Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Everyone! God Bless you and your family in the new year!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Talan!

Although we had to cancel Talan's birthday party on Saturday due to him not feeling well, we were able to celebrate with family on his actual birthday. We started off the afternoon by showing Talan his new jungle gym in the backyard. Aaron and Richard spent almost 3 full days getting it ready for Talan, but it looks AWESOME and should be very safe and fun for many years to come. Below are some videos of Talan trying it out for the first time.

This is my favorite picture of Talan trying out the gliding swing.

Birthday Dinner

Although we originallly planned on going to Olive Garden, we ended up at Red Lobster for Talan's birthday dinner. It was gret to spend with family, although the service was rather slow and it took forever to be done.

Presents

Although it was getting late, Talan became very excited when we asked him if he wanted to open his presents. He didn't show an interest in them when he saw them, but as soon as I asked if he wanted to open presents, he ran over to them and started tearing them open. He got some great presents, especially in conjunction with his play gym in the backyard.

Birthday Cake

Talan did a great job with his birthday cake this year. Well, after he caught his fork on fire. He still didn't understand how to blow out his candles by himself, but he DEFINITELY understood cake and how to eat it!

Talan's Birthday Party

Talan's birthday party was scheduled for today, but we had to cancel it. :( Talan hasn't been feeling well since Wednesday evening and has been running a fever ranging from 100 degrees up to 102 degrees. Nothing too serious, but we didn't want to contaminate anyone else, especially right before Christmas. He seems to be doing a little better today, although he is now having some chest congestion - no fever though. We're hoping to be able to celebrate his 2 years on Earth tomorrow with some cake and a special dinner if all goes well. We tentatively have his party rescheduled for next Saturday ... let's pray that everyone is feeling well and ready to party!

Rockey Cousin Christmas

Every year, we try to get together with the 4 Rockey cousins and our families to celebrate Christmas together. This year, we did it last Sunday before the Waknitz family headed to Kansas for Christmas. I wasn't feeling too well (sinus infection) and Aaron had been working on Talan's birthday/Christmas present in the backyard the whole weekend (play set), so we weren't in the party spirit per say, but it was still fun. I love watching all of the kids interact and play together. Next year, we will have Hunter and Avery in the mix, too. So much fun!

Santa and Ornament

We took Talan to see Santa on December 10th. It was a much better experience than last year and we didn't have to wait too awfully long to see Santa. Once we go up to Santa, Talan wasn't interested on sitting on Santa's lap, so we did a family picture instead.

Last year when we had to wait forever to see Santa, we went into Hallmark and bought Talan his Christmas ornament. This year, we planned on doing the same thing. After going into Hallmark, we weren't too impressed with their selection and ended up walking all over the mall seeing if we could find anything else we liked better. Ultimately, we ended up back at Hallmark. We let Talan choose what he wanted and it ended up being a toy instead of an ornament. Of course, I don't have an actual picutre of the toy he got. He picked out a Snoopy playing the piano with 3 different Peanuts songs that play. So, the tradition has been modified. Talan will get an annual Christmas knick-knack - it could be an ornament or a toy.

Family Baby Shower

On December 5th, we had a baby shower for Hunter. Emily, Mom, and Faye spent the Friday before baking and creating the cutest monkey cupcakes to go along with Hunter's jungle themed bedroom. Below are some pictures from the shower. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who love us and love Hunter already.

What is Nana going to do when there are 3 grandchildren fighting for her attention?

The cupcakes were a big hit, especially with the kids!

I have some WONDERFUL parents in my classroom who had another baby shower for Hunter with my students the next weekend. Once I get those pictures, I will make sure to post them. Gia's house was decorated remarkably in the jungle theme and Breeze and Gia spent hours preparing. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life during this pregnancy!

Decorating

We spent Thanksgiving weekend decorating our house for Christmas. This was quite a different task this year with an almost 2 year old wanting to help. We told him we would wait for him to decorate and put him down for a nap. Let's just say that his nap lasted only an hour when normally he naps for almost 3 hours. I guess he was just too excited to nap!

Here is Talan playing with the Santa train we got him last year. This year we got him the Little Drummer Boy set. We got quite an amazing deal on it, which allowed us to keep up the tradition of getting the annual Fisher Price Christmas toy.
Talan's portion of the tree. Somehow all of the ornaments were grouped on the same branches. helping Daddy decorate the outside

My favorite by far!

Since we decorated the tree, Talan has taken to putting anythind and everything in the tree. We have had ribbons strung to pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals put in it. It's quite cute!

Family Picutres

Here are the family pictures that we had taken in November. The first set were taken on November 14th and the second set were on November 21st. Overall, we have some really great shots. Of course, Talan looks adorable and Hunter is still making his appearance.

Pictures and More

For the past two weekends, we have taken some family pictures - one set for Christmas pictures and the other for Talan's 2 year pictures/Christmas. From the two sessions, we DEFINITELY should have some quality pictures. We should hopefully get them within the next week and I can't wait to see them and share them with you all.

Beyond that, we are just trying to figure out budgets for Talan's birthday, Hunter's arrival, and Christmas. We purchased Talan's backyard play gym on Friday night. It has 2 swings, a glider swring, a slide, a clubhouse with a chalkboard, sand box, and monkey bars. We got a VERY good deal on it, but now we have to purchase ground covering for the rocks and the sand for the sand box. It's all rather expensive, but the boys should be able to use it for a long time to come.

Speaking of boys, we should meet Hunter very soon! I'm getting excited, but nervous at the same time. Today, I'm 30 weeks along, which SHOULD mean that we have another 10 weeks to go. For those of you who don't remember or weren't around for Talan's birth, I went into pre-term labor at 32 weeks with Talan and was put on bed rest until he was born at 36 weeks. So, although we should have another 10 weeks before Hunter arrives, you just never know around here! We have a lot to do around the house to prepare for Hunter and I'm not even close to being ready to give up my classroom to Emily yet (although I know that she will do absolutely wonderful things for my students) - so I hope that Hunter stays content "cooking" for another 8-10 weeks without any bed rest ...

Below are some pictures of Talan coloring from last night. He went into his closet on his own and got out his bucket even. He's getting so big and starting to put together 3-4 word sentences now! It's hard to believe that in less than a month, we will have a 2 year old on our hands (although we are reminded almost everyday that the "terrible twos" are here).

Lazy Sunday

If there isn't a Cardinals home game, we often spend our Sundays being lazy watching football on TV and playing. Talan picked up the camera this morning and repeatedly said, "Cheese!" How could we not take his picture? Here is our little ham ... Enjoy!