Winter Whirlwind!

It is hard to believe that Christmas was already 3.5 weeks ago and we are now looking toward the end of January! Over the last month, our house has been full of chaos, but also full of fun, laughter and love. What else can we ask for?

Christmas this year brought new-found excitement as John understood more about opening presents. He was thrilled by the paper and the ripping sound it made! Prior to Christmas, Phil and I decided to take all of John's toys out of the packaging and put them together so he could play with them right away. Great idea, but then John was so involved in playing with the first present, he didn't want to open any others! He was able to expand the Christmas fun into both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning!

So big!

Grandpa and John after Mass on Christmas Eve

John opening his first present on Christmas Eve. Check out the Elmo pajamas!

Trying out the new vacuum! Now I can help Mommy and Daddy clean!

More presents! It's an Alphabet Train!

This year, we all stayed at my mom and dad's on Christmas Eve. It was great to be able to get up Christmas morning and have that time all together as a family before we all went our separate ways to see the other sides of our families. Santa brought John the Racin' Ramps Garage and he was thrilled to see how fast he could zoom his cars down it!

On the afternoon of Christmas Day, Phil's family came over to our house. We had a great time relaxing with them as well! Papa Bob and John had to get a picture in their matching flannel shirts/jackets!

Grandma Joan and Papa Bob gave John a basketball hoop and baseball set for Christmas! He was so excited to dunk the ball in the basket! He figured out he could throw it too! Uh, oh!!!

Phil HAD to show him how it was done, right? hahaha!

Smiles all around!

Our Christmas Tree

A few days after Christmas, I was gone for the day and John had Daddy time. They were putting away the decoys Phil received for Christmas and John was helping him unpack them.
I'm sure that's all this was.... pay no attention to the outfit Phil also put John in for "daddy day"....I'm SURE it's not a camouflage onesie and brown pants.....

Over New Year's, we headed up north with Phil's family. John enjoyed making muffins with Mom and Grandma Joan! He was mad when we had to stop stirring them and put them in the oven!

While we were there, Phil and I both commented on how glad we were to have taken the extra car space to bring John's toys, since all he wanted to do up north was vacuum and play with Grandma's pots and pans....

Spoons and bowls...

and don't forget the Rice Krispies!

Watch me pour!

We had an incredible time at home with John over our Christmas and New Year's break, but like all good things in life, it ended too quickly! However, we really didn't help ourselves have a completely relaxing break, since we decided to put our house on the market now, rather than this summer as we had originally planned! Since Jan. 3, we have packed up, organized, cleaned and touched-up our house in hopes that someone will walk into it after it goes on the market next Monday (the 25th) and fall in love with it just as we did! We love Waconia and will continue to live in the area, but are looking for more space and all bedrooms on one level. No, we are not expanding our family just yet, but would prefer to not have the chaos of moving when we do down the road! With not knowing how fast our house will sell, we decided to go ahead with it now when the market is positive for both buying and selling. We're saying some prayers that this will be an easy transition for us and one that is relatively stress-free!

John continues to be active and full of energy, but a great helper as we have been busy around the house the last two weeks. He has helped us pack some of our things, as well as unpack them the moment we have completed the box! Life with a one year old is interesting! He continues to become more independent and intrigued with things, especially when he knows mom and dad are busy. For instance, when the Realtor was at our house last week to sign papers to put our house on the market, John decided to investigate the toilet. He had never paid attention to the toilet before, but since this seemed like a great time, he lifted the lid and proceeded to play in the water! We had to laugh (but not in front of him, of course!). Thankfully, he hasn't investigated it again since! Bedtime lately has been a bit of a challenge as John is now smart enough to realize that when he cries, eventually one of us will go and check on him. He has been waking during the night as well, which means some sleepless nights for all of us. We are working on changing that pattern and are hoping teeth are not going to throw us off again!

We are looking forward to warmer weather and can't wait to see what the spring holds for us!

Time to Celebrate!

What a December it has been! As Christmas is upon us, and this blog entry has been in the works for the last few weeks, it is time to complete it!

John is growing into quite the little man these days. He keeps us busy by emptying the Ziploc bag drawer and pushing the laundry around the house to help "sort" it in various rooms! He is also quite the little charmer when he wants something! John has loved having the Christmas tree up in our living room and honestly, I think he's going to miss it when it's not up anymore! Every morning when we turn on the lights, John responds with a "Wow!" and then runs up to sniff it (it's a real tree). He has been great about not touching it, other than one tired night when he ran up and pulled some of the lights off the bottom of the tree. However, we weren't surprised, as it was followed by John running through the kitchen opening every drawer he could now reach and pulling out the towels, dishcloths, and baggies! I guess it's time to complete our level 2 of baby-proofing!

John continues to be a great eater as well! He has tried many new foods lately and loves deli ham and turkey, along with carrots, beans and peas! We are finally expanding our food interests! Many peas and beans have sat on his tray and been played with during dinner before they finally looked appealing one night to put in his mouth! Thankfully, he liked them and realized this was what those yummy vegetables looked like that he had enjoyed pureed for so long!

Here are a few pictures of John over the last month!

He's sporting the Johnnie football jersey! I see a future Johnnie before us!

John is loving dinnertime!

John thoroughly enjoys coloring, so we decided to get him his very own crayons and coloring book. Thankfully, they are washable crayons, since the first time he used them, he had a white onesie on, and enjoyed seeing all the colors he could draw on his tummy!

John is also obsessed with the phone and will walk around with his play phone to his ear and say "hello!" Every time our phone rings, he'll also answer with hello as he walks through the house. I decided to let him press the buttons and play on our actual phone, since I was right there. However, then he dialed someone. Game over!

One of John's favorite things is our dog, Daisy. He saw the movie, "Santa Buddies" advertised on TV and was thrilled, so we got the movie for him to enjoy. He carries it around with him and points to the puppies on the front. He was very excited the first time we watched a little of it.

John loves playing with his cookie jar and sorting the shapes!

He pours anything and everything!

Thanksgiving weekend we took some family pictures. Here is John being silly!

He loves the Christmas tree!

Helping sort the baggies...

When we were doing laundry one night, John climbed in the basket...with the clothes! I guess he remembered the ride he had in the basket a few weeks before!

This is the first time John fed himself with his spoon. He was enjoying his yogurt and didn't want mom and dad's help anymore! He had explored putting things on his spoon before, but hadn't made it to his mouth with anything. Such a big boy!
Enjoying a ride with Papa Bob!

John loves his new ball popper. The best part about it is that it blows his hair!

John putting the first ornament on our tree!

We were in silly mode one night before bed!

Graduation! On Dec. 18, Phil and I graduated together with our Master's degree. It was an extremely long and exhausting day, but one well-worth the wait!

On this night before Christmas eve, and with the snow whipping by the windows, we wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and safe travels! May you enjoy rest and relaxation!