We've all had very happy holidays with family and friends and are feeling very blessed, as usual!

Grandma Norita came down Christmas Eve to spend the night with us. We picked up Noah from Carol's, then we came home and stuffed Noah with snacks. Then the three of us got Dave after work, and we went to the 5:30 Christmas Eve service. It's like the 11 o'clock service at St. Paul's at home - singing a lot of Christmas hymns with the end of the service by candelight. The candlelight service is always my favorite. I always love how peaceful and still everything is when you get out of church at midnight. Granted, we're usually freezing then, and our teeth chatter the entire way home from church. Thankfully, that's only about a two-minute trip from door to door!

Luckily for us, Campus Lutheran has a 5:30 candlelight service! This meant it was still dark, though not as peaceful, when we got out of church. It also meant we were home in time for a decent dinner and before Noah's bedtime!

We all read after Noah went to bed and were sleeping ourselves before 10, I think. After breakfast on Christmas morning, we opened gifts and stockings with Grandma Norita. I think everyone hit the jackpot, and it was only the first round! Noah got some neat Mega Bloks from Grandma, and he's enjoying those. Dave and I got him some hand drums (the small ones you twist in your hands, and the little beads hit the drum head to make noise) and a couple puzzles. He's having a great time removing and inserting the shapes and the farm animals (obviously, we got him one with different shapes and one with farm animals!).

Then we started getting ready for lunch. Unfortunately, Dave took a swipe at his thumb with the potato-slicing knife. He did this around 11:30 that morning - so it took a little longer to get lunch ready. We threw that potato away, and I finished slicing them for mashed potatoes.

Grandma Pat and Grandpa Rusty, Kelly, Mickey and Regina and Jason and Brandi all joined us for lunch. As is Dave's custom, there was too much food! We had three different kinds of potatoes, all by request - Jason brought me roasted potatoes; Mom made Dave cheesy potatoes; and Dave, Rusty and I all worked together on the mashed potatoes (again, for me!). We had ham and turkey. We had several varieties of sausages and cheeses. We had stuffing, Jell-O with fruit, rolls and many, many sweets! In fact, we still have most of these things in our refrigerator, two days later. Even after Brandi took home a couple bags of meat! Tomorrow, I think we'll have turkey sandwiches. Then turkey salad. Then ham sandwiches. Then we'll have to start getting creative!

Noah decided to sit at the big kids' table!

Noah had a fantastic time opening his gifts! He loves tearing the paper. Of course, he did reach the point where it was more fun to play with the wrapping paper and boxes than with the actual gifts! In this picture, the Highway Patrol T-shirt he received from Aunt Tracy is cast off to the left of the picture, and Noah is putting the wrapping paper back into the box!


He was given so many toys, including a cow bowling ball and milk bottle bowling pins (well, he got two of these - grandmas had the same idea!), a Sit N Spin and Little People toys. Mickey and Regina also got him his Radio Flyer wagon! It has the wooden side rails for smaller people, and the handle folds in, so you can store it more easily. We can't wait to put it together and go for walks! The joke is that now Noah can go on the grass . . . with one of us pulling him along! Poor Noah!

A great shot of Noah looking over his glasses at people - so funny to see!

We had a great time visiting with family and were so glad Jason and Brandi are part of our family! Love that they're the kind of people who will help us clean up before and after a get-together and who will stay with Noah while we make a hospital run on Christmas night!

Dave kept pressure on his thumb all day, but it was still bleeding at 6:30 that night! So we went to the ER.

Everyone working there was surprisingly pleasant; I'm not sure I would be if I had to work Christmas.

Considering how many people were there, we were also surprised at how quickly they got people in and out. We were out within two hours. They ended up cauterizing the wound with a chemical swab. It didn't stop the bleeding quite as quickly as the doctor expected it would, so they also wrapped his thumb with a very tight dressing. It looked like a sweater for his thumb!

He took it off the next morning, and now he just has to cover it with a bandage for aesthetic purposes, if he wants to.

When we got back, Brandi and Jason had given Noah a bath (thank you, thank you! the boy had baked beans in his hair!) and put him to bed. So glad we have them in our lives!

Dave had to work the next day, so it was just Noah and me. We went to the eye institute and ordered Noah a new pair of glasses. Finally! He's getting a pair of titanium glasses that can be twisted, bent and sat on by Miss Caroline at daycare, though we prefer she not sit on them! Before he started breaking them, we thought we would donate them to someone who needed baby glasses. I'm not sure we'd be doing anyone any favors now! This pair has been screwed, wired and soldered together too many times.

So we just need to get through the next week or so with this pair until the new hopefully-Noah-proof glasses arrive!

Just had another quiet day today. We stayed in our pajamas most of the day, but we did take a little trip to the mall this evening. We're trying to find another car seat for Noah, so Dave and I can both have one for our cars. I think we're going to have to order it online in order to find the "right" one! Either the stores don't carry the model at all, or we (I) don't like the pattern.

We're planning on church and nothing else tomorrow! Hope everyone else had happy holidays with loved ones!

Brr! It's really cold out lately! And Noah and Dave both have colds - I'm trying to avoid that. We'll see how that goes!

Noah had his 17-month check-up last week. He didn't have to get shots! Apparently, he's caught up until he turns 2. We'll take it! He is 31 1/2 inches long and weighed 19 lb 12 oz at his appointment. He seems to be waivering back and forth over the 20 lb mark, but he seems to be really healthy. He has days where he just doesn't eat a whole lot except yogurt or fruit, but then he'll have other days where he packs it in! We've been eating stew the last couple days. I wasn't sure how well he'd do with it, as he hasn't been super-interested in vegetables lately, but he has been eating it right up!

He's still chattering along, and we still have no clue what he's saying! Dave swears Noah said "glasses" last week, but he hasn't said it since. He's taken to whispering sometimes! We'll be walking through the house, and he just whispers his little words! So funny!

As we've mentioned before, we have a climber. This is what I found when I walked into the office yesterday.

I found him this way Saturday morning, too, but I couldn't get the camera quickly enough. He was scooted off the computer and close to the edge of the desk, so it was time to put that fun to an end! We have to close the door again!

We got our Christmas tree Saturday from Starr Pines, about five miles outside Boonville. We've gone there three or four times the last few years and love it! This family started planting trees right after they were married over 20 years ago, and they open on Thanksgiving every year. They take you out to the field on a hay wagon, give you a saw to cut your tree, then shake it out and wrap it for you after they bring you back to their shop. Inside the shop (well, really, it's more of a metal shed), they have some crafts, ornaments and chocolate for sale. They have hot cider inside, next to the box of Kleenex!

So Dave and I put the tree up and all the Christmas decorations out Saturday night. So far, Noah has not ventured near the tree! He has a fear of grass (no idea why), and he won't touch leaves or flowers or anything! Except he loved playing with the hay on the wagon! So strange.

At any rate, we're taking advantage of this. We sure this will be the last year for a while that we'll be able to have ornaments toward the bottom of the tree and gifts wrapped underneath it! Take what you can get!

I have to work most of the weekend, but we're looking forward to a visit from Grandma Norita! Her birthday was yesterday, so we're going to celebrate when she gets here. She offered to stay with Noah while I work Friday night and we attend Brandi's graduation later that night. Yea, Brandi! It's really almost over!

Can your glasses do this?

We almost made it to Noah's eye appointment without destroying the glasses. Almost! We see Dr. G. for the six-month post-surgery check-up Friday. Noah performed this trick this morning.

Other than Noah repeatedly ripping his glasses off his head, we've had a great weekend! We had our usual pizza night Friday. Dave and I watched "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" after Noah went to bed. I have been wanting to watch it for a few weeks now, so I was glad to have the chance!

Saturday Dave and I both got hair cuts, and Grandma Pat came for a visit! Noah was so glad he was not really taking a nap when he was supposed to be, so Grandma got to get him out of bed! Then the two of us went to see "The Nutcracker" at Jesse. We had really good seats - almost too good! We were in the third row! But our seats weren't behind the ones in the A and B rows (they were shorter rows), so we had lots of leg room. Unfortunately, the obnoxious boy sat by Mom! He was maybe 11 or 12 and actually slid out of his seat at one point!

Noah got his hair cut later this afternoon, so we all are ready for photos at Christmas! We finally lowered his crib mattress to the lowest setting. He has been banging on his wall and jumping on his bed. At least this way, he won't be able to propel himself out of the bed!

He's been eating really well the last few weeks. Usually, he'll eat OK for lunch but not much at dinner. But he's been eating the way you'd expect a one-year-old to eat at every meal! He usually has breakfast with us, then again at Carol's! Then they have lunch and a nap. I think they have a snack when they get up, and he usually has another snack around the time he gets home. He's been having a pretty big dinner, at least compared with the way he had been eating, and he'll have another cup of milk before bed.

He's talking up a storm, too! We just wish we knew what in the world he is saying!

This week is a busy one. We have a doctor's appointment (and possibly shots) on Tuesday, church Wednesday night and the eye appointment Friday. We are thinking about trying to get our Christmas tree this weekend, too. December will fly by at this rate!

Thankful people

Dave and Noah in his touk from Aaron and Erin (it finally fits!)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving - hope everyone else did, too!

Well, it started out not quite the way we expected! Mickey ended up going to the hospital for some horrible pain he was having. He found out he has kidney stones. He tried to have surgery for it that night, but the doctor couldn't get to the stone, so he has to go back tomorrow for a second surgery. Please pray for him that they can get the stone! This was his first hospital stay in 70 years! That's a pretty good track record!

Then, Regina has to have surgery in a couple weeks. They're having a doctor-filled month, and we hope they both feel better soon, so they can enjoy all the work they're doing to convert part of the White Stone into their new home!

So, that's how the holiday started! We visited Mickey again that morning before we headed to Concordia for lunch at Grandma Pat's with the McGinnises. Noah ate so much pie! Grandpa even gave him a couple marshmallows!

Then we went to Dover for dinner with Grandma Norita, Brooke and her friend, John. I think John found a fast friend in Noah! We had a great lasagna dinner that night, and everyone slept pretty well!

Brooke, Noah and Grandma Norita doing puzzles

Noah has the bull by the horns at Fred and Juliet's

Friday was my birthday. We spent most of the day Shop-Vaccing (sp?) flies from the house. Dave thinks they got in through the fireplace, so he caulked every possible opening around the grate, so they can't get in there! We sprayed and vacuumed; I think we got several hundred of them. We tried turning out all the lights and agitating them toward the windows or leaving one light on to attract them. It took almost all day to get them, but Dave said he only saw one (dead) fly in the house when he ran in the next day!

Some good things happened that day, too! Norita came with us back to Mom's for some enchiladas (my favorite birthday dinner) and cake! Noah and Kaylor played, and they both spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa! Kaylor does pretty well with "Baby Noah." She likes playing with him and showing him how to do things. He mostly stares at her! So fun to watch them together! Amazingly, they really do look alike!

Dave took me to Heroe's in Warrensburg for dinner that night, then we came back to Fred and Juliet's to watch "The Breakfast Club." It was a pretty early night for us - we were kind of bug-sick!

Saturday morning we went back to Concordia to pick up Noah, and the three of us went to KC. Dave had leased his car, and he was given the opportunity to return it early. Good thing, too - we only had about 700 more miles on the lease before we would have had to pay for extra mileage! He bought a 2009 black Jetta. It's not as sporty as his GLI, but it's actually more comfortable! Funny how that works.

Then we went car-seat shopping for Noah. He's definitely over a year, but he's been hovering around 20 pounds for several months. None of the stores in Columbia had a car seat that would fit in my Bug, so we went to Babies 'R Us in Independence. We found one for him and put it in my car when we got home. I don't think I like it, though! The clip is too difficult for me to get undone. Dave likes it, so we'll get another one for my car and relocate this one to his!

Noah, however, LOVES his new seat! It was so much fun to take him on his inaugural forward-facing car-seat ride! At first, he just looked so serious (as usual) and looked all around him. Then he started pointing out the windows and laughing! He had such a good time, checking the new world out! He had a blast when we drove through a round-about! I felt bad we had to wait so long, but I'm glad he enjoys it! I can't imagine spending almost a year and a half staring at the tan or gray headrests in our cars!

Hmmm . . . what else has been going on? Oh, yeah! We got to go celebrate with Brandi and Jason on Tuesday night! Brandi has been working on her master's degree from the J-School for as long as I've known her (four and a half years). She defended her thesis Tuesday morning, and her committee signed off on it! So she gets to graduate this month! They really put her through her emotional paces the last couple weeks - literally she'd be a graduate candidate one day, then not the next, but then again two days later, then not that afternoon. We're all so proud of her and are glad, for her sake and Jason's, that it's finally over! Go, Team BH-R! And, no, Kelly, this isn't a sports reference!

Noah keeping warm with my scarf

We're gearing up for a busy December, as I'm sure everyone else is, too! We have a great start on Christmas shopping and are planning to have Christmas at our house again this year. Should be a fun time!