wordless wednesday {soon it will be christmas day}

linking up this wordless wednesday post with:

 NapTimeMomTog, Project Alicia, Tara's view of the world, 

Mom Vantage, jenni from the blog, baby baby lemon, nola mommy,

 & Marvelous Mommy

hendrixisms - 15 months

I have been compiling a lil' list of things that our little man does that just plain crack us up.  I want to have them documented somewhere so we can look back someday and chuckle!

*when he falls down we try to downplay his injuries by telling him to 'just rub it'....and he has got this down so well from head bumps, that even if he stubs his toe, he rubs his head. So cute. also recently when he gets hurt and i tell him to rub it, he comes over to me and rubs my head. thanks fella


*he likes to walk around with a toy camera plastered to his face saying "cheese, cheese, cheese"


*he loves movies. He can see a dvd case across the room and shout 'moo-ee'.  he also thinks that cd's are 'moo-ees'. guess in this iPod world he may never know what a cd is


*he loves to use the word 'stuck' so much that i think he tries to squeeze into spaces that are too small just so he can shout for mama to rescue him


*he understands that the computer can be used to watch moo-ees (youtube videos) and thinks he should be able to do this whenever he wants


*he loves the pull-chain to turn our lamp on and off. He can do that for 15 minutes straight.  he is moving on to lightswitches too, but that requires a boost from mom or dad


*he loves to color but mostly he just practices writing his name saying 'ah-eh-ah-eh' while he scribbles


*he loves to tackle and roughhouse and if you are laying on the ground than you must be inviting him to do so.


*he loves his blankie and sleeping. you can tell he is ready for bed when he starts burying his face in his blankie and laying on the ground. when asked if he is ready for nite-nite he usually responds with giggles and repeats 'nite-nite'. crazy boy is a sleep-lover just like his mama


*he is obsessed about having a fork and/or spoon at mealtime. he doesnt really use them correctly yet, but he sure wants to be like us


*he still wont drink white milk


*after all that baby-sign language watching, he still only uses the signs for 'more' and 'all done' religiously


*he climbs on everything which often includes turning something into a makeshift stool....can't really blame him as he sees his mom do this all the time.  :) it is tough to be short!


*his attention span is about 3.5 seconds long. good luck!


*just because one time i filled a tupperware container full of cookies, he thinks that clear container with a red lid always has cookies in it


*he has an obsession with his paci.  If it is missing he walks around with outstretched arms (though he oddly tucks them back behind his back) whimpering 'wheeeeere'


*if we leave the gate at the bottom of the stairs open he will most likey notice and make a dash for it, then he will shut it so we can't follow him. lol


*the bathtub is his secret hiding place for everything


*he thinks that his 'elmo' ornament should be taken off the tree every time he walks by it.  


*he loves riding his little trike, and calls it his 'bike'


*for as big of a fit as he would throw about wearing a stocking cap, it surprises me that he loves wearing mittens


*his vocabulary is exploding and he is learning a few new words every single day....i can hardly keep up with everything he is learning

my first turkey

our thanksgiving was such a wonderful mix of food, family, and sunshine!

i made my first turkey, and thanks to my careful planning, i was able to have the meal all on the table at the same time. ;)  my mother-in-law and sister-in-law joined us for the day, and hendrix very much enjoyed playing with them both. 

hendrix learned the words 'turkey' and 'gobble-gobble' as we were trying to keep him in the loop about thanksgiving.....but he wouldn't try any of the food i made.  

apparently his taste buds are more accustomed to chicken nuggets and applesauce.  

he doesn't even know what he missed out on!

aunt kate has a birthday really close to this holiday, so it was fun to share a birthday treat with her.  hendrix really enjoyed helping her open the card and present......i am quite certain that christmas is going to be a blast with this kiddo!

the weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed a nice little walk to the park...

followed by yummy dessert! 

  

grandma had probably the biggest hit of the day though with her iPad.  hendrix really enjoyed the animal sounds app that she downloaded for him, and loved showing us all the sounds that he knows. ;)  it was so cute!

now we can start focusing on the next holiday....christmas here we come!

picking out our first tree

we went to the kidman tree farm this morning to pick out our very first live christmas tree.  

hendrix kept saying "tree" and he helped us pick out his favorite one.  i thought he was so adorable walking around with his little mittens on....he did a great job keeping them on.  it was pretty chilly, so i am sure that had something to do with it.

then when he caught sight of the horses, he was done caring about the tree.

luckily they were giving horse drawn wagon rides ;)  we had a blast!

more photos to come soon of the decoration of the tree.

hendrix was quite the little helper.  ;)

(p.s. these photos were taken with my phone....sorry about the blurry quality.....)

giving thanks

these two boys are by far my largest blessings.  

i am so thankful for them.

we had a lot of fun having an impromptu family photo shoot to give us some pictures for our christmas card this year.  without unveiling the ones that we chose to have on the card, i thought it would be fun to share some of the other ones with you.  

we took turns with the camera so both of us could be in some of the pictures, and we did use the tripod and timer for some shots......though getting hendrix to look at the camera when there is no one standing behind it is nearly impossible...

in this particular shot, i think he heard a train and needed to turn and try to find it.  ;)  lol

normally at this time on the night before thanksgiving, we would be either travelling to be with family for the holidays, or at the very least getting all packed up and ready to go somewhere bright and early tomorrow.....

but not this year.

this year we are having thanksgiving dinner at our house!

i am very much looking forward to hosting the meal for my in-laws, and i have been doing my research on how to provide the most delicious, stress-less meal possible

the goal is to have fun with our family, and enjoy this little kiddo!  i heard today that the forecast is calling for upper 60's and sunshine tomorrow, so i am planning to fit in a trip to park. ;)

last year at this time, i was in misery recovering from my gallbladder removal, and i didn't get to enjoy turkey and all the fixings with everyone else as i was on a pretty bland clear liquids diet.  

that makes me extra thankful this year.

my menu includes:

turkey (of course)

stuffing with golden raisins and walnuts

mashed potatoes and gravy

rolls

corn casserole

scalloped chipotle sweet potatoes

orange-scented green beans

pecan pie

gooey pumpkin buttercakes

my kitchen is smelling wonderful and my mouth is watering already......

happy thanksgiving from my family to yours!

linking up with project alicia, 5 minutes for mom, live and love out loud, growing up gardner and baby baby lemon. 

animal lover

hendrix really loves animals.  

his first real animal obsession was about 'dogs' and while he is still interested in pointing out every dog he sees, he has become less delighted by them than he used to be.  

shortly thereafter it was all about "kitties".  he wanted to pull their tails pet them and would chase the one at my mom's or my mother-in-law's until the cat would just run and hide under a bed until we left.  about this time he started to use more words and would also say "meow".

then he dropped both of those animals to become completely engrossed with "horsies" (pronounced hord-EE)  this was mostly initiated by the rocking horse he got for his birthday, but then was reinforced when he started seeing the horses out in the field right behind the house of his baby-sitter on a regular basis.  we had to start going out of our way to see horses (which is a little tricky when you live in town) because they delighted him so much!  

now he has picked up a new favorite animal.  cows.  the funny part is that he doesn't say 'cow' but instead when he sees one he says "mooooooo".  There is one hiding in this yellow peekaboo book (see above photo), and he gets the book out saying 'moo', turns to the page of the cow, finds it and then he is all done with the book.  if we try to read him the other pages, he just shuts it, saying 'no', unless we open it back up to the cow page.  it is funny.

To help reinforce his interest in animals and to encourage him to learn the correct sounds they make, we bought him this really fun farm animal toy for the fridge.  It has been a big hit, and it keeps him busy while mommy is trying to get things done in the kitchen. 

he does know other animals including, ducks, bears, frogs, tigers, snakes, monkeys, birds, chickens, and pigs; but he just doesn't get as excited about these animals.  

i am curious to see what his next favorite will be ;)

do we have a future veterinary on our hands?!?

party with style

yesterday we went to a birthday party for my brother.  

we tried to have a 'bags' tournament only to get rained out, but not before we had gained a new participant. 

after a few minutes of watching how it was done, hendrix decided to step in and join us. 

it didn't take long for him to get the hang of what he was supposed to be doing.....

and his vocabulary is really exploding. 

he has gone from just repeating the one-word sentences that we were trying to teach him, to offering the words of everything he knows every time he sees it.   

oh and also trying to communicate his ever-intensifying opinions.   he really has mastered the word "no" and loves to use it if he doesn't think we are understanding him correctly.

he also really loves to color and draw, and was super thrilled that mommy let him write his own name on his aunty em's birthday card.  

she was thrilled too ;)

it was so fun to see my family and to hang out at my brother's place, but i am discovering that everything is just a little bit more difficult when you are taking a toddler along for the ride.  he did pretty well, but he was sure ready to get home after this weekend.

oh, but he had a great time being the center of everyone's attention!