Christmas (and the cold temperatures) are upon us!

 Oh my.  Winter surely has arrived!  I guess I shouldn't have gotten used to the very mild, sometimes warm, November & December temperatures...but I did.  That was until December 11th hit; the day of Dane's work holiday party.  It turned nasty cold and windy.  It was literally freezing outside.  We lost power that night and left the party early to get home to Case. 

I have found that it is harder to get myself & the little one of the house these last few days.  We mostly play inside our (warm) house and run only the necessary errands - grocery store, drug store, post office, etc.  A normal day for us consists of breakfast, dancing excessively to Mariah Carey's Christmas CD, playing (or mostly cheering Case on as he mows around the living/family room), lunch, bathtime, naptime, more playing inside, dinner, more playing inside, & bed.  I am so excited for Case to celebrate his 2nd Christmas and get some new toys...I think his old ones are starting to be less and less exciting.

Is it just me though or is it others too that find it harder to be motivated the colder it gets?  Thank goodness I was nearly all done with our Christmas shopping weeks ago.  I have no desire to fight the cold or the holiday traffic & lines in stores.

Despite some of winters annoyances though I actually do like the cold months.  Yes, perhaps winter does last a few weeks too long some years, but I can honestly say it just doesn't feel right without cold.  I can say this because I lived in CA for a couple years.  Curling up to a nice warm fire and drinking hot chocolate when it is 60+ degrees outside just never seemed right or even appropriate really.  I guess I am just a true midwestern girl at heart :)

So anyways, our family is ready for Christmas.  Ready to see our little boy tear open some presents and go wild with the new basketball hoop and ball "Santa" got him (among other things).  This Christmas is going to be fantastic.  We are going to be surrounded by most all of our family and loved ones, we will eat wonderfully huge Christmas dinners, and we will surely be blessed beyond bounds.  So incase I don't get to blog before the 25th, Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope this Christmas finds all of you with plenty of food on your table & in the company of your loved ones. And now to end with a little scripture...

Luke 2:8-12; 13-14

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.""

Look what he's up to now!

Helping Momma Swiffer

Our Little Stud

I thought it would be fun to jot down some of the amazing little things Case has been up to recently, so here it goes...

- Case loves balls.  He especially loves soccer balls.  There is a 95% chance if you give him anything other than a soccer ball he will still kick it.  For example, he kicks his football and his baseball.  In fact, he kicks his sippy cup like a soccer ball too sometimes!  Perhaps we have a future soccer stud on our hands?

- Case used the potty today.  Yes, I am absolutely serious about this.  We were in the kitchen and Case was clearly, how should I say this politely, going #2 .  I asked him if he wanted to go on the potty.  He ran upstairs to the potty and I held him on it.  He tried hard to go, but his real business was already done.  He did however go #1 in the potty :)  And by the way, I would have never thought to introduce him to the potty so early, but he has showed signs of interest lately and he has also clearly shown me AT TIMES that he is making a conscious decision to go potty, so I have decided "why not". 

- Case loves the vacuum.  He has actually always taken an interest in the vacuum, but now he can participate in the process more.  I will say, "Case you want to help Momma vacuum?" and he immediately climbs the steps, runs into the spare room & then stands at the closet pointing.  He knows exactly where the vacuum "lives".  He helps me plug in the vacuum, helps me turn on the vacuum & trots around behind me as I use the vacuum.  He loves when I use the attachments to vacuum the stairs because I will let him put his hand over the attachment and feel the suction.  He is my big helper.

- Case also loves to swiffer.  I have altered the swiffer handle to be his size and he uses it ALL the time.  I have plenty of pics. to prove my point :)

- Case is growing more and more interested in drinking out of a glass than his sippy cup.  If there is a glass of water sitting around and he spots it, he won't drink out of his sippy cup.  He actually does really well with a glass.  I only put a little water in the glass at a time, but he manages to spill very little...unless of course he has decided he has had enough water.  At that point he pours it out and start playing in it!

- Case seems to really like peanut butter.  What a blessing!  I gave him a try the other day just to see if he would eat it and he did.  Apparently I didn't give him enough because he spotted the jar on the island and kept saying "Mo, Mo" (more) and pointing to the PB.  I bet he had just under a tablespoon...and (1) tablespoon alone has 100 calories and 6 grams of fat!  (It's a "healthy fat" the Dr. says.)  Go Case! 

- Case has laughing attacks daily and I absolutely LOVE it!  He has always been a happy baby and has been laughing for many, many months now, but lately it is different.  He literally can't contain his laughs sometimes.  It may just be the most beautiful sound in the world.

- Case loves when we sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".  I do the hand motions and he also tries to do them!  He mostly likes making the itsy bitsy spider climb :)

- Case recently discovered he can fit into one of our bathroom drawers.  He thinks it is just great.  I, on the other hand, am worried the drawer might break.  I don't think I will have to worry for long though, in another month he won't fit...he is growing so fast!!

I am sure that there are many more things I am forgetting.  Case changes daily.   He is constantly learning new things and more quickly now.  Not a day goes by where Dane and I aren't blown away by how amazing and intelligent he is.  We love our Case!