Christmas 2009

What a magical day for our biggest, little man. Mimi and Grandma B joined us bright and early, but Mommy and Daddy ended up waking M up. We were too excited and as soon as he got his eyes open enough, he ran into the living room to see if Santa had eaten the cookies he had left. It was such a fun surprise to him to find that Santa did, in fact, have a lovely snack at our house. Then, M opened the gift Santa had left for him...

REAL CYMBALS!

Moving on to the stocking...but he did go back to the cymbals quite a bit throughout the morning.

Then, we opened gifts from other people who love us. The highlights of the morning were the guitar...

AWESOME!

...and his very own camera.

DOUBLE AWESOME! M was definitely a good boy this year.

100 pictures, a lovely guitar serenade, and a couple of Advil later, we were on our way to Uncle Jason's to celebrate with more family.

Here's where the pictures get a little better...because Mommy got a new camera too! Ohhh...the excitement!

Oh, those poor cheeks are so dry. Winter is being rough on this little guy. Maybe Santa should have put some Aquaphor in E's stocking...

... another 125 pictures later...

sooo sleepy...

Mimi, let's read "Olive, the Other Reindeer" three more times.

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The next day...

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day

We woke up Christmas morning at Mimi's house. Santa even found us in Anderson! After a big Christmas breakfast with Jason, Kerry, and Grandma Dora, M opened up his gifts. He must have been a good boy this year because Santa brought lots of his favorite things. Plenty of cars, dinosaurs, and music...

The only trouble was getting him to keep opening the presents.
He wanted to stop and play...understandable.

By Christmas, M was a "master" at unwrapping. Nice hat!

Uncle Jason is really good at playing cars.

Mimi got M a cool "pi-nan-no" with LOTS of buttons to push and a microphone to sing Twinkle, Twinkle into. Time for a duet!

After a nap, we were off to Jason's for Christmas dinner. We had a feast and opened MORE presents! The kids watched a couple rounds of Frosty the Snowman and we called it a day.

The "Christmas Coma".
I don't know...I think he may be tired.

The next day, we went back to Uncle Jason's house for Christmas #3 with Mamaw and Papaw. I got my "fix" of Pizza King pizza and we enjoyed another wonderful evening.

Smiles all around - and why wouldn't there be -
M got a cool toy box for all his new toys from Papaw.

M and Papaw.

It's not only a toy box, but also something to climb on!
Oh boy...

Where have we been?

Everywhere to be exact...and it has been fun! We started our tour at the beginning of the month with a surprise party for my dear brother. The weather didn't cooperate exactly as we would have hoped, but it was a great time nonetheless. I think he was really surprised.

The birthday boy and his wonderful wife, Kerry - great food, great party!

Happy Birthday big brother!

We spent a short time in Anderson doing the things you do there. We have to make some time for Pizza King pizza, you know...

Your newest member of the Anderson Fire Department!

- Then -

Andrew went to Washington DC on business while Morgan and I were off to Florida! No pictures of DC, but we're covered for Florida...so here we go.

We went and stayed with the Jungst family in Osprey. We (I) just decided I was T-I-R-E-D of the crap weather in Chicago to stay for one more minute. Luckily, we were welcomed with open arms. Morgan and I tagged along with all the daily goings on there and we added in a few special moments as well.

First we had story time at the Sarasota library and met up with Grandma "B" there! We were able to spend the rest of the day with her. We enjoyed being able to coordinate our schedules enough to meet up and just be together! Thanks Beth...it really means a lot.

Still a big fan of the swings!

- Disney World -

We went with seasoned veterans, Dana, Danielle, Hadley and Imogen, but it was the first time for both of us to visit the Magic Kingdom. I can't think of adequate words to describe how fun it was. As soon as I walked in and saw the huge castle, I couldn't wait to come back with Andrew. It just felt so special. Morgan loved everything...and so did I. He went nap free that day and it didn't seem to phase him at all. What a champ!

Minnie Mouse's House. Pretty cool couch there...

Riding the teacups! Still too rough for the little man, but the girls love that ride.

Hadley says, "Take a picture of me dancing!"

Imogen playing in Toon Town.

In line for the Small World ride. One time through and the song is forever etched in my brain..."It's a world of laughter, a world of tears..."

We did manage to get the last reservation that day for a character dinner. We met Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip & Dale. The food was delicious and Morgan really took to the characters.

Minnie passing out kisses.

Yes...he honked Dale's nose.

After dinner and a couple more rides, we were on our way home. I did learn a couple of things that day. 1 - Always take 1 adult per child to Disney World. 2 - Morgan WILL eat a piece of popcorn off the ground if he sees it before you do...oops.

The rest of our days there consisted of flying by the seats of our pants. No real plans, and that's the way we wanted it.

Look at this stud by the pool.

Playing piano with Tatumn. It was quite entertaining. Thank goodness I had the Advil.

Ahhhh...the beach.

The water was too cold, so we just played in the sand.

It took him a while to actually walk on the sand. It must have felt really weird on his feet.

Eventually, he covered himself with sand up to his knees. At least he wasn't eating it!

Pinecones?

Just playing at the house...waiting on Aunt Jane's famous spaghetti.

The cutest thing was watching the bond between Morgan and Hadley grow. It is so important to us that Morgan have a strong relationship with his cousins. I know Andrew wouldn't change his for the world.

Cute as can be...

So after that, we came home...to SNOW! Yuck! Morgan and I got home Thursday and by Saturday the whole family was on the road again to Lafayette for the Purdue game. Andrew helped Brian move some things on Sunday and we spent Easter dinner with Kristen (Brian's girlfriend) and her family in Beverly Shores. By Monday, we were back to our routine in Evanston. Whew!

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- Extras -

So the temperature hit 50 the other day and I couldn't believe I thought that was gorgeous weather. No matter...we went to the playground and enjoyed every minute of it.

A stick for Mommy...

A favorite dinner...spaghetti with meat sauce. Getting pretty good with that fork!

LOTS OF FUN...in AndersUn

We took a little road trip last weekend to Anderson for a nice long visit with Mimi. We stayed until late Monday. It was busy and certainly fun-filled.

First...

- The Pumpkin Patch -

Morgan had his first annual trip last weekend in Pendleton. He was a little tired and we were all hot, but he perked up and had a great time. We got to see animals at the petting zoo, play on the swings, make our way through a corn maze, and of course, go out into the patch and pick out our pumpkins.

I think I was here first.

He really liked seeing the animals. If they made any noise though, he got a little upset.
NO NO to clucking chickens...

Wheeeeee!

The corn maze. It was a little more difficult than I expected.
I started getting a little nervous there towards the end.

Finding the perfect pumpkin with Mimi.

This wagon is getting crowded.

We're already looking forward to next year!

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Next...

- Uncle Jason and Aunt Kerry's house -

Jason and Kerry hosted a wonderful dinner for all of us, but Andrew had gone to Lafayette to watch Purdue get beat up by Ohio State. The rest of us went over for some great food and great company.

This tower is goin' down.

Hey Unkie Jason...that tickles.

This is so much fun!

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For the finale...

- Pendleton Park -

We used to go this park quite a bit when I was little. Feeding the ducks some stale bread and playing on the huge curly slide was always fun. I was happy to see it was just how I remembered it. Mimi, Andrew, Morgan and myself went on Monday for a picnic and to play. Morgan loved everything we took him on. Not much makes this guy nervous...except maybe clucking chickens.

More fun in the swings.

Time to tetter-totter.

Trying out the slides - with daddy...

...and solo...kind of.

Visiting with the ducks and swans.

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Thanks for all the fun Mimi! You ROCK! ha ha