Merry Christmas!

Grant was quite excited for Christmas this year.  Although, he wasn't too excited about seeing Santa. Thankfully we got to see most of our immediate family during the holiday season.  Every time we asked Grant what he thought was in a present he would say, "Thomas" or "a Thomas Toy".  I thought maybe he would be getting "trained out" but he wasn't and thankfully Santa did bring him a train with a wooden train track.

This is Christmas Eve about 2 am.  Santa arrived a little later than expected at our house!

Actually to go back a little further, a few days before Christmas Eve we went to Jason and Heather's.  It was a rainy couple of days but the kids had a blast together playing in the house.  Here are a few of our favorite pics from the trip.

Grant absolutely loved playing with Cody.  He kept asking, "What's Cody doing?"  Actually, even before our visit Lara and I were surprised to hear Grant say in his crib, "Have muscles like Cody" and then flex his arms!  I think it is safe to say that he looks up to his oldest boy cousin.

We slept downstairs and Cody and Carly followed us down as we were getting Grant ready for bed.  They both wanted to sleep with him.  Cody even said he would sleep on the floor.  

It was a great visit and we can't wait to see you guys again.

After that trip came Christmas.  Christmas morning was pretty special.  Grant was excited to go "downtairs" and open presents.  

As you can see here, he was pretty patient with us getting some of his toys out of the box.  He even took a break at one point and got a book off his bookshelf.  He was a super good shopper when I was looking for something for Lara.  He would see something and say, "Mommy needs this".  I think everything he pointed out she would have liked.  I did take his advice on a few presents!    

We left our house in the afternoon (thankfully didn't hit a deer this year!) and arrived at the Standfest Cabin in the woods.  We had a wonderful Christmas dinner and enjoyed spending time with the family.  Grant and Sofia seemed to buddy up.  Sofia was trying to get Grant cookies and other kids sippy cups.  It was sweet that she was trying to take care of him.  At one point I picked up Grant and she said, "No, that's my Grant".
 

At night Grant just couldn't get to sleep.  He was nearly hyperventilating he was crying so hard and just wouldn't calm down and go to sleep.  Eventually I told him that he could sleep in bed with Lara and I.  However, we wouldn't be in bed for awhile so he would have to rest in bed and wait for us to come up.  Surprisingly the little bugger did stay in bed and didn't fuss anymore.  Somehow when we got up to bed his little body was sprawled out across the whole bed.  It was the first time ever (yes, ever...even as a little baby) that he slept in bed with us.  
 

We still had one more Christmas celebration to go.  We took a trip to Gram and Aunt Peg's the day after Christmas.  We also got to celebrate with Aunt Connie, Jackie, and Mikey.  Grant enjoyed being the center of attention and really hammed it up.  We had another great visit and enjoyed catching up with everyone.  It was just such a wonderful Christmas this year.  Thanks everyone for making our holiday so special!

Our Baby

If you think that our first child was Grant, you would be wrong.  Our first child was kilo (aptly named because he is so tiny....like a kilogram).  We adopted him from a shelter in Lubbock, Texas.  I stopped at the animal shelter in the morning and of all the cats there, I thought he would be the perfect pet.  Lara stopped by the shelter the next day and without knowing the cat I liked, also picked Coconut (his name at the shelter).  He is the most perfect, terrible pet you could ever imagine.  When we first got him he was up all night scratching and ruining the carpet all over the apartment.  You couldn't lock him out of the room because he would just scratch and yeow at the door all night long...also ruining the carpet.  Well, eventually he settled in and is still the sweetest most annoying pet.  If Lara and I argue, he will bite my ankles until we stop.  If you are stressed, he meows in your face and won't leave you alone until you stop and relax.  He loves to cuddle.  He really likes to curl up on Lara's belly when she is pregnant and I think that Grant got used to his purr in utero.  Now when Kilo comes near him, Grant cuddles up and puts his thumb in his mouth just like he does with his beddy (aka little blanket).  Well onto the reason for all this reminiscing.  Kilo is now in kidney failure.  He was luckily diagnosed by chance.  Lara had him at the vet to groom him and one of the vets happened by and decided to check him out.  He now has a special diet and some pills to take.  He really doesn't have a survival time.  It could be weeks or years and obviously we are hoping for the latter.  Here are a few recent pics of our first baby!

 

         

Family

In November we got to visit with family quite a bit.  Here's a few pics from Papa Jim's at Thanksgiving.

 

 

It was great getting to spend time with everybody.  It seems like a rarity these days that we get to see my brother and his crew.  It was great to get to hang out with you guys a few times in November. 

Here are a few special pics from a visit to Great-Grandma & Aunt Peg's.  We also got to see Aunt Connie.  Gram probably didn't want her picture taken but we tried to sneak a few in.  

Terrible two, says who?!

So far Grant has been anything but terrible!  He had a wonderful 2nd birthday at a pavilion in Cook Forest.  It was a little chilly but we had a nice fire to keep us warm.  Lara had a great train-themed party with about the cutest cake I've ever seen.

Grant enjoyed being with all his cousins, even if it did take him a little bit to warm-up to it.  Thanks everybody for coming!  Grant had a great time and is loving all his new toys.

Grant's party was a week or so before his actual birthday so Lara and I saved our presents to give him on his actual birthday.

 
We had another cake for him too!

It is so hard to believe that he is already two years old.  He talks from sunup to sundown.  In the morning we'll here, "Mommy, Daddy, come in Grant's room" or "Mommy and Daddy are sleeping in bed."  He looks at Lara's belly and says, "baby growing" all the time.  He uses full sentences a lot and amazes me with the things he knows.  He laughs so much and likes getting Lara and I to laugh.  He dances all the time.  When he has to go on the "naughty step" he cries but almost always sits patiently and waits for us to come talk to him.   He has just recently mastered giving an evil eye and if upset he will tilt his head toward you and squint at you.  He really looks mean!  At first he was doing it seriously, now he seems to do it to be silly.  He loves the animals and usually says "night, night" to all of them.  He still LOVES trains.  He has just recently started to say "I love you" to Lara and I without any prompting.  It is hard to believe that in about 6 weeks he will be a big brother!

Baby Ben!!!

It is hard to believe it has been so long since we last posted.  Lots of exciting things have happened in the past month.  One of the most exciting was Jeff and Lisa adding another baby boy, Benjamin Kenneth, to their family on 11/1/11 (That's an easy birthday to remember!). 

Trick or Treat

Grant really enjoyed Halloween this year.  He wasn't too sure about his costume at first (he's Nemo).  When we first showed it to him and asked if he wanted to wear it he said, "No, Daddy wear it!"  I think what sealed the deal was that Papa Jim said he liked it.  On the drive to where we trick or treat he just kept saying,"Papa likes it".

The Law Crew.  Thanks so much for making the trip Dad and Denise.  It was great to see you.

All the kiddos with Grandma and Papa...and Lara because Grant refused to stand there.

 

After the first house Grant got the idea of trick-or-treating and was excited to go to every house after that.