The ELF

Brennan received his elf this year on December 1st. He wasn't overly excited to meet him. The elf did bring snowballs (powdered doughnuts) his first morning here, which he did like. Brennan touched him a few times, and refused to name him, so the elf had to stay with Santa an extra couple of days. That seemed to intrigue him, so when the elf returned he became a little more interested. One morning the elf was holding baby Jesus from our nativity set. When we came back into the room, the elf was across the room and Jesus was back in his manger. He never wanted him to play with any toys. He was excited to find him swinging from the ceiling, stuck in the cookie jar, asleep under the tree, riding the reindeer tree topper, watching movies, reading, and the numerous other events which he can name off to you if asked. Before he left with Santa on Christmas Eve, the elf left big boy underwear for Brennan and asked him to wear them everyday. That was good planning since Santa took all the diapers the next morning. Our elf never received a name this year, but he did become a fun part of our family.

When Christmas Comes to Town

We have had a wonderful Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we cooked, cleaned, and ran a few last minute errands during the day.  We had a scrumptious dinner of fast food, since the soup I had planned to make never was made. The only places open were McDonalds and Burger King. Note to self: have a freezer meal ready for Christmas Eve next year. Brennan opened his one present, fed the reindeer, watched The Polar Express for the 100th time, and stayed up as long as he could possibly hold his eyes open. Luckily, Santa didn't have a lot of work to do to get ready. Brennan's request to Santa each time he saw him was a new bed for Wells and toys for himself.

Christmas morning was my favorite! We woke Brennan up at 8. He came running into the living room with bright eyes. The first thing he saw was a Tonka dump truck and exclaimed, "Santa brought me this!" He then found more goodies, and loved everything. Our neighbors and my mom came by to have breakfast and enjoy Brennan's excitement. Mike's family came for a later lunch and presents, and then we went to my parents for soup made by my grandmother's recipe and presents that night. Brennan never stopped all day, probably due in part to all the candy he ate. He finally passed out at 11 p.m. and slept until 11 a.m. this morning.

The first one to find his gift from Santa.

Ho! Ho! Holidays!

It has been another fast, fun holiday season! It was nice to have the extra time with an early Thanksgiving, but as always the time has still flown by. Brennan had his first school Christmas program. I think we might have been a little more excited than he was about it. He did a great job. He stayed on stage, did not cry, and did participate every once in a while.

The second weekend of December we picked out our live tree. I tried to change things up and try a different tree farm, but it turned out there trees were closer to Brennan's height than Mike's. We ended up back at our usual spot, and found possibly the prettiest live tree we have had. It is a great shape and size, minus the fact it does lean a bit. Brennan loved helping cut the tree.

We all got to enjoy the Hartselle Christmas parade. Brennan enjoyed the waiting time and train that came by a few feet away from us just as much as the parade. He did like the band, fire trucks, and music. It was a great parade, so long that we didn't even make it through the whole thing.

One weekend we enjoyed a family Christmas party, a Sunday School party, and the church party at my Mom's church. My aunt and uncle were Santa and Mrs. Claus this year.

 Brennan enjoyed a little Christmas party at school. He had made the cutest ornaments to bring home, and a special present for Mike and I. When I found the present in his bag he instructed me that we couldn't open it until Christmas. Then tonight (Christmas Eve in case the date doesn't show that) after he opened his Christmas Eve gift he said,"I think we should open one more!" He went and got our gift, told us where to sit, and patiently waited for us to open it. He was so excited for us to see the hand print plate he had painted. So sweet!

The weekend before Christmas we made our annual trek to Santa's Village with friends. Brennan remembered the train display from last year, and his main goal was to find that train. We had a tearful departure from it, after at least five visits. He even skipped story time with Mrs. Claus to watch it a little more.

We've also spent a fair amount of time watching Christmas movies this season. Brennan's favorite, by far, is the Polar Express. He often calls it the big train movie. As we watch it for the third time today, he almost has it memorized. Thanks to this movie, he has decided that we have to have a star on the top of our Christmas tree. He has told me everyday for the last week that he doesn't like our reindeer topper and we must get a star. I'm good with that. I look forward to teaching him the meaning behind the star at Christmas.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! We hope you have had a wonderful Christmas season!

Fall Frenzy

I'm not sure why I stopped blogging regularly, or how I got so behind, but after looking back through I realized I have to catch up. Mostly for myself because this is our family yearbook, and so many great things have happened since I wrote last.

Brennan started preschool on September 4, 2012, the same day Mike started another new job with another wireless company. Brennan LOVES preschool, and Mike doesn't travel nearly as much so we all like that. Brennan goes two mornings a week. It has helped him become a little social butterfly, and has given me some time to volunteer at our church and do some work for my parents.

We enjoyed several of our fall rituals including:

1. Brennan's first Crimson Tide football game: He loved going, loved seeing Big Al before the game, watched the first minute, and then played with his Lightening McQueen, asked when we were leaving, and asked why we weren't yelling War Eagle the rest of the time. Yes, we were outed as a House Divided surrounded by Alabama fans. Luckily, they were all good sports and all enjoyed our little character.

2. Visited Tate Farms: Brennan really enjoyed it all this year. I think his favorites were the corn crib and the combine slides. 

We also added a few new events this fall:

A field trip with Brennan's preschool class to another pumpkin patch and farm.

He was much more interested in the John Deere tractor than the pumpkins.

A visit Brindley Mountain Fire Apparatus with my aunt and uncle. They repair and restore fire trucks and equipment. They host visits to their facility. It was a great little trip. They gave the children fire hats, showed them all types of trucks and equipment, and then gave us all a ride in a huge fire truck. Brennan also got to crank it and use the siren. 

A trip to the Botanical Gardens for Boeing's Give Back Day

This is pure Brennan, no coaxing what so ever. He is holding his "gold doubloon" he found in the dinosaur bone digging area I think.

Brennan was a pirate for Halloween, and really got into trick or treating this year. We went to a trunk or treat at my Mom's church, one at our church, and one neighbors house. He would have gladly kept going if I would have agreed.

We had planted zinnia seeds in July, and Brennan loved checking on them. He was amazed when they became taller than he was. 

There we go! A little bit of our three months of a wonderful fall!

Birmingham Zoo

August 20, 2012

 A is for Alligator

 B is for Bongos

G is for Giraffe

They were my favorite....both this cute one with sunglasses and the real ones. I don't know how I missed pictures of the real ones.

M is for Monkey

The squirrel monkeys were fun to watch. They only rest for 10% of the day. I wish I had their energy!

P is for Play

Brennan loved the playground area. We didn't get to do the suds or splash pad, but he loved romping through this area.

T is for Train

Brennan LOVED the train! Once we rode it he was done and ready to go home. He found it the most interesting of all that day.

ZZZZZZ

After a fun filled day, we had a very quiet ride home. He was worn out!

Blessings and the Beach

I'm finally starting to catch up in blog world! There's a lot to share!

I have a great blessing to share....Mike started a new job with Wells Fargo on Wednesday! God is so good! His job with T-Moblie officially ended the 18th, so we didn't have any lapse in insurance, etc.

He was offered the job on Thursday the 9th, so we decided on the 10th to head to the beach for a short trip before he got started. By the end of the day on the 10th we had a condo, a dog sitter, and travel companions in place. We left on Monday the 13th for a little fun in the sun. It was a great trip. For my future reference, we stayed in Crystal Towers 509 (I can never remember the names or numbers when it's time to book again) in Gulf Shores. Mandy and Maeleigh went with us. I think we all had a great time. Since it was a short trip, we just hit our favorite spots along the way: the outlets, the Hangout, the Original Oyster House, LuLu's. We spent as much time as possible on the beach. That meant late lunches and late dinners, and two toddlers that were little troopers. They loved it all!

See Ya' Later Alligator!

Brennan

He is still here. He is still funny. We still love him to the moon and back! He is 2 1/2 now, and has just had a mad growth spurt. I'm not sure how much taller he is, but all of his 3T shirts are getting short. His obsessions at the moment are trains and Mickey Mouse Club. He wants to watch the MMC Road Rally episode all day every day. When he isn't watching it, which is often, he is pretending to be apart of it. His imagination is huge right now. A lady at the bank asked him what he had done one day and he made up this entire story ending with me picking him up a few minutes before. Ha! Thankfully his pretend day included good things for a two year old to do, mostly involving trains and a road rally. He loves to be tickled and loves to spend time with his daddy. With Mike home more right now, I'm totally old news most days.

 A few interesting facts to not be forgotten: He ALWAYS runs out of the bathroom naked after his bath. He finds whichever parent did not give the bath and announces his nakedness. There is normally a superhero cape/towel flying behind him as he does so. He MUST have his sunglasses any time he will be outside. We now have three pair to alleviate a little stress every time we get ready to leave the house. His latest exclamation word is NEVER. On our way to Georgia he started telling us,"No, Never!" It was hard not to laugh the first time, but the new wore off quickly for those of us over two. The second night we were trying to go to sleep and he was wound up. I asked him to lay down and be still. His respond was, "No Never!" I calmly told him that I didn't like him saying that, and he shouldn't speak to me that way. He responded, "No", waited a few seconds and then said, "But I didn't say never." He is not as cuddly right now. We went through a phase of him asking to be held a lot. That has changed to him rejecting my kisses and wiggling away. He does want to be forehead to forehead when he goes to sleep though, and still wants to hold an ear. He loves his big boy bed, but freaks out when I change the sheets on our beds. It doesn't matter if it's his or ours, he melts down begging for the current sheets to stay. He then begs for a couple of days to change them back. Then when we do change them back, he cries all over again for the other sheets. Craziness!  His favorite foods haven't changed much. He will at least try some new foods now, but hasn't really liked any of them. His staples are peanut butter, carrots, peas, mac and cheese, chicken noodle soup, and cereal of any type. There are a few other things he eats, but only by his choice. He is a chip eating fanatic, but we don't keep those around too often.

Our days include a lot of time at home. If we aren't at home, Brennan is often asking to go there. He loves his toys and doesn't want to be away from them for long. When we came back from two days in Georgia you would have thought we had been gone for months. He was so happy to be back at home!  He spends a lot of time playing trains and with trucks. He also likes puzzles, play dough, and art projects on occasion. He loves to play outside, especially with his lawnmower and big truck. He has discovered a dirt spot where he can fill his dump truck and loader. He will often sit down, take his shoes off, and soak in the dirt I think. He swims all over the pool with his Puddle Jumper on, and will jump off the diving board. He still doesn't want his face to get wet, and often chooses to just play outside rather than swim. He is starting to really recognize certain letters, and likes to count right now.

We are loving watching  Brennan grow and change. I still take a second look sometimes in disbelief that we now have not a baby but a little boy.

He still loves his Cozy Coupe Fire Truck

This is how we found him in the playroom one night. Covered in red finger paint! 

The paint is now hidden.