Colton's Christmas Party

Now that Colton is in school we school Christmas parties!!! So much fun!!! I am very fortunate to work a block away from his school so it is easy for me to stop by for a bit. And his parties usually all happen during my break!! It works out great!!! At his age they don't do too much. They saw Santa (I wasn't there for this) and he wanted Nothing to do with him! Surprise, Surprise! I hung out with him and his friends while they ate their lunch. It was fun to see him interact with kids in his room! It shows how happy he is there and it makes Cody and I so grateful for finding this day care/school!! When they eat they sit in these buckets around a horseshoe table. For a bib they cut old collared shirts put them on backwards and then button them in the back, they also pull the bucket up and put the shirt in so their clothes don't get dirty!! It is GENUIS!!!  

Me and my little guy, although his looking at his buddies not the camera. :)

 Loving his apple juice box!!

Such a happy boy!!!

Using his fork so well!!

Colton's 1st Christmas Program

Colton is at a wonderful day care/school. He goes to a private day care, The Learning Center which is affiliated and located at The Living Word Lutheran Church. He goes to chapel once a week, has lots of lessons and tons of arts & crafts and activities that he does. We are so blessed to have gotten a spot at this school, it is very hard to get in. 

They have a Christmas Program every year. I can't believe our 1 year old is in a program, very cool!! They were singing and doing motions to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jesus Loves Me. We practiced at home and sang the songs. From what his teachers said he always did the movements and danced around when they were practicing. 

He did great at the dress rehearsal but then came the night of the program. In the first picture he is wearing his "bib"/outfit but when he walked down the aisle of the sanctuary he did not have it on. Cody and I looked at each other and knew that he wanted to have Nothing to do with it! That's our independent boy! He sat on Ms. Toby's lap and just stared out at the crowd no movements at all. Really, none of the kids did movements. I think they were all in shock by how many people were in the audience. He didn't cry, he just looked all around. It was funny because he actually scanned the room and looked our direction and then kept looking our way. I'm not sure if he spotted us or not but he kept looking our way. We were standing up so we could see and film so he might have spotted us. It was a very precious program. I'm already looking forward to next year! 

The "bib"/outfit he was supposed to wear. 

Sitting on Ms. Toby's lap.

Checking out all the people.

Not real sure what to think of all of these people.

I think he might have spotted us!

Still looking our way. Ms. Ella is in the Santa hat.

When we came to pick him up in his room after the program we found him sitting with Ms. Toby and hugging on his buddy Joshua. I had to sneak a picture. 

Ms. Margo

Ms. Margo with Colton & Ms. Toby with Joshua

Ms. Toby

Santa!!!

We are back at Bass Pro visiting Santa Claus!! I remembered the memory stick for the camera this year!!! Not like last year where I forgot it! OPPS!! 

Well, it didn't go so well this year. Colton had finally met his very first stranger!!!! He is one that would go to anybody and loved to wave at everyone and say hi, not Santa! He was not happy with us. We had to get the photo op though. He was all dressed in his Wranglers, boots and red & white striped button up. He looked so handsome but once we put him on Santa's lap he was one unhappy boy!!

Looking at Daddy.

Crying harder.

Even harder now.

Now he's looking at me. He's probably thinking why don't you come and get me! Save me! Cody and I stood back, took our pics and got him. It felt like he was crying forever but in reality it was probably about 30 seconds. Poor guy.

After his crying he was with us and much happier. We even got him to give Santa a high five!!

I think every kid gets a picture with Santa when they are screaming so I thought it would be a great Thank You card for Christmas this year. I edit a picture with some text, print the pictures out and then I write on the back as the card. It is much cheaper and very personal! 

Sorry you were so upset little buddy. Mommy & Daddy were right next to you and nothing was going to happen. You are going to look back at these pictures and laugh. We LOVE you tons!!!

Christmas Tree!!!

The tree is all decorated and the new ornaments are up!! This year we moved the living room around a bit and put the tree in front of the windows. We like it here much better!! 

Dakota & Leland with the tree.

Lights on and lights off. I didn't take a picture of it but the angel on top of the tree I made. I made it our first Christmas we were married, 2007. It is very special to both of us!! Most of our ornaments are very sentimental. We don't have a themed tree it is a mish mosh of things, and that is how we like it! We have ornaments from both of our childhoods and now we are collecting ornaments for Colton. When we buy an ornament it will have a significance.

Our mantle with stockings that I handmade for us Colton's first Christmas, 2009. Leland & Dakota's stockings I bought. My stocking has rudolph, Colton's has a snowman and Cody's has the abominable snowman. I had such a great time making them. Shannon helped me make them these are the same style stockings that they had growing up. Cody and I are more about the sentimental things than the fancy store bought items. 

The mantle and our nativity. We have the Willow Tree nativity set, it is not Cody's favorite because they don't have faces. 

A wreath Colton made at school for us.

Colton's rudolph he made at school with his hands and feet. I LOVE all of his projects he makes and comes home with!

Colton's hand. I traced his hand on paper and cut it out on felt, stuffed it and then sewed it together. I made one for his first Christmas and I want to continue doing this tradition every year. Another keepsake!

Colton's ornament for this year. He was a pirate for Halloween so a pirate ornament was exactly what he needed. I order our personalized ornaments from the Christmas Spirit shop out of Maine. http://www.christmasspiritshop.com/ 

Our family ornament for this year from the same company. I love how they include the pets!

I started collecting a series from Hallmark for Colton. The series actually started the year he was born, 2009. I love that he started his collection with the first one. It is a Hallmark series called Mickey's Christmas Carol series. I'm a huge Disney fan and I love that it is Mickey's Christmas Carol, I'm so happy we started this other tradition for him. This year was Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge. 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was different from our normal Thanksgiving of going in town with the family. We stayed in Katy this year and spent it with Uncle Jay & Aunt Shannon's families. Daddy & Uncle Jay were leaving to go hunting the following day so we stayed in town instead of driving two cars to San Antonio. It made more sense this way. We also decorated the house for Christmas. This is our usual tradition that we do. We love Christmas so the longer it is up the better! 

Family pic of us Thanksgiving day. Earlier this day Colton our dancing boy started dancing and spinning to some music lost his balance and fell right into the stone fireplace. OUCH! Well this is our first big boo-boo for him. He had a cut and then all of a sudden out popped this HUGE goose egg from his forehead. He was screaming but Cody and I both stayed pretty calmed. It was nice to have Shannon's Mom & Dad there. We had a hard time putting ice on the bump because it was cold and he was not liking it at all. We made a game out of it and the bump was very slowly going down. My thought was, do we need to go to the ER? We watched to see how he acted. His eyes were fine and he walked straight. Lots of love and attention made him better. Poor little guy! We both felt so bad but we know that it is not going to be the last time he hurts himself. 

Helping Daddy decorate the Christmas tree.

Wearing his Indian hat that he made at school for his Thanksgiving feast.

Trying to reach the blinds. He really enjoys going to this front window and looking out just like the dogs do.

Chillin on the window ledge.

Now trying to stand up.

Colton and his very best buds hanging out! Dakota and Leland are so good with Colton and let him climb all over them and tug on them. 

Daddy showing Colton the train that goes around our Christmas tree. He was so excited and LOVED saying, "choo choo." It didn't come out as clear as choo choo but he was precious when he said it. 

This is so cool I think I will get closer!

So cool I'm going to lay just like Daddy and watch the train go round and round. 

15 months old! Time is Flying by!

Grand Dude & Nana's BIG DAY!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to my wonderful Dad and Christine!!! The ceremony was beautiful!!!! Grand Dude & Nana got married on November 19, 2010 at the Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas. Cody, Colton and I were so thankful to celebrate and share this special day with them! It was an afternoon ceremony and it went beautifully! The pictures turned out wonderful and they were both so very happy! It is so nice to see my Dad happy. It's been many years since I have seen him this way. Thank you Christine for being such an incredible woman and a wonderful wife to my Dad! We love you and appreciate you very much!

The boys all wore Wrangler Jeans, black jacket, boots and a cowboy hat. Colton had his very first pair of Wranglers and boots that Grand Dude bought him for the special day. They all looked so handsome. Christine had a beautiful cocktail length dress that looked stunning on her. We had a really fun afternoon dress shopping together. Thanks for including me.

Mr. & Mrs. Infanti!!!

I LOVE this pic of the two of them!

With their first grandson!

These pictures are so precious of Colton & Grand Dude!!

 

Hanging out while all the pictures are being taken.

Wearing Daddy's hat! Such a handsome cowboy!!

Our family! Phone picture

All dressed up!

My two very special boys!

Mama and her boy!

We used this picture for our Christmas card this year.

Love when we are all dressed up!

Wedding dinner at Gilley's in Treasure Island. It is a country bar. We had a Blast there!! 

Grand Dude putting Colton on the mechanical bull. He was a  hit!

Dancing like crazy and wanting to get back in with the bull!! He met so many people there and became a huge hit with everyone. It's not very often you see little ones in Vegas and he as loving all the attention. He flirted with the waitresses and said hi to everyone! Cute Wranglers and boots buddy!!

Cheers to the happy couple!!!

All tuckered out after a Long afternoon/evening of fun!!!