Quick "Not Me!" Monday

This will be short and sweet and to the point today since I am crazy busy with packing and appointments today. MckMama is not having Not Me Monday today due to Stellan (her little MckMuffin) being sick and in the hospital. Please keep him in your prayers.

*I did not enjoy the hours of arm free time when everyone kept offering to hold Aiden at my in-laws house.

* I did not have ALL the Christmas decorations packed up and stored before 1:00 pm Christmas day. I of course settled in on that day and relaxed and did not rush around packing a gazillion boxes.

*I did not give Dale a guilt trip over his lack of participation in the packing and moving even though I know that he is not feeling well. I did not give him an ultimatum to either help me paint the new kitchen or get off the couch and go to urgent care to find out what is wrong. The man who NEVER goes to the doctor did not choose to go to urgent care to only find out that he does not have a serious sinus infection with all the bells and whistles. I did not feel guilty for forcing him to go to the doctor but glad that he is hopefully on track to feeling better before the big move on Saturday.

*I did not feel sad when my stocking was empty, minus the voucher for a free vacuuming, compliments of my caring 9 year old son. I guess when we agreed to not give each other gifts, Dale figured he was off the hook on the stocking too. That's my favorite part. Hopefully next year he will put some effort into that.

*I did not forget to buy oranges for the kids stockings this year. I have always put one in their stocking since I was always given one as a child. How could this have slipped my mind? Too much going on right now.

*I did not spend Sunday working in the nursery, to end up only having my kid in there. I could have watched him from the comfort of my own house instead of him being the only one there and grouchy in this forgein place.

*My family will not be happy when this whole move is over so they don't have to deal with grouchy mom who tries to pack everything in sight. So far they have avoided being shoved in a box, taped, and labeled.

Well, I have taken a long enough break. Must get back to packing before I have to leave for my next appointment of the day in about an hour. Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year's celebration.

Howse Family Christmas

On Friday we went to Palm Desert to spend time with Dale's entire family. This was the first time that many of them had seen Aiden. He had only met his grandma and grandpa and two of his cousins. He was a little unsure of all the people at first who knew him but yet he had no clue who they were. Over time he warmed up and really enjoyed all the extra love. The kids' Howse cousins are all older then them (the youngest is 20) so they treat them more like aunts and uncles, but always with lots and lots of love.

Alexis and Andrew got some books from Grandma and Grandpa.

....as did Aiden - he has really started loving books and being read to.Aunt Dawn and Uncle Ralph, from Oregon, got each of the kids an Oregon football shirt, perfect timing since Andrew's last shirt was getting a little small.....and a cute pink one for Alexis.Cousin Candace reads with Aiden and Alexis.Spending some lap time with GrandpaIt was awesome to have Uncle Ralph come and visit from Oregon. We all wish they lived closer.Some cousin love from Gabrielle, who lives in Bakersfield. She had seen Aiden one other time but today was the first time she got to spend some time with him.Cousin Gabe with Alexis.Candace and Aiden. Candace lives a block away from us and the kids LOVE when she comes to play with them. She is such an awesome helper for Dale and I and usually bails us out when we are in a pinch.Cousin Jessica, from Bakersfield. She is awesome with Aiden. She could get him to giggle like there is no tomorrow. She really has a knack for kids.Cousin Liz, from Bakersfield, with Aiden and Alexis. Some how I never got a picture of her hubby, Josh.Auntie Deana, Uncle Anthony, Candace and Gabrielle with Aiden.Auntie Danette, from Bakersfield, with Aiden.He was SO exhausted by the time we had lunch but wouldn't go to sleep for fear of missing out on the fun. He finally crashed on Auntie Deana's lap, as long as he had his blanket tag near his mouth.

Alexis LOVES playing the piano with Grandma. I remember sitting on the bench with my grandma when I was little. I know that she too will hold that as a special memory.

Uncle Bob, from Bakersfield, with Aiden.

The entire family. Only 4 cousins and their families were missing, along with one brother. In all there 19 of us there. We all had a great time catching up on each others' lives.

Aiden with Grandma and Grandpa. Aiden said 'ga ma' (translation: grandma) for the first time that day.

Grandpa was being naughty and trying to teach Aiden how to walk. He really isn't ready to walk, he barely takes one or two cautious steps along the couch and does not initiate moving his feet when someone holds his hands. That is all fine with me because I am not ready for a walker. I just want to make it through the move and get settled before I have to deal with that.

Auntie Dawn watches as Hannah (Liz and Josh's daughter) holds Aiden. Everytime she would walk past him she would say, "baby baby." She loved being able to hold him. She is an adorable almost 2 year old. We had not seen her since she was a little infant. Aiden on the other hand was not too sure about being held at that time and only wanted his mommy.

Spending some snuggle time with Daddy.

Grandma tried to rock him to sleep but there was just too much going on around him.

Auntie Dawn with the kiddos in their antler ears.

All smiles for Mom. He just melts my heart. (his scar is doing great, just the one spot has a knot that we are trying to massage out.)

Being showered with kisses by Uncle Ralph.

The kiddos with Uncle Ralph and Auntie Dawn. Our time with them was way too short. We are hoping to be able to go visit them in Oregon at some point. I and the kids have never met their two kids, Matthew and Tiffany and her family.

Grandma, Grandpa and the kiddos.

Ok, if you made it through all the pictures then I am impressed. We all had a great time and enjoyed the wonderful weather as we ate lunch out on the patio. We wish we could have spent more time and hope that the next time we see everyone is not that long from now.

Aiden's 1st Christmas

I wonder what I am going to get for Christmas?Can I have some of big brother's stuff? Opening his stocking. Nana gave him a sucker that he loves and he also got a noise maker. WOW!! A HUGE Peek-a-block play station.

A Cookie Monster and Elmo car. We have just discovered his love of cars. He could spend an hour just rolling them around on the kitchen floor. When he is done playing with them he usually tries to eat them. Yummy metal.

Daddy reading him his new Elmo book

And new farm counting book. I hope that he also has the same love of reading as his big brother does.

To go with that huge peek-a-block play station, a box FULL of peek-a-blocks!

Nana bought him a stuffed Goofy. If he is anything like his mommy, he will love Goofy.

Messing with the tree ornaments.

Oh Man Mom!! Now what are you making me do?

Too cute in his Christmas hat and stockings. Look Mom, no hands!!

Can I take this hat off now?

Alexis' Christmas

Alexis and her new Easy Bake Oven. She LOVES to help Mommy in the kitchen, so this year she got an oven of her own. She hasn't stopped asking to make something since she first pulled back the paper to reveal her newest 'toy'.

What cooker girl is complete without her hat, apron, glove, and wooden spoon?

Reading through all the recipes and picking out what she wants to make first.

This is a doll that my mom gave her. It strongly resembles her.

Dora the Explorer Leap Pad. She has such a zest for learning other languages (no joke, she wants to learn Spanish and Chinese). This goes over the basics.Puppies in my Pocket. More tiny toys for Mommy to worry about with Aiden. This one is a tiny Welsh Corgi that looks just like our Suzy Q.

Andrew's Christmas

This movie has been hidden right under his nose since the day it came out. He has asked me for it everytime he saw it in the stores. Daddy and him are enjoying it as I type. Santa brought Andrew a Tech Deck set. Had Mommy known how many small (microscopic small) parts there where, we might have had a heart to heart talk with Santa about this gift. Andrew and his love of reading. This book will probably be finished before he closes his eyes tonight.This is an AWESOME book I found at Toys 'R Us. It has a button at the bottom that you push and it gives you a number to look up. You go to that number and read a trivia question, input your answer and then get scored. It is ALL about Star Wars. There are 2,500 questions!!! Hours and hours of fun there.

This is the famous calendar that 'someone' might be giving me for Christmas. I LOVE it!! I has a picture of Andrew and Alexis at the top (I might add a little mug shot of Aiden to the side of it) and then art drawn by Andrew around the edges. He did an awesome job and it is exactly what I needed.