Santa Claus is Coming To Town

This year, Ledger has been VERY wary of Santa Claus.  We've been working with Ledger to expose him to Santa to get him used to the idea of a stranger in a red suit.  This week, we went to our THIRD "Pictures with Santa" session.  The first two sessions were not successful -- we have photos of Ledger sitting on my lap in the near vicinity of Santa trying very hard to escape.  We weren't feeling too confident about getting any workable shots for Christmas this year... but I guess the third time is the charm!!

Tony Guzman, a local photographer, was offering a free 8x10 photo with Santa with a donation of 2 canned items.  We couldn't pass up that deal!  When we got there, Ledger was pretty nervous around Santa.  Tony and Santa were both very patient and willing to give Ledger some time to get used to the situation.  After a few minutes... and a candy cane bribe... Ledger was willing to sit with Santa for pictures!  It was great.  We had a wonderful time and got some awesome pictures!!

Where Did 2010 Go?!

2010: A Year In Review

January started off with Ledger turning 8 months old!  He was just learning to crawl, clap, and pull himself up on the furniture.

February did not start off well.  Ledger was pretty sick and had had his fist big fever.  Since he wouldn't take oral medicine, we discovered acetaminophen suppositories, which saved the day!  We sold our Honda Pilot and bought a Honda CR-V with cash as a jump-start to our Dave Ramsey financial plan.  We went snow-skiing in Kansas City and Josh took a nasty spill and broke his collarbone.  By the end of the month, our little mover had figured out how to climb up the stairs all by himself.


At the beginning of March, we had Ledger tested for allergies and he  was positive for allergies to corn, soy, dairy, and egg.  We visited the Vanderbecks in Pittsburg and braved a blizzard to drive home.  Mommy and Daddy suffered through the "cry-it-out" method and finally were able to lay Ledger down without a fight and he even slept through the night!

In April, Ledger experienced his first Easter.  Mommy and Daddy rocked out at the AC/DC concert in Kansas City.  Ledger went from taking a few hesitant steps to officially walking!  We also visited BoomMa and BoomPa in Oklahoma and visited the aquarium there.

Ledger celebrated his first birthday in May!  We had a big piece of hypo-allergenic chocolate cake for the birthday boy.  His family and friends came up to celebrate with him too, which was a little overwhelming!  We also went to Lawrence for Josh and Amanda's wedding.  Ledger went to the 4th grade skating party and even tried on roller skates!  At the end of the month, we had a very successful garage sale to save some money for vacation.

In June, we took a Michel family vacation to Colorado.  We visited the Hindmans in Boulder, the Denver Aquarium, the Pogues in Colorado Springs, and stayed in cabins at Manitou Springs.  It was a great vacation and Ledger did better than expected in the car.  Mommy's laptop screen got cracked, so blogging was put on hold.

July brought some fun times at Lake Kanopolis with friends and family.  Ledger got his first "big boy" haircut by Tracy.  Ledger started at a new child care with Sandy.  For the first time ever, Mommy and Daddy left Ledger with Oma and Doodah to go on vacation to Hawaii.

August started out with Mommy and Daddy in Maui with the Powell and Perkins families.  We had a great vacation, but missed our little man!  Ledger spent a lot of time at the lake with Oma and Doodah and really loved playing in the hose.  Mommy celebrated her 30th birthday.  Mommy's BFF Ann had her 2nd baby, Clay.  Ledger learned to drink out of a cup and really started developing a little attitude of his own!

September brought the start of football season!  Every Sunday Ledger wears his Chiefs gear to watch the game!  BoomPa spent a weekend in Salina and brought Ledger some OU swag -- including socks!  We also went to KC and went to the Renaissance Fest (Ledger was afraid of the costumes) and Ledger's first Chiefs game.  Ledger learned to say "First Down!" (sorta).  At the end of the month, Grammie Pam had her second knee replacement and did great!

In October, we went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze with the Kinions and were a little disappointed.  Later that month, we met the Powells and Perkins in KC and went to another pumpkin patch.  Ledger enjoyed playing on all of the slides.  We also went on a tour of Arrowhead stadium and Daddy achieved one of his life-long goals by putting his feet (and lips) on the field!  Our whole family got sick and fought the stomach flu -- blah!  Ledger started giving kisses and parroting everything that he hears.  We dressed up for Halloween -- Ledger as a lion, Chris as Luigi (with Damon dressed as Mario), and Mommy as a veterinarian ;)

November disappeared in a flash! Ledger turned 18 months old! We visited the Vanderbecks in Pittsburg and saw our first Pitt State football game.  Mommy and Daddy went to the midnight premier of Harry Potter 7 - Part 1.  Mommy worked hard to figure out how to bake the Thanksgiving turkey and Daddy worked hard to make the house clean and cozy for our holiday guests.  Ledger continues to entertain the crowd with his tricks -- including pressing his belly button and saying "ding dong", identifying his nose, eyes, and mouth, and making dog and cat noises.  Once again, Mommy and Daddy went Black Friday shopping in Tulsa.  We also visited Granny Mone and Uncle Buddy in Muskogee.  We also went to the Salina Christmas parade with the Simpsons and Shawn and put up our holiday decorations -- including the Christmas tree.  Miraculously, he leaves the tree and ornaments alone.

Now, it is December.  Ledger is in the process of cutting his "eye teeth" which has caused weeks of discomfort and disrupted our regular sleeping schedule.  Ledger's vocabulary is expanding daily and he always amazes us with a new word.  He is also learning to sing, which is hilarious.  We are working hard to get Christmas cards in the mail and Christmas gifts purchased for the family.  We have a few meetings with Santa lined up, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be scared of the stranger in the big white beard this year.  We are looking forward to time with family during the holiday season!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Inspired by my sister's blog, I thought I'd post some pictures of us in the process of decorating our house for the holidays.  I had been very worried about Ledger messing with the Christmas tree this year, but we've had the tree up for a couple of weeks now and he hasn't messed with it at all!  Yipee!!  He really enjoyed when we had the ladder out to put the angel on top of our tree and wanted to "help".

As it turned out, our angel didn't fit on the top of our tree.  She was too top heavy.  So we decided to put a Santa hat on top of the tree instead.  Ledger thought he should test it out first... just to make sure it would work.

Ledger the Entertainer

Our little man LOVES to perform and make us laugh.  I definitely want to share some of that with you -- his family! :)

First, Ledger can identify his NOSE and MOUTH -- but when he points to his nose, he puts his finger right up into his nostril.  And when he shows you his mouth, he bites his own finger.  This always keeps Mommy and Daddy laughing!

Second, Ledger is now infatuated with pets.  Whenever he sees a cat, he loudly says "MEOW".  And everytime he hears Jacye barking outside, he says "SAYSCEEE".  And if you ask him what noise Jayce makes, he says "Woof, Woof".  If you ask him what noise Barkley makes he says "Rooo Roo Roo". 

I know I've already posted photos of Ledger wearing Daddy's shoes around the house.  Well, today he put on Mommy's dress heels and walked around the living room in those.  I think that he walks better in heels than I do!! :)  I sure do love this kid!

Parade of Lights

This weekend, we met up with Shawn and the Simpsons for some fun.  The holidays are always so busy, so it's nice when we can get together before things get crazy.  We decided to meet for dinner and then head to the Parade of Lights in downtown Salina.  We tried this last year, but we were pretty unprepared.  This year, we met for dinner at Martinelli's and had great seats for some of the street performances prior to the parade.  We had a great time at the parade this year -- we were prepared with lots of warm clothes and had much better seats.  Oh, and Ledger was able to actually enjoy the parade -- every time he saw a truck or Christmas lights he clapped and smiled and made his excited, OH! face.  It was so fun to watch him be excited.

After the festivities, we all met up back at home to play some games.  For some reason, Jarod and Briana don't think they can come to our house without being put to work on a project!  While I was putting Ledger to sleep, they tackled the lights that are out on our pre-lit Christmas tree... which made for a funny picture.

The Practice Bird

This year I have volunteered myself to make the Thanksgiving turkey.  I've been pretty nervous about screwing up the main entree at our turkey day feast, so I elected to make a "practice" turkey.  Some friends of ours had an extra turkey laying around, so they graciously supplied it for us.  As it turns out, our little practice run weighed TWENTY-TWO POUNDS.  :)  I took advice from my Mom, Pam, and this website.  Amazingly, the bird turned out great.  I learned a lot!

1. When you clean out a turkey, look twice -- they frequently pack those things into any hole they can find.
2. Figure out how long you'll need to cook your turkey and then count backwards to your start time.  I made the mistake of just putting it in the oven when it was convenient for me, which resulted in me waking up at 4 a.m., 5 a.m., and 6 a.m. to check the turkey breast temperature.  Whoops.
3. The more butter, the mo' better.
4. It takes longer than you think to carve the meat off of the bird.  And it pretty much can't be done with an 18-month-old begging to be in your lap.

For fun, we had a trial Thanksgiving dinner tonight.  I made gravy from the turkey drippings and it turned out pretty good.  Ledger ate his weight in mashed potatoes.  Chris pretty much paid me the best compliment I've ever gotten on my cooking -- he said that it tastes like his usual Thanksgiving dinner.  WOOHOO!!  That's exactly what I was going for.

As I was prepping my first turkey dinner, it started snowing HUGE, beautiful, wet flakes.  The first snow of the season.  It didn't stick, but it was pretty.

If you've made it this far through the post, I'll reward you with a few photos of my favorite kid.

Ding Dong!

Yesterday we went to the doctor's office for Ledger's 18 month vaccinations.  He came in at 24.5 pounds and 32 inches tall.  That puts him in the 50th percentile for height and 30th percentile for weight -- which means he's holding steady over the last few months.  It may not seem like a lot of growth, but he has definitely outgrown most of this 12-month clothes, so we've moved up into 18-month clothes.  We also had to call our allergist and found out that Ledger cannot have his flu shot due to his egg allergy.  BOOO!!!  In order to keep him safe, Chris and I got our shots on Wednesday and we encourage all of our friends and family to get their vaccines too!

This year, Mommy is really getting in the holiday spirit.  I'm actually thinking about putting up our Christmas tree THIS weekend!  And I really would like to do some holiday cooking, but I didn't budget for ingredients... maybe next weekend.

Alright, here's a little reward for you.  You'll have to excuse the poor quality of this video.  Since a certain baby broke our FLIP camera a few months ago, we've been making due with our webcam.  He thinks that watching himself on the screen of my laptop is the funniest thing ever.  :)