'Cause nothing says "festive" like glittery Christmas tree glasses! :0)

Merry Christmas!

Wow...I can't believe Christmas is over all ready! Actually, we still have our big Christmas with my side of the family on New Year's Eve, so it isn't quite over for us. It always amazes me how all of the preparations take so long and then the day flies by. Anyway, we have had a great Christmas this year. Joel is at a fun age and was lots of fun to shop for this year. He doesn't quite understand about unwrapping the gifts, but he likes the toys once they are out of the paper! We went to Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house and then spent Christmas Day in Wauseon. Joel got a play tent, an Elmo umbrella, some MatchBox cars, a book, and some tub toys at our house. Of course, the biggest hit so far is the motorized tractor from PawPaw and Grandma! Joel LOVES it! He isn't sure yet about using the gas pedal to make it move, but he climbs on it all day. He is so funny when he comes out of the bedroom and sees it sitting there! :0) He runs toward it and says "Oooooohhhh....". Today we couldn't seem to walk past it without having to sit on it and turn the wheel. Daddy can't wait to get it outside and see what it can do! We are thankful every single moment for Joel and our family. Parenthood is exhausting, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Good night. More later...

Our little musician! He has discovered the piano and won't leave it alone! (Not sure why our walls look pink......hhhmmm...?)

This picture truly captures Joel's personality! Sweet and ornery as sin at the same time! :0)

Pure joy!

PawPaw and Grandma gave Joel this motorized tractor on Christmas Day. By the look on his face, I think his feelings are obvious! :0) He LOVES it! It's so much fun watching him try to figure it out. His smile is worth it all!

Christmas Day 2010.

Our little family! :0)

Christmas in Wauseon.

Our two babies on Christmas morning!

Not impressed with the Santa hat!

Christmas morning at our house. I love Joel's smile! Rob and I both wore Santa hats. Joel probably thought we were nuts!

I love this picture! We took Joel to Children's Wonderland in Sylvania on Sunday evening, and this was the Santa he saw there. My camera batteries died, so this is the only picture we got. Santa is holding Cheerios in his hand, which is the ONLY reason why Joel is sitting on his lap! I just think their expressions are funny! Ho!Ho!Ho!

Playing Peek-a-Boo!

It's a very "Elmo" kind of day! :0)

Spaghetti!

Checking out our Christmas decorations with Daddy!

"TOUCHDOWN!!" ..Joel's newest trick!

Frustration....

Okay, I intended to post a couple of pictures tonight, but for some reason I can't get it to work. Maybe tomorrow? Anyway, we had planned to get Joel's first haircut this weekend but he was still not acting right on Saturday and slept most of the afternoon. He hasn't exploded any diapers since Friday night, so hopefully he is on the mend. Now I'm not sure about cutting his hair.......hhhmmmmm. Also, we got the BEST Christmas card on Saturday.....Joel's birth certificate came with OUR names on it! I had to read it over and over again. I think it was a gift from God to remind me about what is important and to CHILL OUT about everything else. Joel seemed to be acting more like himself today. The poor baby hasn't eaten anything but bananas, applesauce, toast, and Pedialyte since Thursday! One cute thing...it was our week to work the nursery at church. Usually there aren't any other kids in there, except occasionally a baby. Anyway, Joel was playing by himself with the toys and about 15 minutes before church ended a man brought down two little boys, aged 2 and 3. When they game in, Rob said, "Hey Joel, look. Here are some new guys for you to play with." Joel looked up at them and said, "Guys?". He said it about 10 more times while he followed them around the room.(Okay, that story seemed cuter in person!) He was pretty good with sharing the toys, and he even gave the 2 year-old one of his goldfish crackers! He is making more and more sounds that sound like words. Now he says "Zoe" (Elmo's sidekick), "Bay" for Bailey, and "Wow" every time you plug in the Christmas tree. He is also a master mimic and is very entertaining to see what he will try and imitate you doing! Also, now every time the phone rings he says, "Oh, Issee." (Issee--EE-see--is what he calls Aunt Lisa.) He's so much fun. Today he drug our little dirt devil spot cleaner all over. He LOVES that thing! He was opening and closing one of our end table drawers today and I said, "Are you about done with that, sir?". He looked straight and me and said, "Um...nope." and laughed himself silly. He is so smart...maybe too smart for his own good? :0) Good night....more later....

Catching Up...

Well, Joel turned 21 months old on the 4th! It doesn't seem possible. It has been rough around here since Thanksgiving. Rob started feeling poorly almost immediately after all of our company left. He spent four days with a HORRIBLE case of the flu. He even missed two days of work, which is unheard of! Joel had had a cold for a little while, and we thought he escaped the yuck. I have got a terrible cold...complete with coughing, runny nose, and general unpleasantness. I got prescription cough syrup and thought we were good....until yesterday when Joel started projectile vomiting. Mercifully, he was only sick the one day and seems to be feeling much, much better. The poor little guy! Unfortunately when he was throwing up it scared him and he ran away...spreading vomit all over our living room. :0( He also threw up on Mommy, which I could have done without! We are thankful that he is feeling better and continues to be such a wonderful little guy. Mommy gets frustrated when he pulls the ornaments off his tree, but I try to remember that someday I will miss that! He is so funny with the step-on light cord....he sits in the corner by his tree and turns it off and on and off and on....He smiles so big that it is hard to make him stop! :0) I continue to be amazed at how much we love him and how much joy he brings to our lives, even when he is being ornery! More later...