A Christmas to Remember

Everett and Santa year 2... Fail! 2015

Christmas has always been such a fun and exciting time of year in our family! All the preparations and magic that has gone into the celebrations of the season hold some of my most cherished memories from my childhood/teenage/early adult years! 

(All the girls went to the Nutcracker this year. Mom loved it!!)

This year is one of equal excitement as Drew and I can't wait to see Everett's reaction to his presents! Watching your child's happiness on Christmas morning is something I have always wanted to experience and as Everett is growing and becoming more aware of his surroundings I know he is going to be so much fun this year to watch! Patrick and his fiancé Taren are spending their first Christmas together with us this year too and we are so excited to share our traditions with her! 

Since moving in with mom in August, this will be our first Christmas where we Are hosting. It is a surreal experience and I have spent much of the past weeks reflecting on the details and love my Mom  put into each moment of Christmas morning. 

Many of the decorations that are on display in our house are ones that I have inherited from mom since her disease has kept her from being able to decorate herself. I have vivid memories of decorating our house on Highland in Abilene with many of these items after she insisted we needed more decorations and we bought out Pier Ones holiday display. All the while I was thinking "will she still have money for presents if we get all of this?!" Now I am so thankful for these items, not necessarily in my taste, but because of the moments and memories we shared collecting them! Her holiday spirit is still very present in our home this season! 

Mom has spent the past few weeks very emotional.  Listening to Amy Grant's Christmas has not been a joyful event this year. Initially I blamed it on her disease or medicine cocktail not being adequate but I now believe it is partly to blame on her knowing she can't "do Christmas" like she once did and wants to. There is so much she is still aware of and this has always been such a special time of year for her. I have thought about all the joy she would have had buying presents for her now 4 grandchildren and one on the way! What delight she would have taken in welcoming a new daughter in law into the family and celebrating her first Christmas with us! Although she is excited on some level it is not what it could have been or deserved to be! 

After a day of exhausting myself buying presents, groceries and organizing I asked her how in the world she did Christmas for us like she did as a single parent?! I said when did you find the time? Weren't you so worn out?! She simply replies with "yes, and I loved it!"

I pray that as we go forward adapting traditions to fit our new family and making our own traditions, I will always carry my mom's joy for the season and love of her children with me as a reminder of the magic it brought me as a child! And I hope that my children will find the season just as magical and exciting and always remember their Mom loving this special time and precious memories with them!! 

(Cookies couldn't help Santa impress either of these babies. Maybe next year will be more successful!)

Growing Everett

Oh my darling Everett how you keep us on our toes. You are now approaching 22 months. You have been full of personality from the beginning but my love I never knew your personality would blossom so fully so young. You.are.a.ham! A flat out entertainer. You love an audience an play into their every whim. I am not sure where you learned to bat your eyes and sneak looks out the corner of your eyes at people but buddy you have excelled at this. You are so funny! Kisses at this moment now include sticking your tongue out which we are working out but it is also very endearing. You have also learned to spread your arms wide open and give hugs. You most love to give Norah hugs. 

You now have mastered climbing onto the coffee table and kitchen chairs where you prefer to spend your time sitting because you think you are one of the grownups. I love watching you learn to excel knew challenges including climbing on the furniture. You grab the back of the chair with your two little chubby hands and pull yourself up on your tummy, the absolute cutest!

You have found out where the snacks are kept and bring me in what you what when your hungry. This includes hauling around the Sam's jumbo container of animal crackers and goldfish. I can you hear hauling them all the way from the kitchen with the sweetest little grunts. Once you have delivered the snacks you run back to the kitchen to grab your munchies cup for me to put them in. You are such a smarty!

Everett you have not been a cuddiler for a very long time, like since I rocked you to sleep long. You are very independent and like your own space most of the time. When we watch Daniel Tiger, which you are obsessed with, or another movie you will sit beside me but the minute I try to cuddle with you or kiss you you will then scoot away from me. However there are some extra special times when you scoot up really close and lay your head on me... pretty much the best time ever! I try not to breathe or move so you don't realize what you are doing and move away. There are also very limited times when you will lay your head on my shoulder and I absolutely cherish these moments.

You are a very picky eater. You will eat and love one thing one day and two days later not touch it at all. You love to dip anything though. You dip food in ketchup, mustard, soup or whatever else you can. Last week your Dad and I caught you eating your broccoli florets and we both almost fell over in shock.

Everett you really enjoy books but only to flip through the pages. You do not like to wait long enough for Dad or I to read you the actual words on the pages so we make up the story as fast as we can keep up with you flipping pages.  Everett you are a mad dancer! Your go to move is to pop up one shoulder and bend the elbow and rock back and forth. Your Dad accuses me of teaching you this little move and he constantly makes fun of our dancing but I think you have some skill.

Everett we absolutely adore you! I never dreamed the love that instantly overwhelmed me when you were born would continue to grow but each day it is more and more! You are the greatest blessing in your dad and I's life! We cherish every moment we get to raise you, learn with you and love you!

Oh Boy Oh Boy we are having ... a GIRL!

We found out last week that this sweet little peanut I have been growing is a Girl and I am still in shock!! Elated, very emotional and shocked!!

Let me just start by saying that with this being my second pregnancy I was pretty sure I was a little more knowledgeable and in touch with my body. This pregnancy has been pretty identical to Everett's. Nausea through the first trimester, smells being a major trigger, minimal throwing up but feeling icky most of the day. Headaches, siatic nerve pain very early on and lots of pressure. Craving milk like with Everett and lots of Dr. Pepper. This sweet babes heart rate was almost identical to her brother's through my sonos and checkups also. So being the expert I became after one previous pregnancy I was convinced we were having another boy. I also came to believe that since growing up I was convinced having all boys would be "the worst!" that that would infact be my destiny and not at all bad after having Everett and seeing what boys are like.

So when we went into our Sonogram last week, Everett in tow wearing his big bro shirt I was not expecting to hear the tech say "It's a Girl!" Sweet peanut was very very stubborn and waited until the very end of the appointment to show us her gender which was undeniable. With Everett leaning over his Dad's chair holding my hand I instantly began to cry as did Drew. Pretty  safe to say we have already melted for you sweet one! Your big brother has also already begun to give you kisses via my belly which is pretty much the greatest thing ever! He is going to love you so much and protect you always. Although I spent the last several weeks thinking about having another boy in the house I am so very thankful that God knew exactly what we needed in our family and that was you precious girl! Our hearts already feel more complete knowing we have a girl on the way to share in our family!

We are anxiously awaiting your arrival my love and cannot wait to meet you! 20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go!!

P.S. I may have just bawled my way through this whole post. I am sure you will inherit the Blanton emotions of every female before you!

Halloween 2015

We had such a blast this Halloween with our little Bear. He was big enough to try and trick or treat for the first time and although he was quite hesitant at first he got his parents quite a stash of candy and loaded up on some fruit snacks for himself. Everett rode around our favorite neighborhood for trick or treating with his best buddy Norah who was the most precious little lamb. She was a champ and walked up to most of the doors with her Mom while Everett preferred to hitch a ride on my hip. Drew and Lane pulled the kids around in our wagon while Neeley and I toted around the kids candy buckets. Both of the kids did amazing and were absolutely the most precious babies out that night. We finished our night with a great family dinner at Aunt Tammy's house and halloween festivities. Our family had the surprise of a visit from our dear friend Linda Talley on Halloween (I can't believe I didn't get any pics) and she spent the night having fun with us and loving on mom. It was so much fun!!

A few nights before Halloween we dressed the kids up in their costumes and did a little photo Session at the park. I am so so in love with these pictures.

Two weekends of traveling with a toddler.

We have had a very adventurous few weeks lately and Everett has gotten to experience lot of firsts. Drew's sister Carrie got married in Vegas and asked Drew to walk her down the aisle, Everett to be the ring bearer and me to be a bridesmaid. We didn't hesitate for a minute and started planning our trip to Vegas immediately.

I began to worry about how Everett would do on his first plane ride. It would only be 1 hour and 45 minutes but he is at an age where sitting still for more than 5 min. is a challenge. I shouldn't have been worried though because as usual Everett proved he is an absolute all star! We packed our bags full of snacks, our ipad full of Daniel Tiger and Toy Story and Mom full of Tylenol and were off. Many people remarked as we were unloading that they never heard a peep from Everett. He was quite content to look out the window and watch the ipad while sitting in our laps. We were so proud of him!!

Carrie's wedding was at Mandalay Bay so we all stayed there. On our previous trips to Vegas we have stayed further down on the other end of the strip so I was excited to see some things we hadn't quite gotten to before. After Everett's nap when we first got to Vegas I was ready to see the sights. The three of us walked next door to the Luxor to see an exhibit I have always always wanted to see, The Titanic Artifacts Exhibit. I was unsure of what exactly to expect and was unsure of how Everett would take being pushed through it but once more he proved I should not worry about him and rode through an hour of artifacts without making a sound. I highly recommend this exhibit to anyone who is interested in the Titanic and is ever in Vegas. I was completely fascinated seeing china that had been at the bottom of the ocean for 180 years. Seeing the pattern on the rim worn down by water. Some where in pristine condition and others were cracked or broken. Luggage of passengers were on exhibit as well has hair brushes, mirrors and some accessories. What was one of the coolest parts was they had on exhibit a 26 foot piece of the outside of the boat. What they call the "big piece" is an unbelievable sight to see and even more interesting to find out how they have preserved it and what took 4 trips to locate and a failed attempt to bring it home. The piece looks massive but when you see it on a map you realize it is a tiny fraction what the real ship consisted of. In the exhibit they have recreated a hallway and room from the third class, the promenade on the first class deck and a luxury suite. I half expected to see Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet running from her evil fiance'. It was so awesome and the history geek in me came out fully!

Doing Vegas with a Toddler is much different than what we have experienced before. It meant Everett and I were up in the room with him sleeping and me watching Netflix by 9:30 each night. It was nice to have an excuse to go to bed early and not stay up late in the casino. Mandalay Bay has the Shark Reef Aquarium and Saturday morning we took Everett to see the fish. It was very cool and we saw lots of incredible creatures and size able sharks. There was a portion in the aquarium where you could pet stingray's and Everett had no interest in this whatsoever. We all enjoyed our little walk through the aquarium for the most part!

We found Everett some cowboy boots to wear in the wedding to match the other guys. He was stiff walking in them at first so I put the boots on him everyday before we left for a week to help him get used to the shoes. I was so excited for how precious he was going to look walking down the aisle in his little outfit. The wedding location was outside in front of Mandalay Bay amongst several waterfalls. Everett took a nap before the wedding so I expected him to do quite well. Trouble was there was no one to keep him in the back while the bridesmaids walked down the aisle and Drew was so far away "hidden" with Carrie so no one saw her before she walked down the aisle. The result was that Everett would not let me put him down... at all! So he didn't walk down the aisle, he rode on my hip down and proceeded to cry until I passed him off to his Dad once his duties were finished where he began to wail. So out of character for this child! I grabbed him, left the ceremony to find our diaper bag with snacks and our Meyer bear.  Handed Everett back to his Dad where he continued to sit quietly and eat for the rest of the ceremony. Lesson learned was Toddlers are unpredictable!! The wedding was beautiful and we were so honored to get to celebrate a precious union with family and friends in Vegas.

Sunday most of the other wedding guests had left so we had the day to ourselves. We took Everett down to the wave pool in the morning and following a nap we went shopping.. FINALLY! First stop was the Disney Store where I was determined to get Everett a Sheriff Woody doll since we watch Toy Story like crazy. He spent the rest of the day riding in his stroller with Woody curled up on one side and Meyer on the other. I hit up H&M, Drew hit up the casino and we finished our time off with a little Cheesecake Factory and the Bellagio fountains. 3 days in Vegas with a toddler was plenty of time and although I was exhausted by the end we had a great time!

The next Friday we took off for Broken Bow, OK to the wedding of one of my college friend's Laura Beth. Everett rocked the 7.5 hour car ride down there and we had a great time exploring in the woods of beautiful Beaver's Bend State Park. Everett rocked his same wedding outfit for this wedding and since we learned our lesson he snacked the entire way through the ceremony silently! It was such a beautiful location and amazing weather! We got to spend some great time with old friends that was so good for my soul!

Needless to say this weekend we are thrilled to be spending time at home doing absolutely nothing!

Big News!!

I have taken an unitentional hiatus from blogging but that has not kept life from happening! We have lots of fun stories to share but our biggest news we found out about a week before we moved in with Mom.

Coming in April 2016... Baby Neal #2

We are overjoyed with this news and cannot wait to welcome a new precious baby into our crazy life. Drew and I are both convinced Everett will be a jealous but doting big brother with little brother or sister coming less than 2 months after his 2nd Birthday. 

Since I am now well into my second trimester my nausea and exhaustion have finally subsided for the most part. So far this pregnancy is very much like Everett's with me having run to the toilet only a few more times to vomit. We will find out Nov. 11th if our little babe will be a he or a she! Cannot wait!! We love you madly already sweet one!! 

Everett's 18 month update

I am counting it a success that I am writing this before Everett turns 19 months old, which is a week away, and not focusing on the fact that it's 3 weeks late. We have had a very busy month. We have been living with Mom for about a month now. It has been challenging but also much smoother than I expected. I have been most surprised with myself and how exhausted I am all the time... but more on that another time.

Our sweet boy had his 18 month checkup a few weeks ago and was "perfect" according to the doctor... not that we needed him to tell us that. Everett continues to be the absolute bright spot in our day. Our little bear is not so little, he is weighing in at 26.4 lbs (79%), 32.5 inches long (54%) and with a head circumfrence of 19 inches (75%).  He is a strong, outgoing, thriving little boy who is ALL boy.

Everett has adjusted like a champ to his new surroundings and is loving living with his Nana. Those two truly have a unique bond for one another. Everett loves to "entertain" people when he is around them and always knows how to put on a show. He is running and exploring everything. Picking up anything he can get his hands on including the trashcan. He likes to try and help load the dishwasher but also likes to try and get in it. Everett is so smart it blows our minds. He is obsessed with his bear, Meyer who now travels with him everywhere we go. He will not take naps or go to bed without him. Everett loves to horse around with his daddy, which is what is happening as I type this. He thinks his daddy is truly the funniest person in the world. Everett has gotten a little selfish with his kisses but always hands them out at just the right time to his Mama.

We started a big milestone this past week which I am contiunally feeling guilty about, Everett began Mother's Day Out twice a week. He has only gone once and I missed him every minute he was gone. The teacher told me he slept great on his nap mat, which I was very worried about, and had an overall really good day. I know this will be a good experience for him socially and maybe develop his verbal skills a bit more.

Last weekend Everett had a first with his Dad and they took a boys trip to visit Drew's dad in the DFW area. I was nervous about sending them alone together and Drew was a little worried about the 6 hour drive but they had a blast and a bonding experience that Drew will forever remember. Drew came home saying Everett is the coolest and easiest kid.

Everett is really enjoying giving high-fives and shaking people's hands right now. He thinks it is so funny. He is also sitting longer and more focused watching Disney movies, mainly Toy Story or Daniel Tiger's neighborhood. He drinks like a fish and will down a sippee cup in no time. He also really loves drinking from a straw from Mom or Dad's cup. He loves watching for his Dad to come home from work and going for rides in his wagon. Everett continues to have the sweetest demeanor and smile. He melts me. As his Dad says, "He is AWESOME!"

So 18 months later we couldn't be prouder of the sweet growing boy you are. We love you bear!