The Christmas Entry

Christmas was celebrated five times in four different homes this year! That means several Christmas tress and lots of family time, and way too many presents for Silas, although he didn't mind, I'm sure!

It started at "Pre Christmas Eve" at Mema and Papa's.

 We had a great time with extended family. Silas was super excited to open this particular gift!

 Christmas Eve was spent at Bubby and Honey's house.

Silas was generous with the hugs and love!

And told lots of stories to anyone who would listen.

Fun was had by all!

Someone was all tuckered out by the end of the night and ready to head home...

Santa came to our house over night.

Silas' train was a big hit! He ran down the battery twice!

He helped everyone open their presents!

Later that morning we headed over to Uncle Ken's. Silas loved cousin Thomas' jeep.

Afterwards we headed back over to Mema and Papa's.

No surprise what his favorite gift was!

We were blessed with lots of family and lots of love this holiday season.



Sick Silas

Poor Silas. He didn't sleep well last night. He would wake up coughing and was poorly all day. He spent most of the day on the couch with a runny nose and a nasty cough. It progressively got worse and after speaking to a triage nurse decided to take him to the ER.

We went to Mendy's Place Pediatric ER. They were so wonderful and got us in and out in under an house.

Diagnosis: Croup.

They gave him an oral steroid and told us to use a humidifier, elevate him while sleeping, and give him Motrin and Tylenol for fever throughout the day. If symptoms worsen then we'll take him back in.

Even though he was sick, he looked super cute in the hospital gown. He was shuffling around like an old man and kept trying to get people to answer his phone calls.

Thankfully, after the steroids, he started feeling much better. Unfortunately he is contagious so we won't be going to any of the play dates we had planned this week.

Santa with Honey and Bubby

Every year Honey and Bubby take the grand kids out for a day of fun. This year they went to the mall to see Santa, exchanged names and did some Christmas shopping, had lunch, and baked cookies at Honey's house.

Silas loves his cousins, but didn't seem to be a big fan of Santa!

He wasn't a fan of the funny noses either, but his cousins sure do look cute!

Open House

The Arizona Grand (aka: Uncle BJ's resort) had an open house. Honey and Bubby invited us to go and we brought Mema with us too. Silas had a blast seeing two (out of three) of his favorite grandmas at once time.

He couldn't decide who he should hold hands with, so he held them with both of them!

Bubby couldn't hold Silas because of his recent heart bypass, but he had a good time watching him run around.

The Grand had all sorts of activities! We stood in line to see Santa, but Silas wouldn't sit on his lap. Mommy has a cute picture of Silas sitting on her lap next to Santa though! We had cocoa and made our own gingerbread cookies.

Silas was a fan of the sprinkles, but didn't want to eat them.

He wanted nothing to do with sitting on daddy's lap while watching the Nutcracker dancers.

But he enjoyed the view from daddy's shoulders.

He found great entertainment with the rocks...

and spinning around until we were dizzy.

 We also got to celebrate Uncle BJ's recent engagement to Aunt Dez.

By the end of the night Silas was tuckered out and ready for bed. I think Mema was too!

Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. I made the turkey and a few sides and everyone else who came pitched in too. We had a wonderful spread.

Silas is going through a picky stage, so aside from the dino above, all he ate was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Our new cousin, Bella, didn't enjoy any turkey either. That's okay because she is just a few months old. Next year, hopefully, they will both enjoy the goodies!

Bella's mommy hanging out while we get the dinner finished.

Our turkey was ready about an hour and a half before everything else. It was falling off the bones and super juicy!

Mema rolled the bread...

while Aunt Jan (Nana) comforted Bella.

Dinner was enjoyed outside, but pie was consumed in front of the foot ball game.

While the ladies cleaned up the boys hung out in front of the game. Silas was rooting for Uncle Louie's team.

Overall our first Thanksgiving went really well. Papa wasn't feeling well so he went home shortly after dinner. Russ had to jet off to dinner number two with Lindsey, and Andi and John were in San Diego eating on the USS Carl Vinson. We didn't get a chance to see Bubby and Honey, but we got to see them the day after. I hope next year goes just as smoothly.

At the park with Eli

We love the park at Rio Vista! We met up with our friends Sarah and Eli(ana) for some fun!

Eli is a pro at the swing! Silas doesn't quite get that he has to sit back!

Silas loves the sand! He'll spend hours pouring sand all over himself. He is awfully good a sharing his toys!

We tried climbing on the play ground equipment for the first time!

He really loves the slide, but is more comfortable sliding down backwards on his tummy!

Things that spin and turn are more fun right now though!

I think Silas would live at the park if we left him there!

All done with the slide.

We had a good time with Eli and can't wait to see her again soon!

Little Tiger!

Silas was a tiger this year for Halloween!

He isn't too fond of hats so he was not very pleased with something on his head.

Even when he's sad and pouty I think he has the cutest face ever.

The same is true with his grumpy look!

My favorite though he his sweet smile!

Deer Farm Pt 2

Josh took some amazing photos of Silas and me while we were at the deer farm.

The deer practically attack you as you walk into the gate.

They expected Josh to feed them, but unfortunately all he had was a camera.

Silas poked the deer in the nose and felt how warm and wet they were.

With some encouragement he fed them some of the deer feed.

The deer would inhale your entire hand if you let them!

Silas' reaction to the deer's tongue was priceless, as was the laughter!

We soon ran out of food, but it didn't stop some of the deer from following Silas around.

We spied this funny goat sleeping in a bucket.

So of course, our little monkey see, monkey do, had to copy him!

Silas was bummed when it was time to leave.

But then he remembered there was a cool tractor to climb on out front and all was well again.

Deer Farm Fun

This past weekend we took Silas on the Young Adult church retreat in Parks, AZ.

Josh is working on processing all of the pictures he took while we were up north and when he finishes I'll share a few of our favorites.

We took a few videos too. The ones below are of Silas and I feeding deer at the Deer Farm. In the second video you can see Silas telling the deer that he is 'all done' feeding them.

Happy Birthday PNM!

Last year, Silas and I joined a Phoenix New Moms group. We attended the very first meet up and many more after that. This month we celebrated the first birthday for the group!

We didn't have any of the cake, but you can tell it's a mom party because of the diaper wipes next to the cake!

This picture only shows about half of our members. Silas is so lucky to have so many babies/toddlers his own age to play with! And I'm lucky to have so many mom friends to talk to!

Silas had a blast at the party, just like mommy and daddy did.