Christmas 2012

Blake's first Christmas and our first Christmas in Texas. We had a great time with the kids and had so much fun watching them open their presents. Blake did really well opening his first present ever and of course, loved playing with the paper and the boxes:-) Later that afternoon wound up being a little rough because Blake got a fever and had it for 4 days so he was quite the crank. Alexa had a blast and was super excited because "Santa" brought her makeup that she had been asking for for months. She is still telling people that Santa brought her makeup for Christmas.

A few days after Christmas Nic's family came in a spent a week with us and it was so much fun to have them here. We really miss being near family and we are realizing just how important family is!

Blake enjoying his cookie at our Christmas lunch...it was the only thing that would keep him happy because he was so fussy from his fever.

Blake was really getting in to tearing the paper off of his presents.


Alexa showing Daddy her Tinker Bell from Grammy.

Opening Tinker Bell.

Her makeup from Santa...the highlight of her Christmas!

Blake's train from Grammy.

Putting out cookies for Santa...Blake thought they were for him:-)

Just a cute picture of my sweetie:-)

Blake messing with my ornaments.

With Santa...Blake wasn't too sure about him!

Indoor Play and Fun In The Sun!

We had such a fun day yesterday! We made the best discovery...well, one of the girls from MOPS told me about it but yesterday we decided to check it out. One of the large churches around here has a huge play area that is open to the public. It is so nice...honestly, the nicest indoor play place I have been to. It as a huge 2-story play structure that is great for older kids and they also have a nice play area for the younger ones that is walled off to keep them from getting plowed by the bigger kids. There are tables so you can bring your own lunch to eat. And the best part about it...it's FREE! I was really not expecting it to be as nice as it was because it was free but it was great. Both kids loved it. The only damper to the day was I had packed a lunch for all of us and Alexa was so excited about it, but I forgot it on the counter top! She kept asking for our lunch while we were there and saying she was hungry so we didn't stay as long as I would have liked, but we met Nic for lunch so that was fun. We will definitely have to got back next week when Nic is off of work.

Then, when we came outside the sun was shining so bright and it turned out to be a really warm day. So, after naps we walked to the playground in our neighborhood and then had a picnic outside (the lunch that I had packed and forgot earlier). It's so nice to be able to enjoy a random day in December outside.

(Having a good time getting out of the house!)

(8 little Blake's...what could be better?:-)

(Alexa going to the amazing long slide...I have to confess that I took a turn myself with Blake as my excuse)

(The right half of the big play structure)

(The play area for the little ones. Blake had the most fun crawling in and out of the door)

(Our impromptu December picnic)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...well, almost!

This is our first Christmas in Texas and it is a little bit different. We have had some fairly cold days but for the most part it's been very sunny and warmer. It's odd to be outside in a long-sleeved t-shirt with my windows rolled down some days. Then other days, I'm freezing and feel like I'm back in Ohio. I'm definitely enjoying the sunshine though, even if it's chilly. We've had a lot of fun driving around and looking at all the lights and touring they "Christmassy" things to do around here.

We also had a lot of fun taking the kids to see Santa. It was particularly fun this year because it is Blake's first Christmas and because Alexa really "gets it" this year. Of course, everything she sees a toy or candy she says "I want this for Christmas Mommy" but she has been very consistent on the one thing she asks for over and over. She says "I want my 'owm' makeup for Christmas" (that is how she pronounces "own"). It was funny though because when she saw Santa she said "I'm having my own makeup for Christmas" instead of asking him...I guess she's pretty confident! Every time we drive to look at Christmas lights Alexa yells "Christmas Lights" at every house. She asks me almost every day if Santa is coming yet.

The other day Alexa found my hiding spot for the presents and came running out with her Tinker Bell toothpaste and some candy I got for Nic for Christmas. She was so excited that she found something and she has asked for her Tinker Bell toothpaste every day since then. I didn't really know how to explain why it was in the closet.

My little Blake seems to be growing up so fast! I can't believe he's almost one! He has four teeth now which are so cute! Especially since there is a big gap in between the top two and he just grins so cute with them:-) He is getting around really good walking with his walk toy but no steps on his own yet. He will stand on his own for a long time and I ask him to walk to me and he just slowly sits down and then crawls over. Right now we are working on getting rid of the bottle and exclusively using a sippy cup. It's been quite the challenge and very frustrating since he drinks water out of it great but he knows his milk is supposed to be in his bottle so he throws it down. He is finally drinking his milk out of it for the first morning cup but won't touch it the rest of the day. I keep reminding myself I went through the same thing with Alexa but it seems like he's a bit more stubborn than she was...I wonder where he gets that from? :-)

Here are a few random pictures from December. I have many more to post but I have to get them organized first. I at least finally got Blake's birth photobook done (now that he is going to be one in 2 weeks!) and Alexa's 2 year book...can you tell I'm a little behind?

(On the hayride for the "Live Nativity")

(Petting the baby Camel. He was only 6 weeks old...so cute!)

(Alexa petting the small cow at the petting zoo)

(Eating his puffs...he stuffs his face so fast!)

(I turn my back for one second...That's a toy knife by the way:-)

(My cutie in a pair of his Christmas PJ's trying to pull the garland down off the banister)

(Blake's beautiful curls...definitely red but there's some blond in there too)

(My beautiful Angel)

(Alexa was being silly and buckled herself in Blake's carseat so Nic carried her around in it)

Some Pictures of Our New Home

Now that we are finally settled and we got the house put together I am finally posting some pictures of the house. There's still ton's to do but at least the boxes are finally gone:-)

(Nic's Office)

(Alexa's new bedroom...she wanted green so I had to paint it for her)

(The playroom we made out of what was the storage room and the carpet we found in the attic)

(The loft area/bonus room)

(Going from the loft to the top of stairs and balcony overlooking great room)

(Leanne's "play room" and craft center where I do all my sewing and embroidery)

(The eating area and my new kitcen table we bought in Amish Country right before we moved)

(The Kitchen)

(Entryway)

(Dining Room)

(Great Room)

(View of Great Room from Loft)

Welcome to Texas!

In case anyone is wondering, yes we are still alive and yes, we made it to Texas:-) I actually had a long post typed up right when we got here and my computer crashed before it was saved. Things got to crazy with closing on the house and getting settled in to post again so I'm going to try to catch up. Following is what little bit was saved from the original post so I will leave it:

After a very long trip of a week and a half, we are finally here! We really enjoyed driving in and seeing the different countryside. Everything was really pretty driving in with rolling ranches and lots of cattle...we even had a moment of panic when there were 3 huge cows grazing on the side of the interstate! Fortunately, they are not fast like deer. We even saw a gorgeouse ranch that had the white horse fence and lots of horses...it reminded us of Kentucky so we thought we might not get so homesick. It got dark about an hour or so before we arrived so our sightseeing was over.

(Some scenery driving in)



(All the flags Texas has flown under)

(The bike path driving into our neighborhood)

(A view of our street from our driveway)

(Our front yard...figured I better get a picture of the flowers before I kill them all:-)

(More scenery of the drive in)

(Driving up to our subdivision)

(Our subdivision)

(The community center in our subdivision)

And of course, I had to check out the mall while we were waiting to close. The kids enjoyed the play area.

(This was Blake's first time getting down and playing in one of the play areas and he had a ball!)

(Alexa wouldn't sit still long enough to get a good picture)

(Enjoying the last days of summer at the pool at the hotel...It seemed weird to be swimming at the end of Sept)