And That's January...

Remember this guy? ...

He has friends now:

 

 What a cute little dinosaur village!

I've got one more cut out, but still need to be assembled, and then 1 more after that.

I'll be sure to take a picture when they're all done.

Joe brought home a keyboard from work that wasn't being used. Brek's favorite thing is to turn on the demo button and let it go on for forever. These are some cute shots from the first day we had it:

Dolly is playing piano too!

Love that I captured this moment between father and son!

And a sweet smile for mommy!

A few weeks ago, we got to join our friends, Brek and Brooke, and a crowd of family and friends, in celebrating their little boy's birthday. Garrett passed away in July, and would have been 3. It was really fun to watch and participate. Brek (our son), LOVED watching the lanterns.

The best shot I got all night.

Joe was kinda nervous about them catching things on fire, but there were 2 that got caught in a neighboring tree. The lantern completely burned up in just a couple minutes, and the tree was no worse off than before. It was a relief to know that they were safe.

We arrived just as the first bunch sailed off into the night sky.

It really was just as beautiful and magical as the movie Tangled portrays it. Highly recommend lanterns as a fun way to remember and honor loved ones.

This was how Brek was bundled up for the outing. I love his little hat. He looks all Russian.

Here's Joe trying to teach Brek about horse-y rides. It lasted about 5 seconds.

Eating a banana from the peel.

 We've almost got him using his teeth to bite on a regular basis now. Usually he just sucks on the banana instead.

Just a sweet picture

He looks a little manic in this one.

 To add to my dinosaur craftiness, I took this dress which doesn't fit me anymore...

and turned it into...

 

It was surprisingly easy and I love the length and feel of it too. I've got 2 other similar dresses that I want to turn into shirts. Not sure when exactly I'll get to them tho.

 I've also been enjoying things on Pinterest, and decided to try out this yummy recipe for chocolate peanut butter cups. Here's my filling all rolled out and ready to freeze:

And here's the yummy finished product:

 

I changed the recipe just a little and did 1 cup milk chocolate chips and 2 cups semi-sweet. I just like milk chocolate better, so that's why I did it that way. Next time I'll make them smaller because they are REALLY rich. Even I need a glass of milk with them, and I'm not normally a milk-drinker. They were pretty darn easy, but definitely took some time; not an immediate-satisfaction sort of treat, but still worth it in the end. We're still enjoying them, and it's been almost an entire week. Tasty treats don't normally last that long in our house.

 This cute little guy turned 18 months. He is 32 inches long and 25 pounds.

At church, little ones finally get to join the nursery once they reach 18 months. We've been taking him in for the past few weeks, and staying with him. This week he got to go all by himself. I was told he ran out of the general meeting early, signing the word "play", and knocking on the door to go in. He loves the toys and social interaction. He does pretty well sharing and playing with the other kids too. We're happy because now we get to sit through the adult meetings and hopefully get a little more "grown-up" content AND interaction. :)

I tried to take a few pictures to capture the milestone before he headed off to church.

Love this one, even tho it's blurry.

Today, we've been cleaning and getting things ready for Grandma to come and visit. Brek took a really long nap, but woke up super happy and playful. (LOVE!) He played in his crib for about 30 minutes before I finally convinced him to come out and eat lunch. Then he went back in and played for another half hour or so.

Bouncing

Up close. Love those eyes.

Giving "loves" to his lion.

My monkey behind bars.

Loves for my Russian bear "Bublik"

Just cute.

Even the ball got "loves" and kisses.

I'm a little too slow to get the kiss in action.

Kisses for elephant.

Signing "help" because he threw the ball out of the crib.

Kisses for lion. Again, too slow.

Well, I've never before taken pictures and posted them the same day. Go me! Hope the rest of you are staying warm and having the crazy kind of days we have in our house. :)

A few more random pictures

Just before Christmas Brek was in his room playing. Then it got quiet. You know what I mean. I called to him. No answer. I walked into his room. This is what I saw:

He was so proud. And thought he was so helpful. It's vaseline. We use it on his skin sometimes instead of lotion. And it's mostly what comprises what we put in his hair.

Let's just say we didn't have to put anything ELSE in his hair for over a week. Since Christmas, he has done it again. Only worse. I was less happy this time. I thought that if I got enough soap on him, it might get better. It didn't work. The bathtub was COATED in greasy vaseline. His clothes got oil stains. The tub got clogged. His bath toys had that film on it and are mostly ok now that we've put them through the dishwasher. Same with his hairbrush. It was just gross the second time. Now it is definitely kept in an out-of-reach area. EVERYTHING is. :)

Brek has discovered a new use for his shorts, since it is apparently not the appropriate season for them:

And last but not least, I made this:

I'm almost finished with a purple triceratops.

Brek's First Time Playing in Snow

Uncle David got Brek this awesome snow suit for Christmas.

Joe and I are TOTALLY not outdoors people. Especially when it's cold. But really, not at all. And Brek LOVES being outside.

Last weekend we finally had some snow, and needed something to do to get out of the house. So we bundled up and hung out in the snow. Brek liked it. Except for when he fell in it. He didn't cry or anything. You could just tell he wasn't a fan, and he was pretty anxious about getting his hands wiped off. But he had fun wandering around and not posing for pictures. He was pretty hard to capture.

Thanks again Uncle David! We love you!