So nightly after Alex brushes his teeth and we put his tooth brush away and then go through the contents of the cabinet and name everything. The other night Alex was a little confused that there was a shelf empty, so he quickly put his tooth brush away, closes the cabinet and turns off the lights. I then asked him to put his stool away but instead he stood outside the door telling me something. Though Alex is saying more words everyday, he will still babble when he has a lot to say. I asked few questions trying to figure out what he was saying and I was totally getting it wrong. So I tried"go get it" (hoping that he was telling me about something he wanted), and he takes off to my room. I follow him into the room and see him run over to Dave's toiletry bag and he picks it up and takes it back to the bathroom. He opens it up and takes out the contents that belong on the empty shelf. He then puts it all away in the cabinet, puts his stool away, takes the toiletry bag back to the room and off to bed he goes. 
My son loves my banana bread and I love it because I can make it Alex friendly and it uses up the ripe bananas in my freezer. I am including a picture of my most recent loaf for all to enjoy! I even had fun taking the picture. It has been a long time since I have played with my camera! The reason I am posting about his is because I am a little excited about this loaf. Not only did I make it Alex friendly but it is also a little healthy! I am not saying that it is healthy...just healthier. Therefore you do not feel so bad when you eat 1/2 the loaf in one sitting. So what did I do differently? I replaced 1/2 the AP Flour with whole wheat flour, oil with applesauce and added little more banana to make up for only putting in the egg white. It is a little denser then usual (I think because I did not use oil) but the taste is the same! And the important part is Alex loves it as you can tell from the pic!
Alex loves to watch videos on Dave's computer. So often before bed Alex will watch a video and this night Eli joined him! How cute!
I would not say that this is a New Year's Resolution because I have been trying to do this for awhile. But I have decided to share it with you! Two things I have been trying to improve upon in my life is eating healthier and being more green. Two things that I think are important to do as I think about what God has given me and what I am responsible for in the life.
Here is Alex with his cousin's Jack and Julia
This is Dave's cousin's son, Luke. He is 4 months older then Alex and such a cutie!
And our new cousin Katie. She is Luke's sister and is three months younger then Elijah! Oh the fun these kids are going to have together.
Dave received this hat in the gift exchange. Needless to say this picture is one of his favorites, he loves to see his boys sporting the black and gold!
Alex wore himself out opening all his presents and playing with Grandpa J! He is sporting his new hat! Dave got one just life like it!
Here's Millie enjoying one of her presents with her big sister Maddy.
The other Saturday, we enjoyed some family time and headed downtown for some lunch and to see raindeer! I had heard that Hoggie's (a resturant) was having real raindeer come in for the kids to see. It just so happened that Hoogie's is located just across the street from one of our new favorite places to eat. When we arrived downtown, there were no raindeer in sight. Oh well, at least we could get lunch at Gulla's Lunch and head home for naps. After we order our food, a truck and a huge trailer pull up to Hoggies (which we could see from where we were sitting). So has we ate lunch and stayed warm, we watched them unload the raindeer. Alex thought it was pretty cool. He had never seen raindeer before! After we ate we headed over for the photo opt and to see the raindeer up close. Very cool!
I will explain the title of this post after some back ground info. Tuesday night night, the family is hanging out in the kitchen making dinner and playing. Dave and I were talking and I can hear Alex in the background saying "Ball." I figured he was just playing and ignored it. Next thing I know, he is by my side saying "Mama" and points to the counter where he had thrown his ball. I was very impressed! Alex has been saying Mama for a while but never to get my attention, it was more of a label (who is that? Mama!). So for him to call me by name was HUGE! So, as any mama would do, we had a mini celebration for him to encourage him to do it again.
Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on what we are thankful for. Every year I have the same basic things I can say that I am thankful for; health, family, friends, etc. This year life is a little different. I am extremely thankful for and amazed by God's faithfulness!
Delaware Ohio loves parades. In the two months we have lived here, we have watched two parades go by our house. One for Veterans Day and the other one was this past Sunday, a Christmas parade! Alex decided not to nap that day. So, since he was just lying in his crib playing, we got him up and we went out to watch the floats go by. One group had a live camel walking behind their float! Very cool. Alex enjoyed pointing to the floats and then telling me about it. It was fun to watch him take in all the new sights. Everything is new and exciting to him. Life is so fun to watch through the eyes of a two year old.
It was like Holloween all over again. Our pockets were full of candy!
We even got this cool hat. The heart says "Jesus loves you snow much!" So cute!
And what would a Christmas Parade be with out Santa and Mrs. Clause bringing up the rear!
Alex is offically on the move. I think he runs everywhere. He no longer knows how to walk! There a 4 college students that live above us. They have told us how much they love to hear Alex run from one end of our apartment to the other! His second favorite thing to do is falling down, on purpose. He is just running around and then boom, he throws himself to the floor. He thinks it is so funny. Every so often it back fires on him and he get hurt. This picture is one of those times. He totally smashed his face on the floor and just started screaming. I picked him up and his lip was big and bleeding. Poor kid, he just looks pitiful! Just another moment in the life of our family.
So I was looking at the pictures on our camera that we had not downloaded yet and I realized that there were a few cute picture on there that I needed to show my readers!
would have more fun running around our yard with his costume then having to walk around and walk up to strangers asking for candy that he is not allowed to eat! And we were right, So the boys stayed with us and help pass out candy. We also passed out Hot Dogs to the adults. It was a big hit. Dave grilled them right there on the front porch. We think it makes for a great tradition and ministry! We had some great conversation our neighbors! This is Eli hanging out on our porch! What a cute pumpkin!
On Sunday, my Aunt Carol and I took our boys to the Z00. Every year the Columbus zoo invites kids to dress up and come to the z00. They have sponsors come in and pass out candy to the kids.
We had to take a train ride. I believe it was the first thing I heard Jonathon (my Aunt's son) say he wanted to do! Alex enjoyed it also, he lights up with he hears a train whistle. So this was pretty cool for a two year old!
Jonathon did such a great job with Alex. They held hands everytime they went to get candy. Alex followed Jonathon everywhere.
What a cute pumpkin
Alex feel asleep soon after we left the zoo. He even slept through Elijah screaming next to him. Elijah feel asleep also. I had a very peaceful drive home. We all sleep very well Sunday night!
His attempt at stirring
The best part of baking
Then he gets to enjoy them
They are little sticky...if you look at his hands you can see that he is not sure what to do with the stickiness. Good thing they tasted good! His cheeks are full of treats. He asked for one everytime we sat at the table!
So today we ventured off for our annual outing to a pumpkin farm. Last year, Alex was to young to really enjoy the fun things to do at one. We took pictures and then left. But this year was a different story, my son had so much fun! Eli was a good sport. Rode in the stroller and looked cute! Here are some pics of the boys with the pumpkins.
Now comes the fun. They has some fun activity for the kids. Alex loved them so much he had a hard time saying good bye to one to go to the next one.
ught it was pretty cool to go fast with his Dad. Dave thought is was pretty cool to go fast also! He enjoyed passing up the slower riders. There is a boy in every man!
I took these pictures when I should have been packing. I had a hard time packing because playing with my boys was so much more fun!
