The Great California Christmas Adventure: Part 1

Well, we have rolled the barrel 2,000 miles west to California--to Mama's home town. Elias once again flew in the airplane like a pro and slept 90% of the time. All the other passengers who walked down the aisle to find a seat on our Southwest plane (and trying to avoid sitting next to a rumbustious baby) were impressed by his good manners.

Today Mama finally got a well deserved and long overdue afternoon of pampering. She got a haircut, color, and facial. She feels like a million bucks and more importantly a woman again! Meanwhile back at the ranch, the boys stayed at home (while t

he women went out) and tired themselves out.

Much more to come as this was just Day 1.

The Great California Christmas Adventure: Part 2

Great times have been had during our week so far on the great California adventure.

Elias was such a good boy this year that Santa gave him two more gifts prior to Christmas at the Southern California Hemophilia Foundation Christmas party. Apparently Santa like the warm weather too. Beats all the snow and cold of the North Pole.

Mama and Daddy got to see one of Mama's oldest childhood friends get married. Mama was also able to catch up with some old friends from her childhood/high school days. Congrats tot he new couple!

We spent some time playing with Opa's hats...

and banging on a drum set made of Oma's pots and pans...

and meeting some of Mama's ballet friends.

We even had our first dentist appointment. Elias showed off the two new bottom teeth he has been working on over the last 2 weeks.
Tonight is Christmas Eve and Santa comes. Christmas Blessings to all from here in the barrel. We hope that you are able to spend it with loved ones and cherish the true gift that Christmas brings...Love.

My Letter to Santa

From Guest Blogger Elias


Dear Santa:

All I want for Christmas is:

A Jar of Pickles
Some teethers for my new teeth since I got my first one today!
An exersaucer
Some blocks
Some refrigerator magnets
And my family all together on Christmas to spoil me rotten....

New Friends!

This week in the barrel we are finding out what a social little monkey we have here. Elias got to meet may new friends from far away and close to home.

We discovered pickles and yogurt are his favorite foods right now.

And he kept grabbing for Ms. Stephanie's wine glass...

Mama had a great time catching up with her friends from physical therapy school over the weekend hitting the wineries of southern Indiana.

And Elias got to meet Jackson, the son of Mama's friend from college who came ALL the way from Australia to play with us at the Children's Museum!

Here's them making a creation of gears on the magnet wall:

And best of all, we let Elias open one Christmas present early. This one was from Gram and Granddad and Elias loves it! Many hours of joy (while Mama gets some projects accomplished around the house!)

Party Time

First, we want to remember a family member that we lost one week ago today. Great Uncle M will be remembered for his kindness, generosity, and outstanding IU basketball and antiques collection. He will surely be missed by many.

This week, we kicked the Christmas Season into high gear. The decorations are up and Elias got to meet Santa at the Hemophilia of Indiana Holiday Party. He even got a book for being such a good boy this year. He was more interested in the new found joy of tearing paper!

We even had some fun around the house....

Also, we want to congratulate on a successful first trial. We are very proud of all his hard work, determination, love of the law, and genuine care of getting a good and honest result for his clients.

Happy Half Birthday Elias!

We made it! All of us in one piece. Held together by unconditional love with sprinkles of exhaustion. Here's the little monkey's stats:

As measured at our 6 month pediatric hemotology visit

Weight: 18 lbs

Height: 67 cm or 26 1/3 inches

Milestones:

Scooping objects and holding them
Transferring objects from hand to hand
Turning the pages of a book

Sitting unsupported and playing

Standing with support

Jumping with support

Rolling: this includes going into other rooms

Eating solids: loves pears and bananas!
Babbling: favorite words are goo, gee, goy, and hi

For his half birthday, Elias got his very own Sophie and is borrowing his friend's Jumparoo.

We also put up the Christmas tree and decorations!

Elias tried to eat Virgin Mary's head! Oh Elias..

Being Thankful

This year we have much to be thankful for. Here's our top 10 in no particular order:

1. Family--and our newest addition to the barrel this year!

2. Health--despite a new medical diagnosis of a manageable disorder, we live each day with only that as our challenge

3. Love--being surrounded by family and friends who love unconditionally

4. Opportunity--new jobs, passing the Bar, and directing our energy to help others

5. Laughter--nothing is better than hearing the pure laughter of a baby and having days that we laugh so hard we cry from all the zany adventures around here

6. Warmth--in hearts and home

7. Generosity--for all the gifts, hand-me-downs, and essentials to help us raise a happy, healthy baby with more than we could ever afford to give him ourselves

8. Friendship--good friends are hard to find, great friends are like fine wine

9. Marriage--because of all the daily gifts it brings and we hope that all people can be able to experience a beautiful partnership through marriage

10. God--because He truly gave us so many Blessings this year