Rewind-1st Day of T-Giving Break

Brax and I started our Thanksgiving break last Tuesday

in anticipation of my family's arrival into town! My dad, step mom, brother and sister all flew in and we hung out at my aunt's house most of the week.

This was Tuesday morning--Brax has "graduated" to a booster seat pulled up to the table instead of his seat w/ the tray on it. He loves to be a big boy at the table with us!

Tuesday morning we went to a little "concert" by Funky Mama.

If you live in OP, you should go to one! She's just a mom with a guitar, and she writes and performs fun music for kids. She is AWESOME! And it's free! This particular concert was at a church, but she does them all over.

Brax really got into it!

Finally, the other kids joined him.

In awe.

The fam finally arrived Tuesday evening, so we headed over to Aunt Kathi's.

Her house is so fun! She has all kinds of toys and treasures stowed away for

when Brax comes to play.

He was fascinated by her Christmas carousel that played music.

He was even more enthralled by Santa's Workshop, and all it's moving parts!

Here he is inspecting it with Grandpa Russ.

More to come...

2 Yr/4 Mo Stats

HEIGHT/WEIGHT/TOOTH COUNT:
29 1/2 lbs, 37 inches tall, 16 teeth (still waiting on 2nd molars).

NEW TRICKS:

• Finally drinks out of a hard-spouted sippy cup! Would rather just drink out of a regular cup though.
• Pedals on his tricycle all by himself.
• Has not wanted to sit on the potty at all. Doesn't care if his diaper is full of dookie.
• Climbs in and out of his car seat by himself, which is a great help to me!

FAVORITE FOODS:
Craisins, meatloaf, candy canes.

FAVORITE BOOKS:
Any of the Dr. Suess books

FAVORITE TOYS/ACTIVITIES:
Duplo blocks (trains), tools--screwing, hammering, etc., looking at Christmas lights, LOVES to hide under the blankets on the couch anytime he hears the garage door go up when Mommy or Daddy get home. He gets under there saying "SHHHHHHH!" and then proceeds to squeal like a piglet until we find him! Loves to play in our garden bathtub while I get ready--he has all his little die-cast cars and trucks in there. Sometimes he lines them all up and "tells them a story."

DAILY ROUTINE:
Gets up between 7-7:30 ever since daylight savings. Nap at 1, for an hour+, to bed at 8pm

FAVORITE SONGS:
LOVES Christmas music! Especially Jingle Bells and I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas

DISLIKES:
Random, unexpected things that make no sense. Must be the two year old in him.

MOMENTS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:
He'll frequently climb on my lap and say, "I wanna suggle [snuggle] you, Mommy." He wraps his arms around my neck and lays his head on my shoulder for a few minutes, then he's off to play again!

BRAXISMS:

• Went over and flipped the ceiling fan switch off, said "I was hot, Mom."
• After the time change he started waking up early. One day I asked if the time was messing up his sleep. After that, he would sometimes say, "The time woke me up."
• Dribbled water outside the bathtub during bathtime. Looked at me, shook his head and said, "It's not my fault, Mommy."
• Saw a man with a cowboy hat on. Exclaimed, "LOOK AT THAT COWBOY!"
• Grammy was doing a puzzle with him, which he had apparently tired of. She kept prompting him to tell her what the names of the shapes were-he said, "Stop asking me!"
• Grammy called him "darlin'" one day, he said, "I'm not darlin'! I'm Brax!" I started singing the David Allen Coe song "You Don't Have to Call Me Darlin'" and now he sings it.
• "My stomach is growling."
• Any time I moan or groan a sigh of discomfort (which is frequently, these days) Brax asks me if my back or my tummy hurts. Sometimes he says, "I will wub it for you." So sweet!
• One morning I got him out of bed and he asked, "Did you sleep good, Mommy?" (I usually ask him this.) I said yes, then he said, "I sleeped good, too!"
• Told Daddy, "You have nice hair." Mike said, "Thank you, Brax. So do you!" Brax says, "Yes, I do."
• Mike was leaving to play golf, Brax asked, "Are you Tiger Woods?"
• When we put the Christmas tree up he exclaimed, "I'M SO EXCITED!" He said the same thing when we got ready to build a gingerbread house.
• Leaving Aunt Kathi's after hanging out w/ all the fam for Thanksgiving-we got in the car and he said, "That was fun!"
• Every now and then when he's being cranky he'll say in the most pathetic voice, "I'm just tired."
  

Fun with Play-Doh

Brax could sit and cut Play-Doh (with his kiddie-knife, of course) for hours!

Okay, maybe 30 minutes... but's that alot for a 2 year old!!!

SANTA!!! I KNOW HIM!!!

Yesterday we made a visit to SANTA!!!

He was at the Bass Pro Shop, which had a GREAT kids' area for Christmas.

Brax didn't hesitate at all when it came to approaching Santa with his wish list. He walked right up to him and started jabbering away. I heard something about trains--surprise surprise!

"Let's see... I would like BIG Gordon... I could use some more track pieces....."

"Hold that thought--my mom is insisting that I smile for at least one picture."

"Can't ya'll see that we are talking business here??"

"Where was I???"

They had all sorts of fun stuff...

Daddy showing Brax how to shoot his eye out.

The biggest race track ever!

Remote control monster trucks!

REAL four wheelers!

And then fun with glue sticks! (They had an ornament-making table.)

Rock climbing next to the fish tank!

And a candy cane from Santa to top it all off.

Union Station

Last Friday Brax and I met Daddy downtown to go to Union Station and look at their model train display.

First Brax wanted to play hide-and-seek...

"You found me!!!"

At Union Station.

Brax was fascinated...

and the trains weren't even running!!!

Progress On Harper's Room

We got the room painted and some of the stuff hung on the walls...

I still have the other two walls I'm working on...

Brax wanted to climb up and give "Baby Hopper" a kiss :-)

Christmas Ham

Me: Ok Brax, smile.

"Like this?"

Me: No, like normal. Like you're really happy to be taking this picture.

"Oh, like this."
Me: No, like I'm funny. Like funny HA HA. Like I amuse you.

"How 'bout this, Mom?"

"Or this... my more subdued smile. Like you're really not that funny."

"Mooooommmmm.... Can I be done now???"

PAT Blockfest

Last weekend our local Parents As Teachers organization

put on a special activity called Blockfest.

It had a bunch of different block stations for toddlers to play at.

Brax loved it!

"Ready... Set.... GO!!!"

Random Rewind

I was trying to get a good pic of Brax in front of the tree...

"What? You want me to sit up?"

"What? I can't hear you. Did you tell me to smile?"
(This ear-grabbing thing is actually a habit Brax has... It started when he had all the ear infections, and now he continues to play with his ears all the time, mostly when he's tired. I suppose it's better than thumb sucking, but it drives Mike CRAZY.)

"Ok, I'll smile ONCE. You better act fast."

WFMW-Fixing Burned Out Lights on Your Pre-Lit Tree

I have been losing sleep for weeks anticipating the putting-up of our Christmas tree.

As you may know, I am a perfectionist (aka OCD), and the fact that our pre-lit tree had 4 branches that wouldn't light up last year has really been eating away at me.

Of course, Mike's answer was, "Just turn those to the back!"

It's Works for Me Wednesday, so I'll share with you the REAL solution I found!

I bought this gadget at Home Depot for $20 after seeing a tutorial on the web about it when I Googled my problem. It worked, and it only took like 3 minutes!!!!

No, I don't have all the presents wrapped and under the tree....

This photo was from last year!!!!

The Week Went Waaaaaayyyy Too Fast

Grammy had to go back home to Pop-Pop today.

I snapped a few pics before she left...

A good-bye hug.

And kiss (notice the double fisted swords!)

Bug watching.

" Hiding."

I didn't get very many pics of my MIL and I "in action" as we were working away all week on various projects... we were just too busy! But here are some after pics.

She helped me get out my Christmas decorations--

Here is Brax's Christmas area on the fireplace--

the things he's allowed to play with!

The mantle.

Notice that Brax's Elf on a Shelf is already watching to see who's naughty and nice!

Entry table.

I just love my nativity set. I got this the Christmas before Brax was born and I try to add a piece or two to the collection each year. It's by Fontanini. Mine is part of the 5 inch series, but you can get them almost life-sized if you wanted it! They are resin, so even if Brax gets his little paws on it, they won't break. There are a gazillion different mangers and accessories, too.

Stockings on the stairs. I clip Christmas cards we receive on the strand of bells.

I have to find another stocking holder like the ones I have for Harper next year!

I got those at Hobby Lobby but haven't seen them since I bought them years ago.

My favorite part--

Harper's room!!!!!!!!

We still have a lot to do: Billy the Handyman is coming to paint tomorrow, I have to change out the curtain rod (I got a brushed chrome one w/ crystal finnials on the ends), hang stuff on the walls, and my MIL is making a few more things to coordinate... so this is just the beginning!

But I just couldn't wait to share this--the bedding and drapes my MIL (Grammy Sue) made.

They are incredible.

See the little lamp? I wanted a crystal lamp but the ones I found were all at least $75. So I came across this one on Craigslist for $10. It had a nasty old shade on it, so I bought a cover-yourself-lampshade at Hobby Lobby (with a 40% off coupon) and used some of the fabric we had leftover. I also added some "bling" around the bottom of it. Then I replaced the old, crusty cord and light kit with a new one (like $10 at Home Depot, and it was EASY!). I think it turned out pretty cute, and it was a lot less than $75!!

Here is Harper's bedding!

We made the boppy cover this week.

Isn't this pillow my MIL made just precious!

So girly!

The bedskirt is so intricate!

This was a pillow I had used in Brax's nursery, but my MIL redid it to coordinate w/ all of Harper's stuff. It matches the boppy, and the trim is the same as the bed skirt.

A bow board!
I just bought a canvas board, the wrought iron thing, and some ribbon (all half off at Hobby Lobby) and covered the board w/ fabric from the bumper. I love staple-gunning!!

Here is the paint I decided on. It's called "Mauve Finery" from Sherwin Williams.

Can't wait till tomorrow when it's done!!

That's one thing we DO NOT want to do ourselves--

I just don't have time or energy to be painting walls.

The only projects left to make (for my dear MIL) are the changing pad covers and a basket liner.

More pics soon to come!