The (Post) Twelve Days of Christmas- Day 9

Day 9 - Some things never change!

One of the things we love most about Landon is his laugh. I'll let the following videos speak for themselves! :)

We loved it from the start...

And, we are loving it just as much a year later!

The (Post) Twelve Days of Christmas- Day 7

I know, I know...it's a few days away from February...I'm THAT far behind...that's what being a working mom of 2 has done to my blogging...so, please bear with me! :)

Day 7 - Going to see Santa!

I don't know who was more excited for the boys to see Santa this year- me or them! Although, I have to admit, as the day approached, and I thought back to our Easter Bunny photos, I was a little nervous...

Landon was so scared of the Easter bunny, we had to join him in the picture!

He kept looking out of the corner of his eye at the bunny, as if to say- "You stay over there!"

But, thank goodness, Santa was a little less scary for him. Maybe since we had been talking about Christmas a lot, or maybe it was because he had seen Santa a few times (from a distance!) already...who knows! But, here is our first Santa picture!

The funny thing about this picture, is that it's the only one where Landon ISN'T smiling, but also the only one that the photographer got where Ethan WAS looking! There was something shiny off to his right that kept his attention much more than we did! :)

To top off our fun night out, we went out to dinner, using a gift card we got...yikes!...LAST Christmas! I guess we have had a busy year... ;)  Off we wet to Iron Moto, a local Japanese Hibachi restaurant. We had heard the "show" these chefs put on were a lot better than at other restaurants, so I wasn't surprised when the chef began trying to make Landon laugh by squirting fake katchup at him, and trying to impress him with a huge fire on the grill. Sadly, Landon wasn't amused...rather, he was terrified! As soon as the flame burst in his face (not literally...I am exaggerating just a little, but I do think that is how Landon viewed it), he started crying, and saying, "Go Landon house, go that way, scary guy!" Over, and OVER! We ended up just boxing up our food as soon as it was done cooking, and eating it at home. Thank goodness Mommom came with us!  Without a third adult, one of us might have had a meltdown ourselves! :)

So, hibachi in our future? YES! We didn't know how Landon would handle it...but, when friends invited us out for New Year's Eve to another local hibachi steakhouse, S&P's, we decided we would give it a whirl. Not because we are that crazy to risk putting ourselves through a 2nd "ruined" dinner (okay, maybe we are that crazy!), but because this restaurant is tried and true! I have had the pleasure of teaching the owners' daughter twice (I taught 2nd...then 4th, two years later), and we have gone there a lot...even once when Landon had first come home, and they are a lot less about the show, and more about the good food! It also helped that we had two of Landon's good friends there to eat with us  distract him! We also made friends with the chef, Mr. Louie, and that helped too! As you can see, Landon had a great time! And, he keeps asking to go back to the place with the "yellow hat guys" Yes, I admit, he doesn't always get his colors right, but I am blaming this one on our daily Curious George reading! :)

If only I could remember what we were being silly over! :)

The (Post) Twelve Days of Christmas- Day 8

Christmas Eve Traditions and Christmas morning!!


Even though we have technically already had our 1st Christmas as a family in 2010,but this year seemed much more like a real "1st". Last Christmas we woke up at 3 AM, due to the jet lag, and had a son who never knew what a present was, or who Santa was, or who Baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were...or who even know what we were saying to him! So, yes, in many ways, this Christmas felt like Landon's 1st Christmas!!

Here are a few things we did before going to bed Christmas Eve...things we would like to continue every year to come...it sure is fun to make family traditions of our own! :)

Thanks to our neighbor, Miss Sue, a local preschool teacher for 3 & 4 year olds, who left us a reindeer paper bag with some special reindeer food, we went out on the front lawn to leave some food for all the reindeer so they could munch later when they were waiting for Santa to leave all of our presents in our livingroom.

Then, once we got the boys all bathed and ready for bed, we left cookies and milk for Santa, and a carrot for Rudolph!



...and before long, Dakota began to sneak up...

And, we didn't catch her in time- she stole a cookie!

Then, right before we went to bed, we read "Twas The Night Before Christmas" and the Luke 2 story from Landon's Bible. 

Then, it was off to bed for the boys, and last minute finishing to do for us!

And, at last...Christmas morning!!

Still waking up...on his way to check out the tree!!

And, you think he'd notice all the presents...oh, no! Someone noticed that...

"Santa eat Landon's cookies, Dad...that not very nice!" (LOL!)

Luckily, we were able to distract him...

"Look what Santa brought Landon!"

Hand painted snowmen from Aunt Linda!

A Moscow hat that I can grow into!

Star Wars!  ...I love this face he was making!

And, this face!

a doctor set!!

Checkin' daddy's heart...

And, all the while...Ethan was taking it all in! Probably his 1st and last time on the sidelines!!

 ...more Christmas pictures in the next post- I don't know how many pics one post can handle! ;)



The (Post) Twelve Days of Christmas- Day 4

I fixed the video/audio problem! :) So, here it is...Day 4! ...Landon, being...Landon


One of the things that I love most about Landon (as if I could EVER pick!) is how silly he is. I'll admit, his silliness comes out when it is least convenient (the store, or a restaurant, or when I'm in a rush to get out the door), but it sure does keep me laughing hours or even days later! Here is just one example... (stay tuned for an upcoming Chipmunks post where there will be plenty more silly!!)

As I am rushing out the door to go to work, Landon sneaks my coffee off the kitchen table, and says, "Take picture, Uncle Kenny!" Now, for those of you who need a little explaining, Landon's Uncle Kenny is Greg's godfather (now we refer to him as the GGF....great godfather, lol!) who loves coffee. We stayed at their house back in July when Ethan was born. Ever since, Landon adores his uncle Kenny, and knows that anytime he says "Picture Uncle Kenny", mommy will let him do what he is asking to do, at least long enough to take a picture.... I'd say we have a little manipulator on our hands!!

Something else I love about him is how affectionate he is towards his baby brother. Since that was a huge concern of ours as we were considering bringing an infant into our home so soon after bringing Landon home from Russia, every time I see him act in complete adoration towards Ethan, it feels like God saying to me, "I told you I'd take care of the details." :) 

There are times when Landon randomly stops whatever he is doing, and goes over and talks to his brother, while rubbing his face or head. We hear him saying, "How you doing, Ethan?" "You okay, Ethan?" SO CUTE Other times like this, he asks to hold his brother, and wants us to take his picture.  These next few crack me up!

And, yet another thing I love is how much he loves reading! Being a teacher, I know how important this is, and I can see how much his speech and vocabulary have grown from reading every night. For a few months now, Landon has been finishing lines in books we read, and just recently, he has pretty much memorized a few Bible stories and the book, "Just Go To Bed" by Mercer Mayer.

The (Post) Twelve Days of Christmas- Day 6

A visit from SANTA!!!

I wonder how many kids can say that Santa and Mrs. Claus came to visit them the day before Christmas?

Thank you, "Mr. & Mrs. Claus," for making our Christmas Eve THAT much more special!!!

The (Post) Twelve Days of Christmas- Day 5

So, the 12 days of Chrstmas posts are taking a lot longer than 12 days to get published. I knew that would happen once work started back up! Working full time (and having a job that requires work after you come home) and having the boys by myself every night, doesn't leave much time for updating my blog. But, although I am busy, I feel an "accomplished" tired hitting my pillow each night, and that's a good feeling!

Day 5- Holiday Mail Time!  (Yes, I know- Day 4 hasn't been published yet....I am having technical difficulties uploading a video I took on my phone...the sound isn't coming over...so, as soon as I get that worked out, I'll be publishing Day 4!)

One of Landon's favorite things to do everyday is to get the mail with me on our way into the house after school. With the incoming Christmas cards that had pictures of so many of our friends and family that he knows being the majority of the mail, we spent a lot of time together, on the kitchen floor, opening up Christmas cards. It's the simple things sometimes!!!

One of my favorite things is watching Ethan crack up at Landon

I can't add anything to this picture...except to say- "I am SO in love!!"

I love the wide eyed expression - "A snowman?" :)

Does this make anyone else literally LOL??? I crack up everytime I see it! It reminds me of one of those photos that you see on the sports show "PTI"- pardon the interruption- where people enter in their own subtitle to the picture. I can come up with so many, like...

"...Who is this weirdo smiling next to me?" or,

"Nope, I don't know him!" or,

"Seriously, another picture?" 

The (Post) Twelve Days of Christmas- Day 3

Nothing gets you into the true Christmas spirit as playing the parts of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus!

We recently have had the privilege to be a part of Calvary Memorial Church's annual Christmas pageant. We played the "silent" part of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. Greg's godparents, Aunt Eileen and Uncle Kenny approached us in September, and asked if we would consider. They thought Ethan's surprise arrival and blessing would be the perfect "Jesus" fit. The words to the songs that were sung while we were in character, holding Ethan, brought tears to my eyes! My favorite song of the pageant was "Beautiful Surprise."  The words fit so perfectly with how Ethan joined our family and all of our emotions as we tried to understand (as I'm sure Mary and Joseph were many years ago) what God was doing in our lives. Ethan is truly our beautiful surprise!