Oberheim Christmas Party

On Friday night, Mike's parents had friends and family over for a get together, as it is just going to be immediate family over on Christmas day. I was thankful I drove Andrew around for his second nap, so he could stay up a little longer at the party. I couldn't get him to fall asleep for his second nap, so I drove him around town until he fell asleep. The party started at 6, and he usually goes to bed at 6:30 to 7 on days where he doesn't fall sleep on his second nap, so I knew getting a second nap was crucial. We left to go home at 7:45, and he did a really great job hanging in there until that time!

One of his favorite things to do over at their house is to play with the magnetic letters on the fridge. Santa bought Andrew a box of his very own letters to go under the tree tonight!

Do NOT take my picture while I am eating my cheese.

Opening some of his presents...

Before I close this one out, here are a couple of pics from him earlier in the day. He just LOVES Jez's dog toys. You would think that this house was not bursting from the seams with his toys....

The Oberheim and Woodsmall Gift Exchange

On Tuesday, Tammy and I got the kids together again so they could exchange gifts. Kaden brought another beautiful picture he drew, but this time it was for me instead of Andrew. The picture was of snowmen and even had my name on it. He is just so thoughtful and sweet. Upon taking off his coat, Kaden asked where the presents were, which made us burst out laughing. Here is our attempt at a "group shot." I had to give Andrew an ornament just so he would stay in the same vicinity as them.

Andrew received the Little People Play and Go Castle, shown here by Peyton:

The castle was a good choice!

Peyton received a Minnie Mouse blender set, which drew a lot of excitement...Andrew included! The blender came with fake ice cubes and fruit, as well as Minnie glasses. Andrew kept walking over to the box and smiling. Kaden asked Peyton over and over again if he could play with it later, and she told him no each time. After getting turned down numerous times, Kaden tried one last time and said, "Hey Peyton, are you SURE you don't want me to play with this later?" He said he wanted to put one of those lemons on his glass.

Kaden got some Toy Story hot wheels, but prefers not to have his photo taken. You can't blame the poor kid. Tammy and I are snapping pictures like paparazzi every time we are together. It is in this picture that I told him I wanted to get a picture of one of the cars.

Buddies...

Before leaving, I gave Tammy back one of the toys she had borrowed to Andrew. It wasn't long before all the new toys were forgotten and they all gathered around the old one.

Even though the kids stopped over for about 30 minutes, Andrew was so worn out from the play date that he took a three hour nap. When he woke up, we opened his new castle so he could play with it.

Tuesday just got even better, because I got to meet Tammy and Emily for lunch at Chipotle. Love my time with them! Emily was kind enough to bring a birthday present and Christmas present for Andrew. One of the gifts was a Rudolph stuffed toy with a book. I have read that book at least 20 times in the last 24 hours. He just loves it! Here he is with Rudolph.

Later that afternoon it started to snow unexpectedly. Here is a picture of Jez checking out the snow.

Time has been ticking down towards Christmas, and I still have some last minute things I need to grab! We are having Christmas Eve with my family over at our house this year, and I think I'm almost done getting everything ready for that. We figured it would be much easier to have Andrew in his own space, so he can go to bed at his normal time, and we can still be with family.

A Weekend with the Grandmas

When we woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window, we were surprised to see that it had snowed outside!

Andrew and his buddy checked out the snow on the deck.

We headed over to see Grandma Oberheim on Saturday afternoon to decorate cookies with Mickenzie and his cousins. I was just excited we were leaving the house so he could wear his blue boots.

The Cookie Decorators at work.

Waiting to get frosting on his cookies.

Here comes the frosting!

Deciding which color sprinkles to use...

A mess about to happen...

Sophie's finished product. Mmm...

Clean Up Crew

This morning I got a couple of shots of him playing before leaving to see Grandma Siegrist (Grandpa was gone for the day).

When we got to Grandma's, we found some old toys in the basement that brought back memories. One of the things we found were some blocks that my brother and me used to play with.

He also got a chance to check out the tree...

I would also like to apologize to anybody getting a gift from us that has a bow ripped off. He has taken many of the bows off the presents under the tree and enjoys emptying the bow bag numerous times a day.

He is such a character. He started "dancing" this past week when he hears a song he likes. He will bounce up and down and sometimes look down at his knees, as if he can't believe it himself. It makes me laugh so hard that my stomach hurts. There is a Mickey Mouse episode where they put on a fashion show, which includes a really catchy beat that he especially likes to dance to in the living room. He will also "roar" like a lion if you catch him in the right mood. This morning he made me laugh, because he has this big basket of books in his room, and he will take each and every book out until he finds one he wants. He will then carry it over to me and turn around and sit on my lap for me to read it to him. It's just so sweet! Every time he does something new, it is just so special.

I am getting really excited for Christmas, because Mike put together his Little Tikes car while we went over to see my mom. He has already discovered his rocking horse in our closet this past week. The first time he saw it, he started smiling and petting its head. I ended up putting a shirt over its head so he wouldn't notice it. The next time he went in there, he ripped the shirt off his head and started squealing. I think the horse and car will go over pretty well on Christmas morning!

A Festive Weekend

This past weekend was a busy one, and I have been enjoying the fact that there is no snow! The 40 degrees we have been experiencing these last few days is like a heat wave. :)

On Saturday, Mike and I got to spend an evening out, as it was his company's Christmas party. We had a lot of fun; however, I'm not sure how much fun Marcia and John were having since Andrew threw up all over the living room. He had done this one other time before, and it seems yogurt upsets his little tummy. They arrived about 15 minutes before his bedtime, but that was still enough time for him to create some action! I'm not sure if that smell will ever go away in the house, but some Arm and Hammer carpet powder that I put down yesterday has really helped. At least he went to bed after the big clean-up, as he sometimes fights sleep so he doesn't miss out on anything. A lot of times he puts up a fight with his naps with me on the weekend, but goes down like a dream for Lauren during the week. On Saturday, I still hear him crashing around after 30-45 minutes, so I peek in and see this:

He took off both socks and threw them over the edge along with 3 pacifiers...

On Sunday, we went to a Christmas Party hosted by a club that Mike's parents below to in town. The party is for kids, and Santa comes each year and brings presents for the kids. Andrew was looking forward to the party. :)

However, he had to wait for the magician to complete his act before Santa would arrive...

Mason helped cheer him up.

Finally Santa called out Andrew's name, and he went down to collect his gift with his cousins.

Forget the gift! The candy cane from Santa was the highlight of Andrew's day.

We did pull him away from his candy cane so he could at least see what Santa brought him.

Later that evening after his afternoon nap, I let him decorate some of the Christmas cookies I had made while he slept.

I thought he would like the frosting when I let him try it, but he wasn't too impressed.