Drawing-Very Serious Business

Santa is REAL

Just in case some of you were not aware how real Santa is: While growing up my family with six children Santa always had a hard time finding spots for the gifts so he would end up putting one box of one person's gifts hidden, wrapped up in my mom's closet. I assumed this was just because of the amount of space but this year having Christmas with just our family we found that Santa did the same thing! Seriously he hid four(4) gifts for the family in my closet. So Spooky! We found them and now have "Horton Hears a Who", Beatrix Potter Collection on DVD, and "101 Dalmations" special edition. Alestair also got a new outfit out of this Hidden Santa find. I think Santa has this planned! I will keep you posted on next year...

Day After Christmas Wrestle

After another big breakfast, Alestair and Robert decided to "rest" on the floor. Alestair had his monies from Grandma Butler and when dad tried to take a look; Alestair attacked!

This is the preferred clothing for the week.

Merry Christmas!

Post Santa:

Our breakfast table set up by Santa.

Aunt Wendy was able to join us for the morning. We loved having her! It was hard to keep

Alestair in his room until she came. He was extremely excited when we told her she was coming. He actually squealed a few times and ran right past the presents to the door to let her in.

Breakfast was the Fee Sticky Buns...They never tasted so good! I think it was because I added double the nuts :). Of course they were a hit with Alestair he is actually trying to smile in the picture but eat as well and it came out looking a bit angry.First glimpses.... Alestair had us wear hats. We all had one.Aunt Wendy was the helper of choice to open presents. She gave him boots and socks which were the biggest hit. Its ok though Robert, Wendy and I were all excited about different presents he received and oooed each time. Grandma Fee gave a combine with a little man that comes out and you can put the Little People into it. Once the little people set was out that is all that mattered. The driver of choice is the black and white puppy at the moment.Alestair got so many things that he spent a few minutes trying it all out for the day. He got playdoh in his stocking and a shapes puzzle. Daddy gave a biplane that has working wheels and propellersAfter such a hard morning of excitement and playing Aunt Wendy, Alestair and Anabel all took a nap. Anabel of course had to be as close to the biggest sleeping person as possible.

Grandma Fee and Aunt Stacy found a card building set of Hogwarts. Robert and I built it during nap time two. It was fun and the best part is we can get more of the sets and build it bigger!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Robert and I have started our own family Christmas traditions this year. It has been very joyous! We decided to have our big dinner on Christmas Eve; thus leaving us with leftovers to pick at on Christmas Day. For our Christmas Eve dinner we made a turkey which even though being pounds smaller than the one on Thanksgiving gave us a ton more meat. We had Gingerbread man biscuits and cranberry sauce and corn and the most marvelous stuffing ever! Alestair helped Dad make the mashed potatoes. Everyone helped with the turkey. We got to use our china and silver this year as well. It was a lot of fun. We did miss everyone but it was really nice to have our little family celebrating.

Alestair acually sat through dinner too! It was amazing! Robert also grabbed some egg-nog and shared with Alestair. He loves it! You can not give him milk or juice or water after egg-nog because he will throw a fit! He actually took it out of the fridge to ask for some...so gross.

After we cleaned up a bit. Alestair got to open his Christmas Eve present(s). Slippers and Jammies! He let me take a picture of him just before we got in the car to look at lights. He looks soo big now that most jammies are comeing in two pieces. After the lights we came home and Robert read the Christmas story from the bible. Alestair and I tried to put the nativity set up at the right parts but he was so sure that everyone was to be lying down rather than standing up it didn't go so well. We then sang songs and watched The Nativity.

Alestair put out his letter and cookies and milk for Santa after this. Of course he had to steal a cookie to make sure they were still good.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve that was very peaceful...sure to be the last but still.

Making cookies for Santa

Alestair is really into helping lately. As you can see he was a gigantic "help" with cookie making. Notice he has drool all down his front as if the chocolate could not get to him quick enough. My most favorite picture is of him showing all of his teeth with chocolate smeared everywhere. He was so proud to help!

Dance Dance Dance

Alestair got really excited and danced to "Up on the Housetop". It was adorable. He was really disappointed when the song changed to jingle bells. Apparently that is a song that is not as danceable.

Tortillas!

Alestair and I made some tortillas for Robert to take as burritos to work. Alestair got his own rolling pin and rolled his dough out but then decided it needed to be eaten. (there are no raw eggs in this dough) He was a great helper with the flour spreading as well.

Cookie Party/Robert's Birthday

Grandma Fee and Aunt Stacy came up as a surprise after leading both Aunt Wendy and I to think they wouldn't be coming until Janurary. They arrived at 2am and scared Robert to death when they called his phone to have us open the door. This happened to be Robert's birthday and the day that Wendy and I were going to make cookies all day. It worked out well. After Alestair got Grandma and Aunt Stacy up we went to Home Depot to get moulding for the window that Robert was going to replace*. We then went to breakfast for Robert's birthday. Alestair threw a huge tantrum there in the IHOP. Very embarrasing. We then returned to set Robert to work (and Alestair to sleep) and Grandma, Stacy and I went to Freddy's to get odds and ends. We returned to a finished window and our efforts weren't quite as needed. Soon Aunt Wendy and Nic came with their new dog Bridget. She is soo cute and very good. She really showed Anabel how to act not that she did anything different.

This is Bridget.

Below: I call this the "Look Like Mom Moment." We all look alike here..weird.

We then began our prep for the cookie making. Since Grandma didn't have everthing quite ready she mixed her Mexican Wedding Cakes up and we pulled the pre-refigerated cookies that Aunt Wendy and I made (Ginger snaps and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies).

Aunt Wendy and Aunt Stacy began rolling the cookies and got a bit "cookie rolling drunk".

Stacy is a true beauty. Picture comentary for below: They are too stuck need to spatulas...very serious...how about I just eat the crumbs they aren't going to go home with anyone...again very serious business...not sure if she should cry or laugh. There are only two whole cookies.Aunt Wendy always makes the peppermint candy cane cookies...We acidently froze the dough and then forgot to spray the pans so they came out a bit different than planned. Still good! Thoughout the day we did take breaks. We had homemade burritos for lunch (fresh made tortillas by yours truly). Robert made some amazing meatballs as for dinner (shortcut buy Ikea meatballs). Grandma also got to open up her Christmas presents early--Picture blocks! Alestair liked having her tell him who was in the pictures. It was a fun day! A complete blast! Thank you Grandma Fee, Aunt Stacy, Aunt Wendy, Nic and Robert!

*Story with the window. About 2 hours after Robert left for an OSHA training (2days) trip; I took Anabel outside to her leash and left the door open as usual since Alestair likes to go with me. I came back to the door started pushing it open since it was closed (I thought it wasn't latched) Alestair shut it the rest of the way and as I was about to turn the knob he locked the door on me. So I had to kick the plexiglass window in. Thus Robert needed to replace it.

A boy and His Dog

Alestair loves ice and pretending to drink soda. He does NOT like soda nor do we give it to him much. He has tried sprite (its all this place had to drink seriously) and has sipped root beer which he likes but after sprite tasting he will not actually take a drink from a soda cup. He does steal soda cups because they have ice in them and he loves the ice. Anabel loves ice too. So they walk around like this with a cup of ice. Its really cute.

Bugaloo

Just because he is soo cute.

Stitches out!

Alestair went in for his well check of 15 and 18 months. We were unable to go in at 15 months due to moving and then couldnt get him in with the doctor we wanted for 16 months so they combined the two. He is a complete boy. His biggest complaint was that the doctor would not let him take the stitches out by himself. He has a really nice scar. He got 4 shots and didn't cry until the last one and then only until the nurse walked out of the room at which point he decided that we just needed to go. He is 31.5inches tall and 22.9lbs. His head is still huge in the 99th percentile. We actually thought it was going to drop into the 90th since it was finally in the 93rd but it grew again. He must have some great brains! His weight and height are still in the lower 20th percentile but the doctors say that they like his porotions so its all good. He is very healthy and impressed the doctor by talking in sentences. :)

First candy cane!

Alestair got to taste his first candy cane. He wasn't sure about it at first but since can't get enough.

This is how Alestair continues to decorate the tree. Notice the cow from his nativity set is under the branches.

Our Tree 2009

This year was the first year since our very first Christmas that we got a tree. We have driven up to Vancouver from LA for the last 3 Christmas celebrations and felt we didn't want to come home to a burnt up home so never got a real tree. Thus this year as we are starting our traditions and doing our thing, we decided to cut down our own tree. Unfortunately our little Everett area does not have a tree farm. I went to the Christmas Tree Association website and found as close a tree farm to Thornton's as I could. We went to Snohomish and my goodness it was NOTHING like Thornton's. They had two sheep...we call them Jesus sheep (story to follow). These sheep were for petting and they did not like people nor were they pet-able since they were nappy and wet it was gross. Alestair refused to touch them so we just got close. They had many trees that were not really pruned or anything like that but we finally found a very nice tree that Robert cut down and then hauled (it isn't that big) to the tree place. They had a nice little gift shop and hot chocolate/cider. We found a few things we liked there. Now this is where the "Jesus sheep" come in. As Robert is trying to pay for the tree and other items the woman who owned the tree farm with her husband started showing Robert this book about her sheep. She tried really hard to get him to buy it. In her words it was "full of miracles". It ended up being all about her sheep that she named after names in the bible and every time she did this something happened to the sheep and then a miracle followed. Needless to say we will not be going there again could not get out of there soon enough.

We put our tree up as soon as we got home. Alestair thought it was wonderful. It was a great time. I love decorating the tree. I have really missed it. Alestair loves the tree so much he walked around it for 3 days asking what every ornament was and telling me they were pretty. He was in awe. He continues to try to decorate the tree with his toys. They mostly just end up under the tree.

December 1

I can't believe its already December! I want to make sure that everyone knows our happy news! We will be welcoming a new baby boy to the family sometime in late April or early May (He is due May 1..hoping a little earlier). We are so excited! Alestair alreay knows and will show my belly to anyone who asks where the baby is. He will be a great big brother. Hopefully we will have overcome the habit of sitting on babies by then and moved to greater things like no diapers! This is yet to be seen. Unfortunately we lost our printer cord in the move and will be purchasing a new one but until then I can't scan the pictures in from the ultrasound.

The Rocking Horse

At Grandma Fee's home there is a rocking horse. Alestair got to ride it for the first time Thanksgiving morning before his nap. He sings when he rides it. It is really funny. I tried to sing with him once and he got off the horse and put his hand on my mouth and said "shh".

It was also this day at breakfast when Grandma Fee saw how long Alestair's hair was and that he not only had wings over his ears but a very long duck tail on his neck. Grandma Fee gave him a hair cut and in the fun of it all I for got to take pictures so you get to see the hair cut off in a bag. There is actually quite a bit of it but it didnt all bunch up. She cut about two inches off and Alestair looks much better! Thank you Grandma Fee!

We then travelled over to the Neil Butler home for a Butler Thanksgiving! We got to talk to Uncle Lee and Aunt Maki and got a present from them and Aunt Misty a new web cam! It was exciting we can soon skype Lee and Maki at our home!

Stitches

For those of you that are curious this is how the stitches looked 24hrs later (we had to leave the bandage and compression on for 24 hrs). They told us to not let Alestair move his knee for 24hrs which was insane to say the least. Alestair now will tell you about his owie but screaming and then pointing at his knee and saying "My owies" with a scrunched face.

BIG owies!

Around 5 on Sunday the 22nd Alestair somehow managed to cut his knee. He had gone to his room to get a toy and bring it to Dad who was waiting just outside his door. Alestair started screaming and Dad picked him up thinking he bumped his head or something since he didn't see any other issues. Then Dad saw blood on his shirt and Mom had to run and rescue both boys (Dad does not do blood). Since the cut was deep we decided it needed stitches. In the mist of being told how horrible it was by a crying son and screaming to hurry husband; I was smart to give Alestair some pain killers and get ice. I then called a new friend from our new ward and got directions to the hospital since all walk in clinics close at 3 on a Sunday.

The hospital was very quick and very clean and very empty. It was very unusual. Alestair didn't seem to mind the little pain he had and tried to continue to run around the waiting area. After the doctor came to see us the nurse put some numbing syrup on Alestair's cut after cleaning it (Alestair had no problems with this just wanted to watch it happen...pure boy). Up to this point he really hadn't cried; however the syrup stings for a few minutes and it made him scream. once the numbing happened Alestair decided he was fixed and tried to leap off the bed. The doctor came back and thought that since Alestair had been so good he could do the stitches without a nurse. He tried to do one and found that a nurse was needed. He then finished the other two and redid the first for a total of 3 stitches in Alestair's knee. During this process Alestair was not really crying but screaming because he wanted the needle and he could feel the pressure of the stitching.

The nurse and doctor gave Alestair a teddy bear and Alestair carried it with him all over the next two days. The cut was 1.5cm and very very straight. We still cannot figure out what he did it on since all of his toys and furniture are either too soft or would be jagged cut thus we are still at a loss.

A tiny student

Alestair has found that he can use his table and chair as a desk. He puts his books on the table situates his little tush in the seat and then calls for help getting the table properly placed in front of him. This last for a good 10minutes of him reading and giving me some rest.

Moving...

Since it was very late when our help arrived. Alestair was already asleep. We put him on our mattress topper and pushed him into a closet so he wouldn't get stepped on. Anabel decided it was time to sleep as well and joined him.

It was adorable. I was going to post video of the Robert and Seimici (our friend to came to help) sliding down the stairs but they won't post so use your imagination. Robert's ride was bumpy and Seimici's was very smooth and fast. Dave's ride didn't get on video but wasn't so hot.

Alestair Pan

While packing Alestair found my Peter Pan hat. He is now obsessed with it! If he sees it he has to have it on his head. If it falls then he stops everything to put it on.