Christmas 2011

December 2011

December was a very big month for all of us. We spent a lot of time preparing for the Holidays- decorating, shopping, and celebrating. Dan and I had several Christmas parties to attend together and I had 2 on my own. It made for some busy evenings!

Ben landmarks:

Ben stopped nursing suddenly on December 5^th. He had a cold a few days prior and was teething. He did not ever want to start nursing again- though I tried for a week.

• Upper left incisor December 4^th


• Upper left tooth and Lower Right tooth December 18^th


• Climbing and climbing and climbing!




• Out of shopping cart December 7^th


• Out of high chair December 10^th


• Said ball December 14^th – not repeatable though


• Pushing car and walking behind it Mid December

He continues to be a very happy and energetic little boy. He is into everything- he loves to take things out of cabinets, loves to eat toilet paper, loves to giggle and laugh. He really likes to play peek-a-boo and laughs so hard! He hides himself from us too! He likes to be chased- he will crawl away from you and when you chase he starts laughing. Then we tickle him once we have caught him. He is very ticklish- like his Daddy- especially his feet and underarms.

He is starting to walk on furniture more and more. He has taken a few steps on his own- 2 a few times, but he is so fast when he crawls that I think he prefers that. His first steps were 12/18. Since then I have been trying to have him walk more, but when I stand him up in front of me, he will take one step and then fall onto me for a game. This week he is actually walking more when I hold his hands and getting better and better at it.

His sleeping has been so-so over the past month. He has good nights and bad- where he is up several times a night crying. Most of those times, he goes back to sleep when I hold him for a few minutes. Occasionally, he will be up crying for a while. I suspect teething is the culprit as he got 3 teeth this month. It is so frustrating for me and my sleep it completely interrupted.

Ainsley had a cute little Christmas program at her school- they sang several songs for us. She and Mandy also did a little Rudolph presentation for us that was super cute. We took her to see a Beauty and the Beast play December 17^th. We could only get tickets for the 8pm show so it was a really late night for her. Luckily, she took a long, late nap in the afternoon. We made a big production of going out – she got really dressed up and wore a little makeup. She even wore high heels. We left Ben with Grandparents and headed out. The play was fantastic! Ainsley really liked everything about it and was so much fun to have there. She knew the story from the book/movie that we have. She laughed really hard at the antics of La Fou, Gaston’s sidekick. He was very silly and energetic. He kept falling and doing silly somersaults all over the stage. She had an imaginary friend La Fou for days after the play. We were out really late – we got home at 11:30. She was up until 12 am- the latest night ever for her. She went to bed and got up at 6:30- of course (she never sleeps in).

December 22^nd we left for my parents’ house. We left after work so that the kids would fall asleep in the truck on the way. We got on the road at 6:45 pm. I sat in the back with the kids, Remi sat in the front passenger seat and Dan drove. We were packed in tightly and the bed of the truck was very full too! I entertained Ben for 45 minutes and then he fell asleep. Ainsley watched a movie, and then she fell asleep. It was a very quiet ride from 8:30 on. The kids slept beautifully! I actually watched a movie myself. There was no traffic and we made great time. When we stopped for gas at 11, the kids woke up. They were up for a while before falling back asleep, but they were happy. We drove really late- until 1 am- so that we would not have as far to go the next day and also because there was no where to stop. We ended up stopping at a hotel near the highway. It was not really a good stop- the hotel was only so-so. The kids woke up when we stopped and Ben was up until 2:30 am crying. I don’t know why he was so unhappy, but he was. Dan had to unload everything from the back of the truck (we were worried it would get stolen). Some went into the cab and the rest came to our room – of course on the second floor. Ben then woke up at 6 am and would not go back to sleep. It was a short and frustrating night for us. Since we had made it so far the night before, our drive was only about 4 more hours.

We took our time in the morning- getting ready to get back on the road and letting Ben wander around. We had breakfast at the Waffle House and discovered that they did not have pancakes- which Ainsley had wanted. Luckily, she settle for a waffle. While we were at breakfast, we spoke a little with a man in the booth behind us. He asked us if we were traveling and where we were from. He made friends with Ben- Ben blew raspberries at him- haha. Anyway, the man was nice and surprised us with the gift of free breakfast! When we tried to pay, we found out he had paid for our check when he left. It was such a nice gesture from a stranger.

The remainder of our drive went really well. Ben fell asleep right after we got in the truck, though he did cry for several minutes first. He slept for over 3 hours! Ainsley slept for over 2 hours. They both woke up about 10 minutes from Grandma’s house!

We enjoyed our visit with my parents. The kids love their house and had so much fun getting lots of attention. We went to Christmas Eve service with my parents and then opened some gifts. Ainsley opened gifts from Mommy and Daddy and her Aunts. We figured she would have so much to open the next morning that she would need a head start. Ainsley was really into presents this year-she kept wanting more and more. She actually had a few hissy fits about other people opening gifts; apparently, she wanted them all.

She was up fairly late Christmas Eve and then Dan worked her up talking about Santa. She did great though- after she fell asleep, she stayed in bed all night. Ben had me up from 1-3:15 am. He would cry and then go back to sleep when I held him only to wake up as soon as I put him down. This went on for a long time. Mommy was exhausted in the morning!

Ainsley had a few issues with joining us for pictures- she pretty much refused to be in most of them. We got a few nice pictures with her, but we wanted more.

We had fun being “Santa.” I wrapped gifts and we put them all out. The living room looked amazing! Ainsley’s big gift was a car- a red convertible mustang. She also got a sing along/karaoke cd player that was pretty awesome. She got clothes, purses, bags, fairy wings, games and more. Ben got several trucks and balls, books and games. It was quite a haul for everyone.




View from my parent's house. It was very beautiful and peaceful there- lots of birds, great sunrises, sunny days and quiet.
Ben's baptism




Hanging out with Grandma!

Family pictures on Christmas Day

A boy and his loyal dog!
Daddy time!
Ainsley's new car! She and Ben had so much fun riding in it! Ben was a great passenger- he just cruised with Ainsley. She was a great driver. That car has some serious pep!

Pure joy!

We enjoyed our stay at Grandma and Papa’s house! It was very relaxing and nice. The kids enjoyed all the attention they got from 4 adults. Ben made us all laugh and kept us on our toes as we followed him to keep him out of trouble. Ainsley enjoyed making cookies, painting, walking and going to the park. Of course, she really enjoyed driving her car! Ben was a great passenger too. I could not believe he stayed in the car with her for so long- at least 10 minutes. He was totally relaxed and enjoyed the ride. He never sits still for that long!

The drive back went ok- we did it in one day and drove until 1 am. It was nice to get home and sleep in our beds, even if it was a short night.

Since we returned, we have been trying to recover, catch up and organize- put gifts away, unpack, remove Christmas decorations, etc. It has been hectic! Work has also been really busy for me and Dan. Dan worked late every day last week- sometimes he was not even home when I went to bed. He also had to work all day Sunday.