Christmas in Chelsea

We have had one fun December here in Chelsea! Christmas time is such a magical time of year and it's even more magical when you have a wonderful little boy to share it with :-) Seeing the joy, surprise, and curiosity on his face each time we have done something new (or new to him since he probably doesn't remember much from last year) are moments that touch my heart and make me smile. And, the best part is that we don't have to go far to enjoy all the holiday festivities! Our small town makes sure to captivate us all with all the Christmas fun they provide....and it's all in walking distance! A couple weeks ago was "Home Town Holidays" with a parade, live nativity scene, cookie decorating, arts and crafts, and of course, a visit with Santa Clause! I was so proud of Brett because he actually sat on his lap this year!! I think it helped that his friend Abby did it, as well as the candy cane and little trinket gift Santa was handing out :-) Brett even got to see Santa a second time at Abby's daycare where they welcomed the public to come visit him. Both times he saw Santa he was apprehensive at first, but slowly warmed up and would shyly go over to sit with him. If you listened really carefully you could even hear him tell Santa that he wanted an airplane for Christmas ---- so cute!! To continue the fun all month long we have been doing holiday arts and crafts at playgroup and at home, and have had fun listening to Christmas music and singing "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" together :-) I love listening to him sing!

Brett and Abby bundling up before heading out to see Santa and the animals!

Visiting the live nativity scene and listening to Christmas carols

I love the look of complete surprise and amazement on his face!

Petting the donkey :-)

Brett and Kyle checking out the cool train pin he got while sitting on the train! Of course, that was one of Brett's favorite parts!

While waiting to see Santa, Brett got to do some fun art projects! He made an ornament (that fell apart soon after), a snowflake, and some fingerprint deer. Cute idea's!

Here are a couple Santa pictures I took. Unfortunately this particular Santa was a little grouchy and didn't smile much....atleast Mrs. Clause looked happy though :-)

Thank you for smiling in this picture, Santa!

Doing the best kind of art project there is - one with glue and glitter! I swear I'm STILL finding glitter throughout my house!

Our Christmas tree :-)

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

This year we were really on top of things and actually went to the Christmas tree farm the weekend after Thanksgiving! The temperature was mild and we basically had the place to ourselves because we went Saturday afternoon during a U of M football game. I guess some people think sports are more important than Christmas tree's (and usually Kyle is one of them) - but not for this game! None of "his" teams were playing so we were all about starting the holiday season and picking out the perfect tree for our family :-) Brett had A BLAST and was quite intrigued by the saw and how it worked. That's our boy for ya, he is always trying to figure things out and see how everything works. I love watching that little mind of his go to town!

Pulling the big wagon out to where our favorite tree's our (but of course I can't remember the name of them!). We offered to give Brett a ride but he preferred to walk :-)

I think he found one he liked!

Let the sawing begin!

Watching intently as Kyle saws away. I love how he is on his knees. So cute!

Now it's Brett's turn to try!

Trying to get Brett to stand still for a picture!

Father and Son, hand and hand :-) I love my boys!!

Of course, as soon as we got home we HAD to put the Christmas tree up and start decorating ASAP :-) Brett did such a good job and was fairly gentle - well, sometimes :-)

And here is the finished product - Brett loves to sit (or stand) on the chair and take the ornaments on and off. He has done LOTS of rearranging since the tree was put up a week ago!

"The Mitten"

When Brett turned one he received one of the best Christmas gifts ever from his Grandma Bingham. She had gotten him a very special book called "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. It was extra special not only because that was one of my very favorite books growing up, but also because the book was only a small part of the gift. The story is about a little boy who loses one of his white mittens in the snow. It is soon discovered by many of the animals in the area (an owl, fox, badger, rabbit, bear, mouse, etc) who decide it is just the right place to keep warm. Karen came up with the best idea to make this wonderful story even better - she hand made an oversize mitten along with the animals to go inside! At one years old, I was definitely more impressed than Brett and I couldn't wait for him to really get into the fun of it all. Last year, at two, he showed a little interest but he still wasn't quite old enough to really get into it - but this year, this year is different - he LOVES it and wants to read it all the time :-) We've read it so many times that he actually has the order of the animals memorized that go inside! Here are a few pictures of him immersed in his new favorite story :-) Thank you for the thoughtful gift, grandma Bingham! This is something we will have forever!!

Here Brett is reading the book by himself. I think we had read it together atleast 3 times at this point and I was ready for a break!

Surrounded by the animals, ready to read the story again :-)

Stuffing the fox into the mitten while I read to him.

One of his favorite parts, emptying the animals out when the story is finished.

Trick or Treat!

Now that Brett is a year older, trick or treating was even MORE fun than last year...he has a sweet tooth like his mommy, and was so excited to fill up his pumpkin with candy! I had a hard time trying to figure out a costume for him this year though...he first told me that he wanted to be a kangaroo for Halloween, so I searched and searched for a cute, affordable one, with no luck. They were either ugly or way too expensive. As I continued my search for a new idea I realized very quickly that it's very difficult to find a nice little boy costume that isn't a super hero, muscle man, or some other violent creature - and I'm just not ready to go there yet! Soon enough, I won't have any say at all, so this year, while he still listens to his mommy, I was going to find a CUTE one (but I had no idea what that would be!). Then my mom called one day with the best idea....she had seen an adorable owl hat and offered to buy it and then make the rest of the costume. What a wonderful idea, mom!! I bought a brown sweatsuit and she bought some felt; I then cut out the feathers and wings and my mom did the harder work of gluing and sewing it together. We were both a little worried that he might not wear it because we could never get him to try it on for us, but once the day for candy came, he was all for it :-) My mom did an AMAZING job and Brett was seriously the cutest owl I have ever seen :-)

Getting ready to head out..I mean really, can he get any cuter?!

Grandma and Grandpa Mo came for a visit so Grandma came trick or treating with us!!

Our attempt at a family picture :-) As you can tell, Brett is already munching on candy from our house!

Brett was so good at saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" after he got his candy.

Brett and his friend Abby who was dressed up as a pirate. SO cute!!

Brett and Abby holding hands :-)

The Dorritos were a nice break from sugar!

We stopped at the funeral home for some free donuts, cider, and games. I love our small town!

Hand and hand, on our way home.

Once we got home Brett insisted on opening up each piece of candy just to get a taste and see what was inside. Needless to say, we ended up with a whole plate full of half eaten candy!

Leaves and The Bing Band

On your mark, get set, GO!

I love all the seasons in Michigan, but fall is by far my favorite. There is a fresh newness in the air that I love --- and nature sure provides a lot of fun activities for kids (and adults!) during this time of year. I remember jumping and hiding in the leaf piles when I was a child, and now I get to witness my own son do the same thing!! Oh, and sometimes Kyle and I just HAVE to join in the fun with him :-)

I thought Brett had a lot of energy when he was 1 and 2 years old, but now that he is almost 3 the energy level has been brought to a whole new level --- and keeping him busy all day long can be exhausting! The past few evenings have been cold and rainy so we haven't been able to go outside, and in order to still wear this little boy out by bed time, some sort of activity was needed. SO, one evening we brought all the instruments out and went to town making all sorts of noise - I mean music- and we even came up with a name for ourselves - "The Bing Band". Brett had a BLAST and thought it was the coolest thing that we were all playing together :-)

Toddler Bed!!

A couple weeks ago Kyle and I bravely decided it was time for Brett to switch from his crib to a toddler bed. I had been prolonging this for as long as I could because (as most of you know) he was a terrible sleeper the first couple years of his life, and finally, FINALLY, he had begun to sleep through the night. And then, on top of that, he was only napping about half the time, but I always put him in his crib for atleast an hour for quiet time so we each could have some down time. I knew the crib was safe and I could relax a bit without a second thought. Still though, there was no denying my baby boy was growing up, and getting bigger - which meant lifting him in and out of the crib was starting to take a tole on my back. Plus, he will be 3 in less than 3 months, so we knew it was time. One evening Brett had taken a long nap in his crib and we knew he would be up LATE - so Kyle decided that night would be a great night to put the bed together - and we knew Brett would love helping - which he did :-) And let me just say, I have never seen Brett as excited as I did that night when his "big boy bed" was all put together --- he literally ran laps around the house (at 9:30pm!) in excitement before running into his room and JUMPING on his bed. When I saw that look on his face I knew we did the right thing :-)

Helping daddy take down the crib

"My big boy bed!!!"

Jumping up and down!

Yep, this bed is all mine :-)

The next day he spent lots of time playing in his new bed. Being able to get in and out himself is/was a huge hit!

Since Brett switched to his big boy bed naps have pretty much been non-existent. I've tried many different tactics but he just will not stay in his bed during that time. So instead, we have some quiet time in the middle of the day and bed time has moved way up to between 7:30 and 8pm. And, I have to admit, I really love having the whole evenings to just hang out with Kyle, watch tv, read, and do whatever I want! Plus, he goes to bed without any fight at all (loves being able to crawl in bed himself!) and usually sleeps around 12 hours a night. The only downfall is that since the switch (like I figured would happen), he's been waking up once or twice at night again. He usually just wants a drink of milk or to be tucked in again, but I'm really hoping he starts sleeping through the night again soon. I know my little boy, and it will take some time, but it will happen :-) My baby boy is growing up and I couldn't be more proud of him!!