Merry Christmas!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. We had a great time celebrating with Pete's parents. Nate loved opening and playing with all his presents. One of his favorites was a shopping cart. Even the cat enjoyed a ride in it!

Any guesses NOW?

That's right folks, its a boy! We will have a fun time with two little boys so close in age. :)

O Christmas Tree

We had a great time cutting down our Christmas tree! Once we actually made it to the tree farm....we got a little bit mixed up on the directions. Good thing my husband gave me a GPS for my birthday! :)

"The" tree!Nate eager to help daddy cut it down
Family photo

Guess?

We only a few days left until we find out what baby number two is! I am so excited! We are going to do a 3-D ultrasound so we will get a better picture of this little one that has been causing so much havoc! :)

So, any guesses? What do you think it will be?

Lovin' on Grandpa

One of Nate's favorite people in Delaware was Grandpa. He would giggle and run to him as soon as he saw him walk in the door. He cried (even mommy couldn't console him) when Grandpa left to take the trash out. Thankfully Grandpa came back quickly and Nate giggled and squealed when he saw him.

This was the game that they were playing at the big family dinner.

Look at me Grandpa

Tickle Me Grandpa

I love you Grandpa

Issues

Nate doesn't share me well. While we were at my sister's house I happened to hold a baby.

This did not meet with his majesty's approval.

He decreed my arms should only ever be occupied with him.

(You are in for a rude awakening kiddo.)

The kingdom is at peace. For now.

I Love Your Cup

Nate loves my pottery mugs. I display them on a shelf in the dining room. He always looks up at them and says hot. Smart kid. Then asks for one. Yesterday he found one on the floor and snatched it up and would not let it go. He thought that he was pretty special.

Hiking

Pete’s work put together a hike once a month for three months in a row and motivated us to get out and try to do all three. So we did the first one, the second one we missed and this was the third. I borrowed a child carrier and said let's go. The drive was beautiful! I would have loved for you to see the wonderful fall colors but 10 minutes into the trip I realized that I forgot the camera. So you will not be able to see the beautiful streams or fall colors that we crossed as we hiked the Chimneys. You will not see the adorable picture of my sweet husband as he carried our little guy up the trail. You will not see pictures of my little guy when he decided that he needed to give daddy’s back a break and hike on his own (he walked about half a mile). Nor will you see the results of mommy not dressing our little guy warmly enough (red fingers and runny nose). You will not see pictures of my little cyclone as he threw the temper tantrum of the century. He didn’t want to go up the hill anymore, nor down the hill, nor carried on a hip of a parent nor carried in the borrowed carrier. It was great. As we progressed down the trail, we found out that this was a pretty busy trail. Many people were able to witness the meltdown and as they passed they would hear, “buh-bye” and then the crying would start again. We were only about half a mile from the top and never made it. I heard the view was beautiful. We will have to find out another day. I’m still sad about the pictures.

Caffeine

Caffeine is my friend. It really does make me feel better. However, as I learned yesterday, it can also be my worst enemy. I drank some Coke a little late in the day, thinking that Pete won't be home tonight and I need to have energy to care for the cyclone. Well, I did great all night. Then came time to sleep. Not so great. I feel like I dozed all night long.

It did not help that my sweet husband came home at 10:30 and then went into the bathroom to throw up. After the second time that he got up and I didn't go back to sleep. I went to the couch. Then Nathaniel woke up at 3. I thought that my worst nightmare had come true. Pete would not be able to deal with the throw up this time. I silently prayed that there would be none. There wasn't. He just needed to be cuddled for a few minutes and he went right back to sleep. Yeah! Then I laid on the couch some more and composed this post in my head. The cat then decided that I was in need of a massage....he purred and kneaded me until I thought that I would go crazy. Then I heard Pete's alarm go off. Then he got up. Then I got up...whoa...I needed to go throw up. What fun. Pete decided to stay home and help in case I got sick again. So now, I am caring for our little cyclone and Pete is sleeping. I am glad that I don't feel worse. I am just so tired of the throw ups.

Dixie Stampede

We got some discounted tickets through Daddy O's work. So, we decided to try. :) We got there just in time to make our way to our seats. Little cyclone had a great time eating (the chicken was as big as his head). He cried when we tried to take the corn cob away from him. He loved all the singing and dancing and horses and clapping. He clapped right along with everyone and danced...and said ohhhh and wooo. It was really fun to watch him. We didn't get great pics because we were on the top row. (It actually worked out great because the cyclone got restless towards the end and needed to explore). I think that we will do it again next year!

T-I-double G-er!

Tigger and I had a great time visiting with our neighbors. They all thought that he was adorable! Really, who wouldn't? His tail wagged when he walked...I was overcome with his cuteness at that moment! :) Getting your kid dressed up is a great way to get to know your neighbors better and a great introduction to the new neighbors that just moved in. :) Tigger invited himself in and played with whatever they had (a swiffer and a broom) they are doing some home renovation before they actually move in. We had a great time chatting and Tigger tried to clean. Who could ask for more?

Yearning to be big

My little cyclone is back in full force. Still a little grumpy, a little more tired but all bulldozer. He has decided that he doesn't want to put his cookies or his drink on the little chair that I have for him. No, it goes on the counter like mommy. Nevermind that he can't get it back down (and will cry about it) or that as he tries to put his drink up there that he occasionally misjudges and the drink will come back down on his head. He is determined. Try, try again.

He has also decided that he's ready to pack his bags. He will drag any bag around and then out the door and wave bye bye as he goes. The backpack I used for our hike that is as big as he is and weighs almost as much him....he could move. I was amazed. He also dragged daddy's briefcase from the bedroom into the bonus room and then into the guest bedroom. Nothing is where we leave it anymore. Today he got one of my old purses and put his toy car in it, said bye bye and was off to explore his bedroom. I think that we have an adventurer on our hands.

Sick

Well, the little one has been sick for the last few days. Really sick. Fever of 104 kind of sick. So, we went to the doctor this morning. I was convinced that he had some sort of incurable disease and that he would never be the same because I didn't get him to the doctor sooner. I was on the brink of tears the whole time that we were driving to the doctor. (Isn't it amazing what a hormons can do to make you even more freaked out than you would be normally). Turns out, my little lathargic cyclone has ear infections in both ears. Poor little guy. It has been a rough couple of days.


All he has wanted has been mommy. So, we have laid on the couch and watched all the cartoons and talk shows that mommy could stand. In the picture he is watching Rachel Ray and learning how to prepare a quick easy dinner. I love cuddling with him but I am starting to miss my little bulldozer. I know that the meds will kick in soon and he will be back to tearing the place up!

Last night I heard him getting rather restless. So, instead of waiting for him to start screaming, I went in and woke him up to give him more meds. He was freezing cold and I held him for 15 mintues with a wool blanket over him before he stopped shivering. I felt so bad. Then he started coughing and kind of gagged himself. He threw up on me. I put him in bed and proceeded to go to the bathroom and throw up. So much for being able to handle your own kid's throw up. I am sunk. Luckily, Daddy Cyclone was home and he took the offending shirt and cleaned up the chair where we had been sitting. I am so thankful that he can handle that sort of thing.

Raising 'em right

Thought that you might like to see our little cyclone back when he was still pretty new.

Our cyclone family

Looking for trouble

Yes, this will be used for blackmail. :)

Spoons and forks

Well, little Nate has reached another milestone! Yeah for the mini-cyclone! He has decided that he must have either a spoon or a fork! Last night daddy-o was amazed at his ability to spear hot dog bits with his fork and put them awkwardly in his mouth. Today I was amazed that he managed to eat most of his oatmeal with a spoon. Most of it actually made it into his mouth. I made the mistake of using the spoon to get some off of his bib....so he wanted to try, but there needed to be oatmeal on his bib. sigh. It could have been much, much worse. I (foolishly) gave him a breakable bowl (what was I thinking?), and then left him unattended (smart). Oh well. He did great, didn't break anything and can feed himself. Next goal: learning to drink from a cup unassisted. I can't wait. Maybe we will savor the moment with the spoons and forks. :)

Dollywood

Well, no one can say that we didn't try. I responded "yes" to the Dollywood e-vite so by golly we were going to try. Nevermind that I didn't feel 100%, nevermind that my child woke up screaming thanks to the cat who ever so thoughtfully went in to wake him by meowing, nevermind that we would probably be late. I should have known that it would be a headache.

He went on his first real ride. Pretty fun. Until I had to take him off the ride. Meltdown. Tried to get him to go on a different ride. Meltdown. He got on a different ride. Loved it. Happy. Tried to get him off. Meltdown. Let him roam free. Happy. Tried to tie his shoe. Meltdown. Finally sick of having people stare at me, sympathetically or otherwise, I put him in the stroller and left the area. He screamed the whole way. Fun.

A peaceful ride. Buttons to push. The breeze in his hair. A girl to look at.

He liked the duck. It went in circles, he could push buttons, and play with the steering wheel.

The resulting meltdown.

Round One: Mini Cyclone 1 Mom 0

We went into a store. They had a little table with Thomas the Train and he played wonderfully with the other children. Then he found a Thomas the Train backpack with wheels. I turned around and he was gone...out of the store...down the sidewalk....ready to leave town. I picked him up (meltdown) and went back to the store. We left after I got tired of chasing him around the store with the backpack. (meltdown) I am thankful that we tried. We did eat yummy food, saw some friends, and were able to ride fun rides....we will just have to try again. Yeah for season pass holders!

Joining the fun

Well, I am not really a "blogger". But it seems that I am also not a "website master". So, in an effort to record our little cyclone's growth and trail of destruction I have decided to jump into this "blogging" thing.