Snow Much Fun!

Last week we got to experience our first snow play with Winn. I'm pretty sure me and Chap were 10x more excited than he was. Upon hearing of the potential "blizzard" heading our way we made two trips; 1. Wal-Mart to purchase missing snow gear Winn would need in order to have a successful snow day. 2. Meet up with Chap's parents to get his dad's 4 wheeler so WE would have a successful snow day.

Well, the "snow day" turned into a snow week (we ended up with close to 8 inches!) and we had lots of fun playing in the snow, being lazy, and cuddling with our boy. It was a mini-stay-cation that was much needed!

He might have peed his pampers just a little bit when hearing Chap crank up the 4 wheeler.
No fear here! He had a BLAST riding with Chap around the yard.
Sweet boy. We'd put him down in the snow and show him how to play in it but he just stood in one place and smiled up at us. Didn't move his feet once.

One of these years we WILL purchase a proper sled. Till then, the wake-board will continue to be the next best thing.

Hi daddy!

Lots of fun memories made this week. I love being home with my boys knowing the weather is too bad for me to go anywhere. Makes me feel less guilty about being lazy and cuddling. I'm looking forward to many more snow dates with these two; and hope for a trip to the mountains to try Winn's ski legs soon. I'm hoping the skis will un-stick him from his stationary snow stance. :)

A little bit of B-O-Y!

Since I'm kind of missing the monthly 'Growing with Grover' updates, I figured I'd throw one out there just for the heck of it. And I'm kind of scared that if I don't make these notes and include pictures, I might forget all the fun things my little boy loves right now (the longer I'm a mom, the more I understand that the memory just isn't what it used to be...)

Some favorite things right now: swords and apple juice. And if you mix the two together, you have one happy little guy (a.k.a. a straw in a cup of juice/water) He can say 'apple juice' plain as day and I love that he is starting to communicate to me the things he needs (or wants). Makes being a mommy a little bit easier :)

TOUCHDOWN! The kid can spot a football a mile away. He'll throw his arms up and say "tchdn". I love it. I think we might have to view some old games during off season to keep him in the spirit!
BOOKS! He is really enjoying reading these days and initiates the process himself (going to get 5, 10, 15 books off the shelf and bringing them to us to read to him). I love this, probably a little more than I should :) His favorite books are anything with stars in them.

KISSES! Not for his momma, but for all his stuffed animals, blankets, pillow...basically anything but me. Not sure what that's all about? We love watching him pick up his toys and give them a sweet kiss and hug around the neck. He does this so often with most anything that is soft and it warms my heart instantly. Such a sweet boy. Let's hope it sticks.
And of course to balance out the sweetness comes the swords. Most anything that has some length to it is a sword these days: golf clubs, brushes, remote controls, eating utensils...he'll grab these "swords" and begin humming the Indiana Jones theme song (compliments of our baby-sitters son, Brian). We still haven't uncovered the purpose of swords and for that, I am grateful.

Buttons, of course. He loves them all. Remote controls, space heaters, telephones, and any other illegal baby object you can think of. If he can push it, he will. For hours.

A newfound passion; stirring. This began in the kitchen, like most stirring does. However, after a few weeks of using his own spoon and bowl to stir while mommy cooks, he took his show on the road, and into the bathroom. Nowadays his favorite 'bowl' to stir is in the bathroom. With the toilet brush as the spoon. FYI - I do not promote this, however, in attempt to capture my entire child, rules had to be broken.

Playing in the shower. Not sure what the big deal is with this, but when he gets in it; he dances around and squeals with delight. It's fairly entertaining.

Like most children, I presume, we've entered the "I want to be outside. All day. Every day. No matter how cold it is. Or how much snow is falling. I want to be outside" phase. This has actually caused mommy to be very creative with the car/house transitions and re-directing has become my new favorite game. Of course, he is pretty cute...so he does get his way a few times.

Swinging, obviously, is still one of our favorites!

Playing with outdoor "swords" and kicking the ball (or as he says, 'cock ball', which I am aware we need to work on).

He's finally able to pick up the ball and throw it a few inches to Brodey. Thankfuly, Brodey has been fairly patient with this 1 year old's new arm.

Spotting airplanes and 'ka ka's' (birds). He gets REALLY excited about both, even though we live about 10 miles from a small airport and we see about 10 airplanes a day.

And of course, calling his Gigi on the telephone. He does this every day. If he sees me on the phone, he'll go get his pretend phone and say 'Gigi, Gigi' over and over. They have great talks.

Things not photographed:

He likes to sing now. At night after we read and say prayers, and he KNOWS he's about to go night night, he'll start humming to me. I love this, and he knows it...he also knows it buys him a few more minutes of rocking :)

Goldfish.

Climbing up the stairs.

The Turners. He loves his baby-sitter and her husband and children. He gets so excited to go over there every morning.

Cats. And this isn't good, considering both his parents have a fairly aggressive hatred for cats. When he sees a cat, he meows instantly (this sounds more like a shrill cry...maybe he hates cats too??)

His stars and lovie. He gets so happy to see both when we put him in his crib. It warms my heart knowing he goes to sleep every night content.

I'm sure I'll come back and add a few things that he's doing right now. I just love watching him learn and grow every second of every day. I still wonder how I got so lucky to be his mom. Don't get me wrong, we definitely have our challenging moments. The communication barrier can be frustrating for both of us. However, when he does learn a new word, or way to ask for things, its amazing to see how proud he gets and how excited me and his daddy get. These moments are very special, and something I look forward to watching for the rest of my life!

Such A Happier New Year!

Well, it doesnt get much better than this. We were able to spend the New Year with our best friends/fam a few weeks ago. We had such a great time watching these four monkeys running around... I fashioned these shirts for the them, pretty basic but very festive!
How cute are these hineys?? No fear...all heads were removed safely from the bars :)

What a difference a year makes...last year my boy recovering on New Year's Day from his tummy surgery. I'd say this year was a tad bit happier :)

I'd also say that I dont get to ever spend enough time with two of my favorite mommies. Love these girls so much and am happy I got to bring in the new year with two of my oldest friends (and I do mean "old" in every sense of the word...we were in bed approximately 7 minutes after the ball dropped). :)

Santa Gets to Greenville!

** Two new posts below this one. I know, I'm slack.

What a difference a year makes, huh?? A year ago on Christmas we were rushing Winston to the hospital because he woke himself (and us) up choking and barely able to breathe. Such a wonderful gift to spend this Christmas in the same place, with most of the same wonderful people, and have healthy little boy to share it with!

We got to Greenville Christmas Eve to make it to the Christmas Eve church service. I haven’t been to this in YEARS so it was awesome being there to celebrate with my new family! The children’s service was surprisingly quick (Normie actually referred to this as “the Christmas miracle”)

Christmas a.m. having pumpkin roll for breakfast and knowing that it's probably never going to happen again.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus Christ on Christmas morning and trying to explain (the best one can explain to a 1 year old) why we celebrate this special day. Checkin' out the goods! Santa was very nice to our healthy little fella this year.
He LOVED it!
Santa was also good to Chap. Brought him a gold mining kit (minus the gold, sadly) that the boys got to test out later Christmas Day down at the river. Too cold for me, no thank you!
Me and my Christmas cutie got to deliver some goodies to the neighbors.
Later on the kids (Normie and Chap) had an impromptu dodgeball game, in the living, with Winn's toys. Pretty sure I heard my dad say, "Alright guys...that's enough" a few times when the game got a little heated. Oh boys :)
Someone spies his airplane on the Christmas Tree...
The next morning, we had lots of snow in Greenville!! Such a wonderful ending to a perfect lil' holiday weekend!
This little boy makes me smile so much. I couldn't ask for a greater gift!
Opening LOTS of gifts from Aunt Mandy and Uncle Normie. Too many. They are officially on gift restriction.

Reading Winn's new book to him "Tree of True Gifts", made by his mommy. Gotta love those last minute ideas that take WAY more minutes than you really have! It is a very special book though, that I'm kind of proud of. It has all the people that love him unconditionally (his"true gifts") with their pictures so he can practice saying their names with their faces every night. Multi-purpose is my middle name :)
Our Christmas parade to bed singing the Marine Corps Hymn (in honor of my grandfather). He loved every minute.

I've often hoped and wondered how I could make my children's Christmas's mornings as special as my parents made for us? Even after I was married I still felt the magic of their love in Christmas morning. They've always put great care into making mine, and my brother's, holiday traditions perfect, comfortable, effortless, and memorable. The same is true of this year, which means even more because my son got to feel the magic I've felt for 30 years now! I can't thank them enough for the wonderful example they set. I know that with their help, their traditions, and their spirit, we'll be able to pass the wonderful feelings they started with us, onto the next generation of our children.

As written in Winston's "Tree of True Gifts" book,


Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for all of our true gifts. A family’s love is the best feeling anyone could ever have. We celebrate Jesus’ birthday because he is the one who taught us this.
We love YOU and are grateful for all your many blessings.

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, and Winston

Holidays in Hartsville!

How lucky are we that we get TWO Christmas days?? The weekend before the 25th, we travel to Hartsville to celebrate Christmas with the Rollings side. We always have so much fun watching the kids, and being kids ourselves. This year was no exception. If anything, it was even more special having our own child that was finally able to run around like a maniac, adding a little more to greater the cause of chaos!

Rollings spreading his Christmas cheer! Winn L-O-V-E-D Rollings this year. He thought he was hilarious!

Making icebox fruitcake. Don't let the word "fruitcake" fool you. This was a job for the rough and tough (a.k.a....me and Krissee, with a little help from Larry).
Our family Christmas picture!! (nobody better copy this...I am editing and gifting as b-day gifts this year, surprise!!)

Opening "Christmas Eve" gifts.

So grateful for this family and all the love and laughter they share with me and my little boy!! Chap is a wonderful friend, husband, and father because of his family. We love you all and look forward to many more Hartsville Holidays to come!

Tis the Season

Well, somehow the most wonderful time of the year has come...and gone...and this is my first post to share all the fun events we enjoyed prepping for the spcial day! At running the risk of sounding completely cliche, having a child does make the spirit of Christmas even more magical.

My sweet boys taking wagon trips.

Working on our Christmas carols with Uncle Norm and Daddy.
First time visiting 'ho ho ho' (what he says every time he sees a larger man in red).
Making Christmas cookies with my bff, Lee. And while mom was super excited about this event, poor guy didn't get to participate much (as I just didn't feel comfortable with him eating the raw dough.) Maybe next year.

Sweet little baby elves watching 'Rudolph'.

One of our favorite events, a PJ story telilng by Santa!! So much fun!

Sweet Santa even gave gifts AND took last minute orders.

Cutting down our Christmas tree! (Winn spotting Chap, you're doing good dad!)

My loves checking out their work.

He even got to play in/around the trees after the manly part was done. Boy, does this kid ever love a tree?!

We sure do love this Christmas tree farm. This was our 4th year getting our tree from this wonderful, family friendly place.

Enjoying some marshmellows after the big hunt. Trying his very best to choke himself :)

Last year during this time I was still recovering from my c-section and wasn't able to completely enjoy the festivities the way I normally would (thank God for my sis-in-law, Krissee, who helped me with everything!) This year, not only do I have an amazing husband to share the magic with, but I also have an energetic little man whose eyes light up at every Christmas tree, twinkling light, snowman, and holiday song. I always knew I loved Christmas, but even more now I love watching my child enjoy these special things just as much as I do! I don't have a picture of this, but my most favorite "prep day" we shared was making pumpkin rolls in the kitchen for about three hours, just the two of us. Dancing, stirring, and singing to Christmas songs for about three hours. I'll never forget it!