The Killpack Clan: December 2009

Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas 2009

James and I have truly loved this holiday season with our little baby boy. We were most excited this year thinking about our little Grant waking up on Christmas morning. For me, Christmas Eve seemed to just crawl by. I kept looking at the clock and thinking how it never seemed to change. I can't wait till Grant is old enough to do this too! We were missing St. George, so James went online and found a Cafe Rio recipe for their pork salad. My goodness, what and involved recipe! It took us all day to make them-we even went to Wal-Mart and found the tins to serve them in, because it just wouldn't be the same! The pork and the house dressing turned out exactly, but the recipe we found needs some tweaking as far as the beans and rice are concerned. It was a good meal though, and I am thinking this might be a tradition for us. We decided this year, that we could open one present on Christmas Eve. For Grant, we opened up Green Eggs and Ham the DVD, since this is one of Grant's favorite books, we thought he might enjoy watching it on TV. Well, not so much. Grant has never been one to sit in front of the TV (thank goodness). He wasn't that interested, needless to say, so hopefully when he's older he will enjoy it more, but I also think right now that he is getting that the book is always better than the movie anyway! :)

Grant still hasn't gotten the hang of opening gifts. I think we would still be sitting here waiting for Grant to open them, if we weren't right there to help him. I remember being the same way when I was little, so it will probably be awhile before he just tears into them!

Grant has a new favorite story to read. Twas the Night Before Christmas has been read so many times at our house, I think James and I both have the entire thing memorized. Grant loves it! Sad that it has to go back in our Christmas box till next year. I don't want Grant to get tired of it!

This was the first present from Santa on Christmas morn:ing. I think James had more fun showing Grant how to play with it, than Grant had learning about it! Grant finally did take a few shots right up close to the basket!

With all the toys Grant received on Christmas morning, he most played with the Hot Wheels cars that were left in his stocking. My boy loves his cars!

One of the first presents we opened was from Grandma and Grandpa Killpack-a glow in the dark shirt!

Grant loved his fire truck that he got from Grandma Jeanne, he didn't even wait for us to take it out of the box before he started playing with it!

Grant got a Mr. Potato Head kit from Santa.

Something kind of funny-we had to stop everything after a little bit to let Grant eat breakfast! This is probably the only year that this will happen! Grant had a waffle for his Christmas breakfast. James and I made crepes-well I made the crepes, James and I wolfed them down. James gave me a great gift-mixing bowls (we desperately needed some) and some new pans. My mom will appreciate this, because you have to have a really good pan to make the crepes in, and I was a little concerned about what I was going to use to make them in, so I got to use James' present on Christmas morning. Can I just say, too, that I am a wonderful crepe maker? They all turned out perfectly golden brown, and were positively delicious with my strawberries and whipped cream. What a great Christmas tradition. I'm glad that I got to make them and keep this tradition alive in my own home. When I was growing up and even today, crepes are a tradtion on Christmas morning with my family.

We had a great Christmas with just us up here in Wyoming. I can't wait for next Christmas, when our new little one joins us! How fun will that be?! :)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Our Holiday Season (so far!)

Our holiday season so far has been wonderful. We spent a few days in St. George for Thanksgiving, and we had such a good time. James didn't get off of work till 4:00 in the afternoon, so I had Grant jammied up, and the car packed and ready to go when he came home, so we could just leave. We arrived in St. George at 3:30 in the morning. It was a long car ride, and Grant did surprisingly well. He slept off and on till we got there, and then was lulled to sleep by the lullabies he listens too before going to bed. (Actually, it lulled everyone to sleep. We weren't the most quiet when we arrived! :)) We spent Thanksgiving day with the Killpack's. Dinner was wonderful, and as always, the conversation very interesting! :) Grant did well on this Thankful day, and we did take a few pics. He is in this stage where, he can't just smile any more, he has to try to smile, and the result is just funny. See for yourself:

We got to spend some time with both of our families, and even got to squeeze in a movie, New Moon, which we didn't find as intriguing as Twilight. We left Grant at home with my parents and he had a good time with them!

This month my friends Lyndi and Kelsey threw me a baby shower. It was so fun, and they did such a cute job. It was on December 12th, and we invited people from our ward to come. We got a lot of little baby girl things, and I feel so much more ready for her to come. Here are some pics of the shower, including the adorable cake made by a very creative lady in our ward. Her name is Katrina and she is an amazing cake decorator!

My friends Lyndi and Kelsey who threw me the shower.

Loving the snow just before Christmas! I am home with Grant, and I am totally loving this time that I get to spend with him before our new little one comes. We have had a good time. Grant loves to read. He will sit and listen to books any hour of the day. One day last week, I grabbed a stack of books from his room, and pulled him into my lap, and watched the clock. My 20 month old sat and listened to stories from 1:00 to 1:55. And not just any book either. He is loving The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss' ABC, and a new favorite 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

James and I are most excited about this Christmas more than any other Christmas we have shared! We are both excited to wake up Christmas morning and see Grant open his gifts. It will be a fun Christmas this year. James bought Grant a much needed toy chest this week. I think Grant likes it. What do you think?

We brought it in the house and he spent at least 45 minutes playing climbing on it. Even a few days later, the novelty still hasn't worn off and he will be in his room just climbing all over it.

A few days ago, James and I took Grant to see Santa at the mall. Last year, Grant was thrilled with anyone that held him. This year, he was a little scared of the man in the red suit. It seemed to progressively get worse. Our poor Santa asked, "Did you get one yet?":

The first picture of Grant on Santa's lap.

The last picture of Grant on Santa's lap. I do have to say though, how authentic this Santa looked. It's a shame Grant didn't pose and smile like he usually does. Maybe next year, he will be warmed up to Santa.

This past Tuesday, we had a visitor at our house. Our friends, the Daly's, brought over their little girl McKinley to our house. Grant and McKinley had such a good time together, I had to take some pictures. They loved the wagon ride James gave them, and tried to pull each other around themselves. Too fun!