Cute Moments in Florida

TJ with bells that Poppy gave him

Patton "protecting" TJ during naptime

The trip to Florida was a lot of fun. Poppy gave Trent two bells to play with and he thought they were the greatest thing. He rang them constantly. The other pic is of my sister's dog with Trent. Trent had fallen asleep on my parents and when they got up, Patton was proud to jump up on the bed and stand guard for the remainder of TJ's nap. It was too cute!

Christmas Day

Trent in his Christmas PJs

Ready to open presents

Loving the big boxes!

Tropical Christmas Week

This year, we went to my grandparents for Christmas. They live in Florida so it was nice to have some sunny, warm weather. I actually went running in shorts while we were down there! Anyway, this year we were joined by my parents, my sister and her boyfriend and my great aunt and great uncle. It was so much fun to see everyone and Trent thoroughly enjoyed all the attention that came his way! In Christmas Eve tradition, we played chinese auction/dirty Santa. The game has so many names. In our tradition, you have to model your gift if it is wearable. Here are some pics from the evening. There were so many laughs all around.

Trent intrigued by the Christmas Carousel centerpiece

Gifts before the Chinese Auction game

Dana modeling slippers

Poppy super excited over Limburger Cheese

Chris, Dana's boyfriend

Dad showing off his oven mitt

Jesse with Spumante

Family Christmas

Slightly interested

More interested...

This one has some height

Getting some leverage

Over the top!

Jesse, Trent and I had our first family Christmas celebration as a family of three. I love the time spent during the Christmas season drinking egg nog, listening to Christmas music, and enjoying each others company. We gave our presents to Trent and watched as he figured out what to do with them. He didn't really show much interest in opening them. He was much more interested in using them as obstacles and proceeded to repeatedly climb on and over the boxes. We enjoyed the evening and look forward to many more Christmases to come.

One for the team

Today, I went for a walk with with all three of them! That's right, Duke, Dozer and Trent.

Walking Duke and Dozer is difficult enough. Don't let their size fool you. When they are on a walk, they have the strength of two sled dogs, which would make going up the numerous hills in my neighborhood great IF they ever went in the same direction. Since they're both males, they also like to mark each and every mailbox. Not to mention, have to greet every person/squirrel/leaf that may pass by. We have worked on "heel" with these two for YEARS. Walking with one, it works pretty well; walking with two - a different story. I used to run them three miles a day, but somewhere along the way, they became middle aged dogs. They now opt for becoming anchors (complete dead weight, where they literally force you drag them or carry them) after about two miles. (We went about 1.5 today, and as I type this, they are both sleeping at my feet). Anyway, up until today, I haven't had the nerve to attempt to push TJ in the jog stroller AND walk the two dogs at the same time. The jog stroller can be a bit of a beast to push up the hills and can be hard to hold back on the way down. But today was the day. We all needed some Vitamin D after being inside all day so we strapped everyone in and off we went.

It went surprisingly well! The stroller forced them to heel since it could potentially run them over if they didn't respect it(and it's bigger), so the dogs walked nicely along side of it! I kept the dog leash in my right hand so the stroller also worked as a barrier between squirrels, mailboxes, neighbors, etc. What a pleasant way to enjoy the sunshine!

Comical Trip to the Library

TJ is nine months old today!

We decided today was a good day to take our first trip to the library. I had to return some books, pay the overdue fees, and rent a few audiobooks for the long car ride ahead of us. Trent and I loaded up in the car and we were off. Once we got to the library, I realized that I had grabbed my purse, but left my wallet on the dining room table. So we headed back home, unloaded the two of us out of the car, climbed the two flights of stairs, grabbed the wallet, reloaded us into the car and took off for Round 2 of Going to the Library. Once in the library, we returned our books, paid our late fees and headed down to level one to find some audiobooks. Once we got the corner they were in, Trent decided that the library was entirely too quiet so he started "singing." As all eyes turned to him and his fabulous singing, he crescendoed to full volume. I attempted to hush him a couple of times, but he just responded with a look like, "Mama, look at my captive audience!" So while I accelerated my book selection and Trent carried a tune for all to hear; Trent must have thought that we were not making enough of a scene, because he determined this was also the optimal time to take an enormous dump. The kind of dump you can smell instantly and have to check your own shirt to make sure you're not only smelling it, but wearing it as well. Thankfully, I was only smelling it, but so was everyone else within a mile radius of the library. At this point, I thought we best head home since our audience was hardly chanting for an encore. We checked out and headed out the door. (Maybe our fans gave us our standing ovation AFTER we left the building.) So for all those who enjoyed our library debut today, see you again in two weeks!

In other random and slightly comical news, the bird has now been pecking at the window for eight days straight. Even Trent and the dogs have noticed our lovely, little red friend. I don't have the heart to harm him, especially because he must be a special, little bird since he's either trying to mate or fight with my window. His pecking doesn't bother me, but I am contemplating ways to train him to jump off the sill before "doing his business."

Christmas with the Kellers

The Ladies

Grandpa Dale and TJ

On the move

Showing Daddy how to play piano

The Tree

Check out all this paper!

This box is for me??

Seriously - Did you see this?!

This weekend we celebrated Christmas with the Keller side. It was so much fun! Grandma Sue made a delicious ham with yummy sides. TJ sat at the table with us and attempted to share his dinner with the dog. With TJ's increased mobility, he had fun scaling the walls, crawling around, and having everyone take turns walking him. The real highlight though was watching TJ open the presents. Christmas is always a fun time of year, but enjoying it through the eyes of a child brings it to a whole new level. What a great start to baby's first Christmas!

What does your autograph say about you?

"Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence" - Author Unknown

I read this quote this morning and it made me think - what a great attitude to take towards any career, but especially towards staying at home. While you don't get paid monetarily for being a homemaker, your son or daughter could be the next president or could find a cure for cancer. We do not know what our children will become in the future, but we do have a major impact on their character. More and more of my friends are opting to stay at home with their children and I love to see it. You don't get the same kind of "attaboys" as you would working outside the home, but it's so rewarding. The job itself has the potential to get a little monotenous without the right attitude. Cleaning, dealing with children all day long, cooking, not having much adult interaction throughout the day, could get the best of you if you let it. I think it's all in the approach. Set your goals to create an environment where your family will thrive and in turn, you will thrive as well.

So what does your autograph say about you?

Friendly Game of Tug Of War

Duke and Trent play Tug of War almost daily. While Trent has the weight advantage by a few pounds, Duke normally comes out triumphant. It's really entertaining to watch and both Duke and Trent have fun playing. We've also included a video of Trent walking (assisted) for your viewing pleasure.

New Found Independence

Who Me?

Look at that handsome boy!

I'll rescue you!

Now what are we going to do?

(And yes, our tables are wrapped in foam at the moment)

Haha, I found your shoe!

TJ is in full blown exploration mode right now. He climbs and crawls on, over, and through everything. He LOVES the Christmas tree and has already attempted to unwrap some of the presents. (Sorry to those of you that receive presents that are slightly ripped - know that Trent was just extra eager to see what you got!) He's walking along furniture and will happily escort you wherever you want to go. :)

Incessant Tapping

We have an intruder! I got up this morning and at 7am I heard some tapping. I was not sure what it could be. We live near the woods so critters abound. Plus, the weather has been really rainy lately. I didn't know if something had gotten lost and ended up in the fireplace or if something was dropping off the roof due to all the rain. Not thinking much of it, I put TJ down for a nap and went about doing chores in another part of the house. After TJ woke up, I came back upstairs and the tapping was still there. So I began my hunt...

The Culprit

This little guy continued to tap on the window all through lunch. Eventually, TJ and I left the house to run errands. Upon our return, yep, our friend is still here, STILL tapping...

Randoms

Standing in his crib

On the way home from Christmas shopping the other day, TJ thought his sock looked appetizing :)

New Perspective

Trent is seeing things from a new perspective these days. He has figured out crawling as a means of transportation. However, he is not content with this particular method. He attempts to stand up on everything or have you help him walk to where he wants to go. If he's left to crawl, he screams and grunts to let us know that he's frustrated.

He much prefers the view from a standing position. The dogs are a little intimidated by this because when Trent is standing, he is taller than the dogs. (Trent has attempted a few open field tackles on them in preparation for his future as a linebacker, fortunately for the dogs, they're faster!) Crawling and discovering everything all day long can be a little tiring as a mom, but it's also exciting! My role has switched to full time spotter, friend, encourager, rescuer so he can be an explorer. Pre-baby, Jesse and I did a lot of traveling. We love nature, but we also love getting a glimpse of how other people live. I always loved the anticipation of seeing a new place. As adults, we have preconceived ideas of how things should be done, but a baby has a blank slate. No wonder there's no much joy in Trent's voice was when he lets out a shrilly yell! EVERYTHING is exciting and new and each day is a new discovery!