The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The Freihaut household has been in full "holiday mode" since coming back from Indiana for Thanksgiving.  I put up our main tree the following week, although it didn't get decorated right away.  As soon as the tree went up, the fun began.  I thought Christmas with a one year old was a blast, but seeing Addy experience the Christmas season this year has been amazing.  She has been adding things to her Christmas lists daily and will willingly admit when asked that she wants everything (mainly because she's heard us say that about her).  Those darn toy commercials have been a royal pain.  I remember my parents complaining about the mass of toy commercials at Christmas and now I understand their frustrations!  We have also been trying to help Addy understand the true meaning of Christmas and have tried to involve her in shopping for and giving to others. We have read several children's books about the birth of Jesus and Addy has really been interested in understanding the story. 
 


Getting ready to go out in our first big snow. 

 

It was Addy's first "real" time playing in the snow.  She loved it!



Warming up from all that playing with some hot chocolate.  She loved that too!

Tonight Addy and I finished Christmas shopping.  We were zipping around Wal-Mart to grab a few final gifts and cookie necessities when Addy started belting out Christmas carols from the shopping cart.  Needless to say, she drew many smiles, chuckles and even some applause.  I wasn't sure what to do, but didn't want to be the Scrooge mom telling her kid to stop singing, especially when it seemed to be making people smile.  I was glad that our little girl could spread her version of Christmas cheer!

St. Nick paid a visit to our house...a day early so that he came on the weekend:)

Adalyn has really enjoyed seeing all of the outdoor Christmas light displays.  She loves to drive around and look at Christmas lights.  Derek found an editorial in the local newspaper in which the reporter periodically gives addresses of homes that are on the crazy side of decorating.  So, we write down the addresses and put them in our Garmin.  We have seen some pretty crazy houses.  Anything from light shows that blink on and off to music that's broadcast on their own radio station frequency to a lawn filled with hundreds of plastic statues and figures.  It has been a ton of fun and we have laughed a lot.  Despite all of our enthusiasm for seeing other's lights, we haven't put any up ourselves, which really bothers Addy. She tells us that next Christmas we need to have lights on our house too.  I guess we'll see about that...

One of the Christmas Crazy houses we found in our city.  (You'll have to enlarge the picture to get the full experience:)

A Special Visitor
Over the month of December we have had a very special visitor at our house.  His name is Barney and he is our very own ELF on a Shelf.  He was sent to our house by Santa on December 1st and was nameless.  Adalyn decided his name should be Barney, which was the best option out of the names she suggested :) Each night when we go to bed Barney flies (with magic, of course) to Santa to give him a daily report about Adalyn and carter's behavior and then places himself in a new place each morning.  Each morning Addy wakes up and is very excited to find Barney's new hiding spot.  He came with a story book that explains his assignment and we have read it several times.  I have been very surprised at Barney's effectiveness.  If an Addy tantrum seems to be brewing, all I need to do is glance in Barney's direction or mutter his name and she stops in her tracks!  Now if only Barney can be sent back in January by the Easter Bunny, I would have it made.  The other day carter was fussing in his high chair and Addy looked at Barney and said "Barney, are you seeing this?"  Nothing like a big sister ratting on her baby brother!  Needless to say, we had a discussion about the fact that babies are allowed to cry!

Our holiday house guest--Barney

Decorating the tree

 Christmas Card Photos



The picture that didn't make the card :)

Hopefully after this post I am somewhat caught up on our blog.  I plan to add more holiday posts as we hopefully get a visit from the big guy in a red suit and celebrate the holidays with our families.  Until then, we wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season!

6 Months....and Growing Like a Weed!

On November 27th Carter turned six months old!  We can't believe our little guy is already a 1/2 year old!  Carter's personality is really starting to show more and more each day.  He is a very happy baby and is always smiling.  His face lights up anytime Addy walks into the room.  He loves his big sister and she is so good at playing and interacting with him.  Carter began sitting up around October 25th and can sit by himself for extended periods of time.  His first two teeth came in during the first week of November.  We love his toothy grin:)

Our Happy Little Guy

Recently he has come quite the mover and shaker.  He's not crawling yet, but is pushing up to his hands and knees and finds a way to get what he wants.  His favorite things to go after are electrical cords, laptops, crayons and any of Addy's small toys.  I guess we're going to get back into "baby-proofing" mode. 


As far as sleeping goes, Carter has made improvements.  He now sleeps from about 9 o'clock until 4:30 a.m., which is a HUGE improvement from what he was doing just one month ago.  He has really started enjoying independent play time and will now sit on a blanket and play with toys for longer periods of time. 

One quirky thing we have learned about Carter is that he loves vegetable much more than fruit.  He gobbles up all of the veggies we give him, but has to be coaxed to down his fruit, even if we give it to him first! 

Carter loves his big sister and lights up anytime she walks into the room.  He loves watching her play and move about.  It is a lot of fun watching the two interact and Addy really makes an effort to play with and entertain him. 
He is also quite the chatter box and loves to babble.  Last Thursday (December 16th) he said dada for the first time and will now laugh after you say dada.  Go figure...another one of my kids says dada first! 

We took Carter to his six month doctor appointment on November 30.  It had been scheduled to two days later, but I called to get in early because he seemed fussier than usual and was pulling at his ears.  The doctor said he had an ear infection and prescribed him that lovely bubble gum antibiotic.  At the appointment Carter weighed 22 pounds 6 ounces and measured 28 & 1/2 inches.  He is a growing boy!  Actually he measured to be the exact same height as Adalyn at 6 months and weighs about a pound more than she did.


6 Month Pictures
(taken on  December 6th)

~Thanksgiving 2010~

We headed to Indiana the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to celebrate Turkey Day with our families.  The kids did very well on the trip home.  We only stopped once for food through a drive thru and made very good time going home.  Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family.  My parents made their usual yummy meal and we watched lots of football.  Later that evening Derek and I took Addy to see Tangled, while Carter stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Enjoying her turkey!

Hanging out with Grandma Schum

Friday morning I headed out for my usual Black Friday shopping excursion.  This year my dad agreed to go with me since my mom was working and Derek stayed back with the kids.  I was very surprised that my dad was willing to go, as his patience for crowds and crazy people is very limited.  He was surprisingly very well behaved and and an excellent shopping buddy.  Although we didn't find everything we were looking for, we did manage to snag a few good deals and were home in record time.

One of papaw's Black Friday purchases

Friday evening we headed to dinner with my family and then to Santa Claus to see the lights at Lake Rudolph and to visit Santa at the Christmas Store.  Addy loved the lights and "oohed" and "awed" through the entire thing.  I think Christmas with a two year old is going to be a ton of fun this year.  Both Addy and Carter did great with Santa.  Carter managed to grab a handful of Santa's beard and his wire-rimmed glasses, but Santa remained jolly through it all!  We had a lot of fun kicking off the Christmas season with the fun things in Santa Claus!

Who is this guy?

A couple of kids that are on the good list

Saturday morning we headed  Evansville to celebrate with Derek's mom, brother, and his family.We headed to the mall to brave the shopping crazies and go to Build-a-Bear. Earlier in the month I came across a good deal at Build-A-Bear (groupon.com is great!) and Derek's mom bought certificates for the three grandchildren to make their own animal.  Addy and Cameron made Rudolphs, while Carter made a puppy.  It was a lot of fun the kids really enjoyed making their animals.  Addy loves her Rudolph and is constantly singing his song and making him talk.

Giving Rudolph and Dasher a bath

Saturday afternoon we had a yummy dinner of crepes and put up the Christmas tree at Derek's Mom's house.  It was a ton of fun watching the cousins interact and decorate the tree together.  Addy was very interested in putting ornaments on the tree, and liked putting all of the ornaments next to each other along the bottom of the tree. Cameron enjoyed taking the ornaments off that Addy hung and Carter enjoyed watching the chaos and trying to get his hands on anything he could. 

Storytime with Grandma Freihaut

We had a wonderful visit with both of our families and enjoyed our time in Indiana.  We look forward to visiting with everyone again over Christmas.  Hopefully we will get to see more of our extended families as well! 

November in a Nutshell with a little bit of October thrown in...

To say that our November was a busy month for us is a bit of an understatement.  With the big move and all the stress, headaches, and unpacking that came with it and not having internet for a month, the blog took a major hit.  Although we still don't have internet (boy, has that been an ordeal!  Let's just say Frontier is on Derek's list and it's not a good list to be on) I am using Derek's wireless network card to finally do a few updates on here.  So buckle your seatbelts and get reading....Here's our last four weeks in a nutshell...

Halloween Weekend
  

My parents came to visit on Halloween Weekend. They were able to take a few extra days off of work and come for an extended visit. They have come to visit for the last several years on Halloween and we really enjoy having them come to visit. We were also excited to be able to show them the new house. On Saturday we took advantage of Dad visiting and rented a uhaul for stage one of the big move. Dad and Derek moved some of our bigger furniture and hard to manage items. We really put Dad to work and are so grateful for all of his help and for Mom's help in keeping the kids at bay as we packed and moved. Sunday we all went out to eaty at Logan's before an evening of trick-or-treating. After Addy's afternoon nap we planned to get the kids dressed in their costumes and take pictures. Adalyn woke up from her nap on the wrong side of the bed and was quite the bear through dressing and picture taking. Needless to say, we didn't get a whole lot of quality photos of the two together. Addy did warm up to the idea of trick-or-treating as she remembered that candy was involved and made quite the little Doctor. She chose her costume herself and had asked to be a doctor in early October. Thank goodness she madde up her mind early, as there weren't any toddler doctor costumes to be had at the stores and amazon.com had to come to the rescue! Although less original, Carter did make one cute monkey and did his part by providing those cute chubby monkey cheeks! Although it started out a bit rocky, trick-or-treating was a success and Addy was beside herself with her bucket full of goodies.

Trick-or-treating at our house.  My mom manned the door while we did the neighborhood circut. 



Addy and I decorated a pumpkin at the local nature center.  Addy called it our Grandma Pumpkin:)



Picking out the perfect pumpkin

 

Trick-or-treating at the Wietings'

Even Olive and Brutus were dressed for the occasion! 



The following day was November 1st and was the day we headed to the bank to close on our new house.  Forty-five minutes and many, many signatures later the house was ours and we were headed there to drop off yet another load of things.  The first week with the house in our possesion I really wanted to get the kids' rooms painted.  The entire house is painted a neutral brown and can be slowly changed, but I wanted to get color on the walls in the kids' rooms before we moved in their furniture.  Derek's mom came up to help us move.  She was mainly assigned to kiddie duty, which she and the kids were totally ok with.  The following weekend was our big move.  Unfortunately sometime during the week's worth of preparations I aggravated my knee and by the time Saturday rolled around my knee resembled more of a cantaloupe than an actual knee..convenient timing, I know!  Thankfully we had many wonderful friends and family here to help us get moved and all went as smoothly as we could have imagined.  Thank goodness for family and friends!

The rest of the month involved unpacking, unpacking, and a little more unpacking.  Derek also managed to squeeze in a short trip to Buffalo, NY the Monday after we moved and we headed home to Indiana for Thanksgiving, which will be featured in a future post!  We are slowly settling in to our new home.  It feels a little more like home everyday.  I love the fact that we are closer to town now and that the kids and I can run errands and not take the entire day to accomplish them.  We have become regulars at the library's toddler story hour which both Adalyn and Carter love.  Addy loves to visit the library to pick out books and go to her "class."  During the story hour the teacher reads several stories and leads the kids in several songs.  Addy's favorite song to date that she has learned is "Shake your bushy tail."   

Mirror, Mirror on the wall...

Such a cheeser!

Enjoyin their new house!

Despite the cold weather we ahve also met several of our neigbors.  Several of them have even brought us goodies to welcome us to the neighborhood!  We have also learned that we have several high school girls living around us, which means prime babysitting prospects!  We are excited about that!  So far we are enjoying the transition to our new surroundings.  Although that's not to say that the move hasn't brought frustrations.  Being unsettled during the holidays isn't my favorite thing in the world and we already have had issues with a leaking spa tub.  Add the issues we have had getting the internet and we have had our share of headaches!  However, it's great to see Addy and Carter settling in and loving their new house!  We will post pictures of our progress on the house very soon!