A Visit to Great Grandma Clines

Since we were in Wyoming he had to go and visit Grandma Clines. Michael was pretty interested in his Great Grandma Clines. It's so great to have family around!

Simple Pleasures

After spending some time at the Climers for Christmas, we flew to Wyoming to visit the Bairds for New Years. They saved our Christmas presents for when we got there. Little Uncle AJ couldn't wait to give Michael some rubber duckies he had been coveting for quite some time. He just couldn't wait to get into the tub with the duckies, so it wasn't long until we had Uncle AJ, Michael and Uncle Joshua having a party in the tub. We were worried that AJ wouldn't share Michael's ducks with him since he had been so excited about them for so long. But Michael is as happy as a clam as long as he has his blue cup. All I can say is simple pleasures.

Climer Family Photo Shoot

While the whole family was together for Christmas we decided to go and get our pictures done. We were happy that we got the package with the copyright release (so, no, I'm not breaking the law). Michael was a trooper for all of the pictures. We were able to get a bunch of cute shots with him.

Here's a picture of the whole family:

(L to R we have Michael, Mary Ann, Jonathon, Emily and Laurie with Dad and Mom in the center)

A pic of all the kids: (Center pic, L to R Emily, Jonathon, Laurie, with Mary Ann center)All the girls (L to R Emily, Laurie, Mary Ann, with Mom in middle)

Three generations:

We decided to bring Michael's penguin Arthur with us to help him be happy. It sure worked!

Merry Christmas!
Christmas morning was very laid back. Aunt Laurie spent some time cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Michael was pretty interested in helping her, and she found some awesome sweet potatoe toys for him to play with in the kitchen. Crazy Aunt Laurie is the BEST!

Once everyone had awakened and eaten, we decided to open the stockings.

Here is the line up:

Jonathon helped Michael get his and open it. It's kinda fun how Michael got interested in one toy and wouldn't really move on to the next toy until he had finished playing with the one he has. So Jonathon went on without him, so we could see all he had in his stocking.

Notice how Michael is pretty interested in the green ducky instead of the other toy Jonathon pulled out....

Then, after everyone was showered and dressed we opened the presents under the tree. Crazy Aunt Laurie gave Michael a tree house with about 5 cute little animals that live in it. Michael has sure loved this gift. Thank you Aunt Laurie!!!

Here is a small collection of the things Jonathon and I recieved in our stocking and from under the tree. Thank you all!!Michael was pretty worn out from all of the festivities, so he fell asleep clinging to the cute doggy snugglie that his Aunt Emily gave him. He has used this doggy for bedtime almost every day since then. Thank you Aunt Emily!!

Michael has started walking around the house holding on to our fingers. He sure loves the excitement of being so "big". We had a cute little Santa Suit that was just perfect for Christmas. We decided to dress him up in celebration of this magical day.

During lunch, we got out a play pen for Michael to play in while we ate. He felt a little lonely, so crazy Aunt Laurie joined him in the fun. He was a lot happier once he had the company...

Here comes winter!

The weather hasn't been to bad yet this season, so I am wondering if it will be a white Christmas this year. Since this is Michael's first Christmas, it is also his first winter. He hasn't experienced the snow yet. I, personally, don't like being cold, so, unless there is quite a bit of snow, I would rather just stay inside where it is warm. But Michael can LOOK outside all he wants...

Not so much a winter wonderland is it!

Jonathon's birthday is a curse and a blessing...
Now, before you jump to conclusions about this statement, let me explain myself. First of all, have any of you had to count to remember what number cooresponds with the month of your birthday, or ever been confused which number goes first, the day or the month. In fact, it isn't even consistent among all of the forms and applications there are... and believe me, there are many. So, for example, my birthday is March 8, so I can write it 3/8 or sometimes (in weird cases) I write 8 day of 3 month or something weird like that. Or, maybe it may just be me that gets momentarily confused by this, or at least has to pause to think about it a bit. ANYWAY, Jonathon's birthday is a blessing because it is December 12, which is often written 12/12. This way, he never mixes up which number is the month or day. He writes it the same either way...What's more I never have to remember the day... I just know it is the same number as the month, and I can remember that his birthday is in Dec.
Now, Jonathon's birthday is also a curse. This is because his birthday always lands on or near finals. BUMMER. Well, this year was no different. So, we decided to celebrate his birthday a week later... TODAY!

I kept asking him what he wanted for his birthday cake/celebration, but I could never really get a straight answer out of him. He just told me to do whatever sounded good to me, which was kinda nice. See, I don't really like cake, or pie, or many other really sweet desserts, but I do like ICECREAM! I knew if I baked him a cake (which I would gladly do, it sounds fun) he would either have to eat the whole thing, or it would go to waste. So, I decided this year that we would have icecream pie! My favorite! So I made it up, stuck some candles in it, and WALLAH! Happy Birthday Jonathon!

Just a cute Video of Michael