Kyle's 1st Christmas Pageant

Kyle's daycare put on their annual Christmas Program last night. All the different classrooms got up and sang songs and it was adorable. Kyle's class (the tadpoles) "sang" Jingle Bell Rock. Kyle was a great baby shaking his bells. He spotted me towards the end of the song and gave me a huge smile. It was precious. They did a slideshow of pictures at intermission and Kyle was in a few of them. The entire crowd went "awww" to the one of him with Santa.

We wish daddy could've been there, but we're glad Grandma and Grandpa were there to watch! Despite the program starting at his bedtime, he was a real trooper staying happy despite the late hour.

Kyle moving forward

Kyle's been scootching and "crawling" backwards for awhile now but hadn't really been showing much interested in learning to use his legs to propel forward.... until recently. He started this past week getting his knees under him and lunging forward for toys. He's also using furniture (and more often mom and dad) to stand up and explore things that are a bit higher than his reach from a sit. Blinds are his favorite followed by the banister railings. Don't worry, we are NEVER more than a few inches from him (to catch a fall) and the spacing of our railing is FAR too small for his head to fit through. I bet it's still a couple months 'til he's totally moving all over destroying everything in his path. I was a very late walker (and never crawled), so I won't be surprised if Kyle is a late comer to mobility as well.

Year In Our Shoes 2011

Friends and family,

It's been a wonderful year full of many blessings. We've captured our year in video. Please enjoy. May the Christmas season find all of you happy & healthy!

This'll make you laugh

Because I'm so cheap... wait, let's call it frugal, that I refuse to buy new dresses unless I absolutely have to, I always find myself raiding the closet for a dress for formal occasions. Last night's ensemble came straight from sophomore year of high school. Yes, it came from the 90s and yes, more than a decade and a baby later, it still fits. Quite incredible if you ask me. I wish all of my dresses from the 90s could still pass for stylish enough to continue to utilize for work functions such as this.

Anyhow, I found myself laughing when I did this comparison. I can't believe I have the courage to post it, but hey, we've all got embarassing photos from high school out there right? I'm sure there are worse in the yearbook. Enjoy a chuckle or two on me. :)

A Night Out

Thanks to my mom for watching the K-man for an evening so we could enjoy some adult time together at Dave's work's Christmas party. It was at the Denver Science Museum-- a rather unique location for a party. They had 3 floors of bars, appetizers, and buffets for which you could dine among the animal exhibits. The entire museum was open for viewing including the planetarium! We had a great time mingling with friends.

I hope Grandma had as good of a time with her little grandson as we did. We're so thankful for her!

8 Months Old!

Kyle is already 3/4 of a year old! It's just insane to me how fast it is going. I am enjoying this phase of his life so much that I don't want it to end. I want time to slow a bit. Kyle's such an amazing blessing to us. He's perfect in every single way.

Kyle's loves this month include: the xylophone, when we say "mama" or "dada," yogurt, rice puffs, when we pound on the carpet, making music with everything (including his high chair!), the pool, the keyboard, screaming for joy, mimicking people, pulling on doggy ears, cold water bottles, pulling on blinds, and giving everyone smiles.

He's a total chunk with cheeks that could rivel the most well-fed of all squirrels. His smile lights up the room and everyone who receives one comments to this fact. He's got mama wrapped around his fingers. He still nurses 6-7 times a day and eats "solids" 1-2 times a day. His favorites include yogurt, sweet potatoes, squash, and peas (don't know where he gets that one from!). He is not a fan of avocado (but he's bound to since he's my kiddo). He is an excellent sleeper (7/8 pm til 7/8 am) and takes two great naps each day. He's still on the short side and packs in the tummy pounds. He sits like a champ and is pretty content to do so all day. He's shown some interest in scootching but other than inch-worming backwards all over the room isn't quite crawling yet.

I JUST LOVE THIS KID.

Happy 8 months my little budsy!

Kyle loves playdates!

I think Kyle's best friend (besides his mommy and daddy!) is Matson. Only 4 days older than Kyle, they always have a blast hanging with eachother. Seems like it's been forever since we got the two together (besides every Sunday at the church nursery)! They had a grand time playing "band" together. They smashed on the xylophone, banged on the drums, and shook jingle bells. I just love watching them play! Since I always forget to take pictures of Kyle interacting with other kids, I made an honest effort to do that today. Here you go:

Sundays with the Grandparents

Each Sunday, we go to church with Grandma and Grandpa and usually grab a bite to eat afterwards. Grandma and Grandpa love getting their weekly Kyle fix this way. I know that's not a lot of time with him, so sometime it's nice to have a playdate too. Yesterday, we invited them over to watch the Packer game. Here are a few pictures of Kyle's time with them (can you tell he LOVES them?):

More prep for 2032

Dave always jokes that every time we take Kyle for a swimming lesson that we're training him for the 2032 Olympics. I'm not sure we have a Michael Phelps on our hands, but he's definitely a fan of the water. We've completed 3 lessons and he's showing improvement already. This week we focused on learning how to drop into the water from the ledge and how to "swim" back towards the ledge or towards a parent. But by far, Kyle's favorite parts of the lesson include bubble blowing and clapping the water. He just giggles while silly daddy blows bubbles.

Owls and Santas

I had a lady on Etsy make Kyle this custom owl hat and it was so cute that I had to take a few pictures of him in it. They turned out pretty well (but that's usually the case with a subject as adorable as Kyle!). Enjoy:

Oh... and it was Santa day at daycare a couple weeks ago. Here's how cheerful the little man was to sit on jolly old Santa's lap:

Always a smilin'!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a week late I know (we're busy!). We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I'm thankful that my mom saved me from cooking, made an incredibly yummy meal, AND even sent us home with leftovers so that I could take off cooking lunches for a few days too! [She's really awesome in case you didn't already know!].

Kyle's nap ended up falling on top of meal-time, so he only joined us for dessert. He had yummy sweet potatoes. And he ate them in the high chair I used as a baby. I thought that was cool:

We spent the entire day at their house watching the Packer game, enjoying the beautiful 60 deg sunny weather outside, and playing with Kyle. Dad and Dave even went out and played 7 holes of golf (5 of which were repeats of the #8 that my parents live on). It was a great day!

Oh yes, and even the girls got to come with. They kept Meeko entertained. And Belle solved the issue of Meeko refusing to lie on his kennel bed. All it took was a little nap to rub her scent on it. Problem solved. :)

We are just so thankful and so blessed for so many things this year. Our life has completely changed with Kyle's arrival, but we couldn't imagine life any other way. :)