Leaving on a jet plane!

Best Christmas present ever!

To grandmother's house we go.

Month 30 Archives

Dear Henry-Mia,

Well kiddo, you hit the big 3-0. Not quite over the hill, but they say 30 is the new 18 months. So well see how it goes. Even though you are a little boy, you do take breaks throughout the day to snuggle and hug on Mommy. You raise your voice up high, and say " Mama-mia, ahhh, ahhh, Mama-mia." It cute and I always welcome it back with a little "Henry-mia, ahhh."

The major milestone of the month is that you are now in a big boy bed. You haven't fallen out yet (knock on wood), and you don't crawl out in the mornings until we come and get you (knock harder on wood). I was a little anxious about the transition and again, you've proven that to be needless. You seem to go with the flow with all the changes. From being weened, to sleeping in the top bunk at Gammy's house - you're a rock star.

We took you to your first movie this past month. It was Madagascar 2 - Escape to Africa. It was a pretty good movie, and you loved the popcorn and soda especially. You seemed to be good with being in the theatre, but you did keep asking, "How do we get outta here?" I'm excited you like movies so I have someone to go to the cartoons with me. Your daddy doesn't really like them. Next up, The Tales of Despereaux!

The new phrase of the month: "That's a good idea for me!" For example, we let you open a present yesterday (from auntie Jodi and uncle Butch that we didn't get to last week.), and when you were done you wanted to open more presents from Grandma and Grandpa, and then said "That's a good idea!" Or when you want a sucker, "That's a good idea!"

You're becoming beyond obsessed with horses and zebras. You carry at least 2 horses with you where ever you go, one in each hand. And now its transitioned a bit into reindeer also. 'Tis the season. Now that you can talk, its fun to learn what you're interested in, and to watch your little imagination starting to blossom. You'll play with those horses and be talking to yourself for hours. I'll give you one guess as to what most of your Christmas presents are...

I need to add this little note, so you know what you did. Your great-grandma Nelson fell a few weeks ago and cracked a few vertebrae. She has been in a lot of pain, and was going in for surgery to relieve most of the pain. We stopped to visit her the weekend before the scheduled surgery. While visiting, you were snuggling and hugging and laying out about a million kisses onto her. Well, a few days after that we heard that she no longer has pain in her back and she canceled the surgery. She credits you with the miracle of healing her pain. Believe what you want, but your grandma thinks you're pretty special little one.

We're looking forward to watching you begin to understand what Christmas is about. When I ask you what you want from Santa, you say "Presents!" but you're not anymore specific. We're off to do a lot of traveling in the next three weeks, and I know you'll be great. You always show up and kiss your grandma's just when they need it. I'm just glad you like to watch movies and that we got that portable DVD player. That's a good idea!

Merry Christmas Booger Butt,

Mommy

Snow day eating Mom's cinnamon rolls!

Funny Stuff

I want to make a special announcement. After a bit of a hiatus, one of my favorite blogs is back up and running, Brady's Blog. Take a gander over to the right and give him a little read. It'll be worth your time. Brady is a great writer and his daddy's not too shabby either!

Pandemonium reigns,
HAJ

Higher Education

Thanks to Auntie M, I have a brief recap of activities in SD. The whole reason we went was to celebrate my cousin Jerid graduating from college! We are so proud of him! It was great to see the family while we were there including cute cousin Kyle, and cousin Aaron and fam. I played horsies with my cousin Ethan, until he went outside to nail Jerid with snowballs. Check out this shot!

We had a great time at the graduation. Sorry about sticking my whole hand in the cake, and thanks for the Doritos and orange pop (see orange mustache above). Mom saved the chip clip. Wink!

The sky's the limit,

HAJ

Another White-Knuckler

No one knows for sure why, but when we go on our little trips to SD, two things happen: 1. It blizzards. 2. Mom forgets to take pictures. It happens every time. Unexplainable. So we made it home from the white knuckle drive yesterday, and I'm going to show you the two pictures she did take.

Another mystery of the universe is why my great-auntie Jodi thinks she needs 5 calendars hanging in her kitchen. Here, if you look closely, there are FOUR. And then this one is on the fridge. We all thought it was funny. Not "ha ha" funny, but more weird funny. So we had to take a photo.

Screwed up,
HAJ

PS - Maybe Auntie M will email me some pic's from the weekend and then I'll post 'em. Hint, hint.

Headin' out on the highway!

Not Quite Ready

This weekend I went to my first big kid birthday party. My friend Ethan turned 6 and I can't believe he invited me! I'll admit, I was out of my league, but I still had fun. Plus, there were girls there, and boy, were there some cute girls there. Did I mention the cute girls?

I was a bit shy at the party. The kids were all eating pizza, and I sat over here by Mom and ate my pizza. Then the kids all got to decorate their own cupcakes and cakes, and I stayed over here and ate the cupcake Mom decorated for me. The kids played games, but I kinda stuck over by Mom. Later I found a Santa hat, and we watched Polar Express. Gotta say that was my favorite part. Then the magician showed up, but guess where I was.

It was a great birthday party, and I'm so glad I got to go. Next year my goal is to stop being the wallflower of the party and start being the LIFE of the party!

Go along for the ride,

HAJ

You Don't Make Friends With Salad

HAJ

PS - Check out 34B Cup to see more hijinx from the Reindeer Run!

Reindeer Run 2008

Let's just file this under "Things Not To Tell Grandma About." On Saturday we loaded up the gang and headed to Lake Harriet for the annual Reindeer Run. Remember last year? Well, there wasn't a blizzard this time, but it was only about 10 degrees with 25mph winds comin' off that lake, and well, let's just say brrrrrrr! I had my trusty Twins blankie to keep me warm, and it really wasn't that bad in the sun. It was fun to just get outside and hang out with our pals. After a strong finish we headed out for Bloody Mary's and chocolate milk, and salad. It was a great day!

I can feel it in my guts,

HAJ

PS - Super Duper shout out to my pal Patrick! Happy Birthday bud! Sorry about not getting together this weekend, but we'll party like its 1999 today at school!

Five Days Down...To My Tummy

I tell ya what, these Christmas traditions just keep getting better and better everyday. The other day I received a package from my Great Grandma Nelson. She sent me an Advent Calendar. Now, this is amazing. It has 25 little doors that you're supposed to open every day in December to count down the days until Christmas. AND THERE'S CHOCOLATE BEHIND EACH DOOR. EACH. DOOR. Honestly, life is good. Oh, and its hard to smile with chocolate in my teeth.

So Hungry He Could Eat The North End Out Of A South Bound Cow,
HAJ

My Dad Used To Be Scared Too

Last night I par-took in another Christmas tradition and watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I thought it was a great show....until......THE MONSTER! If you look closely between the slats, you can see my dust!

It's all about pride,
HAJ

My Christmas

On Saturday we went through our yearly ritual, and headed out to Goldenman Farm to pick out our Christmas tree. We drove through the frasers, and the pines, and then there it was. Do you see it? It's this one! A beautifully fragrant balsam fir. Daddy broke out the saws-all and went to work to cut 'er down. As you probably predicted, I was not a fan of the saw, and wouldn't get very close to the tree at all. Once we were heading back to the truck, I was a little more cooperative.

We drove the tree over to the teenagers, and they shook the old needles out, and then threw 'er in a bag and brought her to our truck. One the way home, we stopped for a hot chocolate and listened to Christmas music. Mom decorated her up and there she stands. My Christmas. Its not a tree, its my Christmas. Dad says its the best tree we've had yet!

Stickler for the rules,

HAJ

Bon Voyage!

Remember the good times we used to have together? You know, times like this, or this, or even this. Well, sadly and happily those days are over. Check it out....my new boat bed! I even have a life preserver pillow! Grandpa and Daddy took apart my baby crib, and then put together my new big boy bed! I was a little sad about it at first, but now I love my new bed. I love to make Daddy crawl in with me, and then I tuck him in, kiss him on the forehead, and tell him stories about my day. I have slept through the night each night so far, and I don't get out of bed until Mom and Dad say its OK. Something that is really helping me get through the transition, is that Little Baby E is going to be using my crib, and I love that I can pass that down to the little peanut. I just love family tradition.

Proud as a parrot,

HAJ

Does Anyone Have a Rolaids?

Boy, am I stuffed! I think I'm still full from all the food. OK, not really, come to find out I don't really like turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole. I did eat a bun or two, and had a couple of bites of cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, but that's about it. I guess I don't get what all the fuss is about.

G & GE came to town for the weekend, and uncle Derek and auntie Chris came over for the holiday. We had a great meal, but everyone turned very lazy after it was done, and no one wanted to play. At least Grandma still had energy, and we watched Polar Express together and drank hot chocolate. With marshmallows! I love the holidays!

The following night we went to Derek and Chris' house for happy hour. I ate 500,000 chocolate kisses and M&M's. In all the fuss, we forgot to take a photo for Bump Watch 2008, but you can kind of see it in this photo, (somebody get her a chair! Mom - STOP eating!) She's 25 weeks along...getting closer!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow to see which milestone I "put to sleep" over the weekend!

HAJ