Christmas Fun!

And just like that, Christmas is over. I have to say, it is way more fun to celebrate Christmas morning as a parent than as a child. And, that's saying alot, because I absolutely loved Chrismas growing up. And Oliver didn't even know what was going on this year, so I can only imagine how much better it's going to get in the coming years.
We had 3 Christmases this year. One with Matt's family the week before Christmas, then our own little family's on the 25th, and then my family came up for this past week right after Christmas. Oliver is so out of his normal routine and I feel for those daycare peeps next week in trying to get all of these kiddos settled down.
Oliver got lots of great presents this year, but the two that stand out most are a slide (which is currently in our living room; thank you Grammy & Grandpa), and a dancing monkey (thank you, Aunt Emmy!). Here are some videos of him trying them out. Oh, and as I type this Oliver is dancing with the monkey, who plays a Ke$ha song. I was not familiar with the song before, but now, well, it plays in my head on repeat at night when trying to sleep. Yay!

A Boy's Best Friend

Oliver is 18 months old these days! His favorite word to say is "doggie" and he says it alot. Preston provides tons of entertainment for him, and if we could just get a little more consistent with "soft touches", I'm pretty sure Preston would be a big fan of Oliver's as well. As it is, P is getting fed more these days thanks to toddler food-droppings everywhere, and he's getting more exercise due to Oliver's decent throwing arm. Oliver always loves to nestle with his back right up against something, so Preston has become a sort of resting spot for O. Here is a pic of the two of them co-existing in peaceful harmony. (Sorry for the picture quality.)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! May you all enjoy peace and prosperity this holiday season. We are staying put this year, and will miss getting to see friends & family this time around. We hope to get together with those far away but close in our hearts very soon!

Meeting Santa (or not)...

So, last Friday was my work Holiday Party in Topeka. It was a family thing so I bundled the troops up and we all made the 30 minute drive to show them off to my envious co-workers. (I do have the cutest family).
Santa was there! There were tons of kids and it seemed like the line was forever long so we waited until everyone else had sat on Santa's lap before taking Oliver up. He was very interested in what was going on and who the guy in red was, until we forced him to get up close and personal. Oliver said, "Hmm, I don't think so" (in the form of an ear-splitting yell) and high-tailed it out of there. 
The pictures below capture the duck-n-run escape in chronological order. The first pic barely managed to get snapped, and I had to position myself as a solid barricade between O & Santa. There were no major tears shed though, so it could definitely have been worse! There will be another chance this Saturday to meet the big guy, so we'll hope round 2 is a little more successful.

GO POKES!

You might have been aware of a certain "big game" that was this weekend. Matt and Mick Griffith (fraternity brother and fellow-Lawrencian) took a trip down to Stillwater to watch the OSU/OU game. That left the moms to be home with the kiddos. Stacia and I took Charlie and Oliver over to Noah Clothier's house to watch the game and let the boys entertain themselves. Emily, Stacia and I were really the ones entertained by watching these 3 cuties clown around. Here is a video of the "wavey song" that gets played by the OSU band whenever the Pokes score (it was played ALOT during this game). All of the OSU fans wave their arms back and forth over their head to symbolize waving wheat. We never bothered to learn the actual words to the song, so we just call it the wavey song.
Anyways, here is Oliver's attempt at the wavey song. I think it's pretty hilarious. Don't worry. There were no injuries sustained! :)