A Real Conversation

I can still remember the day we brought Nicholas home like it was yesterday. Recalling that time, I'd never imagine that in 2 years I'd be having a real conversation with him. Over the last week, Nicholas has amazed me with how much detail he can express ...especially when he's trying to stall bedtime. Tonight he was telling me all about a Curious George show with "The Renkins and a stinky skunk...and a farm...George in the tubby." He's so intense as he tells his thoughts and gets a very seriously disturbed look on his face when I loose his train of thought (and gosh do I feel horrible for not understanding his words). Soon, maybe he'll be reading me picture books at night (or better yet, reading to his future sibling).

Poppie On the Computer!

Tonight we Skyped Poppie!

That was right up Nicholas' alley, given his fascination with the computer... and Poppy!

With Daddy not home, we never managed to fix our sound issue - but boy did Nicholas make a good attempt. He certainly tries to fill-in for the man of the house whenever needed.

Gammy's Pumpkin Bread

When Nicholas woke up from his nap this afternoon, I showed him the pumpkin bread Gammy made for him. He immediately requested, "oooo yummy, want to each punkin bread on the couch and watch Curious George."

With such a beautiful sentence, how could I say no to that.

(see Daddy, there was a reason for the huge mess!)

Happy Turkey Day!

We enjoyed a fabulous afternoon of wonderful company and exceptional food at Great Aunt Elaine and Uncle John's house. There was a full house, so Nicholas had plenty to keep him busy.

I found that Nicholas coaxed Poppie to read him his favorite book, 'The Night Before Thanksgiving.'

And it was super cool to meet Uncle John's great niece Lauren from Texas. She is 5 months older than Nicholas, so they played beautifully together.

Aunt Elaine & Uncle John, all your efforts for bringing together so many people is greatly appreciated. We are truly thankful to have such a wonderful family to spend the holidays with.

Thanksgiving Morning

We had a nice relaxing morning watching the Macy's Parade. I don't know who was more excited for the Black Friday ads - Mommy, Daddy or Nicholas. We each dashed for our stores of interest. Nicholas grabbed his latest favorite - Home Depot.

He points out everything he knows - "fridge, drill, wrench, hammer, stove, vacuum, lights, sink, ladder, screw driver, phone, washer,... ooooo Christmas lights" and my favorite "ahh, Santa!"

He really gets into the ad!

It was so fun to see how much Nicholas got into watching the parade this year. He basically tuned it out unless there was a musical performance - then he's run over and show-off his latest moves.

This little guy is definitely our greatest reason to be thankful, on this special day and always!

Shopping with the Girls

This afternoon, we hit the mall with our neighbors. Nicholas was so excited to have "Om me" (yes, a dramatic change from "Em me me") in the car with us. These two had us in stitches with their antics.

Emilie is into hamming it up for the camera, can you tell.

Nicholas just thought it was hysterical!

They randomly give each other kisses all the time.

Pancake Lover

Nicholas was super excited to wear his new Curious George shirt from Olivia. He can now say "Curious George" and was pumped to see "George up in the rocket" on the shirt. As soon as he had the shirt on, he kept talking about making pancakes. I was able to talk him into cereal for breakfast, but my efforts for lunch were overridden by his repeated requests.

He blows me away with labeling all the ingredients - even calling the Bisquick powder "flour."

This boy just loves helping in the kitchen. He'll surely make one great husband some day.

Of course, all fun must come to an end. Nicholas grabbed my glass of water and was adding spoonfuls of batter to it when I had turned my back to get the griddle ready.

Peek-A-Boo!

Nicholas has been having loads of fun in his tent. He goes in, peeks through the window and yells, "Zoey, play hide and seek."

He pops his head in and out of the window it was hard to catch him in the window!

Wild Child

Yes, the hat says it all!

Nicholas is such a condiment lover. You'd have to fight him for a squeeze of ketchup at our table!

So this is what boys do together...

Daddy and Nicholas spent the afternoon together while Mommy was out shopping. Tonight I found evidence on the camera...

I'm still trying to make out what Nicholas is holding...looks a lot like a cookie!

Busted Daddy!

Snow Expedition

Nicholas has been so excited every morning to see all the snow. He always has to check his playset and screeches when he sees snow on the slide. He says, "yellow slide all white" and laughs hysterically. He also seems to worry about Daddy's Big Truck having snow on it - so we put him to work today!

I think we found his first official outdoor chore (even though Mommy was rooting for shoveling or dogie poopie duty).

He worked very diligently, as you can imagine.

He even figured out he was more efficient using his hand instead of the brush...

...that is, until the breeze blew all that snow he just cleared straight into his face! He was so frustrated when he'd use his snowy mitten to wipe his face.

Hey, if you need a bumper cleared off nicely, you know who to call (and as for the rest of the car, you're going to have to wait for a few more feet of vertical advantage).

Happy Birthday Poppy!

Nicholas just loves talking to Poppy in the phone. They had quite the lengthy conversation the other night...all while Nicholas walked the entire house like this (now seriously, where does he get that!).

Saturday Poppy celebrated a birthday. We all had a yummy breakfast together.
Happy Birthday Poppy! Nicholas send along an "I wuvv you!"

Comfy In the Tent

Looks like Nicholas isn't the only one enjoying his new tent!

Oh, the Imagination

Nicholas was doing his little "where is the toothbrush" game in his bubble bath tonight when he pulled it up and the washcloth was covering the brush. He started saying, "Mommy, look show and curtain." It took me a minute, but I soon realized he was calling the wash cloth draped over the toothbrush a stage curtain.

Needless to say, he's in bed with his "curtain."

An Official Bribe

With Daddy at class tonight, I had really wanted to finish my recorded Dancing With the Stars episode before the results tonight. Nicholas thinks any time the tv is on, it should be playing his "George show."

We'll, lets just say a little mint chocolate chip ice cream turned him into a fan of "stars dancing," as he put it.

(You gotta just love how he crosses his legs when relaxing!)

Mr. Fix It!

Daddy and Nicholas changed the batteries in one of Nicholas' favorite toys...

but from the looks of it, Nicholas will be doing it on his own by the next time we'll need batteries.

Perfect Day for Jammies!

We're still recovering from such a busy weekend, so it was the perfect day for us to stay in PJ's all day and have fun around the house. Nicholas was psyched to see the snowfall and ran to every window yelling "ooooo, white snow coming."

We had so much fun playing with his new Play Doh set - he stayed busy for an hour!

I always love his concentration face!

A Weekend With The Fam!

After all the excitement of the party, we all crashed and watched one of Nicholas' new Christmas movies.

The boys cuddled with Poppy and checked out Frosty.

Sunday morning, Poppy was Nicholas' personal gift opener. He got him to open his new tent and set it up - way cool!

His favorite part was definitely the flashlight!

Dillon coarsed Grandpa into the tent, only to tell him he was "too big" for it and he had to leave. There's a Grandpa who would do anything for his little boys...

...even including taking Nicholas for one last trip around the circle on the tractor.

Yes, after a full week of very carefully making sure Nicholas would not see the tractor hiding in our garage, Mommy came into the house from the garage a little too slow and you-know-who spotted it!

We were all so disappointed that it rained all day Saturday and we couldn't do rides at the party. It was so cold on Sunday, Nicholas had to get into his full-blown snow gear for this trip!

Kiddos Gone Crazy!

Nicholas & Dillon were all smiles for party time!

Dillon got to meet all of Nicholas' good friends, including Olivia.

It was so nice to see Kalie, who is now a big sister to baby Erica.

Nicholas showed the crew how to get down and crazy in the hay pool.

Action shot!

That's my boy!

Jake enjoyed playing the harmonica in the hay - super cute!

Hunter & Brayden took turns keeping the flexible flashlight around their necks (seriously, where do these kiddos come up with these ideas).

The girls chillin' for a minute.

Nicholas just loved everyone singing Happy Birthday to him - he was just beaming in excitement and bobbing to the beat.

He checked to make sure each and every guest was singing.

This time around, Nicholas did his "fffffff" blowing - so thankfully Emilie was there to give us a productive wind stream.

Nicholas got the first piece of cake - but Livi was right there to inspect it for him.

At the end of the night, you can imagine the house was rather ravaged, so thankfully we had the Morton Clean-Up Crew to the rescue!