Christmas

Being the fourth week of Advent, and one of the few years with almost an entire fourth week, I wanted to wish everyone a continued Blessed Advent and an even more blessed beginning to the Christmas Season. Christmas season truly begins on Christmas Eve and runs through Epiphany, in January. May all your days be joyous, and as the Priest said at church this morning, ' be pregnant with anticipation of the coming of the Lord'




Merry Christmas

Vocabulary

Since Alex turned 18 months at the end of November, his vocabulary has just been growing rapidly. He is now mimicking words/sounds that others say and takes delight is saying new words. The two newest are "nana," for banana, and "sock". Listening to him talk to himself is just a riot. 75% of it is unintelligible, and then all of a sudden he will say a real word and get excited.He is recognizing objects in pictures and at the store. He knows what package the goldfish crackers come in and gets upset when he can't have any at Target. Watching his eyes light up in the produce department when he sees apples and then bounces up and down while saying apple over and over again is just hilarious!

Holiday happenings

December is FINALLY here and it brought the cold with it!! We are eagerly awaiting Christmas to arrive! The house is slowly being decorated and I look forward to getting a tree this evening. Yes, I am one of the ten or so people left in this world that gets a real tree for Christmas. Something about a plastic tree makes the holidays seem so artificial and commercial...

We had Holiday story time at the library this week. We even made ornaments with cinnamon and applesauce, although the adults were actually much messier then the kids ;) We are having Christmas with my family the weekend of the 19. Not sure about Eric's fam, there have been some communication trouble lately. Not sure if we are going to see Santa or not. Alex isn't quite old enough to understand what is going on and I don't want to upset him.

Eric is picking up the Christmas pictures this afternoon, so watch for those in the mail starting next week. (If you would like one and I don't have your address, please leave a comment or email it to me).

FINAL!!

Eric's final is tomorrow, Monday, at 1:30. Tonight, he is sickly. On top of that, the dryer is having issues and we have to call the repair man. Tomorrow, we will need thoughts and prayers, please.

To make matters worse, Eric has two weeks worth of project presentions for class. These presentations are to be made in CA in front of the professor and he is expected to be there. Nobody told him this until this week. He is the only distance student in the class, so it will be interesting how USC compromises his presentation. He is not going to CA.

18 Month Check-up

Alex had his 18 month check up and all is well. He is still a bit on the small side, but remaining consistently small, so that is good :) I was worried about his clothing. He has been in size 12 months since May and I didn't think he would grow out of it. Low and behold, he literally grew over night. Monday his clothes fit...by Friday, they were too small! I promptly packed them away and got out his 18 month stuff...yeah, too big and too long. Thus, the cycle begins again. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and look for our Christmas letter in the mail in the next few weeks!!

Link Issues

I understand there were Facebook link issues. Try this one

Lap Time

I took Alex to "Lap Time" last week at one of the local library branches. They just started this program this year and it is designed for 9month-2 years. It is a pre-literacy program with stories, songs, and games. It has been such a hit they are expanding the program to twice a month, from once a month. It was a small group that was there, but I think Alex liked it. There were two books, a flannel board story, songs, and a small craft. The kids also got to take home a special Thanksgiving book that was donated to the library.

We haven't been able to go before now because of Alex's feeding schedule. Now that he is older, he is much more flexible. We look forward to going in December for Christmas!

November already?!?!?

AND Half-way through to boot! If you want Halloween pics, surf over to my Facebook page. Month started out busy busy! Spent four days in Chicago with some friends to celebrate 30th birthdays. Saw our friend Gail and husband Bob and got to have dinner with them. Celebrated Colleen and Erika's birthday at a Dare 2 Dream fundraiser featuring Gavin Rossdale from the band Bush. And yes, he is just as good looking in person!! We also went to SOFA and saw some FABULOUS functional art. Talked to a few of the artists and hopefully saw some soon-to-be-famous ones, as well. Had some Mity Nice Bar and Grille, so I was a happy camper :)

Celebrated Eric's 30th last Friday, fairly low key. He got a pumpkin pie and peanut butter surprise cookies. He gets an official cake from my Mom this coming weekend. Right now we are getting ready for the Tucker/Powley Thanksgiving this coming weekend and then Eric has to study study study the week of Thanksgiving for his final!!

Trunk or Treat and Boo at the Zoo

We broke out Alex's Halloween costume, (again), for Trunk or Treat at church and Boo at the Zoo. Alex had a great time and even sat for his face being painted.

This was the first year our parish did a Trunk or Treat event and hopefully they will continue it in the future. Boo at the Zoo was quite crowded and we figured out this is an event to come early to, rather then later.

Most of the animals were away, but Alex did get to play in the Imaginarium.




He rather enjoyed raking the 'leaves' and was quite upset when we took the rakes away.

Magical 30th Birthday

The Magic House, the children's museum, turned 30 this weekend and to celebrate they were open all weekend for free. We took advantage of this and went after church Sunday. None of us had ever been before, so it was nice to see what it had to offer. Alex enjoyed the section for under 2.

He liked to open the wall of doors and feel the textures behind the doors. He climbed in the climbing area and slide down the slide.

They had empty tubes to drop balls down and I think that was his favorite. Leave it to my son to walk into the kitchen area and start carrying around the rubber knives.

I liked the water room. A whole room devoted to water playing.



There is even small seats for infants/toddlers to play in the water. The girl who sat next to Alex kept splashing the area and got us all wet :)


We ended the outing with some free ice cream. I look forward to going again and seeing what else the Magic House has to offer.

Hair Cut

I was away for a good part of Saturday and this is what I saw when I got back.

I had asked Eric to trim Alex's hair in the front. He ended up with a full chop job. Now he REALLY looks like Eric!!

Adventures in Cabinetry

Wednesday we got an unexpected phone call. The offer we had made for a large, three piece entertainment center was accepted by the furniture store. Mind you this store has been going out of business for months, but still has prices marked sky high. I had sent Eric into the store in September to make an offer on a white Shaker cabinet, but it was sold. Eric then made the same offer on this three piece set and was snickered at a bit. Flash forward a little more then a month, they accepted the offer!! We had some rebate money from the washer and new cell phones, so we walked away with these cabinets for much less then what the store paid for them. I think I was shocked more then anything they took our low offer. So now we have grown-up furniture in the living room. No more mesh cubes for the movies. The only downside is that I will need to reassign my ladder shelf upstairs.

Alex throughly enjoyed riding around on the furniture dolly.



Big thanks to John and our neighbors' for thier help on this unexpected project.

16 Months and Rain

Alex turned 16 months! He is talking more and getting more interested in his toys. Recent words include: apple and baby. He has my brother's Cabbage Patch and he likes 'taking care' of the doll.

On Thursday, we had our first taste of fall. It was slightly chilly and rainy. I got out Alex's rain coat for Gymboree and I do belive the coat is almost as long as he is. He switches class this coming week, to Mondays. He is now a level 4!

Drums and more Drums

Over the holiday weekend Teresa and Edward were here. Other then the rain ruining our chances of going to the Zoo, it was a nice time. Ran around and did some stuff...used my PBK coupon and gift card for small child's Christmas ;)



On Monday, the rain finally went away and we were able to go to the Missouri Botanical Garden for the Japanese Festival. This is the second year we have gone. Those of you who know my husband know that he went to school in Japan for a while and quite enjoys the culture. I got to have my Buddah's Delight and Eric got his Curry. He talks about that Curry aaalllllll year. The Gardens were packed, but we were able to see the Ice Sculpting demo and the Drums. St. Louis has a Osuwa Taiko chapter and we were able to sit through about half of the performance. Alex is in love with the drums. The spent the whole time attentive and clapping. Imagine that...my son leaning toward percussion :) (I played percussion, while Eric played the trumpet.)








My last PT appointment is today, Friday, and I will be discharged. I am getting ready for the Just Between Friends sale next Friday and my cousin Jackie's wedding next Saturday. This next week will be quite busy! Eric and I did take a brief 'time out' last night and saw a movie and had Oberweise...wished Oberweise was a bit closer, but worth every penny!

15 Months

Ales had his 15 month check-up and all is well. His growth is back on the chart, so that is excelent news. He is 30 inches long and weighs 23 lbs. His fine motor skills are above average! Short and sweet appointment :)

Zoo, Gymboree, and a Parade

My folks were here a few days and I finally got Mom to Gymboree. She was sore afterwards :)











We followed that with a trip to the Zoo. This was Alex's first Zoo trip and my Dad will tell you it is his first, although it is really his third time.









After they went home, Alex and I went there for a mini Kraus/Millberg Reunion in Springfield, and the Old Settlers Parade in Hillsboro. I did end up with a free t-shirt at the parade :) Alex also had two first concerts...American English, the Beatles tribute band, and the German band. Two alternating tastes :)

Eckerts

We went to Eckert's Farm in Grafton, IL on Saturday to do a pick of blackberry picking. They are Eric's favorite :) We ended up with 10 pounds, yes pounds, of blackberries.

14 months and a fire

Alex turned 14 months on the 23 and recently cut a new tooth. That brings his total up to 10. He is walking all over the place and chasing Gabby. She enjoys it; in her world any pet is good pet.

We helped some friends of ours burn their burn pile. They had several trees/bushes come down recently and needed them gone. It took a couple of hours to get the fire going, but once it took off it burned nicely. I took Alex to Monkey Joes, an indoor playplace, for a while to tire him out. It did the trick. While he slept, John and I tore out a ton of ivy and a bush. My legs are covered in over two dozen bug bites. All in all we got quite a bit accomplished.

On a muchly thankful note, Eric received a promotion yesterday at work. He went from a level 2 software engineer to a level 3. We are both excited. He will be up for another promotion as soon as he finishes Grad school.

We are hopeing to go blackberry picking on Saturday, but rain might get in the way. Eric's brother Edward is coming here next week on his way back from CO. I are PRAYING that he gets a job soon, preferably out West.

4th and Down

Teresa with Alex, and her Great Niece Iliza Poppe

4th was wet. Cole, wet, and raining. We went to IN and the weather chose not to cooperate. Of course, the sun came out the morning we left, but the pool water was too chilly to swim. Alex had a new tooth pop in over the 4th and he has another one wanting to join it. That brings the teeth total to 9, soon to be 10.

It has been a quiet couple of weeks here. We made it to the park once last week and once this week. I am hoping to get his pool out today, but it is currently raining. My Grandpa is celebrating his 90's birthday this Sunday. He was 90 on the 10th, but Mom had to work that weekend. As of last count, Grandpa had received almost 50 cards!

The big news however, happened yesterday........Alex has no more PT!!! His therapist thinks he is evenly balenced and there are no more 'spots ' in his hips. I still have access to her, if I think Alex needs it, which is nice. I won't miss going, but I will miss the excuse to pick up Starbucks. The original 6 weeks of therapy turned into 10 months!!

13 Months and Heart-Pounding Action

Alex turned 13 months old amid blazing heat. We haven't been able to do much, other then stay inside all day. It's even too hot to take him swimming, since he is still so young. We did go to the Chesterfield Mall after Gymboree and that was wonderful. The place was full of parents/grandparents doing the same thing we were.


On the PT front, we are going roughly once a month. He went this last Monday and did not scream or wail once with the therapist. He even received a sticker from a little boy in Speech therapy, eager to share.

My Dad goes in Tuesday, the 30th, for a heart catheterization at St. Johns in Springfield. He 'failed' a stress test a few weeks back and must get it looked it. I guess they know there is a blockage, but not sure where or to what extent. I am going up Monday and staying through Tuesday, or longer if needed. If anybody want to come to St. Johns and hang out with my Mom and I, we will be on the 4th floor Cath Lab waiting room (right past the 4th floor doors if you are coming in through the parking garage. In the 'new' part of the hospital).

You want to see WHAT?

Just when I think things are getting back to 'normal'...they don't. My Dad essentially 'failed' his stress test and is going in for a heart catheterization next Tuesday, the 30th at St. Johns in Springfield. He has another blockage, but where and to what extent is what is going to be determined. His carotid artery is significantly blocked, but was told nothing can be done about that. I am trying to figure out what to do with Alex...not sure if I am getting a hotel room or finding a sitter. It will depend on what Mom will want to do.

Pics and more Pics!

Busy time right now! Eric is back at the grad school grind. Unlike last summer, his class this summer is a full semester, meaning he is in class until the middle of August. It sort of messes the summer up, but that is okay. If people want to see us they will have to come here :) We have had all kinds of visitors in the last few weeks. Teresa, Mary, Ed, Irma, and my folks all spent some time here to celebrate Alex's first birthday.

I took my Mom to see a live taping of Prairie Home Companion at the Fabulous Fox for her birthday/Mother's Day present. What a unique experience!!

It has been raining almost daily here since the end of May. It has been raining so much that our lawn cannot get mowed in a timely manner. In the middle of all these storms, Tuesday the 2nd, we lost the tree in front of our house. It fell over and landed on the roof of the porch and was resting on the office window. Why it didn't come through the window I don't know, since it really should have. There is some damage to a few shingles and the flashing around all of the windows in the front of the house. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will find someone to do the work and fix things. So for now, there is a stump in front that just looks sad...I am going to replace it with something 'dwarf' so we won't have this problem again.


Alex is cruising around the furniture with ease. He has two different push toys that he pushes around the living room. I am hoping by the end of the month that he will be taking a few steps, since he has been standing since Easter. He still goes to PT, but now every three weeks. His therapist thinks he is getting ready to be finished. She did determine that he will not have 100% range of motion on both sides of his neck, but it will be close. He bumped up Gymboree classes about a month and a half ago and enjoys being around the other kids. He still is the only kid in the class that stays under the parachute during parachute time, all the others run away. I think that is his favorite part!

KY Pics

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v606/sarahmag79/Louisville%20KY/


These are the Louisville pics. For some reason this album will not enbed in the blog.

By the By

I cannot express how busy this May has/will be. We started the month with the death of a beloved Family friend, Tony. He was a classmate of my Dads and a clase friend. He died at his computer, out of the blue.

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On a nicer note, poor Eric had all this vacation time racked up and has to use some, or he would lose it. Solution...we went to Louisville, KY for a few days. We left Alex in IN with his grandparents. We went to Six Flags, Louisville Slugger Museum, Frazier International History Museum, and Churchill Downs. And we did find a bit of time for some shopping :) This was my first time spending any time in Louisville, and we had a good time. I loved the baseball factory...I got to hold Mickey Mantle's bat, although the camera was at the hotel so the pic is on my phone. It was really nice just to get away; we haven't gone anywhere, (other then showers, weddings, ect.), since our Honeymoon.

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Right now I am prepping for two birthday parties, house guests for two weekends, Cards/Cubs game, Aunt and Uncle in town from TX, and a special treat for my Mom. Way too much to do, but will gladly do it :)

Pulling up

No sooner had Alex starting sitting up, he began pulling himself up. He is quite pleased with himself. I think he is getting more teeth. He just had two new teeth on the bottom and is drooling again with a slight runny nose. Hopefully these won't be as painful.

We spent Easter with my family in Butler. Mom insisted I fill eggs for Alex to find. He caught on quickly to pick up the egg and put it in the basket.

He received a lovely Easter basket from his God mother Alison.

The last few days around here have been a bit nutso. Alex started a new Gymboree class on Thursday, the washer quit(mid cycle) on Friday, Eric took apart the washer Friday night, Saturday went washer shopping and purchased one, and today (Sunday) the contents on the laundry room are in my kitchen so I can clean the floor and wait for delivery on Tuesday. Yeah, busy.

I posted this at the request of my Mom.