Trick or Treat!

Because Boo loves M&M's and was fine with it, he got to wear the same Halloween costume from last year.  Although he kept telling people that he was going to be a yellow M&M.

Yeah, NOT.

Mommy did not have the time to make another M&M costume this year!  (wonder if I could have just dyed the blue one?  hmmmm...)

Anyways, he was thrilled to put on his costume and we had three Halloween activities to do that day, so I was hoping he would hold up and not have a meltdown.

I shouldn't have worried.

This boy is awesome!!

We started out at the YMCA, where they had all the kids come dressed in their costumes and then paraded them around the building to show off to everyone.  Boo loved seeing "upstairs" where Mommy works out; the kid kind of sounded surprised afterwards when talking to me that I was actually on a machine "doing this" (picture him moving his arms back and forth while marching [I was on the elliptical]).

Later that afternoon, we got dressed up again to go into his daycare building where they had a parade outside for all the parents/families.  Then we went back in and had a Halloween party with snacks and games.  I enjoyed finally meeting a few other parents and putting faces with names for the kids that Boo talks about.

Our final thing was, of course, trick or treating that evening.  He had a blast and did much better than last year, even walking up the sidewalk to some houses all by himself.

at our neighbor's house, who had a special treat for Boo

Need we say more?!?!

He still hasn't quite gotten the hand of the "trick or treat" saying; he would say it as he was knocking at the door, than when someone opened the door, he'd try to pick out his own candy instead of holding his bucket up for the candy to be placed in.  And he wouldn't talk again unless prompted by one of us to say more.  Oh well, he's got plenty of time to learn.

"going through the loot" video

Mother's Day weekend

We spent Mother's Day weekend camping on our land again this year...seems to be a trend that we have had for the last few years.  The weekend before Mother's Day in 2010, Chris and I were up at our site where we planted a bunch of white pine trees to watch grow over the years, along with our son.  We planted one in a specific spot for Boo, but decided this year that they were all going to be his trees, not just the one!  Anyway, that was a bittersweet Mother's Day because we had thought for sure that he would be home with us at the beginning of that year, but still had yet to receive any news on when he would be coming home!  (That all changed 10 days later with our Travel Call, but we didn't know it at the time.)

Last year was my first Mother's Day celebrating with our little guy and it was soo worth the wait! (scroll to the bottom of that post for the mom's day stuff)

This year was amazing once again.  I had my two guys with me, it was extremely gorgeous weather the whole time we were there, and I got myself to run two out of the three days!  It still got pretty cold at night, but the days were warm enough to be out in short sleeves and light-weight pants.  Amazing for this time of year in the UP.

After one of my runs.  And yes, I probably had him a little overdressed, but it was still a bit cool out and I didn't want him getting sick.

"Put your head in my shoulder, Mommy."

HE got tired of walking. This was my weight training for the day!

Boo up-ended all these logs and was pretending to be on a bus going to school.  Kept him occupied for longer than we thought it would.  I hope this enthusiasm continues once he is actually going to school!

One of my Mother's Day gifts.  I got to pick out the charms:

dolphin (I collect them), a little bling, wine glass, my birthstone, Mom heart, Chris' birthstone, Boo's birthstone in the box, RN charm.

I love it and can't wait to find more charms!!

random photo after we got home. He stated:

"My arms found the pockets!" and proceeded to walk around the driveway like that.

I just had to laugh.

Guess I should start checking his pockets before I do laundry now!

Christmas Memories

We spent Christmas with Chris' family this year.  In the previous post, I told you that the three of us celebrated Christmas at home a couple days early; then we leisurely packed up and headed north to see his family so we could be there before my birthday on the 24th.  (Yep, Christmas Eve baby here.  I just wanted to be able to sleep in and not have to get packed, loaded up, and drive on my birthday.  Turned out great!)  We had multiple family dinners over the next few days, met some new friends of the family, and "shook our groove thang" to a new dance-off gaming program!  Chris, his older brother, and their mom even got into it, but I promised NO video of them dancing on the blog.  I gotta tell ya, though, we were all. cracking. up.  The boys, God love 'em, were at the back of the line when "rhythm" was being handed out...and I think I know where they got it (or, ahem, didn't get it) from!  But they all rocked it out and had a blast!!

Since we didn't have any cookies with us, we left some mini muffins and milk for Santa and his reindeer.  Boo knows who Santa Claus is and that he brings gifts, but other than that, really doesn't get Christmas yet.  So when he saw that the muffins had been eaten and the milk half-gone, he just got a kind of confused look on his face.  That is, until he saw the stuffed stocking sitting on the floor!  Then it was like, "great, he's been here.  Let's open presents!"

"Cars" tattoos and underwear!

(No, he's not potty-trained.  Yes, I'm hoping!)

silly straw glasses

told ya that's always where the bow goes!

straight to the head.

that's my sweet little package!!

Watching a new movie with Grandma.

more cuddle time with Grandma

playing with new camper toy with Grandma and Great-grandma

my big boy

I love this family picture!

Great-grandpa with Lexi.

He loves our little girl 'cause he had one just like her many years ago.

He is also the one man (besides Chris) that she goes right up to without acting scared.

Boo, Daddy, and great-grandparents

he loves being able to use his sleeping bag.

Lexi was quite comfortable with it too!

We had a great time and Boo came home with a lot of fun presents.  Good thing this only happens once, or twice, okay, maybe three times a year!!!

Our Family Christmas

With Christmas being on a weekend this year, we knew we were going to already be at Chris' family's house for the holiday itself, but still wanted to have our own family Christmas with Boo.  So Chris took off work the Friday before Christmas and we gave Boo his gifts from us that morning when he woke up.  So sweet to see the excitement in his eyes when he saw the wrapped packages under the tree!  He was hesitant at first, until he made sure the gifts were for him, and then he enjoyed ripping them open.  And he is getting to be a "ripper of the wrapping paper."  Yeah!  Mama has to learn to curb her impatience, though: I wanted him to open all his gifts and then choose which to play with, while he was content to open one and sit there playing with it while he still had other unopened gifts under the tree!

Every time he takes a bow off a package, it goes straight on his head!

Our little package:

He loved the "Cars" room decals we got him.

We had to go up and put them ALL up!

He even detailed his crib.

And the Sheriff watches over him when he sleeps.

Our first fur baby, Jinx.

Our younger fur baby, Lexi.

Taken on an (obviously) frosty cold morning.

I think this picture is pretty cool. (ha! get it??)

 These next few pictures are just me playing around with the camera, settings, and then color on the computer.  I love the macro pictures I see on other's blogs and thought I would try my hand at some.  Not sure how good they actually turned out in comparison, but I like them.

These flowers remind me of my wedding bouquet: beautiful orange roses.

Gorgeous.  Brought back some wonderful memories!

 Here, I fiddled around with the color or outlining or something in Ph*toshop and came up with this pretty neat picture!

And I will leave you with a message from our son:

Holiday catch-up: Thanksgiving

We've been so busy since Thanksgiving, that I am just now getting pictures downloaded to the computer!  It has been fun to go back through them and see how much fun Boo has had this year with our families.  Not saying he didn't have a good time last year, but this year, he really knows the rest of our family and understood who we were going to visit.  Plus, he is much better at ripping that wrapping paper; last year, I think I had to help him open most of his gifts because he was reluctant to rip the paper!  Sooo not the case this year.  He completely got the fact that gifts are to be opened, to the extent that we had to stop him from opening the ones that weren't for him!

Just a warning: this post is picture-heavy!

"cheese!!"

Grandpa with his two oldest grandsons

using Grandpa as a jungle gym

good work, Grandpa!

these two are a year apart; not much height difference!

Aunt B and cousin J

Hel-lo, beautiful brown eyes.

bathtime with the boys...it got a little wet!

some loving time with the newest cousin, Z.

all five boys

chillin' in the wagon on the way to the park

starting to climb...

uh, don't go too much farther!

"I'm stuck!"

I really like this picture of these two.

It looks like Boo is guarding his little cousin.

mesmerized by the movie "Cars."  

I think this was the quietest they were the entire weekend!

lounging on J coming back from a different playground

my godson!!

Is this a blast from the past, or what?!?!

For some reason, the guys spent a lot of time doing push-ups with the kids during the holiday.

It was pretty funny to watch them all pile on top of whoever was on the ground!

Here's one with Daddy...

...then Uncle J...

...and then C wanted to try it...what a strong 4-year-old!

We had a good time and enjoyed seeing all the boys playing together (both big and small!)  Thanks for hosting, sis.

Christmas pictures with the other side of the family to be coming, I promise.