Mappy Birthmas and Herry Chrisday

Christmas time is a here!!! That means it is time for the annual Christmas Party with all our friends (11 of us!!) We always have a formal sit down dinner at one of our homes and use that fine china that we were given as wedding gifts. We all go way out to do everything just perfectly. This year there was a BIG huge twist! Three of our friends; Amanda, Steve AND Dave all have birthday's within three days of Christmas. This year was extra special because they are turning the BIG 30!!!! Kim, Katie and I all planned a surprise party along with Christmas dinner. The house was decorated perfectly for both occasions! It was great!! We manged to surprise them all the way up until they were walking over carrying all their food and gifts! (They could see all the decorations in the house on their way over.) We ate dinner, opened presents, and sent the three of them on a scavenger hunt around the town. They were given a driver, a camera, $10.00, and list of items to complete. They had 78 minutes to complete the list. (They were born in 1978.) Kim and I stayed behind as babysitters! The pictures were hilarious when they returned! Here are some of them from the fun night! This is the toilet cake that I made for them! That is blue jello with a Baby Ruth as the "you know what."Kim's house all decorated for the birthday party as well as Christmas!

Dave (being Silly), Amanda and Steve all ready to go on the scavenger hunt. They were given these t-shirts for them to wear. They were good sports!! Ready to blow out the candles!! Maya was there to help!
Family picture by the tree before the night got crazy!

Oliver is sitting on the gift that Katie got Ryan. What a perfect photo op!

Dave and Oliver opening presents.Oliver actually opening one of his gifts! Oliver says "presents all done?" Time to clean up!

Hanging out with Dave again! Katie made a game of 1978 trivia. We are testing Steve, Amanda and Dave to see who knows the most about life 30 years ago. Did you know that a gallon of gas was $0.63???

Christmas tree hunt

Have saws...will find large large tree! That can only mean that it is time for the annual Christmas tree hunt! This year we decided to tailgate before hand with donuts! I think we found a new tradition for sure!

Friends of ours gave us this snow suit. Since it was colder than normal on Saturday, we decided to give it a try. I have a feeling that this picture may need to disappear before Oliver is old enough to be embarrassed! He is going to be so angry with us when he is older! haha Isn't that the best thing about parenthood?? Anyone reminiscing about the movie The Christmas Story?

A view from the back.
We actually picked one of those trees in the background!

All the kids ready to go out in search for the prefect tree!

Oliver (who can't put his arms down) and daddy in the background cutting down our beautiful tree.

Close up of daddy working hard!Tree on the gator.
All decorated and beautiful! Look how precious Oliver looks pointing at the decorations! This is one of my favorite pictures. My two kids!!! Oliver is really good with the ornaments. He has his favorite few and usually only pulls them off. He is extremely more interested in the candles in the windows.
This is our family Christmas picture! What a big change from last year!

Hospital Stay- Croup

On our way home from Thanksgiving, Oliver came down with a terrible cough. He was really clingy and whiny when we were home, but we just thought it was new places, people and teeth. Long story short, we found the nearest hospital on our GPS and stopped to see what was making him feel so terrible. He had a fever of 102.2 and they gave us a prescription for a double ear infection. OUCH! We deviated from our trip for 2 hours to make him all better. As we drove more, he began to cough more and more and it was sounding worse and worse. We came home, unloaded the dog and belongings and attempted to go to bed. He just wasn't feeling good at all and was barking like a seal every time he coughed. So, we decided to take him to our local hospital. Thank goodness that we did, because after 9 hours in the emergency room, the doctors admitted him to the hospital for more monitoring. They did 2 breathing treatments in the ER and were not happy with his oxygen level. They described it as feeling like we were breathing through a straw. After he was admitted, they monitored him for a couple of hours and allowed us to go home around 3 in the afternoon! What a scary long day. I was totally freaked out when the pediatrician on call said that if he didn't respond to the second treatment, they were going to consider transporting him by ambulance or air to Children's Hospital! I went to freak out mode in about 2.2! Luckily, Larry is so strong he calmed me down. We compliment each other so well! Here is Mr. Happy (which he was the entire time we were in the hospital too) ready to leave to go back home.
My precious sick baby in a hospital gown. It wasn't so scary at this point so I can say that he looks so stinkin cute!

Our second trip to the hospital. This is after we were admitted. They allowed him to be unplugged from his heart monitor to run around a little.

Daddy all worn out. We had only a few minutes of intermittent of sleep in 2 days.
Daddy trying to get Oliver to take a little nap. I am not sure who wanted one more. Me, Larry or Oliver. After we were released from the hospital, we came home and took a super long nap. Thanks to Kim for taking care of Sophie while we were out of comission!

Birthday Presents

Aunt Christy bought Oliver this awesome toy for his 1st birthday. It is called the Laugh and Learn Smart Bounce and Spin Pony. It is interactive with the TV. Whenever he makes a move on the horse, it displays a motion on the television. IT IS AWESOME! It is a great toy because it grows with him. It teaches cause and effect, colors, letters, numbers, etc! We love it! He notices that all of his movements can be seen on the television. I think he is playing peek-a-boo now! Look how happy!

Grandma and Grandpa bought Oliver this tunnel and tent for his birthday! We LOVE this too!
We played with the tunnel first.

A view from inside the tunnel. A little coaxing and he was on his way.

HO HO HO

Every year Larry's work has a Children's Christmas Party. Santa flies in, lands, and welcomes all the children with a big HO HO HO! They all have the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap for a photo-op and are given a small gift that was brought in by the parents the week prior. Last year, Oliver was only a few months old. This year we were so anxious to see how he would react to everything new! Here are a few pictures to capture the excitement Oliver had that night!

They called Oliver's name because his gift was next in line. Larry walked him up, and set him on Santa's lap. Oliver, not so sure what to think, gives Santa the once over look.......

And just SCREAMS!! We have captured the classic Christmas picture! I love the look on Santa's face!

Daddy rescues him, but Oliver has no intentions of taking his eyes off that crazily dressed man!This is the gift that "Santa" gave to Oliver. Notice that Oliver's eyes are still in the direction of Santa. He is still processing everything! Why would my parents leave me on that man's lap??? I just wonder what he is thinking!ROARRRR! He loves his dinosaurs! To keep the children entertained, the place rolls of bubble wrap on the floor so that kids can run a muck! He gets quite loud, but is very fun to see the children running around...not to say they probably sleep well that night. Oliver didn't care for it too much this year. I bet next year will be different!



Coloring with his left hand. At this point, he is ambidexterous, but tends to favor his left hand. We'll see if he follows in the steps of his Aunt Christy and Grandpa Karl!

"ALL DONE!" After a fun filled night, Oliver is signing that he is ready to go home.

First Haircut

Oliver's hair is very slow growing except for a small section in the back. We began to notice that it was hanging over the collar of his shirts but were hesitant to cut it off because he actually had hair in one spot. (Pictures just don't do his blonde hair any justice!) After it began to resemble a mullet, we decided it needed to be cut off. So, daddy and I agreed that we would introduce our little man to the clippers and give him his first haircut! The show-tell-do method kind of worked. At least the first part. As you can see, he was very interested what the clippers looked like and even showed a keen interest when we turned them on. They felt kind of silly vibrating in his hands. He did very well, but got a little antsy towards the end. I can't blame him. What a new experience! I think it may be awhile before we need to make any more hair cut appointments, but we have a nice new set of clippers ready to go!