A Lot of Catching Up to Do

It's been way too long since I've written.  I miss my blog, and have had several posts written in my head lately.  The best way I know to catch up is to post a bunch of pictures of what's been going on and start writing.  Samuel is changing so quickly, and he's so much fun that I don't want to let the time go by without documenting some of this.  So there. I'm back.  

The Crib Days are Over...  It's official, we had to take the side rail off the crib.  This was one transition I was holding out on as long as possible (for my own convenience!).  It all started on a Saturday morning when we were greeted in our bedroom by a little voice that said, "I cwimb out of my cwib."  Hoping it was just a fluke, we kept things the same.  After a couple of more mornings and naps of finding him at our bedside with similar greetings, I was still in denial so I just lowered the rail thinking I'd at least reduce the chances of a broken limb or something but still keep the "crib."  That lasted until I actually saw the process of him climbing in and out with my own eyes. Nuts!  After that I decided to take the rail off and do the conversion to a toddler bed.  This was in the evening on a night that Tyson works late, so I was by myself.  At first, Mr. Samuel acted like a big shot about it and was all excited climbing in, climbing out.  Chest puffed out.  Big boy.  However, to my dismay when it came time to actually go to bed, he completely freaked out on me.  Complete hysterics, uncontrollable.  Finally, I pointed to the bed rail leaning against the wall and said, "Is that what you want?  You want the rail back?"  "Yes!! Rail!!" Sigh...I'm tired, I'm by myself, my kid is losing it, and I proceed to put the rail back on which involves tilting the crib on its side for starters.   Twenty minutes later the rail is back on, and he's happily going to bed. That was an eye opener.  My outgoing, extraverted, adaptable child likes sameness and security.   I chose to re-think things in the morning.  I  quickly made my way out to the store the next morning to buy the safety rail you see in the picture.  This was our solution.  It's safe enough for him to climb in and out of but offers that little boundary of security he wanted.  He's doing just fine except for the fact that he gets up EVERY morning between 6:00 and 6:30, and now we can't just listen to him talk to himself in his crib for a while.  We find him standing at our bedside  saying things like "Here I am!"  "Let's watch a little TV," or "I want a snack."   Help!!!

 Getting Our Christmas Tree...  This month has been full of fun and surprises for this two year old.  He's made this season even brighter and merrier for us.  For the first time, the wonder of Christmas is on his radar.  We ventured out to pick our tree on December 1st.  We picked one from a tree farm called Pop N' Son.   The picture above is in the car on our way.  He was very excited.  

So were we.  When we let him down he took off racing through the trees like it was a maze.  There was another family there with a little boy around 5, and Samuel kept chasing him.  It was hard to look for a tree and keep an eye on the little kid in the red vest.

 Let's get this one!

 We found a winner!!  Let's take it home!

This is the tube they slide the tree through to fit netting around it for the ride home.  It looked like a fun tunnel to someone I guess.  

 Trimming it up and getting ready to load.

 They had a giant inflatable snowman.  It was huge!!

 Samuel was in awe of this whole process.  We were so busy getting ready for Africa last year and he was a year younger that we didn't focus much on the usual Christmas traditions.   He was bouncing off the walls with excitement when we got the tree in the living room.  He wanted to "help" with the lights.  He loved looking at all the different ornaments too.  Tyson's dad and step-mom gave us the neatest train that goes around the tree.  That was the icing on the cake!  You can see it a little bit in the picture below. It makes music and Santa waves.

 Last Friday night we went to a Christmas Party for Tyson's work.  The whole family was invited, so we all three went.  This is Tyson and Samuel before we went. Don't they look handsome?  When we told Samuel we were going to a "party" all we heard until we got there was, "Party! We go to party?  When we go to party?"  I didn't realize how much parties mean to this kid.  When we got there, he was just giddy.  The excitement went on all night, and when we left he said, "I had fun at my party." Oh dear!   On a side note, I've been trying to put some focus on the advent season and counting down to Jesus' birth, so Samuel will learn to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas.  I'll post soon about a couple of activities we're doing.  Anyway, I was trying to explain to him the other day that it will be Jesus' birthday soon, and he quickly interrupted me and said, "We need cake!"  I suppose we'll be making a birthday cake for Jesus. :)

His First Parade...  To keep in step with the Christmas spirit we went to our little town's annual Christmas parade on Saturday.  We live so close to the downtown area, we just walked.  This was Samuel's first ever parade.  I think it now ranks up there with parties!  It may be better than parties.  He came away with pockets full of candy and got to eat two lollipps while we were there.  When do you ever get to see Santa and the Chick-Fil-A cow within minutes of each other?

 I think he was trying to dance along with this drill team.  Needless to say the parade was a hit.  To be honest, I was kind of tired and tempted to blow it off, but I'm glad we went.  

 He loves to sit in front of the tree and watch the train every night.

I hope this finds you and your families having a joyful holiday season.   I was reminded today that my true joy and all my hopes and dreams can all be found in no one other than the One whom we're celebrating ~  Jesus!!