Christmas 2009

Here's a link to lots of pictures and below are just a few pictures and some videos from Christmas 2009!
Alex got to dress in his Christmas outfit for the Holiday Program and Fashion Show at the YMCA, where he strutted his stuff down the catwalk looking very dapper in grey pants, a white button down shirt, a black and red sweater vest, and black dress shoes. He did fine at that part, but once he saw mommy, he was not about to peacefully sit and watch the rest of the program without her.We built a gingerbread train this year and Alex also decorated a gingerbread man with LOTS of green icing. He had just a tad of a sugar rush after this event...not to mention a green-stained face even after his bath. He liked eating the candy decorations more than leaving them on the train, and even pulled several off to eat them.


We went to church on Christmas eve which Alex was very good for. He loved the songs, and kept asking for "more song" after each. We even survived the candle lighting during Silent Night without any incidents. We finished off Christmas eve with reading Twas the Night Before Christmas, then Alex slept soundly through the night even though he did tell us in the morning that he heard the reindeer on the rooftop.

Christmas morning lasted until afternoon with opening, putting together, and playing with presents and talking to family. Alex wasn't quite as excited as we thought when he first saw all the presents under the tree, but he went right over to them and dug in just like he knew what to do. He liked the unwrapping, and wanted to play with each new toy or read the books as he got them. By the time we got to the last few, we were really working hard to get him to finish opening the gifts because he just loved playing with the new toys so much.

After Alex's nap, we went over to our friends' house for Christmas dinner with Mandy, Chris, Ryan (4), Paige (3), and Sarah (1 week). Alex played with the kids and hushed everyone for the sleeping baby (who he wanted to put in the baby doll stroller and high chair, but we wouldn't let him). We had a great dinner and lots of fun watching all the kids play. Andy and I enjoyed holding baby Sarah as a preview (reminder) of what we are about to have ourselves in a few days (I hope...maybe weeks).


We've had a great holiday break so far and Alex loves having daddy around to play with all the time. Andy has one more week of break before school starts back up. We took the plane to Georgia to get it painted while I am not flying much right now. We plan to make a day trip to Birmingham this coming week. My next doctor's appointment is Wednesday, where they plan to do another ultrasound. Thursday I will be 38 weeks, so hopefully our next post will be announcing the arrival of our new baby girl!

Vacuum from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Rockin snowman from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Remote controlled truck from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Plane on track from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Gingerbread man with icing from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Broom from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Grandma Brooke's Visit through Mid-December 09

Just had a few pictures from our camera at Thanksgiving, but these include some of Alex brushing his teeth before his bath using his new stepstool. After Gram left, Grandma Brooke came to visit at the beginning of December. Since Andy still had the camera in Germany, we used her camera for pictures. Here are the pics from her visit. While Grandma was here, we took Alex to ride the train and carousel at the mall...both of which he loves to do. We also went to the zoo to see the holiday lights and ride the train there which he liked too...he said choo choo over and over. We had a fun time with Grandma on her visit and Alex loved the attention. His favorite things to play are to serve dinner from his play food and kitchen stuff, to whoosh his airplanes all around, push trains, read, say letters, and count. I managed to get a Christmas tree and mom helped me decorate it with white lights (note: always check that your lights work BEFORE you put them on the tree), and red and gold balls. I also got the rest of our decorations up, though I am keeping it on the conservative side this year as I think January will be busy for putting them away!
Alex went to preschool for the 3rd time and it went much better than the others. He is doing great at the daycare at the YMCA while mom works out on Tuesday mornings (yoga class) too. He says "play, play, Y, play" on the way there and runs right in so I have to remind him to give me a kiss goodbye.
I had an ultrasound at 34 weeks to check on the baby's growth, as my belly measures a little small for my number of weeks. Everything looked great, and the doctor agrees I will probably have another slightly small baby...no complaints here!
My best friend had a visit planned for after my mom left, but a knee injury prevented her coming (hopefully she'll make it out after the baby is born now!). So, Alex and I hung out for the last week of Andy being gone and kept busy with getting ready for the holidays. My girlfriends threw a baby sprinkle for me while Alex was at school which was really nice. Yiotula put out a great brunch spread and I got some wonderful cute little girl gifts to welcome the new baby. It was great to be spoiled by and spend time with the girls mid-week!
Finally, Andy came home on Saturday night and Alex was so excited to see him. Andy had called most days and was so anxious to see all the changes in Alex he heard in just that short time (15 days--it felt like a long time to me!) Some of Alex's favorite words right now are snowman, ho-ho-ho, and choo choo, so he's been sharing those with daddy and showing off his letter and number skills. He can pick out several letters and numbers and has counted up to 8 on his own (which apparently is his favorite number, with D, H, and M all being tied for fave letter) We had Sunday to spend most of the day as a family before Andy dove into his finals this week. We went to the mall so Andy could see Alex enjoy the train (videos below) and Alex and Andy played ball (Alex puts a good spiral on his little football) and roughhoused. I had to show Andy Alex's booty shaking skills we've been working on, so he took a short video of that too. Here are the pictures from after Andy came home...they include one (edited) of Alex's newest trick: taking off his pants and diaper which he has taken to doing every time we put him down to sleep (which doesn't make mom very happy). The poor kiddo has an ear infection, so he is on meds (which he actually likes to take now) and is doing ok despite the coughing, runny nose, etc. Next up for us is celebrating Christmas here at home and guessing when our little girl will get here!

Choo choo train ride from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

More choo choo train from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Booty shaker from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Thanksgiving and Grandma McElvaine's Visit

Andy's mom came to visit the day before Thanksgiving and stayed with me for several days after Andy left for Germany the day after Thanksgiving. He took the camera, so these are pictures his mom sent, I'll have a few more to upload after Andy gets back from ours.

We had a great Thankgiving with our friends Mandy and Chris and their kids Ryan and Paige joining us for dinner.

While Gram was here, we made cutout cookies with Alex and he decorated them with frosting and sprinkles--which he loved to shake--and he ate lots of the decorations, so he was on a major sugar rush by the end of things.

We went to the mall where he rode the carousel and the train over and over...absolutely loves giving the conductor his ticket and getting in the car and riding it, he has no fear to walk right up and do it himself. I had to pull him away kicking and screaming after his fifth ride this day! He loves to say chugga chugga choo choo while doing his little train motions still and keeps asking to go ride the choo choo. Too bad it isn't always here, just for the holidays.

Here's the pictures from Gram's visit. She left the same day my mom came to visit, so I will have more pictures to share from that visit eventually too.

Andy should be back Saturday from his trip, and we are ready for him to be home!

Us with Gram at Thanksgiving dinner.Alex enjoying Thanksgiving dinner Making sugar cookie cutouts with mom and Gram

Decorating the cookies with frosting and sprinklesRiding the choo choo train at the mall

First day of "pre-pre-school"

Alex went to his first day of preschool or mom's day out or whatever you want to call it this past Wednesday, Nov 18th. We took some pictures of him with his little backpack with "Mo" (Elmo) on it and his Cars lunchbox. He wasn't too happy that mom left, but he did great playing outside. He goes only once a week and with the holiday this coming week, he doesn't go back til Dec 2nd.

It was nice to have some "free" time for mom. Andy was home working on a paper for school and I made some homemade pumpkin ravioli in hazelnut cream sauce for my cooking club. Not too bad for my first attempt making pasta by hand (well, with the help of my friend's pasta roller and ravioli cutter). Also discovered that hazelnuts are not only hard to find, but you also need to crack them with a mallet instead of a nutcracker. What an adventure...it took all day.

Here's the pictures from his first day of school plus some others from walking and the park. Next up--Thanksgiving here with Andy's mom and some friends, then Andy leaves for Germany for 2 weeks and I've got moms and friends visiting the whole time.

Future pilot

We were going to fly today, but timing didn't work out for it. We thought we'd bring Alex's little headset to see if he would start wearing it...up til now he wouldn't and we just put earplugs in his ears. Anyway, he decided at home when he saw the headset that he would wear it and fly his little airplane...this is definitely my son!!

Alex and his friend Kostaki (13 months) did a good job playing on Monday. I couldn't get any good shots of them facing forward, but they had a good time playing and watching each other eat lunch.

Alex will go to "preschool"--really moms morning out--starting in 2 weeks, just Wednesdays 9-1 at a church close by our house. Should be fun!

Here's just a couple pictures of the headset wearing and playtime!

Happy Halloween from Our Little Cookie!!

There was only one logical thing to dress Alex up as for Halloween (he didn't have any suggestions). Since I think about them all day and dream about them at night, there really wasn't anything else for him to be other than a chocolate chip cookie. You can't really buy a cookie costume very easily so I dusted off the sewing machine and enlisted my friend Yiotula's help to put together his costume. It required some minor adjustments after its trial run at the ACSC fall festival last weekend before the big trick or treating event on Halloween. He made the sweetest little cookie you could ever imagine and didn't even mind wearing it at all...just so long as the candy kept getting into his pumpkin (and his belly).

We spent Halloween morning at the pumpkin patch where he loved the inflatable park, twactor train (their spelling), hayride, and teepees despite the cold and damp weather. Halloween night, Dad took him trick or treating in the neighborhood while mom stayed home to hand out candy to the handful of kids who made it to our dark little street. Alex had a good time and he was a joy to watch in his costume saying "mooore" (candy) and holding out his pumpkin bucket.

Congrats to my friends Lisa and Kelly who both had their newest sons (Charlie and Liam) last Friday and Monday respectively!

We aren't quite ready for actual potty training yet, but we got Alex a little seat you put on the toilet and he loves to sit on there before his bath, get some TP, and flush (though not actually going). The following was NOT a setup...this was all Alex after I put him on the potty on Friday night as usual. He got up there and immediately pointed and showed that he wanted a magazine from the bin in the bathroom, so I handed one to him. The rest was his idea...I had to show daddy and he took some pictures because it's just one of those things you can't help but think is cute.

I've been working on a nursery for our little girl and I've got all the furniture together, but had to take apart and repaint the crib to a brighter white to match the other pieces. Not too bad for my first real attempt at furniture painting.

We started swim lessons with Alex last week at the YMCA. I take him on Tuesdays and dad takes him on Thursdays for 4 weeks. He has done pretty well. He likes to get in the water, blow bubbles, and kick, but doesn't like being on his back to float.

Here's the rest of the pictures from Halloween 09.

AL pumpkin patch Oct 17th 2009

We took Alex to a pumpkin patch about a half hour's drive from our house. Although it was almost 80 on Thursday, but Saturday the high was maybe high 50s. It was "cold" (all relative after living in ND for 5 1/2 years) and even rained on us at the end but Alex had a great time, so we did too. He loved the bouncy slide and bouncy castles, the cow train ride and the animals. He even picked out his own little pumpkin. It was a good fall day. Here are pictures from the patch. I also took a video of Alex and Andy on the slide. When they get to the bottom Alex says "cheese" for the camera...so cute!

AL pumpkin patch oct 17 09 from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Trip to TN

We took a family trip in our plane to TN to visit my mom and stepdad over the Columbus Day weekend since Andy had Monday off from school. It was a good trip although short. We all had a lot of fun with Alex, taking him to a pumpkin patch complete with a hayride and corn maze and the park. Andy and I got a date night on Saturday thanks to the grandparents babysitting! My parents finally got to see and get a ride in the airplane. The flight there was mostly clear but had big bumpy buildups and the ride home was smooth although in the weather the whole way to the minimum ceiling for the approach back into Prattville. The cooler weather was a nice change from Montgomery "fall" (aka still summer). The temps did drop this weekend in Montgomery though and we went to another pumpkin patch here where Alex had a blast...more on that in my next post. For now, here are the pictures from our TN trip...I forgot my camera, so these are from my mom. I realized that because of that, there aren't any pictures of the grandparents with Alex...0ops!

Trip to Philadelphia October 09

Alex and I went to Philly this past weekend to my cousin Christine's beautiful wedding and to visit with my dad. We had a good time. Alex was a major charmer at the wedding festivities, but still is fascinated with the camera (read: complete meltdown when i don't give it to him to play with) so I didn't get too many pictures. It was a good time...next up, Andy, Alex, and I fly our plane to TN to visit with my mom and stepdad over the Columbus day weekend. Here's pictures from the wedding and a few others.

Handsome boy at the wedding in his little tux...Drinking like a big boy at the rehearsal dinner...Eating gnocchi at the rehearsal dinner...

Trip to Virginia

This past week Alex and I went to visit my best friend Kelly (who is also pregnant), her husband Chris, and their son Gavin, who is about 7 months older than Alex. We had a lot of fun and the boys enjoyed having a like-sized playmate. Since Kelly worked during the week, Alex and I did some fun outings in their area. Here's the pictures of our trip. We also had a "sprinkle" for Kelly and I got to celebrate her birthday with her too.

Kelly's sprinkle

Sandbox at playground

Pirate ship slide at Cox Farms

Walk in the park at Old Town Alexandria's marina

Boys in the bath

Snack time

August 09

I want to catch up since Alex's haircut, but I haven't been taking many pictures. I've got several on my phone and am trying to get them uploaded but haven't been able to yet, so here are a few from Labor Day weekend. Andy's parents came to visit. We took Alex to the zoo. Andy and I flew to Pensacola for Saturday and came back Sunday morning. It was a nice day at the beach for just the two of us. We took Alex to the beach a few weeks back, to Destin, but those pictures are on the phone. We have a trip to DC this coming week. Andy goes for work Sun-Wed, but Alex and I are going Sat-Sun (all week) to visit with Kelly and her family. Andy's got a triathlon on the 19th. We've been keeping busy with going to the YMCA, walking in our neighborhood, and having a few playdates. I've been working on becoming a better baker, and have to say that my devil's food cupcakes with dark chocolate icing were mighty tasty. That's about. More after the trip!

The answer to the big question for today...

I haven't scanned any pictures to share, but I had an ultrasound today where everything looked great. And, we found out that we are going to have a little girl! Yeah for pink!

First Haircut!

Before:

Today (August 12th, 2009) Alex finally got his first haircut--at nearly 18 months old! I was kind of sad to cut off his cute little curls, but the hair over the ears and into his eyes was just too much to take. Alex was fine until the lady tried to put a cape on him, then he gripped onto mom and wouldn't let go. So, we took his shirt off, put a cape on me, and put him in my lap. He did ok, but was better entertained once daddy showed up. So, it took the hairdresser, another lady to take pictures, me to hold him, and Andy to entertain him...4 adults to get one toddler's hair cut. It looks cute, and definitely makes him look a little more grown up--still as studly as ever. Here's the before and after, and the rest of the pictures have some of the in-between!

After:

Grandma Brooke's Pictures from Her Visit

Here's the link to some great pictures my mom took while she and my stepdad were visiting in July!

You'll see some of his favorites antics, like putting on shoes (he always picks a matching pair), swinging, and mopping/sweeping. Enjoy!

Andy did another triathlon this weekend and placed 3rd overall in the beginner's category!!

Alex seems to be getting 4, yes, 4 new teeth. That will make a total of 16 when they all come in.

Finally--a new post with lots of news!

Well, since we've been in Montgomery for over a month now, I suppose I can't claim that I'm moving as an excuse for not updating the blog--so here you go!

Since our last post...we went to Ames, IA to visit Andy's college, Iowa State, over Memorial weekend, meeting up with his friends from school and his mom. While there, we toured the campus and went to the Des Moines zoo. We flew our plane there and back. After that, we pretty much focused on moving. We did have Andy's fini-flight (last flight in the B-52 at this assignment), where we got to douse him in the traditional fire bottle and champagne bath. We took a short trip to Bottineau so Andy could wakeboard behind our old boat, which we sold to friends a few years ago. Alex didn't enjoy the boat, but enjoyed getting his picture taken at the beach area. We saw several of our other friends from Minot off, since so many of us were leaving. I picked up Andy's mom (met his dad with her in Yankton, SD in the plane) to help us with the move--mostly with Alex. We left on June 22nd. From Minot, we went to Willmar, MN, where I left the airplane to get its annual inspection and went on to Andy's hometown in IL where we spent a week of visiting friends and family. It would have been a better trip but we were all exhausted due to a trip to the emergency room for Alex's high temperature which revealed another dual ear infection. His fever and lack of sleep meant a tough week for all of us. All in all, he didn't do too bad with the trip considering how sick he was. We continued on to AL to arrive on June 30th, again with Andy's mom along for help. The movers brought our stuff on July 1st, and since then we've been getting moved in while hosting visitors. Instead of going to TN as planned to see Andrea's mom and stepdad, they offered to come visit us to avoid us having to put Alex back into the car and pack-and-play. So they spent a week here, enjoying Alex (or was it the other way around?). We took a short overnight trip to Carrollton, GA to see Andy do his first triathlon. He did great, placing 3rd in his age division. His next one is this coming Saturday north of Birmingham. While there, we took Alex to the Atlanta Children's Museum which he enjoyed a lot. We had one more week of Andy on leave before he had to sign in with his assignment, and that same day Andrea's dad and his friend Jean arrived for a visit for the week. Alex loved having all the company and grandparents to play with him and revel in his every move--he's quite a little showman--always dancing, acting silly, and wanting to show you something. He's been saying new words--his favorites are hot, up, off, yes, ba (for bus or ball), and juice. He loves going to the pool and splashpark, and playing in the little backyard pool, with his sprinkler ball, and on his swingset (that came with our house). We really like our new neighborhood. It's pretty, has a great loop for walking, running, biking, etc, and is close to lots of shopping and restaurants. We've joined the YMCA to have an indoor pool this winter and lots of workout opportunities. Andy's been meeting a local group of triathletes to do some training. We've gotten to spend time with our friends from Minot who also moved here. Andrea finally got the airplane down here the last weekend in July and so she got to take her dad flying. We've taken Alex to the Montgomery zoo, the Blount Cultural Park museum and Shakespeare gardens. We've enjoyed Andy's leave but he actually starts school tomorrow, so it is back to the "real world" for us all. The last, but not least, of our news is that we are expecting again! We are 16 weeks along, and due January 14th, 2010. The fatigue and nausea plagued Andrea throughout the first trimester and still are hanging on a little, making all the moving a challenge, but other than that, mom and baby are doing great according to the doctors, and next ultrasound is August 20th, when we should be able to determine if it is a boy or girl. I think that's finally it for news. Lots of Alex pictures from the past few months. Enjoy!

May pictures

Here are some pictures from this month. I finished my job last Friday, so I am back to staying at home with Alex. We've gone to Bismarck's zoo and the Minot zoo recently, and he likes the animals. Alex likes riding in his wagon to the park on our few nicer days--the wind is still killer even if the temps get into the 60s sometimes. I also took him to the indoor waterpark at the mall in Minot. He liked the hot tub better than the cold pools with the noisy splashing water!! I also discovered Alex really likes bouncy castles...he played in one at Planet Pizza. Andy has been doing some bike-riding and we've gone on some family bikerides with Alex in the trailer too. We all ran a 10K last Saturday and are running 5K tomorrow. We are going to Ames, IA for Memorial Day weekend to visit with Andy's college friends (at Iowa State). Less than a month til the movers come!

April Pictures

Here are some pictures from April. We got Alex a trike for Easter, so he loves to be pulled around on it (he can't reach the pedals yet). He's got molars coming in now and is hopefully getting over the latest ear infection. We are still waiting for spring here in Minot and temps consistent above 50, it's still in the 30s at night, and windy most of the time. We have taken Alex for wagon, bike trailer, and jogging stroller rides on the few nicer days. We've gotten some flying in too and I've flown some friends and their kids. Tomorrow I'm flying with an instructor so I can work on my commercial single engine rating as a pre-requisite to becoming a civilian instructor for single engine. Alex only has 2 more weeks at the CDC since May 15th is my last day at work. Then I'll be working on getting the house and us ready for the move in June. The countdown is on!! Alex loves to play music and dances all the time. His new move is the "hammer". See the video...

dance to the music from Andrea McElvaine on Vimeo.

Easter Bunny

Ok, I'd be scared too...this bunny is a little weird looking. Alex was none too happy to get put on the bunny's lap at Easter brunch at the officers club. He did enjoy his egg finding at home in the morning, especially the ones with puffs inside. He also liked his new trike, but he can't reach the pedals yet, so we have to push him and steer too. I'll post more pictures later, but this one was just too funny.

The rest of March

Andy definitely has the golfing bug, but there is still snow on the ground here, so he's taken to bringing the clubs indoors, and Alex loves to play with them.

I finally broke out the little wooden table that I had growing up and put it together for Alex. He doesn't sit there to play too much, but when he wants a snack, he'll walk right over to it and try to get in the chair.

He's still having fun making an "s" sound. I just wish he could pair it with another vowel except "a" in front, but that seems to be his favorite. Sometimes it almost sounds like he's trying to say his name, but most of the time it sounds more like another name for a donkey.

He has more semi infected ears, so he's on meds again. We also go to an allergist next week to figure out why he seems to still be getting hives. We thought they were due to the amoxicillin, but since it's been weeks since he's taken that, the doc thought it might be something else.

I went to Orlando last Monday til Thursday for a work conference. Andy kept busy taking care of Alex on his own when he wasn't at day care and they did great, but I missed them and Alex certainly seemed to be more of a daddy's boy after I got back.

I did a wine tasting on Saturday night and we got to fly on Sunday, and finally got the airplane back in its hangar. This week's forecast is the first with highs above freezing all week, so spring may get here yet.

Not too much else to share, so here are the pictures from March.

More 13 months old pictures

We took more pictures yesterday and today, so I wanted to share them as well. On St Patty's day, we went to Kerry and Dan's for dinner to celebrate our friend Heather's birthday. We got some cute pictures of Alex in his St Patty's shirt and with the other kids there. Today we took some at home of him eating and being messy. That's about it...hives are still there but doing better. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be cleared up.