Christmas!

Well our house still looks as if the toy store exploded in here, I can't imagine what it would have been like if we had, say, 6 kids instead. I'll be packing up some toys to get out in a couple of months when I'm bored of hearing the same toy over and over. I am happy that whether Max is up for it or not, books seem to be a popular gift for him- just like good ol' Mom and Dad.

Adam and I got some great things too! Some cash for the house and some things to go in it, clothes or gift cards for them, you know the boring adult stuff. We must be getting old because we were perfectly content with it.

We had a great time with family- makes me think of what a difference a year can make :)

Christmas Day 2007


Christmas Day 2008


Max's favorite this year was definitely the ribbons off the boxes, he kinda wanted to rip the paper but didn't really care that there was something inside the box. Here's a slide show of some of the fun.



We aren't much for New Year's Resolutions around here, but I always seem to make a personal one anyway. New Year's Eves are infamous for Adam and I , we always have an interesting time. Last year if you remember we were home and asleep before the New Year even rang in. This year however we are in for a treat. We will be at the church all night with about 20 teenagers for the ENTIRE night. We are having a lock in at the church for the teens. There will be food and fun and games and movies and music, and of course since it is high school, I'm sure there will be drama as well.

Home Remodeling Part 10-Where will we live?

I know I've been bad about posting the past few days/weeks... but things have been busy around here! We've had lots of visitors and have actually got some work done at the house!
I'll have a true update with pictures of the work soon, but to tide you over here's a mock up of the living room.

Since we've gotten into the dining room we've realized we need to kinda treat the living room and dining room as one room in some aspects, so we'll be simultaneously working on them both at points.

A little about the living room:
There's paneling on the ceiling that we will be painting ceiling white and that kind of dictated the rest of the room. It looks kind of beachy like that so the room will have a slight beach feel to it. I won't be going crazy with the shells and things, but want the feeling of water in the room. Our living room furniture is already a sand color so it should work well (of course we'll have new pillows, the picture shows the ones that came with it). And the paint color is less green and a little more blue than it shows up in the picture. I forgot to label it in the picture, so it's Caribbean Sea by Pittsburgh Paints.

Home Remodeling Part 9-Where will we eat?

Hope your Christmas was peaceful. Our Christmas is being spread out over the entire weekend, so I won't update on that until next week.

The house has been neglected the past few days, but we'll be back at it soon after the holidays.
I made some design decisions though on the dining room (we've decided in the end to do that next). We've cleared out the room and have started to wipe down the walls (which is a JOB, the walpaper may have come down easily, but the glue coming off the walls is a different story).
We have to take down one layer of wainscoting leaving the other layer underneath (because there's nothing under that layer), put up new wainscoting, new trim, paint, strip and paint the doorways (there's two) and windows (there's two) and doors (there's one). We're hoping it's mostly cosmetic work (except the wainscoting) and will be using skills we've already learned instead of anything major. (ha! I say that because there's always something that comes up!)

Merry Christmas to All!

(Our Christmas card photo)

We're ready for the holidays. I kept going and going thinking I would never be ready, but I just have to worry about laundry today and some cooking and I'll be good to go!

My mom is on her way here this afternoon and Adam's parents will be in for the weekend.

I've got some crafts I've finished up recently, but can't post about them for a week or so until everyone receives them. New Year's presents are just as good as Christmas ones right?

Well I'm going to go have a cup of tea and a cookie- Enjoy some quiet today and thank the Lord for sending His Son!

Baby It's Cold Outside...

Weather
Adam has that song stuck in his head, maybe it has something to do with us watching Elf three times this week. But the song is mighty appropriate for tonight. We're getting down to 1 with a wind child of -20.

We got quite a bit of ice on top of our snow Thursday this week and it hasn't warmed up well enough to get rid of it. Limbs from trees are everywhere and cracks and crashing sounds are commonplace now, but the other night one was even loud enough to make me jump out of bed from a deep sleep.

Tonight it was lightly snowing while we checked out the church parking lot to see if it was safe enough to have church. We are still on as of right now, but a few churches in the area have already canceled.

I went out (quickly) on Friday into the yard while Max was napping to take a couple of pictures of the pretty ice.






This one reminded me of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe



Max
It seems as if Max is quickly leaving his newborn/infant stage behind. He's quite the independent explorer now and doesn't like to be cuddled quite as much as I'd like. Today while we were working at the new house, he was really sleepy and upset and let me hold him while he fell asleep for the first time in a long time. I cherish that moment only because I know they will be fewer and further in between. He's definitely a Daddy's Boy though and just lights up when Adam walks into the room. They have a really fun time together.

We like to have photo shoots around the house. I just love having the camera out.... Adam says I have 13 bazillion pictures of Max since he's been born. That's probably true. But we constantly have the camera laying around and Max looks for me when he sees the little orange light- He also likes to talk to the camera, which makes for not very cute pictures, but some cute video.

I call this one Waiting for Christmas


Such a cute boy- modeling for the camera


He thought it was HILARIOUS when I put his lovie on his head


I had almost forgotten about the penguin suit until I uncovered it in a closet the other day. OH MAN he's going to hate me when he's older, I'm pretty sure he hated me the moment I put him in the thing. But I just couldn't resist. So these are for you, Grammy and Darby-

Spaghetti Dinner

Max
With Max liking strings and cords and ropes so much I decided to make spaghetti for dinner to see what he would do with it. I know, you shouldn't let a little one have uncut spaghetti, but I was prepared for the worst and anticipated him choking, but he didn't at all, he loved it and even slurped and sucked the little strands of spaghetti into his mouth. It was the most fun I'd had at dinner in a long time. In the end, Adam got Baby Clean Up Duty while I had Kitchen/Dining Room Clean Up Duty. I don't know who got a better deal out of that one.





We don't bath Max a lot, he has eczema that gets pretty bad, so we do a lot of wiping down with wipes and wash cloths. It's not very often now that it's winter that he gets a bath. Well of course after the spaghetti dinner he had one. We've been noticing Max having a lot more hair lately but after his bath it really stood out to us! His hair is super fine (like mine) and stands straight up when squeaky clean.



Crafting
I got some sewing done today- they were supposed to be at their destinations by Christmas as little gifts, but obviously they aren't going to make it on time. I don't know when I'll get to the post next- we're getting freezing rain all night tonight- but they'll get there sometime soon. Some flannel baby blankets and matching burpies. Both have little owls on them, I apparently had a theme in mind when at JoAnn's last time.





I still have some intended Christmas presents to be made, wrapped, mailed, and set under the tree. Or maybe they'll just have to be extremely good planning for next year.

Christmas Cookies

I've been baking in the kitchen- and a good time it has been. I've been trying to take full advantage of afternoon nap time (of which today's was extremely short) but I have the majority of the Christmas cookies done. there's still some fudge to be made, some icing for the sugar cookies, some No Bakes cookies to whip up. But that'll all have to wait, I've got playing to do and laundry to be done.

So we have lots of:

Peanut butter-peanut butter cups


Peanut butter kisses


Sugar cookie cut outs and Earl Grey Tea Cookies


M&M Cookies

We've been kinda busy around here. It's been all fun and games though. We went to the store this morning just in time before the snow started to fall. Right now it looks like we have around 3 inches of snow and should get more tonight.

We played in the house while it was snowing and we started something new today! We started giving Max a sippy cup and he loved it! Knowing how much he loves yogurt, I put a yogurt drink in the cup hoping that would entice him. I only intended for him to drink half of the cup (if that) and he got very angry when I took it away, he liked it so much.


We braved the snowy weather to go get haircuts today (it's hard enough to get an appointment, let alone around the holidays). But at least it's done.

While Max was sweetly sleeping this afternoon, I finally had the time to make Christmas cookies. I'll have pictures tomorrow because I only got half of them done.


Max has taken to a little blankie that his Auntie Darby had given him. It's super soft and cuddly and just the right size for him to hold and play with. It also came with a little stuffed elephant that we've named Harry. He keeps the blankie with him especially when he sleeps. So sweet.

Another big thing is that Max went from crawling position to sitting up today on his own without help. Yikes! I had Adam move his crib down a notch so that I felt a little more secure with him in there.

Lastly, Adam thought it would be fun to give Max some snow and see what he would do. I wouldn't let him take Max out in the snow, so Adam brought the snow into Max.

He loved it, he kept wanting to hold it, but then it would break apart or would melt and then he would try and pick it back up. So cute!

Max- 7 months

He kept trying to pull up on the tub so we put him in it.... Just like his Daddy, and his cousin Ella

I know I haven't been diligent about posting every month specifically for Max's monthly birthdays, but oh well, here's one for you.

Max is now such a fun loving rough and tumble boy. He loves to be on the floor and roll from one side to the other and scootch across to find things he shouldn't have.

When he hears the backdoor open he looks and waits for Adam to come around the corner and just thinks it's the cat's pajamas when he does.

He weighs 20 lbs (I weighed him a few days ago) and has recently started to eat a lot of the same foods we do at the table along with his baby food. He loves pasta, vegetables, bread, and potatoes. He's also down to just four bottles a day.

We've been working on not waking up at 5 am to eat, and are doing very well, hopefully by next week he'll be sleeping straight 8-7 without waking up at all (right now he still wakes up for a few minutes while I give him his pacifier back and pat or rub his belly, but no more 5am bottles!)

He loves the attention of other people, the only reason he ever really fusses is when he's not getting the attention he feels he deserves or he's sleepy.

He's also the best dancer I know.

We had visitors from Dallas today, they are friends getting ready to head to China at the end of January. Having them and their four kids under 4 at our house was wonderful! Their little baby girl is almost exactly a month younger than Max. It makes me want a girl! She was such a little sweetheart!

Playing Pals


Max already getting his toys stolen by a girl.

Home Remodeling Part 8- Bathroom Finale!

Our bathroom is (for the most part) finished so this will be the last post about that until the final reveal of all the rooms decorated and stuff like that. Everything is "in" except the mirror, cabinet, radiator, vanity light fixture, and rods, like shower, towel, and toilet paper. I still have some touch up painting to do, and some caulking needs done, but all in all it's a finished room in my book.


The bathtub and vanity


Toilet area


The little closet

I know I said that next will be the dining room, but I was thinking tonight that so much of the living room has been done in bits and pieces that we might as well just finish that room (thinking it would be an easier project to just get checked off our list) and so we'll see what I decide. We do have to repair plaster in that room (especially around windows and the door) possibly pull down some paneling, paint ever surface (including trim around three windows and the ceiling) and figure out some lighting solutions (there's no wiring in the walls to put anything in the ceiling). So while I say EASY I don't mean that in a regular sense, I mean EASIER than pulling out wainscoting and paneling and refiguring a chair rail. :)

Max and Crafting

We've been having fun around here, Max is really into cords and of course things he shouldn't have. So I thought he might like to play with yarn. Boy was I right. I should have just thought to give him yarn that wasn't attached to my project!





The best part is, I thought he would want to play with the actual ball of yarn, but instead unwinds it and just wants to play with the strings.

Crafting
I've been furious at the hook and getting some other things made before Christmas. I found some great things at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday and can't wait to get to those- But I think they'll have to wait until after Christmas.

Here's some photos of things I've finished up in the past few days.

Home Remodeling Part 7- There's a Bathroom in our House!

These pictures were taken yesterday. Things seem to be moving quickly now! The tile is in, the bathtub is in place, the toilet, vanity, and mirror are all at the house waiting their turn. Today there is grouting going on and I'll be joining this afternoon to see what kind of trouble I can make.


The much talked about bathtub, it's a little longer than a regular tub (Adam fits in it well) and the last of the cement board up for the back (it will be tiled as well).


The other side of the bathtub (in the bedroom) - this was the door to the closet that we knocked out.


All the leftover tile


the tile makes the walls look less bright orange/tan- that's a good thing-


The beautiful tile without the grout though

I'm chugging away on the Christmas cards, and I have my prints for the pictures waiting to be cut up, not as great a quality as I wanted (the print came out darker than the original) but it'll do. I'm feeling productive today and will hopefully make my "deadline" to get them mailed tomorrow. :)

Last night we shopped for Max's Christmas presents, it was nice to be able to take him and still not ruin Christmas :) We let him play with a couple of things to see what he would like, so essentially he got to pick out what he wanted. Talking to my friend Lisa the other day she mentioned that they get their son three gifts at Christmas, just as Jesus got from the Three Wise Men. We were talking about it because I had commented on how much stuff kids get at Christmas and sometimes it's too much. So we decided that we would adopt that in our house. The grandparents and relatives can get the kids whatever they want, but they'll receive three presents from us/Santa. So Max has his three presents under the tree, I think it's brilliant since it keeps me from going overboard and leads to us keeping a purpose to Christmas even in opening gifts.

Now that I have the house decorated, I realized how much stuff we still have packed away, it normally takes me just as long to pack up the regular stuff as it takes me to get out the Christmas, but since we left all the boxes with our house decor packed up, I've realized how much more "homey" it feels with some of my familiar "things" out. I also just keep thinking next year it will all be put out in the new house instead of this one, the feeling of being in limbo continues. I am loving having a mantle this year, we have a fireplace with a simple wood mantle over it and I thought it would be a great place for my favorite nativity (I used to have 3 or 4 and I've paired it down to two over the past couple of years), the WillowTree one.


I had a whole list of things floating through my head last night that I wanted to blog about, but now they've all seemed to escape me. So I'll just leave you with a Christmas-y picture of Max I took today while Miss Katherine (the church secretary) was making him smile.