Andrew turns THREE

{December 19, 2011}

Is it really true another year has flown by???

Andrew is now THREE!

I just love my little guy; my first boy! He has made me such a better person and is always so caring and considerate of others. He makes me proud! I love watching his little personality grow and sprout into the person he is becoming and I hope every day that I am doing my very best to teach him and to do things right to help mold him into a good man one day. Right now, he seems like a fine young boy so I'm hoping I'm doing okay through my mistakes along the way. Parenting is a lot of trial and error I feel. There's so much that goes into being a good parent - but above all, I know that a lot of LOVE will do them a LOT of good!!! :)

He loves: Thomas the Train, cars and trains, Legos, playing outside, cartoons, books, coloring, brushing his teeth, learning to go potty like a big boy, flashlights, singing, dancing, helping to cook/bake, string cheese, bath time, chicken nuggets, bouncy balls, reading his Book of Mormon, his favorite blanket and stuffed doggy, dinosaurs, playing games on my phone, someone laying by him before bed.

So two days before his actual birthday, we threw him a friends party. 

A bunch of his friends came over and had pizza and cupcakes and played at the house.

And then, two days later, as tradition so far would have it, Andrew woke up on his birthday to SNOW!!! :)

Which he seemed pretty happy about!

He got to wear a new shirt for his special day...

Nothing better than Thomas the Train himself!

And got some birthday HUGS!!!

He didn't seem to happy with that, but, oh well! :)

Everyone else loved giving him some birthday loves!

After Landon's 9 month well baby check in the morning, I stopped off and picked up some Cinnabon treats! YUM!

(Until we were done...then it was "Ughhhhhh!")

For dinner, at the birthday boy's request, we had pancakes!

Time for the birthday festivities to BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was so excited to open his presents...

And blow out his birthday candle. 

We told him to make a wish -

but he blew it out before we even finished our sentence!

(Maybe he already HAS all that a cute little 3 year old boy could ever dream of!) :)

Kisses from Dad & Mom!

This is his first year opening up all his gifts on his own! I didn't put a whole lot of tape on his gifts to help him out a little! Haha.

(Yes, I'm a little sad seeing how big he's getting and how fast he's growing up! 

"Mama says, "SLOW DOWN!!")

He was SO excited to open each one and find out what was behind the wrapping paper. 

So cute!

I just love his smile! He makes me one happy mama and I really couldn't imagine my life without my little buddy! Seriously not a day goes by that I'm not grateful for his goofiness, funny jokes and sweet playful self - for the gift of having him in our family! 

Love you, baby of mine! Thank you for being you and bringing so much love and happiness to our home! 

We love you! xoxo

Andrew + Potty Training

Here we are....one week to the day since we started good ol potty training with Andrew. Even with an occasional accident here or there, he's doing awesome!! I've been finding that more often than not, he's dry when he wakes up from his naps which is a good indication that he is getting old enough to wait until he wakes up to go potty. (Not night time yet, just naps.) And boy has he been easy to please! If he goes, all he wants is a gummy bear or to play a game on my iPhone. Sounds good to me! :)

Besides him showing some obvious signs of starting to be potty trained, I thought this time was as good as any - especially with being stuck at home without a vehicle for a month now. Every hour, we walk down to the bathroom so he can try and he usually goes. If he doesn't, I have him take off his pull-up and once he goes again, he can put it back on. Kinda scary having him run around without anything on from the waist down but whatever works! And because he's the big boy that he is, he insists that he flushes the toilet after I empty out his little botty chair bowl into it. He most definitely loves being able to wash his hands all by himself. (With supervision of course!) :) As of right now, he's been able to go #2 in the toilet a few times also. Slowly but surely, we're getting there. By golly, sooner or later, I will only have ONE child left in diapers!! Woo hoo! :)

Today, after we saw the doctor for his 3 year well child visit, I took him across the hall to the restroom, held him on the big toilet and he peed! I was so happy for him and I just LOVE to see his adorable smile when he hears that his Mama is so proud of him! He's just the cutest thing ever! This has been a huge step for him (and us!) and I think he's doing an amazing job for only being a week into the process. More proof that my once "baby" is now getting to be a BIG boy! My how fast they grow up!

{Sporting his new pull-ups}

Santa

12*17*2011

Our first Christmas in Frankfurt and who do we find?? Santa Clause!! :) The kids were so happy that he took some time out of his busy schedule to come see them. It was the morning of Andrew's birthday party. And while I don't make it a habit to do Christmas things on his special day, they had fun and couldn't bear the thought that he was all the way in Germany and missed him! 

So Andrew talked to Santa about what he wished for. I asked him afterwards what he told Santa he wanted for Christmas and he told me it was a secret between just him and Santa! Ha! Guess we'll have to see if "Santa" can guess! ;) I'm sure legos and cars are at the top of his list!

 

After sitting with Santa and getting a picture with him, they hopped down and each got a candycane and a yo-yo or a toy equivalent to one. They were feeling super special!

 This also happened to be Landon's first appearance with Santa. I didn't really get a formal one with just him like I have with the others in previous years but they hit it off just fine. In all honestly, at nine months old, I don't even think he noticed! Sitting on Aubrey's lap helped I'm sure. They became fast friends. Didn't even shed a tear! :)

Between a church Christmas party, Santa visiting, music going, baking cookies and hanging out in the freezing temps...we are getting into the holiday spirit around here.

 And this year, we'll be having my brother and his family here from England to enjoy the Christmas festivities with us. For sure a Christmas to remember!