It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
The second weekend in December we headed down to Crown Center to get into the Christmas Spirit and pay Santa a visit. The line was over an hour and a half long so we opted to play outside in the automobiles, drink hot chocolate and look at the candy train instead.
Dan ran a 5K Jingle Bell Run Sunday morning. Dan beat his goal time and Burke met Slugger from the Royals. Slugger gave Burke "knuckles" and now even a week later Burke will announce out of the blue, "Lion KNUCKLES in cave!" Oh. I should mention Dan's run took place in the caves of Lenexa where it was 68 degrees. Much nicer than the 40 degrees outside.
We made it to see Santa!
This was at the Oak Park Mall. I have to say that Burke was indifferent to Santa. Not excited or scared, just inquisitive. Once again, "knuckles" came in handy. Once Santa gave Burke knuckles Burke started pointing out the trees and the lights to Old St. Nick and he was talking his ear off. Burke never told Santa what he wanted, but I think I know. Burke's favorite part was the candy cane he received as a parting gift.
Our house is coming along great. We have stained kitchen cabinets, painted interior and exterior and GRANITE! Dan and I spent the 3rd weekend of December tiling the guest bathroom upstairs, Jack and Jill bath and the laundry room. We had our work cut out for us and had to finish up on Monday. We really appreciate Nonna coming up to watch Burke so we could get this done. Those two had a blast. This might be the last time we sign up to tile. We are sore! We are now about a month away from closing.... we hope.
Now that winter is in full swing we have had to find indoor activities to occupy ourselves. Burke likes to color after dinner. He is pretty accurate in identifying his colors. His "r" and "y"s are coming in slowly.
LELLO=yellow
WED= red
GEEN= green
PULLPUL= purple
BEW= blue
PINK= pink
BACK= black
BOWN= brown
Over the hills and and through the woods
to grandmother's house we go....
We headed to Manhattan to celebrate the holidays with Grandma Karyl, Aunt Megan and Uncle Brett.
Look how much fun these two have together!
We had barely unloaded the car and grandma and Burke were baking some cookies.
Our whole crew headed out to the 5 pm Christmas Eve Service at Karyl's church
Burke received his Christmas Eve pajamas. They are parachute jammies!
Burke has a tough time sleeping away from his bed as he has now mastered the escape of the pack-n-play. Since we were all up with Burke from 3:30-4:30 am he slept in til about 7:45 am.
This is what Burke woke up to find Christmas morning from Santa. A giant tent filled with 100 balls.
Thank You Santa!
He crouches down to peer inside the tunnel before he climbs in.
Thank you to Grandma Karyl for putting up a beautiful Christmas tree. It felt like Christmas at Grandmas with family surrounding us and a tree. We didn't put our Christmas tree back in our duplex in KC. It is buried in boxes in the basement as we had expected to already be in our new house.
Burke is allowed to be all boy and throw balls inside the tent. Yet another winter time activity appropriate for a boy with a lot of energy.
Burke quickly got the hang of unwrapping presents.
Uncle Brett and Aunt Megan came over to unwrap presents and start the Christmas day.
Hot wheels and a rug to drive them on from mom and dad.
I can't help but hope he always remembers these special holiday moments. I will. My sweet boy.
The happy couple's first married Christmas.
Burke giving out thank you kisses.
Grandma got him this KSU basketball warm up gear. Super cute!
While we were in Manhattan we dropped by Uncle Burke and Aunt Margery's house to say hello.
THE BURKES!
Aunt Margery had a sleeping kitten that Burke was fascinated with.
It was great to see them both.
Burke's 2nd Birthday is right around the corner. Before I forget here are a few fun things that Burke says:
1. "Burke do it"(Mommy, leave me alone, I am independent)
2. "Momma drinkin' da coffee"
3. "Daddy sweepin" (sleeping very early in the morning)
4. "I like/ no like ______" (expressing his likes and dislikes)
5. "Puppy dog." He knows all the relatives dogs' names but refuses to call his dog "Gage"
6. "GET DOWN! KENNEL! HERE! NO NO DOGGY" He patrols Gage sitting on the furniture and anything else Gage does.
9. "Cheerios for beckfass" (Breakfast)
10. Sessa and Weet (Tessa and Reid) are his heros. He loves his cousins and they are so good with him.
Mom and Dad came up to celebrate a late Christmas at the Grier's house. Thanks to Nicole for putting up the grandparents and fixing an amazing dinner of Ciappino. YUM!
Our new house is moving along and we are very pleased with how it is taking shape.
We learned that our close date is scheduled for Jan. 25.
Let the count down begin.
Polly brought Miss Brecken over so we the Mom's could catch up over Christmas break and the kids could play. Sweet Brecken was interested in Burke's blocks. Burke was semi interested in sharing. Little does he know this is his future wife. : )
We celebrated our New Year's Eve with Pacey's and McGown's. After a delicious Indian dinner out we headed to the McGown's house to play games, snack and celebrate. It was a great way to ring in the new year with our close friends that might as well be family. Love this crew!
Cheers to the outgoing busy 2012 and the adventures that await us in 2013. I am feeling very fortunate, grateful, blessed with a healthy happy family and a new home in the works.
