Let it snow??

I have Cabin Fever. I have officially been off work for 2 weeks now while the family I work for is out of town for the holidays. Even though I love being at home with my little man and big man who has also basically been home for two weeks as well which I'll get to in a second, I think I am ready to go back to work any time now. You may be wondering well, why hasn't she gone to do anything? Usually our little subtropic, tourist area is great in the Winter. Not too cold, not too hot. But no... it has been really, really cold. Not only has it been cold, but it's also snowed. ALOT. I don't mean our  annual 2.5 inches of snow either. I mean it started snowing Christmas night and did not stop for something like 36 hours. Some places reached up to 16 inches of snow. Which by Monday morning most of our roads look like this...

 This is highly unusual for this area so of course our city is not prepared for weather like this and had no way of plowing the roads or laying salt down. Basically stores and businesses (including military installments, explains why Ken has been home so much) shut down and almost everywhere was closed. So in the house we stayed for almost 4 whole days. Since it was so cold though, and we didn't want to take Kevin outside, my ever adorable husband thought he would bring the fun winter activities into the apartment.

 Kevin's first snow man... made just his size.

 "Wow!!"

 "Can I eat it?" Mom said NO

Very proud of his snow man he made just for Kevin.

Christmas Blessing

Christmas day had my heart filled with so much happiness. I soaked in every bit of Kevin's first Christmas and felt completely blessed, and although I was beaming with joy, still a piece was missing. I miss her. I miss my other Mother Alese. I was able to see her a few times back in October and at that time she was still suffering from some brain damage. She recognized me but had trouble recognizing my sister, she would speak coherently and make sense and then would mumble and say things that didn't make sense. She still has a long way to go and is currently in a nursing facility. I think about her everyday and Kevin and I ALWAYS include her in our nightly prayers. Christmas morning was one of those days where it hit me how much I miss being able to call and talk to her, how I miss telling her everything and asking for her advice. I just plain miss her. On Christmas morning after we opened our gifts and ate breakfast we laid Kevin down for a nap and I decided to take one as well. I dreamed about her, in my dream I was talking to her. I woke up to my phone ringing and it was Dave her husband. I almost feared the worst. I answered it and he said the greatest thing I've heard in a while, "Meshelle would you like to talk to your Mom"? And of course I told him I would absolutely LOVE to! It was an amazing Christmas blessing! We talked for a few minutes. She told me she loved me and missed me, she asked how the baby was and finished by saying Merry Christmas. And you know what? It was!! Very Merry and blessed indeed.

A lot can happen in a month

Oh man... I can not believe it has been over a month since I last posted. We have been crazy busy and I feel horrible because I know my blog is a great way for my family to get to see pictures of our adorable baby and to keep up with what's going on in our lives. So after numerous family members questioning "why haven't you blogged lately?" I guess it's time to ramp up the blogging to turbo. So what's happened in a month? Well, we had our first Thanksgiving dinner which I made myself. It was a lot of food for just the three of us but it was so worth it.

My first Thanksgiving dinner made by me for my little family of three.

My adorable little boy trying out some of Mom's mashed potatoes.

After Thanksgiving dinner we set up the Christmas tree (a tradition in both of our families we want to carry on).  And of course Kevin tried to help decorate and hang up the stockings.

Later this month we took this "little helper" to go see the big man himself... of course we mean Santa. I think he was pretty excited.  The pictures turned our pretty dang cute, he was very intrigued by Santa.

Since this was our first family Christmas we decided to carry on a few things that are traditions in my family. One is the ornaments. Every year since I can remember my Grandma Woods has sent ornaments with her Christmas care packages. And every year when it comes time to decorate the tree my favorite part would be to look at all the ornaments from years past and be reminded of her love with each ornament I hang. Each one has the year and my name on them. One of the most special ornaments are the very first ones we received...the block bears. My. Favorite. Handmade with love and now this year we were able to hang not only mine and Ken's but also Kevin's.

 (Ken's, mine, and Kevin's, all handmade, all super adorable)

My Grandmothers care package this year not only included our presents and ornaments, but some homemade hot chocolate mix (the best by the way). And another Woods' family tradition... the rocking chair. My Grandpa has been making rocking chairs for his grandchildren for a long time, and now he is making them for his Great-grand kids.

We spent most of the month getting adjusted to my new job watching an adorable 4 month old. Which can sometimes be a little hectic but I am loving it. Kevin had quite a few accomplishments this month, the first major one would have to be being able to pull himself up and stand, which he LOVES to do!! He also finally mastered crawling, giving kisses, and officially has all of his front teeth as of Dec 24th. He is now getting to the point where he is starting to cruise along the long couch we have and he LOVES to hold your hands and walk with you. He is getting so big! We also started signing with him which by the huge smile he gets when we sign food and bath (his favorite things!) I think he is starting to comprehend them a little bit. 

   Which brings us to Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was also filled with a lot of traditions from both of our families, we spent the day baking cookies just like Ken's mom would (chocolate crinkles are amazing!!). Then at night before bed we read the scriptures, sang Christmas songs from my Grandma's hymn book and started a new tradition of reading a story called The three little trees. Which is an amazing book that absolutely makes me cry every time. Then we went to bed and woke up Christmas morning to witness the magic that Santa left.

What we woke up to Christmas morning.

 Kevin investigating his loot.

 Trying to get the hang of it.

 Watching Kevin trying to open presents was such a fun experience.

 Crawl along snail: $16

Busy ball popper: $ 25.99

Watching your baby boy having more fun playing with the $ 2 wrapping paper: Priceless

 He was absolutely having a ball with the paper most of all. And I didn't care one bit.

 Ken and I also had an amazing Christmas filled with great gifts, memories and so much more but as I look back on the pictures the greatest gift I received all year was not one found under the tree, or in my stocking... it was the gift that keeps giving back to me in every smile, kiss and snuggle.... 

This amazing beautiful baby boy.

Thank you God. I. Am. Blessed.