Little Climber

We finally got the step stool from Ikea that I

knew we were going to need. With Fox AND I
getting bigger, I wanted one for him to stand

on to wash his hands since I can't hold him very
well anymore, with a growing belly and all!

Today he did what I was knew was going to

happen sooner or later! He pushed the stool

over and climbed up on the table, there just

happened to be a bag of yogurt melts out as well.

He poured them out and had a little snack! I'm

not sure if he saw them before he climbed up and

that was his motivation, or if it was just a bonus

for him once he got up there!

At 1 1/2 the climbing has just begun!!

Chair Makeover!

What do ya think?! I've been wanting to recover these chairs
for a while now...my mom helped me do the first chair, and I
did a few tonight! They definitely give the chairs more personality.
Amazing what a cloth napkin and and a staple gun can do! While
taking my before and after pictures, Fox decided to get his two
cents in :) He was mostly interested in the staple gun!

Fox's new friend...or what's left of him!

While at my appointment on Friday, Fox found a new friend.
He wasn't too interested in Fox, but Fox sure was interested
in him! He thought it was great! He was poking his eye sockets,
playing with his arms, trying to give him five and best of all
hugs and kisses! It was pretty funny to watch...a little creepy,
yes, but funny too!

Off to the pool

Mike had to go on travel to Minneapolis, so we joined him.
Fox doesn't have too much appreciation for getting to stay
in a hotel yet, but he did enjoy getting to go to the pool!
So funny to see this little man in his swim trunks :) So cute!

Fun in the snow

After getting about 9 inches of snow we took Fox out for
his first sledding experience. The snow was too soft and deep
to be able to do too much. Mike took him for a little walk,
but even he got pretty tired trying to pull the sled in the snow!
After a few face plants in the snow Foxy was done and we came
inside and watched my blow out the driveway. Our super
gracious neighbors let us use their snowblower...good thing
for Mike!!

Foggy Fox

This is Fox and his animal noises. He had a little
stage fright at the beginning :) He then got a little
close to the camera and fogged up the lens!

SnowFox

I decided it was time to get outside! Not the warmest day...15 and feels like -1, but we needed some fresh air! So I got Foxy all bundled up in hat,mittens,jacket,snowpants and boots! So much for such a little guy :) He had a hard time pushing himself up in all that, but didn't mind it too much. He had a great time outside and was already trying to eat the snow! We came back inside and had a little treat...hot chocolate for mama and warm chocolate milk for the boy, we shared some cheddar bunnies and watched "Postman Pat" on Public TV, he drank every last drop of the choc. milk :)

Foxcam

Fox giving a little tour

First visitors to the new place

Arik, Henry,Grace,Emma,Sue,Oliver and Jack

We had our first visitors! Since it's a lot closer...Minnesota to Iowa, Arik and Sue and the kids were able to make the trip much sooner than they would've if we were still in Texas :) They came for New Year's Eve. The visit consisted of the kids playing Wii a lot! Going to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner...kids eat for $.99!! Watching a Charlie Brown movie and watching a few episodes of the Office with Arik and Sue. Playing the Wii some more, board games and enchiladas and rootbeer floats for eight!! We had a great time and hope they come to visit again soon! I'm sure we'll be making our way there a few times as well.

Christmas Eve Gift....

We had an ultrasound of the baby on Dec. 11, before we left TX and had them put the picture in an envelope so we could open it on Christmas Eve to find out if we were having a boy or a girl! So Christmas Eve-12am we opened it before we went to bed. We had two pictures and opened them at the same time...they both said BOY! So Fox has a baby brother coming in May!! May 23rd to be exact...I am currently 20+wks. Now we are trying to decide on a name!

A sweet surprise...

While at Walmart Mike found his favorite
ice cream. This was a special moment for
Mike because...while we were in TX they
stopped selling this ice cream, we couldn't
find it anywhere! Many nights at the Johnson's
house, Mike and Cole would eat a lot of it...
it was a pretty serious loss when they stopped
selling it, so it was a pretty special night when
we found it! Mike texted Cole this picture
and said "so there's one good thing about
Iowa...they've got the ice cream."

Our Tree

I really wanted to get a little tree, but by the time we were even sleeping in the house we only had a few days til we went to MN, so Mike said no :) So I made a tree from the packing paper! I cut out a big tree out of paper that was around some large frames, Fox had a great time coloring on it! We surprised Mike with it when he came home from work. We drew ornaments on it and got a few snacks to have a tree trimming party! It was great...the cheapest and most memorable tree we'll probably ever have!

Flying to Iowa...our new home

On the plane leaving Dallas for Cedar Rapids. Fox did great!He got some chocolate milk as a treat, he drank it in about three minutes :) It took us about 2 hrs but poor Mike drovethe car with Maggie as his co-pilot..which took about 13!

Our new place

God blessed us with a great house to rent, it fits our needs perfectly! 3BR/2B split level house, fenced in yard-perfect for Maggie! It has big trees in front and back and a large deck on the back. I love being able to wake up and open the blinds and have some scenery...our old house had a fence. Only down side is it has a single car garage...bad for Mike, he parks in the street and the mornings are pretty cold! He is seriously considering a remote start for the car :) The movers brought our stuff on 12/15 and that was wonderful having them bring it all in! We unpacked the kitchen while they unloaded and it only took like four hours! We had lots of boxes...everything is unpacked, but doesn't necessarily have a place to go, good thing for guest rooms and a large storage room! Now I just have a list of things to hang on the wall...I'm not so good at visualizing where pictures and things should go, so it may be a while before things get up on the walls :)

Buca Birthday with the Betron's!

This was the third year in a row to go to Buca Di Beppo with Mandie and Jeremiah for my birthday! The first year they were dating...second year engaged...third year married! Would a fourth year bring parents to be?! :) Unless they move to a surrounding state, sadly I don't think we'll be celebrating together. We always share their super yummy chocolate cake with skim milks all around, except Mike...he's driving :) Thanks for the great memories guys!!

Last Sunday at Denton Bible

We loved our time at Denton Bible Church! We feel so blessed to have God put us at that church. We loved hearing Tommy and will still listen to him and maybe we'll go back someday! We made some great friends there. Mike was able to take part in Authentic Manhood(Men's Fraternity) under the leadership of the late Carl Henry, who impacted him so much! I started going to the ROOST under Nancy Gibson's leadership...what a wonderful group of women!! We led in CollegeLife last year, which we loved and resulted in having a bunch of college"kids"in our lives that we deeply care about! So many blessings and so much opportunities to serve Christ came from going to this church. We will miss it so much. We took a couple pictures our last Sunday!

Baby #2 in 3D

I got the opportunity to volunteer at the Dallas Pregnancy Resource and had a 3D ultrasound! It was so cool to see the baby in such detail! I was only a little over 4months(16wks4days). The actual size of the baby at that time was only about an avocado.

Last trip to Uncle Julio's

poor Abby girl is behind the card!


Mike had to get in a last meal at Uncle Julio's (his favorite fajita/mexican place)! We met the Conine's and had a good time...keeping the kiddos from doing too much damage :) We got a surprise visit from Aunt Jenny that afternoon too, so she joined us! Abby and Fox are only three wks apart and they are expecting another baby girl in March, we will be sad to miss seeing the next babies together :(

Yummy Birthday Cupcakes

After the parade we went to Sprinkles to get cupcakes for my birthday...they have Thee best cupcakes Ever!! We got strawberry, black and white, coconut and red velvet!! I even shared my cupcake with Fox, but as you can see in the picture he is not so happy :( I thought maybe he was crying for me...getting older and all, but it was only because he was scolded for trying to touch the flame on the candle! He loved the cupcake though :)
http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/index.html

Dallas Children's Parade

We met up with the Stewart's for the Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Parade(a mouthful) in downtown Dallas, which was our last trip into the Big-D. It was great, Fox and Luke liked the balloons and walking around in the street :) It was chilly...the coldest birthday I'd had in TX so far! I think the first and only time we had to bundle up Foxy. It was a lot of fun getting to hang out with them before we left...great people! We will miss them...especially Andrea and my lunch/play dates at Willowbend, we always had a great time!