The Sweetest Moments

I saved a few of the sweetest moments from our Christmas adventure for their very own post.

This Christmas we had the treat of having G's greatgrandmother, aka BizNonna, visiting from Boston. She loves watching him run around and he is equally thrilled by her songs and sweet games. At the end of the night on Christmas Day, she was playing a game with G and this little cat. She would stroke the cat while saying something in Italian and then she would make the cat bounce. G thought it was hysterical and would have sat there and watched until BizNonna was blue in the face. Everytime the kityy went flying he was equally surprised and attached by laughter.







The other moment I loved was the day after Christmas. I had been in an extreme organization mode since we got home on Christmas night, so I had left the boys to fend/ relax by themselves while I scurried all around the house. Mid-morning I walked back through the living room to find them fast asleep.



A little over a year ago this would not have been such a shocking site, but since becoming increasing more mobile our little man typically will not fall asleep outside of a crib or car seat. If you try to get him to snuggle or go to sleep while you are still there he wants to play, poke your nose, or climb the bed. So when I saw them there on the couch, I knew how exhausted he must have been. Christmas is tiring sweet G!

Sweet memories in of a busy, busy Christmas!

Christmas in Pictures

The celebrating started on Christmas Eve with my side of the family gathering at our house to play for the afternoon. We exchanged a few presents, but mostly just played and enjoyed good food and good company.




G loved playing and reading with his Uncle Kyle and was caught red handed asking Grandmommy for more and more reindeer food.



We went to Christmas Eve service at church and since there was no child care G joined us for the service. Although he was seriously tired by the end, he did remarkably well. Only making himself known by saying "Mom, Mom, Mom" during the service. His voice was so precious I couldn't even begin to shush him!

The next morning G opened a few presents from Santa, Mom and Dad.







Then we headed out to Grandmommy Lola's for breakfast and fun with Lola, Kyle and Ashley. I didn't get many pictures because our sweet little bug was too tired to even open a present.



After his nap, we headed over to Nonnie and Papa's for lunch, family fun and more gift exchange.





G loved playing with his new Duplos and racing cars with Addie.



We had a wonderful time squeezing in as much family as possible and even have one more celebration to go this weekend!

Outtakes

So in trying to get a cute picture of G for the Christmas card I ended up with nothing. Not one single Christmas card worthy picture! But I do find my attempts and the results entertaining. Hopefully you will too.

First Idea - Christmas PJ's, Christmas Tree and a big ole Christmas lollipop





Results - Sticky house and sticky kid too interested in lollipop to smile

On to the Second Idea - Christmas PJ shirt (he had already changed into his pants for the day), coffee cup full of marshmallows to keep him interested





Result - nearly broken coffee mug and mouth full of marshmallow pics

This is when I knew my attempts were over...



One darling moment - G has started hugging his stuffed animals. He also tells me shhh! sometimes when he is holding them. It is so sweet! Although this monkey was in need of a bath following this sticky hug.



Oh Well! Going a different direction with the Christmas card, but at least we got a good laugh at how uncooperative a 1 year old can be.

Santa Part Deux

This past weekend we got together with my girlfriends from high school and their sweet babies. Well now that I think of it, none of them are really babies anymore. Dang it time! Slow Down already!



I always have a great time with these gals. There is just something about being with people who have known you through it all. Some of us go back further than high school and even at our young age that means I have known them for the majority of my life. Weird to think about...
Luckily, we see this crowd pretty regularly and our kids are the sweetest of friends. It is such a blessing to watch our kids together, even the occasional push or toy snatch.
The big treat of the party was that Santa showed up! He even had a gift for each child and two elves to help him deliver!



We had already established that G was fond of Santa at our last encounter, but Saturday night was special. You see, there is a story within the story. Here is the plot. G fell in love. He fell hard. And yes, she is an elf.

Here is where it all started... She walked in the door.



It might have been that fact that she had candy canes or her stunning good looks but he spent the vast majority of the visit like this...



Only occasionally turning around to see what Santa was doing.



When it was his turn to sit on Santa's lap he did so happily, but when I retrieved him, he asked to go straight back to her.

Really! I am your MOM and you are picking this girl you just met! Ahhh! It starts already!

When she left he even blew her kisses. Sheesh Kid!

After Santa left and the commotion died down all the kiddos played with their new toys and shared their excitement that Santa had come to the house.

While the girls were off playing princesses and lady bugs we put the boys in their Christmas PJ's. Aren't they cute? They played ball and dance to footloose.



Having kids really does make the holidays special. Great friends and family to share it with doesn't hurt either!

Spaghetti Night

G loves him some spaghetti and doesn't every baby need at least one covered in spaghetti shot?



He is actually signing "more" in this picture even though I had just given him another meatball. As you can tell he is serious about his meatballs.



And when he gets a good bite, now that is something to cheer about!

Kick Off

Here it is... our kick off to Christmas with a visit to the jolly ole guy!
I went expecting the worst, but G actually liked him and really warmed up to him by the end of the event.



Santa was visiting a local restaurant to raise money for Meals on Wheels and Daddy was volunteering so G got to visit with him several times as he worked the crowd. He was even patting his beard and furry coat by the time we left.



I am not sure what it is but doesn't he look way too old in that last picture. I asked Santa for a life remote for Christmas. I am hoping that I can just pause time, just for a moment. G is getting the hang of this growing thing way too fast!

Up To

Our little man is up to 16 months now! (Well when I started writing this blog he was. Now he is almost 17 months.)

A few other things he is up to...

14 teeth!

Making animal sounds... horse, elephant, dog, owl, cow and just this morning a cat

Pretending to be a monkey, elephant, frog, fish, turtle, giraffe, dancing machine

Making funny faces... 1, 2, 3... Funny Face! This is the usually result.



Helping around the house





Repeating words all day... shoes, off, door, thank you, good job, catch, touch down

Running, kicking and throwing like a champ!

Having a ball with friends



Talking on the phone and by phone I mean anything, really anything, that he can make into a phone. Some recent examples are a rice cake, calculator, octopus, and baseball game ticket. Love his imagination!

He really is a little sponge these days and although he doesn't say a ton of words he is always talking to us and the amount of things/requests he understands blows us away. He is still an unusually goofy kid and LOVES to make people laugh, like someone else I know. He has also started screaming with laughter when something is really funny, like Daddy trying to juggle. We are totally smitten with his precious, quirky soul!

Our Little Turkey

We had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving this year with both sides of the family. We turkeyed (or is it turkied) on Thursday and we turkeyed on Friday. Two turkey dinners for us! Wahoo!
But I have nearly zero pictures to show for it... G did enjoy his first Thanksgiving dinner, especially the cranberry sauce. Possibly because it matched his freshly busted lip, ouch!




I love this time of year when we really make the time to pause and think on the things that we are thankful for. I feel extraordinarily blessed to have such a loving and supporting family, both blood and those that came with the vows. Spending the day(s) with them laughing and eating was perfection!

It is so fun to see how much these girls love our little G and equally (if not more) fun to see how much he ADORES them. His face truly lights up the moment he sees them.



Didn't Rachael get lucky? Right as they went in for the cousin kiss G turned to smooch back!

G with Lola - what a happy shot!


I am looking forward to many more relaxing family and friend filled days in December!

Wake-Up Little Guy

I know I have a lot to catch up on Thanksgiving, but I only have a minute and just wanted to share one thing I absolutely love about my little fig (of course there are thousands more).
He wakes up just like his mom!
That is usually I hear him in his room wiggling or running his foot down the side of his crib. I turn on the video monitor and can see that he is awake, but just relaxing and tossing around. This goes on for 10 to 15 minutes.
Some days he will getup and start waking around the crib, so I go in to get him. When I go into his room I sit in the rocker near his bed and we chat. He points out his animal picture and a ball he would like to play with or a book he wants to read, while I ask him about his dreams and if he rested well. He is in no hurry to actually be removed from his crib. He will actually walk to the other side of his crib if I hold my hands out too early.
But some days like this morning, he goes right back to sleep. Almost like, I thought I was ready, but really I could use another 15 minutes.
On either occassion, as soon as I pick him up he tucks he head into my shoulder for a quick snuggle.
I just love him! I love how I get to see his personality develop in little ways. Since he is way past those sleepy baby picture age I will leave you with a reminder of this time last year...

Cookies

G and I had the urge to bake this weekend, so we tried this pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe that had been haunting me since the moment I saw it. Although we may be a little early for the chefs hat and apron, I do love having a little kitchen helper. G has become a pro at watching dinner cook in the over, stirring when appropriate and always wanting to be held so he can see what I'm cooking. I think his favorite job is being my taste tester.

What do you think future chef in the making?






**Disclaimer** I realize almost nothing about this cooking experience is sanitary. Eat items from the Newton household at your own risk. It just may have been cooked by a chef in his diaper.

And if you were wondering the cookies are delicious! We made two small substitutions dark chocolate chips in the cookies and almond extract instead of vanilla in the icing. All the Newton's gave them two thumbs up!

With the Fishes

Last week Daddy spent a few days at home just relaxing and loving on his family. G and I soaked up every minute of having him home with us for four days in a row (including the weekend)! One of the few planned activities on our list was to take G to the Dallas Aquarium.

See G LOVES the piddly little aquarium at his pediatricians office and he also LOVES making fishy faces, so we were sure it would be a hit.
Here he is practicing.



We were right. He did love it! I loved that all of the animals are close enough that he could actually tell that they were there and much of the aquarium looks like a rain forest with waterfalls and birds chirping all around so there was something fun to see every where he looked. The added bonus was that since we went on a cold rainy day during the middle of the week no one was there

Here are a few, ummm ok maybe a lot, of the highlights...

G checking out the ginormous snakes, yikes!




I fell in love with these monkeys. Of course I have already forgotten what kind they are, but they were only 5 inches tall. The sweetest thing is the teensy tiny baby monkey who was crawling all over his momma. I feel ya momma monkey!


Checking out the jaguar


Showing Daddy the shark


I know this picture is terrible, but I just love these little penguins and how one is looking right at G. I think he wants to play ball.


The number of things I love about this picture could fill a whole post. To sum it up I ADORE these faces and the sweet souls they carry!


So endearing how G kept pointing out all of the animals to us.


I am looking forward to the next staycation already!