Christmas Eve/Day in Winfield

WE went to Winfield, KS, for Christmas with Shawn's immediate family Dec. 23-26. We had a wonderful time, except for two of the nights, which proved rough. We think Wilder was afraid of the room he was sleeping in as it had dark walls. One of the nights he just slept on Shawn in a recliner (both troopers, I'd say!), and the other night, we drove the 45 minutes back to Wichita to land a full night's sleep. The final night we were able to move Wild to a different room that resembled his nursery (white walls, lighting, etc). His not sleeping was a change in his usual 12-hours-of-uninterrupted-sleep routine. But we made it through and he's back on track!

Andrea and Kathy created fine cuisine--chicken/noodles to start, fajitas one evening, and turkey/the works the next! We enjoyed discovering who had whom in the gift exchange, and laughed lots while playing Cranium. Shawn's brother, girlfriend, and his two sons also breezed in from Texas. We hadn't seen them in awhile, so it was nice to catch up.

Lastly, Wilder enjoyed opening his many gifts. They just kept coming and coming. Santa was busy! He received loads of books, some clothes, some goofy loud toys, and an Einstein "discovery center."

Wild and G'mpa Harold having a "heart to heart"! (probably about fishing!)

Read the shirt: enough said!

Having another heart to heart with A & B: "listen, guys, I want a cousin to pester!"

I'm buried under gifts!

"I hereby approve these brown britches because the tag tastes yumm-o!"

A colored pencil sharpener (for making cards), and some makeup!

Grandma Kathy showing off her gift from/of Wilder

Maggie wasn't as cheery and bright (but still beautiful) this year. Darn hip displacia!
We love you, Mags!

Smoochies!

Marley relished in some long overdue lap time

Reading a new book with Daddy

The 7 of us, squinting into the sun*wind!

All of us!

~

Wild's new Chuck Taylor's

Our friend Katie bought Wilder a pair of black high top Converse sneakers (just like his Daddy's) for Christmas. Aren't they adorable? Thanks a million, Katie! We'd been wanting to get some!

I love me some cuties

...and I'm not just referring to Shawn, Wilder, and Marley. Have you tasted the adorable miniature orange? The cutie? Well, it's my new favorite snack. Peels much cleaner than a regular sized orange, and tastes so yummy!




I've a to-do list that is so large I'm going to have to index it, including 200+ Christmas photos to sift through, but, please stay tuned for updates!

Feliz navidad!

A poem I penned this yuletide season:

I’m not good at writing poems 

Not good at getting things to rhyme 

But one thing’s for certain 

2008 is running out of time! 

We’ve stretched our use of the dime 

Wondered about the economy 

As we skipped the occasional spree 

Clipped coupons, and walked to every destiny 

We’ve all gotten our “I Voted” sticker 

Wondered if our wallets will grow thicker 

Seen gas prices soar then plummet 

As we conjecture who done it 

Despite the ups and downs 

The smiles and the frowns

It has been a splendid year indeed

In August came beloved Wilder 

And with him many a need 

To him we opened our arms 

And became so smitten by his charm 

He is our shining star 

Sweeter than a nutty chocolate bar 

And with him we feel 

Life has never been so real 

Wonderful, tender or blessed 

Especially when he’s asleep on daddy’s chest 

Work is busy for Shawn 

Rarely has a minute to tend the lawn 

But a worthy and incredible provider is he 

Has made it possible for me to be free 

Of cubicles, pressed suits, and meetings galore 

Staying home with Wilder is never a chore 

But a dream come true, a gift from heaven 

We enjoy a tidy house, and baked bread from leaven 

Mustn’t leave out, that Marley, our boston, 

Wonders why on earth Momma’s around so often 

We’ve loved visits with friends and family 

Who have filled our hearts with glee 

Often wondered how lucky we are 

To frequently connect with loved ones afar 

Another thing’s certain, yes, this I know 

Life in Jesus, how richer it grows 

He’ll comfort in pain 

Send rainbows after the rain 

Give plenty for which to cheer 

As we begin a new year!

Merry Christmas from Shawn, Mindy, Wilder, & Marley!!!

A Merry Little Christmas

WE had our Christmas celebration at home last night. Shawn and I are going to get a joint gift for each other to share, but we're not sure what yet. We have some needs around the house, and also some wants! Our biggest gift of all is that Jesus came to earth incarnate. Next, we are so honored he found us as partners for each other and chose to bless us with our wonderful son!

Wilder laughing and playing while Santa's elves are at work on dinner/gifts

Wilder's note: by the way, this nursery rhyme book here is my favorite. I borrowed it from Auntie Megan!

Dirty rice and Italian sausage--spicy & from a box, but good!

Our festive table

Wilder sat at the table, too! 

And chewed on his rings!

And played with Daddy!

Wilder's first gift of the season, from Mommy & Daddy!

Oooohh, paper!

Wowie, this is exciting!

And tasty! But what's in the box?

Stackable rings! Hooray!

A quick taste test. He liked the green one best.

Marley helped with clean-up duty.

Pictures to come from celebrations with our "deer" ones in Winfield & Chanute!

I really don't mind...

...getting up in the morning for my at home job. All I do is pull my hair back, brush my teeth, throw on some fuzzy slippers, then, creak the door open to find:

this!

am I lucky or what? I have the best job in the world! What a blessing our son has been these 4 months!

A bonus cute video, Shawn got some good talking out of Wilder. He is getting more verbal everyday!

We went to Ellinwood

...AND had a groovy time. And, I must state, Wilder was the star of the show! Shawn's Grandpa Chet and Grandma Dorothy live in Ellinwood, KS, and all of Shawn's extended family ventures there for the holidays. It was a short trip, today only...

Some things I liked:

1) the food, of course! ham, taters/gravy, veggies, rolls, Christmas cookies, the works!

2) catching up and laughing with family

3) showing off Wilder

4) receiving a family heirloom--embroidered pillowcases from Grandma Dorothy (see story below the picture!)

5) how proud Wilder's great grandparents are of him--the smattering of pictures on their refrigerator explains it all! He's the only baby in the family RIGHT NOW (not winking at anyone in particular for any cousins for Wilder, I promise!)

 

 Dorothy so talentedly created these delicate pillowcases cir. 1942 or 1943. Grandpa Chet was based at Camp Crowder south of Joplin. They lived in Goodman. Grandma was just beginning to make these crocheted flowers. The pillowcases were used alot!

 

The children/grandchildren holding up their heirlooms

A new friend!

WILDER made a new friend yesterday: Ori! The boys were so much fun to take pictures of! One of these days they'll be running in circles, dragging around little toy army guys, grubby worms, and BB guns. 

But for now, we're enjoying their grinny goodness, fat rolls, and drool! Wilder certainly takes the cake on the fat roll stuff. No pun intended.

Thank you for the play date, Ori & Julie!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

...how lovely are thy, ahem, fake, branches. 

We did the unthinkable. Unimaginable. Inconceivable. We. Purchased. A. Fake. Tree. This. Year! *gasp* *gulp*--is your mouth agape? Well, mine was. In our 5 years of wedded bliss, we've always purchased a real tree, grappled with the prickly branches, cleaned up the oozey sap, aspirinized the water for optimum tree life. And I loved it, mess and all. 2008 marks the dawn of a new (gee, I really didn't want a fake tree) era! We figured it a more economical choice for us at this time, since the $50 spent on a real tree each year tended to be a stretch with our need to buy gifts, too. So we found this synthetic, vinyl, plastic, whatever-the-material-may-be fir at Home Depot. It stands 7.5 ft tall which is a tad ridiculous given the height of our ceilings: 8 ft. Anyway, the 1,000 lights are pretty (especially since we didn't have to dizzy ourselves stringing them round and round) and I've done my best to welcome this unscented friend into our home.

Me and Monkey (tree in the background!)

All of us in front of the tree prior to decorating it

One of my favoritest ornaments, from A. Tam

"Our First Christmas" ornament

Redbird in remembrance of my grandma, Lula

Not sure which cook this is referring to since there isn't one in our house!

Gotta love sparkly ones!

Vintage--I want to get a collection of these going

We had some bubbly while decorating

The view from Wild's Bumbo seat