Merry Christmas!!

Opening a gift from his aunt N.

I know this post is a little late in coming, but we have been very busy! Last week it seemed all we did was go, go, go! But as the year comes to end we are enjoying a little more family time. C was laid off for the week, and all though its not good for the budget its great for me and Z! We miss him when he is gone at work all day! So for the rest of this year (isn't that still fun to say even as we get older?) at least he will be home!
So last week was Christmas and it was great! We started off Christmas eve at my parents house for the Johnson family Christmas, which i always love because i don't get to see any of them nearly often enough. Z had a blast playing with his cousins, and it was the first time as the last time he saw them it was Easter and he wasn't really at an age where he could play yet so this we a real thrill for him. We didn't get home until late (close to midnight) so it was right to bed until Christmas morning! This was the first year that C and i have ever done Christmas morning just us and Z of course, so it was really fun. We all had breakfast and then tore into the presents =) I am a huge fan of Christmas and a giver at that so C and Z made out like bandits! I got a couple of great gifts from my wonderful husband too which i am very grateful for. I got an ihome this year so i finally have a radio! i am very big on having some kind of background noise on nearly all the time so for the longest time it has been the TV but now we are listening to alot more music and Z loves to dance! We spent the whole day together which was my favorite gift of all! The next day i cleaned and packed to get ready to head down to C's parents for the weekend. That was a blast as always! I got to finish an entire book! Have i mentioned how much i love my mother in law? She is really great! Z also had his first ice cream cone down there which you can tell by the pic below he loved!

Enjoying some ice cream...

The kiddo also got some quality time in with his puppies =) all in all it was an amazing Christmas spent with an even more amazing family.

Christmas~time is Here...

This past weekend we went to my parents house for Christmas, and it was great! My mom and i shopped in TC until about 9pm which is funny if you know that we planned on being back to her house by about 1 or 2 in the afternoon.. haha.. But we had a blast! Z did great, we rented one of those cars at the mall and he rode in that nearly the whole time, when he got crabby i let him watch The Backyardigans on my Ipod which i had handy just for that reason. It was so cute that we decided to take a picture, which we immediately got in trouble for, turns out you can't take pictures in the mall, especially in front of the jewelry stores! oops. =) we did get the shot though but its on my moms camera.. After a while Z fell asleep which was so funny because he was still sitting straight up, i had to put my moms jacket next to him and lean him over so he could really sleep. Too cute.

After we got back we wrapped all the presents and had some great family time. I miss that, we don't really get to see my family all that often. The next morning we woke up and had a great family breakfast (with only a few mishaps..) then we opened presents! I love watching the joy on everyones faces when they see what they got. Its not just about getting stuff to me, its about seeing what the other person thinks you would like, i really put alot of thought into gifts that i give most of the time. Its a reflection of a lot of things to me. But i did get some really great things (thanks family =) And i was just overall very blessed to get spend time with my mom and dad, and my sister and future brother in law, and of course my amazing husband and my hilariously adorable son.

Above are a couple of the family photos we took. Every year i like to try and get a few, whether or not they turn out is a whole different story... getting everyone outside, dressed nice, and looking happy is something like pulling teeth i would imagine.. haha..

Zeke

Just a couple of shots of Z i thought were too cute to pass up =)

Just a quick update to let you know that i have not in fact fallen off the face of the planet =)
Things are getting better around here, i am getting better.. well emotionally anyways.. I am so thankful for the wonderful family that i have and the great friends that i get to spend my time with. Things could be ALOT worse that's for sure.. so thanks to all of you who have taken the time just to care, it means more to me than you know.
On to better things, the kiddo has a new favorite person (?) and word, Elmo.. couldn't come at a better time actually as i let C talk me into getting him the Elmo Live for Christmas, he actually chose to watch an Elmo DVD [that we borrowed from our wonderful neighbor] over Sponge bob, which is a HUGE deal! haha, I'm actually pretty excited that he is choosing the more educational show for once! Oh something that i am pretty excited about and anyone who doesn't like TV as much as i do look away now, i am going to get a Tivo for us, i really took time to think about it, which i never do... and decided that i would be a good investment for us. Now there will be no more arguments over me choosing TV over other things (to be fair its not all TV in general, i just have my shows and i don't like to miss them... ) and i can save the educational cartoons for Z so that if he really wants to watch something when nothing is on then i am set! Okay i really ought to get off here since this was just supposed to be a quick update! And we are going to be running late for Church!

Oh the weather outside is frightful....

It has been snowing here almost non-stop it seems.. The first few days of snow were wonderful, we were able to go out and play in the snow and the kids and i both loved it! However, this week (and the week before...) we have not been able to go out at all, we have tried, but the poor kiddos can't walk in such deep snow so they fall face first and get mad because they can't get up in all their snow gear! (sound familiar?) It would be so funny to watch if they weren't so mad about it! So we have been spending most of our days inside.. okay all of our days! We were able to make it out to the library the other day but other than some weekend shopping we have cooped up in this house for too long! I think it may be starting to get to me... i have been pretty restless this week,,, i have the urge to just run.. However Doctors orders are i must rest.... that's a while different story that i would write about if i even knew what the heck was going on! however.. i don't... but i will let you all know as soon as i do.. whenever that may be..... So for now i am off to talk with my husband, at least if i am going to be inside i can have some adult conversation!

Busy Days....

I can't believe it has been a month since i have been on here! I guess we've just been busy!! Doing alot of Christmas shopping, which i love! some people don't care for it but i find nothing more enjoyable than being able to pick out the perfect gift for someone i love. Shopping for Z has been a blast too, i know we are overdoing it and i don't care! Is that bad? haha.. i just want to be able to give my son everything, and since i know that we will have more (at least one) kids in the future i know most of the stuff will get tons of use! I have had all my decorations up since just before Thanksgiving and my tree up since the day after... I love the holidays!!

Thanksgiving was not what i was really hoping for but at least we got to see family. I had really hoped to be able to see my family this year but no such luck, however i do love my in-laws very much so it was still a good holiday.. My mother in law bought a HUGE turkey to feed 4 people and a toddler and made a roast to go with it! However since we did celebrate at our house i got to do at least some of the cooking!!! (if you knew my mother in law you would know what a treat that is =) The following day we were able to visit with my brother in law and his fiance which was nice, J and i went to TC and did some shopping which i can never get enough of!! Then Sunday we went out and got our Christmas tree! I think i will take a cue from a dear friend (yes you =) and post a picture on here, that is if i can get my son to leave the decorations alone!!! The first few days he did very well just looking, but as time goes on he becomes bolder and now he will just look at me and pull them off!! So none are in the same place as i put them! Oh well, someday i am sure i will look back and wish he was still that small... He is just getting so big and getting to the point where he is adding words to his vocabulary at least every week, the other day C and i took him to the library and he said Bee & Bird, He also started bending his knees a little and saying ready then running all the way across the room, it is hilarious! Oh he also closes his eyes super tight now when he is being shy or nervous, or if you tell him its time for "night night" but only if he is super tired.. The other day i had a Doc. appt and i took him with me, when they had to take my blood pressure Z got so mad at the lady he was screaming and hitting her and trying to take off the cuff, it was adorable! haha, he was trying to protect his mommy,, My sweet boy! He is just the greatest.