Meeting Santa 2013

Santa visited Tim’s office this year! He really knew how to make a special appearance … there were all kinds of decorations and a craft room with snacks and cookies! Alex was pretty nervous about sitting on Santa’s lap, even though he had talked to him earlier this week at the mall. Luckily, we had no tears and even a cute smile! Finally, a picture of Alex and Santa! Spencer behaved, too – he really just looks confused as to why Tim put him down.

Since I love looking at old pictures, here is Alex from Christmases past.

Christmas 2010	Christmas 2011
Christmas 2012	Christmas 2013

Getting Ready for “Chrism”

Alex has a terrific vocabulary these days, but he is still pretty stubborn about his pronunciations. So, we celebrated “Chrism” this year instead of Christmas. His version has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Even though Tim and I had decided to hold off on Chrism decorations every year until after Alex’s birthday, I couldn’t help but hang up our felt tree early. Alex was super excited and it opened the door to all kinds of fun conversations about Chrism and Santa and presents.

Decorating his first “Chrism” tree of 2013.

I love all the stars at the top!

We also went to the mall with friends to visit a “snow” exhibit and to see Santa. The Santa was really nice and would talk to the kids, even if pictures weren’t being purchased. I wasn’t able to take a picture, but it was great practice for Alex. He told him he wanted tools for Chrism.

Playing in the “snow” (shredded Styrofoam)

A pic with my boys on the ice throne.

Christmas Tree 2013

I really wanted to cut down a tree this year, but the weather just wouldn’t cooperate. It was either cold or rainy the first two weekends of December, and we couldn’t wait much longer than that to get our tree! So, we went up the road to my favorite produce stand and picked out a very pretty tree. We were going to let Alex pick, but he kept picking all the Charlie Brown trees. He ended up picking out a new star for the top of the tree instead!

Alex loved looking at all the trees.

Family “selfie” in front of our tree.

Alex really enjoyed hanging the ornaments on the tree this year.

Spencer is 5 Months

Spencer is growing so quickly! I can’t get over how quickly things are happening: he plays independently in his exersaucer, he can sit up to play for about a minute on his own, he loves spending time on his belly and really wants to crawl. Unfortunately, he’s not sleeping too well … I think he just wants to practice all his new skills. Or maybe he just wants to be with Alex … he is obsessed with Alex and is always scanning the room for him and trying to reach him. I love it! We’re introducing rice cereal and have given Spencer a small taste of sweet potatoes. He still isn’t much of a fan of formula or bottles, but at least we can trick him into drinking a little formula from a sippy cup.

Here are some pictures from earlier this month:

And now for my favorite part of this monthly post … Alex and Spencer side by side:

Alex … 5.5 months

Spencer … 5.5 months

And … since I’m so far behind on my blog, here’s a bonus video of Spencer:

Alex’s 3rd Birthday Party

Alex had a busy day on his birthday! He came downstairs to find balloons, streamers, a banner, and presents. The boy definitely figured out it was his day to open presents. After every guest arrived to his party, the first thing he would do was look for another present. After opening presents, he played with his little friends and had a blast. Thanks to everyone who helped make Alex’s birthday a special day!

Alex and Rowen playing with Alex’s new toys.

Paging Dr. Alex!

Alex quickly mastered the controls of his new “dig”.

Alex worked so hard to blow out his candles.

I wish this weren’t blurry, but you can still see the proud excitement after blowing out the candles.

I hope my sweet boy will always kiss me!

Liam, Rowen, and Alex … taking a quick cake break.

Alex is 3 Years Old!

Remember this little guy? He’s come a long way, hasn’t he?

It’s amazing to think I’ve been a Mommy to Alex for 3 years now! These past three years have been the most amazingly awesome years of my life and I can’t wait to see what other adventures life with Alex will bring me.

Here are his stats from his 3 year check-up:

Height: 37.5 in … 45 %ile (gained 2.5 inches since last year)

Weight: 33 lbs, 13 oz … 72 %ile (gained about 6.5 lbs since last year)

Alex and Spencer posing by the Christmas tree at our pediatrician’s office.

A fun montage of videos from the past 2 months.