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