Christmas in Michigan

We went to Michigan to spend Christmas with our families. Alex did amazingly well on the 10 1/2 hour drive and thankfully we had clear roads and uneventful travel.

A little "car seat hair" after a nice nap....


Alex's first experience with snow was a dirty snowbank at a gas station stop - and he loved it...

Thankfully he got to experience some clean snow once we arrived in Michigan. First stop was my (Julie's) parent's house. Papa bought Alex a sled and it was a HUGE hit - pure glee as Eric pulled him around the yard. ONLY Daddy was allowed to pull him on the sled, if I tried he would start to fuss until Eric took over the reigns again.

Happy we don't have to suit up like this every time we go outside to play in Alabama....


SNOW FUN....SLEDDING FUN....




Just listen to the squeals of pure happiness.....

Presents

Dear Family,
Your presents were once wrapped so nice and beautiful....but they may not appear that way once you actually receive them. Alex thought that the pile of presents needed a little reorganization...

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Alex and his girl, Hastings, were showing each other some love this weekend... Jaime told Hastings to give Alex a kiss and they were just too funny.....



Here's a flashback to their first date together...

17 Months Old

Our little man is 17 months old!

Here is what he is up to these days....

Talking:
Alex is talking up a storm and repeats a lot of what we say. I need to start writing down all of his words, but here is a little sampling of new ones he is saying: "bootball"(football), "choo choo" (trains), "turtle", "tree", "cracker", "cookies" (thanks to Grammy's special package :), "No No" (he may hear this once or twice a day), "Whazat" (What's That?).

Alex has started to point to himself and say his name, but I can't even think of how to type what he is saying - he is consistent with what he says - it is almost like Dalex??? (maybe from when we called him Dallas all those months in the womb?? : )

*He has had a rough month of sleeping - between getting in his molars and a nice runny nose/cold that is on Day 10 and other unknown reasons/wanting mommy?? :), Alex and Mommy have seen each other way too much between 1:00 am - 5:00 am lately!

*We were working on making the move to one nap a day, but with the rough sleeping at night we have had to go back to 2 naps a day on some of the days he doesn't sleep well at night.

*Alex is still a pretty good eater -he must feed himself and loves to use his utensils...new favorite food - having Quaker Oat Squares like mommy for breakfast.


*Alex doesn't care how cold it is - outside is still his favorite place to be. Unfortunately it has been freezing! Eric got creative over the weekend and made Alex a fun fort to play in....


*Favorite toys/things to do = push things around the house or outside. We brought his shopping cart and lawn mower inside and he is happy as can be pushing it around the house and loading and unloading it.

*Loves to "reorganize". Alex spends lots of time rearranging the shoes in my closet, the bathroom cupboards, the book shelves and drawers in the office, etc.


*Alex is still pretty easy going and happy for the most part. A few toddler moments are peaking up now and then - especially when he is tired. Unfortunately, he has started swatting at Eric and I to show his frustration if we say NO or take him away from something he wants to do....so, let the fun fun days of disciplining a toddler begin.

*Still a total Daddy's Boy. Lately when Eric gets home from work Alex pulls on Eric's legs and says "up" constantly and just wants Eric to hold him.

*Torments Buddy ALL DAY long - he always wants to be petting,laying by, and touching Buddy..... Buddy not such a fan of all of this "affection".

*Alex is a sweet boy and it is so much fun to watch him grow and learn and I am amazed daily at what he learns just by watching us and imitating us.

Let me tell you a little bit about Shutterfly

Okay so apparently getting the 50 free cards from Shutterfly involves a little more than simply mentioning them in a blog post, so here is my new post that meets all of the requirements.

I have been browsing Shutterfly's new Christmas cards all day and they have so many great designs. They offer a lot of options with lay out, color scheme and number of pictures. I am really excited about the card that we created this year. Check out their designs here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

I have also used their site in the past to make great photo books. I am not a scrap booker, so Shutterfly allows me to make great keep sakes. They are high quality and have turned out really nice. Check out some options here: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts

Shutterfly offers great options for gifts and cards all year long and many family members received some personalized birthday cards this year complete with pictures of adorable Alex of course. Check out some of these choices here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery

Be sure to look for our Christmas card coming soon and check out this great promotion to get some free Christmas cards for yourself at http://bit.ly/sfly2010

And what would a blog post be without some pictures of Alex - so here is a little flashback to last year's Christmas card....

FREEZING!

Apparently we are being prepared early for our upcoming trip to Michigan, because if you went outside at all this week you would think you were in Michigan!! It is FREEZING outside with lows at night in the low 20's and daytime temps with wind chills in the 30's.

Great timing for our downstairs heat to go out .....we are accustomed to seeing Eric in sleeveless shirts and shorts....not so much these past mornings.....


Alex does not seem to mind the cold - and he can't stand to be stuck inside, so we have been braving the weather for a little bit of play time outside this week.....

Dutch Deal

You know I can't turn down a good deal... I have come across this offer on several different blogs that I read...

Shutterfly is offering 50 FREE cards if you blog about them. You can go to http://bit.ly/sfly2010 to see the details and what all you have to do to get the deal.

I was planning on doing Christmas cards anyway, but who doesn't love some free stuff. Now I just have to find some Christmas card worthy pictures...I am debating trying to do a semi-posed/candid Christmas shot of Alex or just use some different candids from the past year. He has changed so much that I feel I should do an updated pic...but here is how the first attempt went ;)

Seriously, where did that comb over come from??