Christmas Day

Earlier in the week, while I was wrapping gifts, Wes started putting Ryan's big gift together. We got him a play kitchen as well as a ball pit and a few little toys. Here is Wes beginning the assembly.

Luckily, it didn't take too long to get it all put together. You will notice that Santa left Mommy and Daddy some gifts for Ryan - a potty and a stepping stool. Ryan has become very interested in all things potty. We aren't starting potty training, but figured we could get him used to the idea and go from there. He is also really into washing his hands and asks to do it ALL the time, so maybe this will help him along.

Ryan must have known Santa came because he was up bright and early. We got the video camera ready and followed him into the dining room. I didn't know how he would react, but he was so precious. He said, very emphatically upon walking in the room, "Oh Wow." It made me melt :) He did go straight to the ball pit (which we were kind of hoping for the kitchen), but we eventually guided him in that direction and he got excited all over again. He loves them both so much, and begs to play Kickin' all day long!

He likes to try and climb in the tiny holes, gets stuck, and then demands for assistance! He is also loving throwing the balls at people as they pass by!

 Taste testing his creations

  He had to press every button, open every door, inspect all of the food. You name it, he did it!

He then wanted to test out his potty. He was taking some business calls.

He was able to play with his toys for a long time Christmas morning, which made him a very happy boy. Now he is really into demanding that you "PAY" with him 100% of the time. No more sitting on the couch, laying on the floor, cooking, etc. You must be sitting next to him participating in whatever it is that he wants to do. Santa was good to us as well. I have been wanting a china cabinet to finally pull all of it out  and maybe actually use it after almost 4.5 years. So here it is!

We did something a little different this year and went to church Christmas morning. When we pulled up, there was no more than 25 cars in the lot, so we made sure we had the right time since there was only one service and took Ryan to the nursery. It was a really nice service and Ryan did surprisingly well (even met a friend named Abby, who he is still talking about). We picked up Starbucks on the way home and just relaxed while Ryan napped. When he finally woke up, we headed over to my parents for dinner. We enjoyed a bunch of delicious wine, beef tenderloin, and way too many snacks and sides. He was spoiled once again with a t-ball set, Fisher Price touch-learning pad, trucks, guitar, puzzles, you name it. This time he was into the ribbons and sitting on the presents. He takes his present opening very seriously.

 Scoot and Alissa got him a dump truck. He pushes it all over our house saying "Vroom, Vroom."

 I own this

CoCo and Poppy were nice to us as well getting me a new pair of sunglasses and purse and Wes a new watch. We had a really nice time, and when we got home Ryan threw one of the biggest fits of his life. He remembered the kitchen was in the dining room after about 20 minutes of being home (this is past 9pm, mind you) and demanded to go play. So we let him for a few minutes, but when it was time to stop, he threw his biggest tantrum to date. Oh what we have to look forward to!

We wrapped up the Christmas celebrations with Wes' dad coming into town the next day as well as Jon and Megan coming over in the afternoon for some rib eyes (we ate a bunch of red meat last week!). Grandpa got him a sweet climber/slide for outside which he is pretty excited about. It's hard to get out of the house now without needing to make a stop, which is never a quick thing.

We truly are blessed with such wonderful families and had a great Christmas break spending it with family and friends. If I could change one thing, it would be to get Ryan's bedtime back to normal!! If that is my biggest complaint, I think we did okay. This year was a ton of fun with Ryan, but I think next year will be even more fun and am already excited :)

Christmas Eve Recap

I am sure this post is going to be obnoxiously long, but it's more for memories sake than anything else. We have had a busy December as I am sure most of you all have had. We kicked off Christmas celebrations with two holiday parties along with Wes' MBA party at Minutemaid. The week before Christmas we went out to Sugarland to my Aunt Vivian's house for the annual enchilada dinner with my dad's side of the family. I made these yummy cheesecake stuffed strawberries I found on Pinterest. HERE is a link to the recipe, it was super easy and delicious.

I love how all of the babies are getting a little older and having more interaction with each other. Ryan had a great time following Jackson around (who is 4) and once we got home (and even still), he asks about Jackson all of the time. We have all of the Christmas cards on a hanger/holder in our hallway and everyday he likes to make a stop to point out all of the people he knows (lately that includes, Scotty, Jackson, Will, Santa, Scoot, Alissa [Yay Ya], Braden, Jill, Matt, and Finn [a boy from his school]). It's the daily roll call.

Earlier this month, Ryan, CoCo, and I went to Mad Potter because I had bought a Groupon earlier this year that was about to expire. He did the handprints and then my mom entertained him the rest of the time so I could paint the plate. I was just impressed he let the lady put paint on his hands and didn't go crazy!

Wes was off of work for almost two whole weeks, so we have had a lot of quality family time together!  We were able to go see two movies, have a nice dinner at La Griglia, and catch up with a bunch of friends. Christmas Eve we headed to my parent's house for a lasagna lunch with my mom's side of the family. Ryan had fun with his 2nd cousin Scotty and even was leaning in to give him hugs. We played a fun dice game called Left/Right/Center that you play with a bunch of $1 bills, and even though I didn't win, it was a lot of fun - I already ordered it to have at our house :) Ryan received some blocks, cars, and money. It was the first time he really "opened" presents. He was pretty excited to rip off the paper, and of course, couldn't care less about the actual presents. He is however, very keen on what an actual present is now and has definitely added that word to his vocabulary.

This is the best one I could get. Ryan really isn't into actually looking into the camera for pics, much less smiling on command.

 Stacy and baby Hadley (Christine and Scott's new lil one)

 Christine and sweet Scotty

 MaMaw, CoCo, and Ryan

 Ryan attempting the hug (always is more of a lean in)

 MaMaw with 3 of her great grandchildren

 Yay Ya and Ryan (probably his best smiling pic all weekend)

 I think this was the only family pic we took all throughout the holidays.

After Ryan got up from his nap, we headed to Sugarland in the pouring rain. We celebrated with Wes' immediate family that evening. We sipped on Poinsettias while opening presents. Ryan had gotten the hang of it by this point in time. GiGi got him a basketball hoop (not sure who loves it more, Ryan or Wes), some clothes, toys, etc. We are all very spolied by some giving parents!

 Opening Allie's gift

 a Pirate Ship!

 Wes' mom got him a Kindle Fire (he is hooked on it and now can't give me a hard time about always being on my IPad)

 Jon and Megan - posing with his waders

 Ryan with Aunt Allie 

GiGi got me a new lens for my camera - which I can't wait to learn how to use! We had a wonderful prime rib dinner and finished up with some chocolate crinkle cookies, and my fave - Mexican Train :) I think I may break this up into two posts because I have so many pics. So stay tuned!

Christmas Festival

Our neighborhood has an annual Christmas Festival at the park near our house. Last year, we took Ryan and you can see my post about it here. We thought he would definitely have more fun this year since he would be able to participate more. I was wrong! First of all, it was about 45 degrees and Ryan has never been big on hats, mittens, etc, so I hadn't even bought him any yet for this winter. Well, apparently I hadn't thought it through, but there was no way he could play in the fake snow/ice without gloves, oops! Fail number one. We met a few friends of ours up there, so that was nice. The kids enjoyed hot chocolate and donut holes. Ryan had a nice chocolate 'stache.

We tried to go into one of the bouncy houses that was age appropriate, and after Ryan was trampled on by two kids about 3-4 years old, he started boo-hooing and we had to quickly lean in to get him. Fail number two. So we decided to ride the train around the park like we did last year (remembering how much fun he had on it last time). Well, five adults and three children in one train car was probably not the best idea. We settled in and took off with a sigh of relief that the lawnmower/conductor car was able to pull us. Well we take the first big turn, and I say to Wes, "whew, we made the turn" and just as the 3rd car began the turn, BAM! There goes the lawnmower/first car pulling away from the rest of us. Fail number three. We felt pretty bad thinking we had ruined it for everyone else waiting in line. Luckily, the lawnmower was able to hook up to the 3rd car and have a little short train the rest of the morning.

We decided not to traumatize Ryan with the Santa there and save that for another day. So we decided to resort to old faithful and spent the next hour or so on the playground. He had a blast! Dad and Ryan did the big boy slide a few times. He has a love/hate relationship with this slide. It seriously is about 15-18 ft. in the air!

Ryan would do his new favorite thing, NO! over and over again with the slides. What you can't see is that there are slides on both sides of him. He would go sit up on the landing, pretend he was going to go down one slide, so Wes and I would move to that side and say okay come on. Then sure enough, he would quickly say "No!" and immediately turn and go down the other slide. He's such a little prankster.

We had a fun morning at the park with different friends we have met in the neighborhood. That evening we attempted Lights in the Heights with the Turners. To say it was a bust is an understatement. The lights were unimpressive, the streets were way overcrowded, the bands/carolers were set-up 1-2 houses apart. It was just a mess. We spent more time parking and getting to the actual streets than we spent actually there. On top of that, with little kids, we were trying to make sure they weren't freaked out by the crowds, I think I only actually looked at 4 or 5 houses. We'll have to really consider attempting it again next year. Oh well, I think Ryan still had fun being all bundled up in the stroller, staying out late :) He was amped up when we got home at 9:15!