Christmas Magic

Wow, what a storm. With the blizzard blasting us, I thought it would be a good time to update.

The last few days have been quite fun and full of Christmas Spirit. Thursday was big day for Alex. We decided to take him to Santa Village at Rheault Farm. Our first stop was to the donation barn. We dropped off our canned goods and headed over to check out the donation train. Alex really liked the trains. The Elves stopped the train so kids could toss a dollar in one of the box cars! We then headed over to the bunker house to make an ornament. I did most of the work. Well, if you call glueing work :). I tried to get Alex to put the red ball/nose on our reindeer ornament, but he found it much more fun to toss the balls in and out of the bucket. We then headed over to the house. It was very festive. Inside, we found Santa waiting. While we signed the guest book, Santa informed Granddad that the hot "drink" they were serving was staining his beard and mustache. He hoped next year Budweiser was sponsoring the event!! lol. After Alex had his picture taken, he went in to the kitchen, and Mrs. Claus helped him decorate a cookie. Alex LOVED shaking the sprinkles. On the way out, we checked out the reindeer.

The evening continued once we got home. I mixed up gingerbread and sugar cookie dough earlier in the day, so Alex got to make cookies for the first time. Gingerbread boys are a tradition in my family. I've made gingerbread boys every year with my mom since I was just under 2. I was excited that Grams was visiting to carry on the tradition. Alex quickly found out how wonderful the dough tastes! He attempted to cut out some cookies , but he, mostly, just stole chunks of dough. I thought we would decorate the boys with raisins but someone was eating them faster than I could put them on. We decided to let him decorate with sprinkles. I think three boys ended getting half a bottle of sprinkles. Oh well, it sure was fun!

On Friday, we headed out to chop down our Christmas tree. When we arrived, we got Alex into his bibs, coat, hat, and snow boots. We had a lot of trouble getting his boots on, so he wasn't able to walk around very well. We put him in the sled, grabbed our saw, and took off. We didn't get too far until he started crying. Once he tumped out of the sled, he was done. Dad ended up carrying him. Needless, to say we quickly found a tree, sawed it down, and hauled it back to the car. Rumor has it that Santa will be bringing Alex a fancy toddler sled for Christmas. I sure hope so. I think he would have been fine had he had a back on the sled.

Today we are going to decorate the tree. I still have some baking to do and all the presents to wrap. This seems like a perfect day to do these things. One glance outside will definitely get you in the Christmas Spirit! Oh, Paul has just informed me that snow is piled up between our front door and storm door. He is now shoveling the entry way in our house!!!! Ho, Ho, Ho!

'tis the season to be merry

Wow, I'm finally updating. Hopefully my small group of followers haven't given up!

Here is a quick run down of November: The middle of November we made an overnight trip to Bismarck. Each year we go down and spend the night with Alex's godfather, Mathew. We have a Cranium competition with him and his wife. There is even a trophy involved! I'm sad to say that we didn't return home with the trophy. We enjoy playing board games with them and need to get down there more often. We also stopped by to see Mary Kay, Paul's sister. It's nice to have family living fairly close by.

The next week I made a trip up to Langdon to stay with my mom and dad for the week. As soon as we got up there, Alex got his first cold ever. He was still running in 3rd gear even with his cold.

I have to back up and express a little frustration I had with Paul. We laugh now but at the time I was not a happy camper. The weekend before I left for my mom and dad's we had agreed that I would get to scrapbook all day Saturday while Paul looked after Alex. Well, I had to run some errands that morning and so did Paul. He took Alex with him. We both arrived home just before lunch. I had all my stuff out and ready to go once we ate. Shortly after eating, Paul announces that he had a "little" mishap in the car. He said he took grass clippings to the compost pile and the barrel tipped over in the Pacifica. He said he just needed to suck up the clippings. I said not a big deal. Well, then he came in and told me that there was some water in the barrel and that he would need to put baking soda and sop up the water. While cleaning the car, he decide to listen to the Bison game on the radio. However, after 2 hours of cleaning the battery was dead. By the time I started my scarbooking it was after 2 and we leave for church at 4:30. As we head out the door to go to church, I'm hit with the most nasty odor. Paul failed to mention that the water was stinky! Think seafood delight. I was ticked to put in nicely. I have no idea why he didn't put plastic down or a tarp. I went on in a not so nice tone explaining this and that our car was not a truck!
So, that Monday I load the stinky car and start to leave....the car won't start! I call Paul at work to come jump me. A little bit later he arrives with some guy he works with. He had gone out, started his car, and while wiping the snow off, the car locked him out. We aren't sure what's going on with the other car now. So, I get jumped and give him my extra keys, so he can turn his car off! It was like Murphy's Law.
I was finally on the road but ended up having to buy a battery in Langdon. To this day, we still have a mildly stinky car which is much better than before. I'm still trying different things to take the rest of the smell out.

Our Thanksgiving was nice. We went to Williston. Alex enjoyed his time with his grandparents. He likes exploring new places. We tried taking him to light up night while we were there, but we didn't take the stroller with us and he likes to be on the move. He just threw a fit and we missed the 5 floats that went by. Fun times! On the way home Alex had his first Happy Meal. We, of course, opted for the apples and milk. He still enjoyed a couple of our fries. He seemed very proud of himself to be sitting between us on the bench eating like a big boy.

Alex had his 18month appt yesterday. He is 22lbs 13oz ( 13% for weight) 31 1/2 inches( 26% height) and his head is still on the bigger end (82%). The doctor was pleased with his measurements. I was disappointed about the height. I just hope he isn't short!!! The doctor said he is consistently lean, so he wasn't concerned. He only got one shot which was nice.

Alex is really in to climbing! He now climbs up his high chair and seats himself. The other day he pulled out a chair in the dining room and stood on top of the dining room table. Lots of fun for him....not so much for me.

Spook-tacular Evening

We started off our Halloween fun on Thursday night by carving our pumpkin while sipping hot apple cider. We got around to it a little late this year but at least it was carved. I felt like Michaelangelo! Alex wasn't interested in the pumpkin carving this year. Oh well.

On Halloween Day we made a stop by the library, so Alex could meet Clifford. He seems to have a thing for people in costumes!

As the evening approached we got Alex dressed for a night of trick-r-treating. He made such a cute dragon! He wouldn't keep the head piece on unless he was out and about getting candy.

Paul took Alex around the neighborhood while I passed out candy. He got quite the loot for a 17month old! He already has a sweet tooth.

With such a nice night, I expected a lot of kids. By 7:15 we had only had 20, so we decided to head over to the Halvorsons'. We dumped what candy we had left in a bowl and left in on the porch with a note telling the kids to help themselves. I have a feeling one kid helped himself to most of it! I wonder if the the late time change had some effect on the trick r treating since it didn't get dark until later? Alex got a book and treats from the Halvorsons'. He put on quite a show for them the rest of the evening.

We left the Halvorson House about 9:30. Ghost Hunters Live was on, so I had a hard time leaving. Alex was pooped. I think he was out before we even got out of their driveway.

The night was a lot of fun. Paul and I enjoyed rummaging in Alex's candy. Of course, we had to sample some. I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

Mr. Lover Lover

True to his Gemini sign, Alex is quite the charmer. He LOVES kissing....and he isn't satisfied unless it is on the lips! We were up playing with "K" and Maria and boy did he enjoy giving them kisses. Maria would put her cheek out, and I had to explain he likes lips. It was quite cute to watch the toddlers puckerin' up. I really enjoy this phase. However, I hope by the time he is 16 he uses a little discretion with those lips. I'm pretty sure he would kiss anyone who asked at this time. He has also found out that if he grabs something he shouldn't, brings it to you, and then kisses you that his makes things much better. I'll have to crack down on this but it's so funny.

The other day I was finishing up a phone call and realized that it was quiet...aka...trouble. I found Alex sitting in our bathroom chowing down on my concealer stick. He had drawn all over his face, pants and had a his teeth and mouth covered. I can't imagine it tasted all that great, but I'm sure it was fun.

Toddler-Hood

Alex has now been inducted into toddler hood. He finally learned how to get up on his feet with out pulling up on things! YEA...I think. He finds it very entertaining to do this and then "run" as fast as he can, fall over, and do it all over again. I guess if it amuses him it is fine by me. Of course, he has many more falls and bruises than before. Last night he cracked the bridge of his nose and between his eyes on the table. I was worried he had cracked something, but he seems to be ok today...just a little swollen. What a busy boy!

Vacation 2008!

We started our vacation in Walker, MN on Sept 19th ( I think that was the date...anyway, it was that weekend). Paul participated in a marathon through the woods. Our trip started off a bit hectic. Before Paul left for the race, he asked the front desk person at the hotel for a late check out. The guy said that would be fine and for Paul to pick a time. Paul told him 1:30. At about 10:00 I got a call from the front desk telling me that we needed to be out by 12:30! I was a little paniced as I didn't know how I was supposed to load all of our stuff with Alex. I had planned on taking Alex to see Paul finish, but I wasn't set on that as it would be right in the middle of Alex's nap time. Once we had to get out I didn't have an option. We needed to be at the end, so Paul would know what was going on. Thankfully Alex has a sleeping pod which is like a little tent with an air matress. I zipped Alex up in his "cage" and slowly got the car loaded. Alex didn't take a liking to the process. We got to the finish line at about 11:45. Because of the terraine, it took Paul about 20-25 minutes longer to finish. Not thinking, I had only packed shorts for Alex. All these little old ladies would walk by and tell me how cold he must be. Once Paul finished I had to take him back to the hotel to shower in some public thing. I guess it all worked out...I was just frazzled.

We made it to my aunt's house on Sunday. That day my throat started to hurt, but I thought it was just allergies. We woke up Monday morning and my glands were really swollen, and it was difficult to swallow. I called my doctor back in Fargo, and he had me go to the hospital to get my blood drawn. Since I wasn't a patient, it took forever. Once we got home I tried to take a little nap. The doctor had called back and nothing was really showing up in my blood work, so I was advised to call back if it got worse. On Tuesday morning we got up early and headed for Padre Island. I had gotten worse and started icing my neck and taking Tylenol. On the way down we stopped in Refugio which was where I had lived. We went by our old house and also to visit a couple of people. We got settled in our condo on the island and hit the sack.

Wednesday I was useless. I tried to sit on the beach but was miserable. Alex loved playing in the sand. He wasn't too wild about the water. I think he was more afraid of the noise and the current pulling against him. Paul and I played in the water a little bit. Paul loved going out and riding the waves!

By Thursday I had had enough of the pain. I called the doctor again and he had me go in to the ER for an evaluation and blood check. We spent 4 hours there. All the doctor did was order a blood draw and hand me the results. He then asked me what he needed to do! I called my doctor and gave the nurse the report. By that time my doctor had left so his colleague had to call the shots. The ER doctor in TX was leary of letting me leave with my levels low, but he wanted my primary doctor to make the call. I ended up with an antibiotic and Tylenol 3. By Friday morning I had made almost a complete turn around. I was finally able to enjoy our vacation. Paul and I spent a lot of time in the water and trying to coax Alex out a little bit further. Each day he got a little braver but never really got excited about the water. Saturday we went out for souveniers and Paul took me to Catfish Charlie's , so I could finally enjoy fresh seafood. Sunday we had to head home.

I had been looking forward to this trip for a very long time. I guess things never really turn out the way we plan. Oh well, what can you do?

Feel of Fall

Well, we managed to drop 30 degrees in less than 24 hours. I hope yesterday was not the last of the warm weather! As much as I enjoy the Fall, I do hate to see Summer go. I really enjoyed the trees, our bountiful garden and plethra of plants/flowers.

We started off the weekend by taking Alex for his 1 yr (or should I say 15 month) pictures. Wouldn't you know it would be the one day he wouldn't nap. The session went ok. Alex was really going to town on his fingers, so I hope we have some pictures that don't include his hands in his mouth. After pictures we stopped in to Nichole's for dessert. Alex and I shared a slice of Chocolate Carmel Sea Salt cake. It was devine. I also had a mint lemonade...my favorite. We should be getting his pictures emailed to us today.

We spent Saturday and Sunday canning. We started out by using 20 lbs of our tomatoes for salsa. Then we canned peaches. This coming weekend we will tackle spaghetti sauce.

Alex is finally starting to take a few steps by himself. He looks like a drunk and finds it quite funny when he topples over. He is also in to scooping. In fact, on Saturday he decided to use one of his stacking cups to toss all of the water out of the toilet! He was soaked and so was the bathroom.

Today Alex had is 15 month check up. Here are the stats 21lbs 13 oz, 31 1/4 inches and a big head! He also got shots which I wasn't expecting. Hopefully he won't start feeling bad.

I'll try to do a better job with postings!