Watch out...

Our son knows how to work my car remote!

Christmas 2011: Part I

On Sunday (December 18th), we took Mamo to church with us. This was her first visit to Desperation Church & fell in love with it. I don't understand how anyone could not love this church from the very beginning! After church, we grabbed lunch at Five Guys (Mamo's first experience with their food & enjoyed the burger a lot!) before heading to her apartment for early Christmas presents. She was so surprised with her Walmart gift card! By the time we left, she had already made a list of needs. Stryker enjoyed his teddy bear & 2 Christmas tree ornaments. Thank you Mamo. We loved spending time with you yesterday.

Mamo giving Stryker his presents

playing with his ornaments (bell & santa star)

he held onto his bear the whole time



We spent the afternoon setting up an early Christmas present from Coco...a trampoline!!!

Stryker trying to help daddy, but really only kept putting the stacked pieces back in the box!

Fletch & Logan putting the finishing touches on the trampoline!

what child doesn't like a box?!

time to jump!!!!

so much fun

kept zipping it up so nobody could join him

having fun with Coco

Thanks Coco for the awesome gift!!!

Stryker's t-shirt that he made at school. Look how big his feet are?!

Stryker's 21 & 22 months old!

I'm behind on posting about Stryker turning 21 months but here are the updates now for 22 months (December 15th).

• wears size 6.5 or 7 shoes, size 2T - 3T shirts, size 5 diapers, size 12-24 month pants


• loves popsicles before he goes to sleep at night


• still wants to sleep in his own crib every night


• sleeps through the night still (goes to bed around 8:30pm & wakes around 6:30 or 7am)


• talks all the time (starting to say phrases such as "that dog", "red/blue/purple/yellow ball or other item", "tv please", "more please", "more tea please")


• still hyper & loves to play rough


• beginning signs of the "terrible two's" - we do a lot of telling him no while tapping his thigh, along with prayers for guidance in the correct way to discipline our child


• eats all day long but small meals (guess he got that from me)


• has started drinking juice (calls it "juuu") - now he wants milk, sweet tea, juice, or water


• will take a hold of your hand to lead you somewhere he wants to go


• potty training has been a success so far!!! - no accidents during the day; will begin sleeping without a diaper during naps this week; will begin potty training all the time at the beginning of the year (day & night)


• will name some colors correctly - yellow, red, blue, purple


• counts 1, 2, 3

curled up in daddy's chair watching his dvd while mom & dad had to sit on the couch

Stryker & Coco watching the neighborhood kitty cat eat at Coco's house

being dramatic with his flying toy

Our pastor has some serious skills!

Monday, December 12th, Desperation Church had a Christmas party at Stonebridge Farms in Cullman for all the small group leaders. It was such a beautiful place with amazing food. After dinner, there was karaoke!! Didn't realize Andy (our pastor) had such skills!

opening karaoke song

rapping

some more rap

Here comes Santa Claus...on a train!!

Sunday, December 11th our families took Stryker on a Santa train ride in Calera. It was Stryker's first experience on a train plus the added bonus of seeing Santa Claus! I would suggest this train ride to everyone. It lasted about 45 minutes & worth every minute. The Santa was one of the most originals that I've ever seen & Stryker loved being able to run around the train during the ride along with all the other children. Each child on the train received a beany baby snowman ornament from Santa. Next year, we would like to take the train ride at night so we can see all the Christmas lights.

waiting in the Calera train stop

standing in front of an old train car

boarded the train!

We were able to get in a section where 3 seats faced each other with lots of leg room for Stryker to run around in. Pictured above: Coco, Fletch, grandmomma, Stryker, & Uncle Cody

loved looking out the window

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas everybody!!

Stryker held daddy's shirt tight as Santa reached for him.

love how Stryker is clinching daddy's shirt while cutting his eyes at Santa

with the train conductor

All of the workers were extremely polite. They are all volunteers so we definitely received a thank you from our family afterwards.

Outside with another old train

of course, Stryker wanted to climb on all of the train cars

Having fun during Christmas time

Logan putting lights on our main tree

Stryker wanted to help hold the ladder for daddy

Stryker making sure daddy didn't miss any spots!

sharing his popsicle with his "ho ho" (Santa)

Our sponsored child from Zambia

As I wrote in a previous post, we sponsored a child through World Vision. His name is Dickson (1 of 5 children) from Zambia. Dickson's birthday is the same as our (1st miscarriage) child's birthday, April 9th. I love to see his smiling face! We received a letter in the mail from him last week & enjoyed reading it as a family. The next night we wrote him a letter along with some surprises tucked in the envelope! We look forward to getting to know him & sharing the Word of Jesus with him.

ready to mail to Dickson!

Dickson's letter (a sponsor named Moses helped him write it)

our letter to Dickson

sorry the pic is upside down, but here are his surprises (silly putty, pencils, & tic tac toe game)