Fun times in the Lou...

The time in St. Louis was wonderful - it's always great to see family!  And Micah is finally becoming familiar with my parents house, so it's not always a shock to go there and he's not continually testing boundaries that are unclear to him...he knows what the boundaries are and it seems we are seeing a more "typical" Micah versus the completely disoriented, out of sorts, melting down at everything Micah.  He was quite sweet this time, and I think that my siblings are finally getting to see the sweet and kind personality of my eldest.  Reid was also quite a happy baby while awake, although I will say that nighttime was a completely different ball game, and I was more sleep deprived after the 5 days with my parents than I have been since Reid was a newborn.  I was reading over my Christmas posts from last year and came upon a post from last year that sounded eerily familiar to our Christmas this year :)  Granted last year was with Micah, and this year involved Reid, but we were still majorly sleep deprived due to teething that has yet to come in!  Of the five nights we were there, Reid was up for at least 2-3 hours 4 of the 5 nights.  The first was from 2:30-4, the second from 1:30-4, the third I don't even remember, and the last night from 3:30 until 6:10, when I finally went in to wake my mom up for help (and he stayed awake until 7:30, falling asleep for a short 30 minutes!).  Why he was struggling so much, other than pain, I don't know.  Why those stinkin' teeth are still not through, I don't know.  But soon, they will be and then we can hopefully get back to some sleep normalcy (whatever that means for Reid, haha!).  Aside from the sleep deprivation, however, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in St. Louis and look forward to next Christmas already.

Here are the rest of the pictures from our visit - no better way to cap off the ending of 2012 than with those you love.

 

Micah sliding across my mom's newly waxed floor after he fell pretty hard 2 different times.  It was pretty funny to watch him, as he moved very, very slowly after his falls.

 

Sons to the rescue - putting in the new light my parents got for Christmas.

 

Reid has started mastering the pincer grasp!  I love his concentration here (and crossing eyes too) :)

 

Fun with Nana Kay.

 

Nana Kay and Micah put together 3 different Lego ornaments, and Micah wanted to put them on the tree afterwards.  This is the candy cane, and below is the Santa.

 
What's more fun then a little game of laundry basket sliding?  Reid absolutely loved my running across the tile floor while pushing/pulling the basket...and Micah couldn't resist getting in on the action as well :) 

 

Daddy and his boys!!

It's been a wonderful year, 2012!  Looking forward to seeing what 2013 has in store.  Happy New Year, all!

Sweet Moments

Jeff was holding Reid one night while playing scrabble, and it was just the sweetest interaction between the two of them.  I certainly wish Jeff and Liza lived closer to us so that we were able to see them more often, but I'll take what I can get.  It's fun watching my siblings interact with my boys, and I look forward to many more memories in the future.

 

"What's so interesting about this letter game?"

 

"Hey Uncle Jeff - what's that on your face?  Those seem much more intriguing!"

 

"Maybe if he stays distracted, I can try and get those glasses..."

 

"Oh well, maybe next time...Hey, Momma!"

I don't tend to have my boys in matching clothes too often, but I must admit I think it's really cute when they are matching :)  Reid has been in the majority of Micah's clothing, therefore the opportunity to match rarely happens.  I do, however, have a couple of matching pajamas, and we were able to capture a sweet family picture one night while they were wearing them.  Love my family!!

St. Louis Zoo

It wouldn't be a successful trip to St. Louis without a trip to the zoo - even in late December, haha.  Christian and I left Reid home with Nana Kay while Micah got a special outing with Mom and Dad.  Those moments are super rare, so we were sure to soak it up and I know Micah enjoyed his time with us as well - though I will admit he asked for Reid and wondered why he wasn't with us.

Side note - Even though Micah was with us for almost 2 years before Reid came along, it's crazy to me to realize that he hardly (if at all) remembers a day without his little brother around.  What we are doing as parents is so pivotal in building the foundations, yet he'll remember such a small amount of it...it's truly amazing to think about!

We focused on the indoor exhibits, and enjoyed checking out the reptile house for the first time.  Huge turtles (and I mean huge!), and enormous snakes.  Not the most lively bunch of animals, but fun for Micah nonetheless. 

After the reptile house we headed to the primates, our one outdoor exhibit in Big Cat Country, onto the apes, and then finishing off with the penguins.

 

Micah and Phil :)

 

Such a big boy!  What happened to my baby?? :)  Growing up too quickly!

Ford Family Christmas

We celebrated a couple of days after Christmas with my side of the family (sans Josh and Kari :( ).  Reid was off sleeping during this celebration - which actually made it a little easier on Mom and Dad for present opening!  We had a great time and just realized how blessed we are for family on both sides and we know to cherish the times we're together and not take it for granted.

 

Love this picture with me and my (not so small) boy!

 

Oh, Mickey wrapping paper...and a toolbox inside!

 

Zoo Pass - to the best US zoo ever :)

 

 Parentals loving having the family together.

  

 

Micah showing off his Africa shirt from Aunt Kari and Uncle Josh. 

 

While Luke bangs on his African drum. 

 

Autographed Ryan Hall book - do Jeff and Liza know me or what? :)

 

Great Grandma with a small part of her candy stash.

 

 

Luke playing with his Mizzou basketball hoop. 

 

Micah and Christian reading his new Mickey book.

 

 I love this picture of Christian and Micah - so, so sweet.

 

Smile!

And it wouldn't be a Ford family Christmas without:

 

Scrabble

 

and a puzzle.

Christmas Day with my boys

A few years ago Christian and I spent Christmas Day with just the two of us.  At the time I thought it was a little sad that we weren't with any family that day as we had always spent time with family growing up...but now that we have 2 boys of our own, I can honestly say I'm quite happy about the tradition we've begun.  It's a wonderful feeling waking up in your own home with your kids still asleep (how long will that last? :)) and come downstairs to work on breakfast and eagerly wait for the Christmas festivities to begin. 

In my family, the tradition was that we could open the gifts in our stocking from "Santa" prior to parents waking to tide us over until everyone was awake and ready to open the presents under the tree.  We have somewhat adopted that tradition as well, and I was definitely excited to watch Micah opening up his stocking.  This was the first year I think Micah has been able to grasp more of the meaning of Christmas as well as get excited over all the presents under the tree.  Fun times ahead in the Lauffer household :)

 

"Pete!" as part of his Mickey figurines

 

Big Boy Underwear!!

 

Reindeer Pancakes (via Pinterest :))

 

"Cheese."

I have some pictures of Micah wearing this outfit from his first Christmas, and wanted to get some with Reid as well.  What fun memories this brings, both of past experiences and present ones :)

 

Same thing, I had Micah is the Santa suit 2 years ago, so I wanted to make sure Reid got some pictures of well.  It fit pretty much the same, although the hat was definitely more snug on our 90+% baby :)

 

 

 Love these pictures of my two boys.  They really do love each other!

We weren't able to do presents until after Reid woke up from his morning nap, so Micah enjoyed watching Polar Express drinking his hot chocolate while I did laundry (I know, on Christmas Day!) to get ready to leave the next day for St. Louis.  It was a nice, overall relaxing morning but we were eagerly anticipating the next phase of our Christmas Day.

Present Time!  Even Frodo wanted to make an appearance.

 

Reid loved the bows best from his gift.

 

Well, maybe the paper too, haha.

 

Daddy and Reidees - so sweet!

 

Micah was just as enamored with Reid's gifts as he was his own...which worked out well most of the time, because Reid was on to the next thing that sparkled or lit up or moved.

 

Even Santa has to stop and eat every one in a while!

 

 After nap time, Micah woke up to one more present that had been neglected to be wrapped and under the tree...

 

An Easel!  Grandma and Grandpa provided all the accessories (and the pj's shown in the picture) while Mommy and Daddy gave him the actual Easel.  Micah loved it :)

What a fun, fun day capturing many amazing memories with our family.  Thankful for all the blessings we have been given and first and foremost for the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  You were good, Christmas 2012.  Can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us!