2010.....what?

These last two weeks have been insanely busy! We have had Jack's birthday (yet to be blogged), Jack and Owen's first plane ride (yet to be blogged), Christmas (yet to be blogged) and a trip up north to my in-laws cabin (yet to be blogged). Do you see a trend? And sometime during these activities we each had to deal with a "terrible, no good, very bad" virus. Definitely not the most ideal time to get sick. But, we had a wonderful (crazy busy) time in Wisconsin spending time with family. We may have gotten all of them sick, but that is a whole other story!

I am very sad our time here has come to an end. I am however, so excited to start a brand new year! After lots of presents, lots of cookies, lots of sprinkles, lots of chocolate, lots of hugs & kisses from grandmas and grandpas, lots of cuddling, lots of playing in the snow, lots of cuzzy time and lots of miles traveled...we step into 2010!!  Time to get organized!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Wishes!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a wonderful and warm Christmas Day spent with your loved ones!

 We have been in our jammies all day playing and laughing! What a day!

 

And he's 3.

Today, my first born son Jack is officially a 3 year-old!

 

All Boy!

"Trucks and dirt and shades of blue, but little boys are angels too"  

  Author: unknown

George.

George who?

George, the elf.

George is our Elf on the Shelf. He is one of Santa's helpers who has come to live with us during the holiday. He keeps an eye on the boys to make sure they are being kind to others. George, the elf also watches to make sure a certain 3 year-old is being a good listener and follows directions. Every night while we are sleeping, he travels back to The North Pole to fill Santa Claus in on the Myers' boys. And every morning when we wake up, George is in a new place in our house and Jack tries to find him! I definitely think George will become a Christmas tradition in our home!

All Aboard The Santa Train...All Aboard!

Jolly old St. Nicholas, Lean your ear this way!

Don't you tell a single soul, What I'm going to say;

Christmas Eve is coming soon; Now, you dear old man,

Whisper what you'll bring to me: Tell me if you can.

Maybe a new snowblower....ours died right after the first big snowstorm of the year!

Maybe a new refrigerator......ours died the day after I loaded up on groceries! 

Ugh...Ugh...Ugh and UGH! A bit much, but I think they are on the mend. Nothing like storing food in coolers on the deck for a week!


Okay, enough of the seriousness! You know what makes life a little sweeter in times of stress? 


When I see my 3 year-old son's face light up with GLEE (love that show!) when he sees...

one of his current obsessions, trains

and this jolly old man.

And even better, when they are combined for a magical ride called the The Santa Train

 All Aboard!!

 

Waiting to board. No clue where both boys are looking?

 

 and waiting

 

and waiting!

 

Toot....Toot! Here it comes!!

  

Jack absolutely loved his first train ride.

I think?

 

We did!! 

 

 

There was a real princess (Miss Cooperville 2009) who read The Polar Express

One of Santa's helpers, a "real" elf. She may have been yawning in this picture! Long day.

And Santa Claus!!! 

I swear Jack is a happy little boy!! We were amazed that he agreed to sit on Santa's lap! 

Pat and I both prepped him for Santa Claus. And I mean MAJOR! He has been somewhat nervous/scared around the big guy lately! But, he went up to him, no problem.

Santa asked him his name...and instead of just telling him, "I'm Jack" like he always does...he spelled it out, "My name is J-A-C-K". Okay? Never heard that before!? He told him he has been real good boy and he would really like Spike, The Dinosaur.

Flashback! 

 

Jack's first Santa Claus experience, exactly 2 years prior. And he is giving the same exact look! Really?!?

 

Owen was mesmerized by Santa! Smiling the entire time!

 

The boys each got a little gift from Santa! Jack got Dinosaurs capsules.

Owen got Matchbox cars. But, he cared more about the packaging.

Owen is all about his Momma!

 

By the end of the train ride, all the kids, including ours, in our car were going ballistic! It was dinner time and their hunger was taking over! But overall, I think the boys loved it!

 

Owen: 11 months old!

Owen is now 11 months old and he....

1. Has four teeth...two middle bottoms and two uppers incisors (fangs!)

2. Eats everything you give him..sometimes I thinks he eats more than his brother. 

3. Has a terrible bruise on his right eye that he got when he fell and hit the corner of our coffee table.

4. Crawls and climbs the stairs with turbo speed. He has taken 4 steps on his own, due to major prompting by me! Toy dangling seems to work!

 5. He loves to look out our windows at the snow, however, he is not sure if he actually likes playing in it quite yet. Still deciding?!?

 

 6. His hair is very curly in the back, curling up around his ears in the front.

 

7. He has learned to stick out his tongue. And he gives the best kisses when you ask, "Owen, kisses?"

8. His hate for car rides has increased every month of his short life. We barely make it out of our development before he starts whining. Oh...it gets bad!

9. He is almost sleeping through the night, consistently. We know he is able to, but he is just a hungry boy and he loves to cuddle. And boy is he stubborn. So we are working on it!

10. He laughs and babbles constantly. Even Santa Claus was enamored by his happiness...he wanted to take Owen back to the North Pole with him!!

A Sweet Moment.

You had been napping for just about two hours today when I decided to wake you up. I laid next to you on your bed for a little snuggle time. You slowly woke up in a great mood! You even gave Momma one of your "Night-Nights" to snuggle with. Then you did the sweetest thing. You caressed my cheek and whispered to me, "Momma, don't worry I will always take care of you." And I said to you, "Really, always? Even when I am old?" Which you responded, "Yes Momma, always....I love you."

I love you too!

Owen's 1st Outing in the Snow

A Timeline.

 

11:30: Start getting Jack dressed with snow gear.

11:40: Jack done, start getting Owen dressed with snow gear.

11:50: Owen done, now I get my snow gear on.

11:52: Take a picture of the boys in their snow gear. 

 

11:55: Both cooperated for pictures. We all head outside.

11:56: Get Owen situated in the sled. Jack (of course) grabs his blue shovel.

 

11:58: A picture of this little bundled up cutie.

11:59: One more picture of Owen and we are off on our walk. Destination: 1 half block down to the stop sign.

 

12:00: Owen starts to cry as we pull off down the driveway in the snow storm. Oh Geez! Jack keeps shoveling.

 

 12:00 - 12:08: I pull Owen in the sled and Jack walks behind shoveling. Owen cries the whole time and cries louder if we stop moving. We make it 3/4 of the way to the stop sign and Jack asks to go back.

12:12: We make it back to our garage. Owen is not happy. Jack is happy, he is shoveling. I of course take more pictures.

 

 

12:15: Owen has had it. I try to carry him in all his snow gear while persuading Jack that we now have to go in due to Owen's unhappiness. Jack wants to keep shoveling. I am bummed for him. I wish we could stay outside longer and play in the snow.

 Warning: graphic picture.

12:17:  We are all back in the house. Really? And I have 3 more months of this?

 

 

1:30: The boys had lunch and are just about to take naps. This Momma needs some nap time!  

 

The End.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Snow, hot chocolate and a Christmas Tree.

We woke up Friday morning with a nice layer of snow on the ground. I was glad, it's a nice change of pace. Crazy, I know, but I am total Midwesterner, for the fact that I actually like having all four seasons...winter being one of them. However, the length of winter and the pounds of snow that dump on us in this little corner of Southwest Michigan....I don't like so much. I do love watching Jack get giddy with excitement at the sight of snow and the chance to use his blue shovel!

Getting ready to go out. What a process, especially when we have to use the potty!

Using his beloved blue shovel to clean off the deck!

 Look at those boots!

 

That's right, those are his rain boots. Bad momma, I am. His feet have grown over 3 sizes since last winter. I wasn't prepared!

 Jack could truly shovel for a good hour or two! 

Another great way to get out all that energy!

 

Rosey cheeks, chocolate mustache, big grin...wonder why?

The best part about playing outside in the snow!

Coming inside to hot chocolate with marshmallows! 

My brothers and I were forced to played outside all the time in the winter. There would be 6-7 foot drifts at the end of our driveway in which we would make immaculate snow forts/tunnels and have snowball fights. We would walk to the park pulling our sleds behind us. There was a steep hill at the park that we would sled down over and over until our fingers and toes started to become numb. Only to make the trek back home. And what I remember the most is when we came in with our rosy cheeks and tingling fingers and toes, my mom always had hot chocolate waiting for us! What great memories!

Owen woke up from his nap to join the party.

See the bruise under Owen's left eye. He took a digger in the bathtub and hit his eye on the ledge of the tub. I thought for sure he was going to have a big shiner. 

Poor guy :(

Christmas Tree Hunt

Can we really already be on the hunt for a Christmas Tree?

Feels like we were just Here!

Friday night we went to a cute tree farm out in the middle of no where for the "experience" of getting our Christmas Tree. Why pay $25 for a tree when you can pay $40 to take a tractor ride out to the field to cut it down yourself?! I know, I know..."the experience"!

 

 

Do you see those dark hairs popping out of my hat? 

New (dark) hair for the new year!! HA...that's for you Sara! 

 That's the one!

 

 

 

Jack's Snow Angel

 

The Christmas Tree is up and decorated! Jack was able to help with that this year...so cute. But, while Jack puts up the ornaments, Owen follows him and tries to take them down...kinda cute!