?" Knowing full and well who it was, but NOT wanting to cooperate Mitchell responded "It's NOT Pluto." Guess he showed him! Ha!

We often can't help but laugh at some of the onery things he does and says. :)

One of these dang pictures again, huh?

I will NOT smile for you.

What's so special about this chair anyway?

He has become quite the swimmer lately! We try to take him about once a week and he'll swim around on his own in his little floaties. When I can keep him from constantly going up and down the steps and the ladder, he loves blowing bubbles and trying to float on his back. "Mitchell's turn." "Now, Daddy's turn." "Now, Mommy's turn."

He still has no idea that he's about to become a big brother. He's not opposed to the idea, he just really doesn't have any interest in the subject at all. We'll see what happens when this new little guy enters his world! I'll post a new belly picture soon. Nine weeks and counting! It'll be here before we know it!

Mitchell was a big source of entertainment at yesterday's Thanksgiving celebration in Lincoln with my family. He was saying hi and bye to everyone, laughing and hugging people too :) He WORE himself out so that he slept the entire way home! Yeah!

Transitioning from Thanksgiving to Christmas :)

Aunt Katy visited us for Thanksgiving! She helped us cook up a mini-meal for the 4 of us to enjoy. We all attended the Plaza lighting ceremony on Thursday night..lots of fun! She also helped us set up all of our Christmas decorations on Friday! Thanks, Katy!

Here's Aunt Katy and Mitchell in their Christmas hats on Friday!


Friday was SUCH a nice day that we spent most of the afternoon outdoors setting up our outdoor Christmas lights. Mitchell and Tex entertained themselves in the front yard.

Let me smell that furry thing on your head...




The finished product got lots of "oooooooohs, and aaaaaaaahs" from Mitchell :)



We're headed to Lincoln, NE today for our Thanksgiving celebration with my Dad's family! Yeah! More Thanksgiving pictures and an overdue 23 month chair picture to come!

Stop and listen to me!

Here's a snapshot conversation that Mitchell had with Tex this morning as we headed down the stairs....

Mitchell "Wait, Tex! Mitchell go first." (Yes, he still refers to himself in 3rd person quite often!)

Tex didn't listen and bounded down the stairs.

Mitchell "TEX, wait for me!"

Tex continues down the stairs...

Mitchell "TEX, stop and listen to me!"

Now where do you think he's heard those words before? :)

I'm proud to report that Mitchell's big boy bedroom is ALMOST done! It's painted, bed is made, and the closet & chest of drawers are empty and ready to move the clothes over! We've decided to wait until his 2nd birthday to open the doors and surprise him with his new room....but as of right now it's missing the biggest attraction - his train set. We have been eyeing it at Costco for a month now. Jacob and I finally went to purchase it today and it's GONE :( We've got a month to find one, but still so disappointing!


Aunt Katy is on her way into town now for a Thanksgiving visit! Yeah! I misplaced my video camera during our trip to Omaha, but am hoping to stumble upon it tonight to post a video of Mitchell's Thanksgiving wishes...gobble, gobble :)

Weekend pics

We are getting so spoiled with this weekend weather!!! We really enjoyed having a FREE weekend to do whatever we pleased :) My Dad spent the afternoon with us on Sunday. Mitchell is obsessed with his Jeep (which he rarely drives). He would've climbed around in it for hours! Anytime we see a Jeep on the road or in a book, it's immediately "Grandpa's Jeep".

Here's a pic of the little guy driving the Jeep. Doesn't he look so grown up all of the sudden?

Surely I can fit in these cowboy boots :)

Mitchell has a thing for other people's shoes lately. He wants to try them all on! On Saturday morning, he was walking around the house in Jacob's shoes. He walked towards the door and said "Bye, Bye". I asked "Where are you going?" He cleverly answered "I'm going to Costco." Funny! :)

I'M ON VACATION THIS WEEK! I'm going to spend the first few days getting Mitchell's new big boy room all ready! Yeah!

BTW - Isn't it ironic that Mitchell woke at 6am both days this weekend....and now it's Monday and he's still sleeping at 7:15? Smart kiddo :)

Mitchell Funnies

Mitchell continues to crack me up with his little quotes. It's just so funny to hear what will come out of his mouth next...here are few for you to enjoy.

On the way to 'school' today, Mitchell said "I don't want to go to school, I want to go to church!".

At the Omaha hotel this weekend, he picked up the telephone and said "Hi, Grandpa. Whatcha doin'? Are you sleeping?"

We were looking at birdhouses at store the other day and Mitchell found a really big one and said "Mommy, this one's a bird CASTLE!"

My friend asked Mitchell if he was excited for Santa Claus and he responded "Santa Claus rides in an airplane." (at least at Home Depot he does!)

Mitchell was playing with my cell phone the other day and typed a row of ##### signs. He looked at it and said "I made train tracks."

He seems to use "can't" in place of "don't want to" quite often. "I can't go to sleep." "I can't go downstairs." "I can't eat breakfast." If I ask hin why not, his typical answer will be "I'm too big." (which is the answer I give him when he asks me to ride his horse or crawl into his playhouse..."I can't Mitchell, I'm too big.")

The list goes on and on....but I just thought I'd share a few of my recent favorites :)