Jingle-all-the-WAY!!!

"Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way...."

If we heard that song once this Christmas, we heard it a thousand times! We learned very quickly that it was Dylan's favorite Christmas song. He showed us all of his very stylish dance moves when we sang this song, or when he heard it on the radio. No other song came close to this much excitement. This Christmas was very different than last! We had a little one that was quite the helper! He helped un-decorate the tree each and every day! He helped cook! He helped wrap and unwrap presents! We are still probably one Christmas away from truly "getting" it, but he had fun, and HO-HO did visit our house!

This is Dylan after opening his "Christmas" pj's. It happens every Christmas Eve! We also started a tradition of taking his picture with this Santa Claus. He looks so big next to him this year!
Christmas morning: Santa, or HO-HO as Dylan calls him, brought Dylan a Mickey Mouse car!
Dylan loved helping unwrap gifts. Nelli was taking it all in from outside. She came inside later for Dylan to give her a Christmas bone!
I love this feature of his car! We can help steer him along until he gets the hang of pushing and holding down the "go" button!
We headed to my parents for lunch. Dylan in his wagon from Uncle Craig, Aunt Carole, and the 3 big boys!

Family photo with a tired little boy....
Pop and Mawmaw got Dylan a Dancing Mickey, but his favorite thing was his new broom! He loves to sweep!
After a nap back at home, and an outfit change, we headed to Pawpaw and Nana's for supper! He was helping Nana make chicken n' dumplings!
He got a little baby boy Cabbage Patch Doll. He likes to give him kisses and put his paci in his mouth!
He had fun with Nana and Pawpaw!
Dylan was ready for church this morning! He has on a new outfit he got for Christmas. I think he looks mighty HANDSOME!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday! As I reflect on our big Christmas day, I try to remember the reason for the holidays. It's easy to get wrapped up in all the stuff, at least it is for me! We feel blessed with all of that, but it is not what truly matters. Laughter, joy, memories, and thanking God for our blessings. Those are the things that won't break, get old, or be thrown away!

Boot Scootin' Baking

Dylan has discovered "big boy" shoes. He loves to step in and out of any of our shoes lying around the house. He found my cowboy boots a few days ago, and really needed to give them a try. He loves boots and....
BAKING! He was such a big helper as we baked chocolate chip cookies for his Bible class teachers. I have to admit, I was quite nervous and skeptical at how it would turn out. He kept saying "cook! cook!" as we made the cookies. He LOVED it! He tried to mix up the TV remote! Hahaha!
He thought it was really fun when the mixer started going!
He dumped the chocolate chips in all by himself!
I definitely called it a success! He really was a big helper! We will be doing more cooking together because it was quite fun for mommy too!

Faith Like a Child

Each morning at breakfast time, we have our High Chair Devotionals. I cannot lie and say that I remember EVERY morning, but I try my best to remember, because:

There is nothing better than to see your child engaged in a Bible Story,

pointing to the pictures and saying "Je-sah" when you point to baby Jesus in the manger, andsinging along to "Jesus Loves Me", and then pointing to himself and saying "ME"!

Oh how it reminds ME to do my best to have faith like a child. We close our devotional with a prayer. I love those folded hands, and that voice that says "A-meh" when the prayer is finished.

Oh to have that innocent love for Jesus, what a great reminder for this Mama as we start our day.

*For anyone that is interested, there are 12 devotional cards in the set. Each month has a new card. The back has ideas and ways to have the devotional with your little one. December is Baby Jesus in the manger with his parents. You can find them on Ebay for $5!! Search Bible Picture Cards: I Love to Look.

Fall...Where did you go?

Fall oh fall where did you go? I am calling this my catch up post since I haven't updated in over a month! It seems like fall came and went, and now it's December 2nd and Christmas is just around the corner! Here is a small re-cap of our past month:
Dylan and I spent many beautiful fall days oustide enjoying the park! He loved the tunnel slide. I think mostly because his voice sounded cool when he yelled! He got his first haircut, strawberry sucker and all! He was a champ. He sat still in his little airplane (seatbelt on might I add) and chomped on that sucker while getting his hair trimmed.
He was a dalmatian for Halloween. My sister and I made his costume. Uncle Craig made his red fire hydrant candy bag (not pictured but oh so cute). Surprisingly, he kept the hat on for the entire trunk or treat at church!
Oh how I love those blue eyes! I also love the cooler weather, because then he gets to wear all his neat hats! I love this one. It was made by one of the ladies at church. I plan on taking him out even as winter approaches. We will just have to bundle up!
I can't believe how much Dylan is turning into our little BOY. I have said it a bunch, but it is so true! Here are a few of my favorites right now:
-You like to give hugs and pat-pats.
-Your vocabulary is soaring: Logan (lo-gi) ,Chester (ches-too) that is my sister's dog, Cheerio (chee-yo), Mickey is now (mi-mi-mou) Santa (sa-suh) but mostly you call him "ho-ho",
open-you say this when you open doors on your toys, up-you say this when your firefighter climbs the ladder or you want us to pick you up, grapes (g-aps) cheese (chee)
-You have started asking me for certain foods when you want them, or when you want your "mulk"
-You are a smart little cookie- You know things you are not supposed to do (stand on the hearth, grab ornaments of the Christmas tree, etc.) You start to do them and look at us and say "no-no" as if it is a question. Sometimes, you leave it alone, but most often you need us to send you in a different direction to play! STINKER!

Love all the changes! We had a blessed Thanksgiving and are trying very hard to stay on top of things in the holiday rush! Take time to be thankful! Christmas HERE WE COME!