Seeing Santa Claus

Last weekend we took Little Bear to see Santa Claus at Bass Pro. Other than the almost 3 hour wait, it was a fun time. We got our card that got us in the line and then left to go eat. When it was finally our turn, we stood in line. Little Bear did so well! I thought he might cry because he's gotten a bit of stranger anxiety.  However, I played with him and tried to keep him entertained. When it was time to sit on Santa's lap, Little Bear was so happy!  He got his picture taken with the same Santa last year when he was just 3 weeks old. It was fun to see the difference. I think we'll make this an annual event.

It looks like he's looking Santa straight in the face telling him exactly what he wants

Christmas Tree Shopping

The Friday after Thanksgiving we did our annual tradition of looking for the perfect tree for our family.  There is a Christmas Tree farm not too far away from us.  We enjoy going to this place cause they take you out to the fields in a tractor-pulled trailer, serve hot chocolate, and have a little store.  It was rather cold this day, so we bundled Little Bear up.  He had his moose hat and mittens on and looked totally adorable in them.  I wore him in the carrier for a bit, then put him down so he could roam around.  He had a blast.  He's gotten so incredibly good with walking to the point where he's almost running.  He even had a little hot chocolate that I cooled off with some water.  He loved it.  We've gotten the tree all decorated and so far Little Bear isn't destroying it.  When he starts grabbing at something, we tell him, "No."  He then shakes his head no as well.  It's rather cute.

Thankful

So this year I'm hosting Thanksgiving.  Now it's only me, my husband, my son, my brother, and my mother-in-law.  So, it's nothing too crazy.  But, I planned the menu and have started baking.  Yesterday I made a Pumpkin Cheesecake from a recipe I found on a college friend's blog.  It's now sitting in the fridge waiting to be eaten.  Today, I'm making some dinner rolls that I call Butterhorns that I found here.  Then, I'm heading to the Costco to get a brisket to put in the crockpot   My husband will smoke the brisket for a couple hours and I'll finish it in the crockpot   He'll also smoke a turkey breast.  Then, I'll make my yummy mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon, and my mother-in-law is bringing sweet potatoes.  I decided not to make stuffing or cranberries.  Oh, I even made a pumpkin french toast casserole to put in the oven in the morning.

This year has definitely been one to be thankful for.  It's hard to be believe that this time last year, we were waiting to meet Little Bear.  I'm so thankful for him and the joy that he has brought to our lives.  I'm thankful for our family's health, home, food, good jobs, extended family, friends, a good church, our marriage, and so much more.  I tend to complain about what I don't have, but yet what I do have far outweighs what I don't have.

Now that we have Little Bear, I want to start some family traditions for Thanksgiving.  I want to make a special breakfast (I hope the french toast casserole turns out), I want to have certain things for the main meal, and I want to have some special activities.  One of the main activities we do is actually the day after Thanksgiving.  We go look for our Christmas tree.  We go to an actual Christmas tree farm and walk around fields of trees searching for the perfect one.  Then Mark chops it down himself.  Last year I was 2 days shy of being 40 weeks pregnant when we looked for our tree.  This year, we get to have Little Bear with us to pick out the perfect one.  Since he loves being outdoors, I think he'll really enjoy looking for a tree.  I'm just curious how he'll do with the tree once it's in the house and decorated.

What are your family traditions?

Here are a few pics of what Little Bear has been up to lately.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

First time on the carousel

walking at the playground - he cries every time we leave

lunch date with mom at Chick-Fil-A

pumpkin cheesecake - I plan on hiding the cracks with whipped topping

Yummy butterhorns (dinner rolls)

Little Bear points out what he wants for his birthday or Christmas

hangin' out with the dolphin

such a big boy riding the dolphin by himself

playing with Daddy's shoes and cap

fun with Dad's cap at dinner

"walking" in Daddy's shoes

Apple Festival

Today we all went to Weston, MO.  They have an apple festival every year.  Mark and I of course had to have the fabulous apple dumplings with ice cream.  YUMMY!!!  I gave Little Bear a little taste of the dumpling and apple.  He wasn't too interested.  That's OK, more for me.  We had a great time!  The day was just gorgeous.  It was just cool enough that I could put this adorable pumpkin hat on Little Bear.  His uncle (my brother) actually made it.  Neat, huh?!!!!  We ate lunch at one of the many food vendors.  Little Bear LOVES him some BBQ!!!

He has all sorts of toys, but he'd rather play with an empty water bottle

Little Bear was getting sleepy since he hadn't slept well, so I wore him in the carrier - He loves it!

Little Bear LOVES dogs.  This gentleman was kind enough to let him pet his dog

The dog went for his binky

sweet moment

I love that smile and those handsome eyes

Little Bear didn't get the memo that he needed to look at the camera

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I realized as I was loading pictures today for Little Bear's 9 month birthday, I hadn't ever loaded the 8 month pictures.  OOPS!!!!  Oh well, I'll give you all a 2 for 1 deal today.  It's been a fun weekend.  My parents were in town - but not at the same time due to their work - so they got to hang out with their grandson.  They had a great time.  I had to work on Saturday.  Normally Mark hangs out with Little Bear when I work on weekends.  However, we're trying to get a ton of projects done on our house.  One of which is putting vinyl siding on our house.  So, in an effort to allow Mark to focus on the siding, my mom came into town to hang out with Little Bear.  However, Mark wasn't able to work on the siding because it was still raining here as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Isaac.  Oh well, he worked on some indoor projects.  My Dad had responsibilities at home, so he couldn't come until Sunday afternoon.  My Mom had to work today, so she couldn't stay the whole weekend.  So, as soon as my Mom got back to her house, my parents had lunch together and then my Dad drove up.  Despite the dis-jointed-ness, it was great to be with family.  My Dad was talking about when he was growing up, his parents had the tradition of having pancakes for breakfast and working on a project on Labor Day.  So, to help keep up tradition, I made Banana Walnut Pancakes and turkey bacon for breakfast.  Then Dad and Mark started working on the siding.  Do you have any Labor Day traditions?

Happy Boy!

He was constantly moving - so it was hard to get a good shot

Loves being outside on a stroll - isn't that the cutest face ever!!!

Drinking from Grandpa's cup

Heart to heart moment between Little Bear and Grandpa

Fun with bubbles!

Lots of bubbles - he was mesmerized

He wanted to hold the sign himself