Christmas with Grandmother

Our Christmas began a few days early when Grandmother (Wayne's mom) came to visit. Since she spent Thanksgiving with us, she came up for an early Christmas and then was heading to Ft. Smith to be with Wayne's brother's family. With Grandmother here, we were able to finish our last minute Christmas shopping!

Here we are playing in the leaves waiting for Daddy.

It was FREEZING this day, but do you think Nathan cared? Nope! He wants to be outside every chance he gets.

It was finally time for presents!

Grandmother gave Nathan a new Razorback bib, some yummy snacks, and money! Mommy will be in charge of the money, but I promise I'll spend it on him :)

Nathan is amused by the simplest things...he loved carrying this tin around!

Nathan had so much fun opening his present, that we couldn't wait to see him open more.

Gaylord Ice Sculptures

My sisters, Carrie and Jennifer, came to town early so we had several days before Christmas to have some fun. I've never been to see the ice sculptures at the Gaylord hotel, but I thought that would be a neat thing for Nathan and Robert (Jen's little boy) to see. Plus we were all curious too! It's so fun to have kids to take to things that you really want to do too :)


Me, Jen, and Carrie


Papa, Mama, Robert, and Nathan

"You don't really want to wear your hat do you Papa?"

I've been to this hotel once, but it's been a while. It really is amazing. It's huge and has tons of stuff to look at and do. It was especially neat with all of the Christmas decorations. There was a Gingerbread house, Santa and his reindeer, train sets, and lots of lights!

I really didn't know what to expect with the ice sculptures. I brought Nathan's coat and hat because I thought it might be a little chilly, like when you go ice skating. Well once we got closer to entering the exhibit, we were handed these huge blue coats. How cold is it going to be in there?! NINE DEGREES!

It was so neat to see EVERYTHING made out of ice. Nathan was a really good baby and loved looking at all of the sculptures.

This was a Gingerbread house that you could go inside of. There was even a slide to go on. Mama, Papa, and I skipped the slide but the others went on it. Halfway through Nathan was getting a little restless. Even though he was bundled up, I know he was a bit chilly, and he wanted out of the stroller. So we had to make our way through the crowd to hurry to the end...before Nathan's tears turned to icicles :)

"Mommy, I'm sorry I started crying. I just wanted to see a few ice sculptures and then play on that train we saw at the entrance."

After the Gaylord, we let Nathan and Robert get the rest of their energy out by taking them to the park in my neighborhood. There were a few other kids playing there too. They played on the play equipment first, but then decided to explore the creek.

Nathan loved rocks, but now I think he's moved on to sticks. He saw Robert making a stick "bridge" and was hooked.

"I found a big stick!"


"Here's an even BIGGER one!"

"Whoever invented sticks and rocks is a genius!"

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad's house. This was going to be the night that we opened all of our presents except for Nathan's from Mommy, Daddy, and Santa. Everyone was there: Me, Wayne, Nathan, Carrie, Chris, Jennifer (my sister), Robert (nephew), Grandma, and Cookie and Otis!

We actually opened presents with Alexandra a few nights earlier because she was spending Christmas with her dad. Nathan loves the book Goodnight Moon, and bribed Alexandra to read it to him.

My sweet little Nathan knows to SIT in his rocking chair, not stand...yeah right!

Boys will be boys! Robert got the idea to tie Uncle Wayne to the chair. And, of course, Nathan thought that sounded like fun, so he was quick to help out. What a follower.

"Hey, it was Robert's idea. I didn't even touch the ribbon...promise."

These next pictures are from Christmas Eve. Nathan was so excited about all of the presents that we had to keep him from opening everyone else's!

Robert opened a mountain diorama kit, metal making kit, a volcano, magic tricks, games, and more. Being a kid is so much fun!

One of Nathan's favorite toys was Elmo from Mama and Papa. This toy is so cute! He waves his arms, sits and stands, even crosses his legs all while telling stories and jokes, singing songs and playing games. "Melmo" is Nathan's new best friend!

He also got a broom from Mama and Papa so he can help clean up.

And his own copy of his favorite book, "Goodnight Moon."

Auntie Carrie and Uncle Chris got Nathan a puzzle, a cleaning trolley complete with a vacuum, mop, broom, spray bottle (can't wait for him to figure out he can put water in that), and a dust pan. Nathan always wants to get my broom or mop to push his toys around, but is constantly hitting the wall or nearly knocking over things on the tables because they're too big for him, so this is perfect for him. They also got him a book about puppies and piggies :)

Aunt Jen, Alexandra, and Robert also bought Nathan his first motorized 4-wheeler! Nathan isn't spoiled is he?

Thank you to everyone for all of Nathan's gifts!

Merry Christmas!

It's finally Christmas! Wayne and I were so excited for Nathan to open his presents. What is so funny is that when we went shopping for Nathan, I figured I would be the one wanting to go overboard with the toys. Well, it was completely the other way around! Wayne, the sensible and responsible one, kept filling the basket! We went up and down every single aisle at Toys R Us. When we would see something we liked, Wayne just threw it in. I thought we would then look at everything at decide what to put back. But noooooo, Santa Wayne wanted his boy to have everything. It was actually a little ridiculous. I mean I had to talk him out of buying a bag full of 100 plastic balls!


What is Christmas without a few glitches. First of all, I realized Christmas Eve that my video camera wasn't working. It was working fine a few days ago, but that's just my luck. Second, when Nathan woke up Christmas morning, Wayne went to get him and found that he had thrown up in his bed! He didn't seem sick at all or like he felt bad, so we figured it was from eating too many cookies the night before. So that's why he doesn't have his Christmas PJ's on. At least these are red :) After Daddy gave Nate a quick bath, it was time for the fun to begin.


"Move out of my way Daddy...is that my very own puppy?!" This isn't just any puppy dog. It's an interactive dog that barks, whines, sits, and wags it's tail when you scratch his head. It even raises its paw to shake your hand!

"I can't believe you got me a REAL dog!"

I told you we went overboard. I mean what 1 year old doesn't need an interactive puppy...

a remote control truck (but that was from Santa)...

Safari animals because Nathan loves lions...

This was a "Daddy" pick :)

a Little People farm house...

a train set...

plus phonics refrigerator magnets, a steering wheel lap toy for the car, an electric toothbrush, and...well you get the idea. We went a little crazy. I mean once I saw that Wayne was in the "no budget" buying mood, who was I to spoil the fun?

Now, where are we going to put all of these toys?

Maybe we did go a bit overboard, but we have plenty of time to learn not to over-indulge right? Maybe next year, we'll be more restrained...maybe.

Otis was having too much fun helping Nathan open his presents (and chewing on the safari animals) so he got banned to the stairs.

"Come on Otis, you can play with me now."

Oh and Nathan throwing up because of too many cookies was not the case. While Nathan was playing with his toys before his morning nap, he threw up again! Luckily he was in a spot where it didn't get on his new things...just Mommy.

I think it was just a 24 hr. bug because after a 2nd bath and nap, Nathan was in good spirits. Our family came over for Christmas lunch (which Carrie and I prepared).

Here's Carrie filling our glasses. We cooked a ham, a twice baked potato casserole, broccoli and rice casserole, salad, rolls, and a pie. Mom also brought over her delicious bread pudding. I'm definitely going to have to start working out again!

Nathan and Robert spent the day playing with all of the new toys.

And Nathan was so happy! I love this picture of him!

After lunch while we were cleaning up, I noticed that it was a little quiet. This is what I found, Nathan and Otis having a "moment."
"That's the outside Otis. Isn't it wonderful?"

"Here, let me straighten your collar. You have to look your best on Christmas day."

"Anyway, when you have to go out to potty, I'm going to sneak out with you."

"Peekaboo!"

That night, after everyone left, we tried out Nathan's new 4 wheeler from Aunt Jen, Alexandra, and Robert.

What a hit! It is the perfect size for him. Nathan can climb on and off so easily. He has to push the red button on the handle to make it go, but what he's still trying to learn, is that he has to keep it pushed in to keep going. It's so funny because he'll push the button and go forward and then stop, push it again and jerk forward again and stop. Start and stop, start and stop. He doesn't care though, he thinks it's hilarious. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it pretty quick.

Our 2nd Christmas together was wonderful. I love my family! Here are a couple of videos of Nathan opening his presents and then showing off his dance moves.

opening a present

dancing