Grandparent Visit and Christmas Rolled into One

My parents came to visit us the day after my due date (Dec. 5th), so they got to meet Esther when she was a week and a half old.

Wish I could say I made this. A local person created this masterpiece, and it was displayed in the grocery store. I just had to take a picture, because it was so beautiful.

Matthew cheesing in front of the Christmas tree. It's hard to get a normal smile from him, but we've found that we can "trick" him into smiling by saying something silly or asking him to say a word he likes, like "cookie" instead of "cheese."

My parents got the kids a bunch of gifts, and they brought some from the aunts and uncles too.

Matthew loves Thomas right now, and my mom got him a sheet set for his big boy bed. Which by the way, he has transferred very nicely to that. He actually requested to sleep in there before the night we were gonna do it, so we followed along, and he's been sleeping there ever since. He's still going through a I'm-gonna-scream-and-cry-when-you-leave-the-room-but-I'm-actually-fine phase right now, but he was doing that in his crib, so it doesn't have to do with the new room. We actually thought he might be scared of the dark all of a sudden, so we started leaving on the bathroom light that shines underneath his door. I don't think it's had a huge affect, but he did go to bed pretty good tonight. Anyways, off that rabbit trail...

My mom loved holding Esther and did so every chance she got. I don't think I held my daughter very much while they were here, but that's ok. It left me free to get some things done around the house or just rest.

Esther liked Grampa too.

Matthew wasn't very cooperative for pictures, but we did manage a big cheesy smile. Hey, I'll take what I can get.

My dad was Matthew's buddy all week. He warmed up to both of them pretty quickly, but Dad was his playmate. They colored together, exercised together, Dad fed him breakfast, and Matthew watched him prepare food in the kitchen. Even now he asks for Grampa from time to time.

And now begins Christmas pics. Well, one from Christmas Eve first.

Matthew opened some presents from his aunt and uncle the night before Christmas. Here he is playing with his new truck. Pretty much anything with wheels he loves.

Opening gifts Christmas morning at our house. I found a bunch of Disney story books for a dollar at a half price book store. Josh and I are tired of reading the same books over and over to him. My parents got him some new books too--our libary keeps growing and growing.

We got him a wooden train set, and so far it's a hit. By the way, you don't see us opening gifts to each other because we decided to get a bigger purchase for the house as our gift. The day after Christmas we bought a couch, and it comes on Saturday. Yay for more seating!

We spent the day at Josh's parent's house. Here's Josh helping Matthew with one of his gifts. It's a stuffed moose from Aunt Beka. She calls him Moose cause he was (and still is) a big boy.

During gift-opening time, Matthew did well passing out gifts. He only tried to open a couple that weren't his, and that was because he tried to get someone's attention to find out who to give it to, but when no one answered him, he tried to find out for himself :). He did get pretty cranky at one point, and I looked at my watch and realized he needed a food break. So Josh set him up at the table with some mini hot dogs from the night before, and then he was good to go for the rest of present time.

One of Esther's Christmas outfits. This one was from my mom. She pretty much slept a lot of the day I think.

Aunt Laura holding Matthew and Aunt Beka with Esther.

Aunt Hannah smooching on Matthew.

Papa holding Esther. Or trying to pass her off to someone else perhaps :)

We had lots of fun, food, and family to enjoy for the holidays. Among the gifts Josh and I received: Bob Evans gift card (yum!), books (Ronald Reagan for him, Karen Kingsbury for me), stable animals to go with our Willow Tree nativity, clothes (shirt and tie for Josh, shirt and bracelets for me), and a coffee maker. I know there was more, but it's too late at night to remember them all. Everyone was so generous, but the gifts don't matter to us anyway. The best part was having a good time with family and getting to celebrate Christ's birth with them.

The First Few Weeks

I'm playing catch up with pictures a little bit. So much has happened since we've been home, and I've taken tons of pictures. To start with, here are some random ones of my kids.

She's having more alert/awake times during the day now. She was so sleepy at first, which I didn't complain about.

Esther and Kate, a girl at church a few months older than her. Please, no more pictures, they seem to say.

She looks so small next to him.

Decked out in his winter gear for a particularly cold day. He hates wearing the hat, but normally we can convince him to wear it when he's outside with the promise that it comes off in the car.

Looking so happy and goofing off with me.

Babies look so cute when they yawn.

She's thinking, C'mon, Mom, really? What's with the hat?

This was taken 2 Sundays before Christmas I believe. Esther had a few Christmasy outfits, and I had to make sure she wore them all this month. This one was a gift from Grammy. She looks like a little Christmas present. And sheesh, Matthew looks so grown-up these days.

My best friend since 1st grade, Sharon, stopped by overnight with her husband (Mike) and son (David). They were on their way to pick up her sister and then head to see their families for the holidays. It was so nice to see her again, even if it was for a short time.

I actually caught David holding still. We put a Thomas DVD on, and he watched it for a little bit, but this kid was everywhere. He wanted to check everything out, and you couldn't take your eyes off him for a minute. They should have named him Curious George :)

First bath. I've got a video too, but I'll have to put that up some other time.

Pondering something.

And finally, so pretty in pink.

Favorites Pics of the Week

My son, the gangster.

A friend from church gave Esther a bunch of headbands, and she made some bows that you clip onto the headband. They are so cute, and it's cool that I can mix and match and get different looks each time.

Dressed up for church.

What do you know? A successful family photo (sort of)

Matthew now sits completely inside the cabinet and closes the door on himself so it's totally dark. What a goof.

Praising Jesus in her sleep.

Mother/son shot. Not perfect, but I love it anyway.

I know I've put up a few pics of Matthew kissing Esther before, but it is just so cute I have to put one up again.

Love this.

I guess this is upside down because of how I held the camera, but I like the shape of her mouth in this one.

Matthew showing Daddy his muscles.

What can I say? She's too cute for words sometimes.

Look-A-Likes

In all honesty, I don't think my kids really look alike. But in pictures they do, so I've decided to share some. The first will be Matthew at a couple weeks old, followed by Esther around the same age.

Sleeping on Daddy

Making a Fist

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In other news, Matthew had another PT appt. today, and he was not cooperative at all. He kept saying no to everything she wanted him to do. It has become his new favorite word, and it's driving Josh and I crazy! I try to remind myself that it's just a phase, but it's a really annoying one. And I also try to remember that he says it when he means yes too, so he's not always meaning it when he says it. I'm trying to get him to understand when to say yes, but so far I haven't been successful.

For the past 2 nights Esther has been sleeping longer stretches. Like about 5 hours, which is technically defined as sleeping through the night I believe. Or maybe it's 6 hours. Either way it's nice to get a longer stretch of sleep before I have to get up with her.

I'm a little bummed because Josh thought he had the next 2 weeks off, but it turns out that he has to work Monday and Tuesday next week :(. Oh well, such is life I suppose. We're hoping to get some time to shop for a couch for our office. Right now we have our 2 Ohio State fold out chairs in there. I mean, it's great that we have seating in there finally, but I want something more permanent. It's going to be our Christmas gift to each other. Now if only we could find one we like :)

My best friend since 1st grade is staying with us overnight tonight with her husband and son. I'm so excited to see them again! I think the house is clean enough...

Have a great weekend!

Finally!

I think he's been officially walking since Thanxgiving, but this week his confidence has really soared at times. He's gotten bolder, and the PT has seen definite improvement. We've still got some work with him though, like standing up without holding onto anything and reaching down for a toy without any support, but we are getting there.

First Week at Home

Lounging on the couch.

Me and my kids.

Showing Matthew how to be gentle.

One of their first pics together.

I felt up to visiting Josh's family, so we hung out at their house for part of a day. Here's all the guys: Dad, Donald, Josh, and Matthew.

Grammy and Papa handling three grandkids at once. Esther was the cooperative one at this point. Chesney and Matthew, not so much.

Sleeping on the boppy, one of Matthew's favorite places to sleep when he was her age.

A close-up of her beautiful face.

Cheesing.

Posing with Esther.

Poking at Esther.

We managed to put up the Christmas tree this week.

Esther on Matthew's lap.

Daddy and his kids.

Mommy and her baby girl. I love this one.

Josh's aunts all pitched in and sent us this rocking horse filled with gourmet cookies (they sent one when Matthew was born too) Yum!

Kisses for sissy.

He's not too sure about having her on his lap.

First sponge bath.

All clean!

Sorry I didn't write too much, but it's been a little hectic. I take a bunch of pictures and then get behind when I attempt to put them up for you to see. But you all don't really care what I have to say anyways, right? You just wanna see the photos, admit it.

My parents are here this week helping out and enjoying their grandkids, so I'll get those up here eventually.

I'm doing good, feeling good, Matthew's adjusting to a baby in the house, Esther becoming more alert, and Josh is able to stay awake at work thanks to coffee. That's us in a nutshell!