Christmas morning! Reid is on a pretty solid schedule these days. He awakes for the day between 6 and 6:30 am and is up for an hour or less before going back down for a short hour-long nap. Then he’s up to eat play and another nap in a couple hours. Repeat for the afternoon. We’ve been giving him new foods to try and occasionally rice cereal too. He’s getting to be a pro at sitting in his high chair during meals and loves to watch others eat and then put food in his own mouth. While he doesn’t actually ingest much, he’s eaten bananas, pears, cucumbers, carrots, celery, broccoli and he loves to have rice husk wafers too.
He was right on schedule Christmas morning. I got up early with him and fed him and Lily and Brutus. I think the Bethune kiddos heard us downstairs (the dogs are crazy loud and excited when trampling down the stairs for breakfast!) and quickly joined us in the kitchen! They were super cute and all played with Reid on the floor for awhile. Griffin was still asleep, since he’s a later riser anyway plus he had trouble going to sleep on Christmas Even. Anyhow, Reid when down for a nap and when he woke up it and Griffin was finally up too it was time to bust into the living room to see what Santa had delivered! They had all waited very patiently! Griffin consistently asked Santa for the same two things: a mouthguard and shin guards. Even at preschool it’s what he wrote out and drew a picture of! And he was so excited that he had received them and some super cool padded football pants. He put it all on (or in his mouth) right away and stayed in it all morning. Reid was happy to receive his rattle and chew toy from Santa too.
Whew. There were an amazing number of gifts under the tree but we finished in remarkable time. The kids played together with several of their new toys throughout the morning and afternoon. We enjoyed a super tasty breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. Griffin loved being the “meat man” and serving everyone their sausage and bacon. And he is quite good with the tongs if I do say so myself!
I saw this photo and instantly laughed. Rowie and Finn were building Finn’s lego kit when Mom opened this gift from a friend. Their expressions are so funny!
It was neat while being home to be able to read the article about my Dad that was written up in the Hosta Journal magazine when my Dad received the 2017 Eunice Fisher Distinguished Hosta Hybridizer Award at the National Convention in Indianapolis this past summer. Mom and Dad kept the award under wraps (neither Amy or I knew he would be receiving it) or I totally would have been there to see him receive the award. Such an awesome honor and I’m super proud of him for pursuing his passion of breeding hostas. 
Time passes far too quickly and before you knew it we were off from Mansfield and headed back to Columbus to head to the Howard’s for Christie’s birthday dinner. This year they hosted at their house. It was a low-key affair as usual and a good time to catch up with friends. With Reid’s bedtime schedule the evening was a bit challenging getting him to sleep (in a strange and loud place!) but we finally got him down for the night in a pack and play and he was out until we left. Thankfully he can roll with the punches pretty well!
And here are some photos from the remainder of our week. Kevin took the entire week off work and it was really nice to have him home and have some family time where we didn’t have anywhere to be or be on any schedule! I did work on Thursday and Friday so Kevin and the boys enjoyed some guy time at home.
Happy boy. 
Unhappy boy, lol. 
Griffin loves to play with Cooper and Cole. On this particular morning he was so excited to go play with them (we arranged that they could play in the morning) that he woke up and walked right through our room, into the loft, put on all his football gear (note even the mouth guard) and got up on our bed and asked if he could head over to their house. Mind you it was 7:30 am! Needless to say he had to hang out at home for just a bit :). Then later that morning Lisa’s brother, who is a K-9 police officer for Pickerington, stopped by their house in his cruiser with his pup. The boys got to sit in the police car and turn on the lights and sirens. They were pretty happy about that.
Later that afternoon, since it was frigid outside, we had planned to go to the theater and watch The Star, an animated movie about Christ’s birth. We met up with Lisa who brought Cole and Cooper. We headed in with all the boys (including Reid, we planned for Lisa to drop the kids with us for the show since tickets were limited) and had some tasty movie treats while we watched the show. Fun times!
We are very grateful that my Mom handmade the mobile for Reid’s room as a Christmas gift to us. It is perfect and the woodland animals and colors match his room perfectly. Thanks, Mom!
And here is our final family photo of 2017. We enjoyed an evening at home and after the kiddos were in bed Kevin served up a very pretty and tasty tray of snacks that we enjoyed while we got ready to see the ball drop. 2017 has been an incredible year!
And from December 30th, Griffin loved playing in the yard and he and Kevin ventured off to the Dublin Leatherlips park to go sledding down the hill!
Tree decorating time! Griffin was really excited to decorate our tree this year. He kept taking all of his ornaments and stepping up onto the brick fireplace step where he placed most of his ornaments on the tree. It was fun to watch the excitement on his face. Kevin got the top of the tree from the ladder – and he was all the way to the top!
Griffin had several fun adventures and activities this week including crafting and baking Gingerbread men and then trying to find the one that escaped! I had to do some homework outside of work hours one evening so Debbie stayed late and they ventured to the Fantasy of Lights in Galena where you drive through a display of lights and then get to sit and talk with Santa at the end. They had quite a fun night!
Our family adventure took us to Hocking Hills and Ohio University to watch Cameron Howard participate in the OU Honors Band. It was fun to hang with friends and be back on the campus of my Alma Mater. We enjoyed dinner at Jackie O’s Brewery in the heart of uptown Athens and then headed back to their cabin in Hocking Hills where Finn enjoyed helping to decorate their Christmas tree. 
On Sunday we attended the Love Changes Everything Christmas Program at church. This year part of the program included a performance by Holywell, a band that includes several church members. Turns out the kiddos enjoyed dancing around in the “mosh pit” up front. It was cute to watch.
Our week started by continuing the Christmas celebration at Jim and Pat’s new house in Enon! We packed up our car with gifts and pups and headed there for some time to hang out together and enjoy a nice ham dinner. Dave, Steve, and Cookie joined as well and of course Uncle Brett and Aunt Missy were there too. Their house is really coming along – almost all the floor has been laid and the kitchen cabinets are now in. The counters are temporary but served their purpose quite well for the Christmas gathering.
Uncle Dave also asked Finn if he wanted to go and help feed the horses – of course he did! So Kevin, Finn, and Dave left for a bit and Finn loved it. He came back SO excited. 
On Tuesday Griffin and I headed to Mansfield with Lily and Brutus for a quick one-night trip while the Bethune’s were still there. Brutus isn’t loving his crate at night for the first half hour or so. He whimpers and howls and barks! But then he settles down and goes to sleep. That night I heard him around 3 am and decided to let him cry it out – wrong! I went down in the morning to find a very messy crate – blech! I won’t make that mistake again!! So we started our day off with a bath right about 6:30 am 🙂 He is just a really big snuggler and loves to be around people at all times. When he sleeps he has to lay on your feet, not just at your feet. He constantly follows me around like a shadow and gets so happy when you bend down to pet him. 
We also ventured downstairs to the seed room to check the progress of the hosta seeds we planted at Thanksgiving. Many are doing quite well and Finn enjoying pointing to the trays he wanted to look at so that Grandpa could bring them over and they could take the top off and see the plants. Lots of different colors and leaf shapes!
Griffin loves to cuddle and snuggle with Brutus. Brutus regularly finds a carpet or fluffy dog bed to lay on. We decided on Friday to move his crate to our room so that perhaps he wouldn’t whine so much. He loves it much better and usually just whimpers for a minute when you put him in his crate (he is NOT yet fond of going in there!) then he goes to sleep. The first night he slept 7 straight hours – no middle of the night potty breaks. We think he just wants to be where everyone else is 🙂
He regularly comes to my side of the bed if I’m in my room and lays on the carpet right next to me. That is, after he puts his front feet up on the bed to be sure I know he’s there. 
Our neighbor, Brian, invited us to his house for New Years Eve so we happily headed over. Griffin loves to play with Cooper and Cole, and Abbie (another neighbor across the street) and her parents were there too. We watched the embarrassing OSU bowl game (yikes) and ALL of the kids made it past midnight to watch the ball drop. Several of Brian and Lisa’s family were there and there was quite the spread of food. We really enjoyed it – and the short walk home! I even came home once to let the dogs out in the evening, it was great!
Lily is getting more and more used to Brutus. They will sometimes share a bed and from time to time Lily will walk up to Brutus and want to play. She still growls and shows her teeth to show him who is boss. Oh, and she gets a bit snarky and jumps on the couch and onto the pillows right in front of him since she knows he isn’t allowed up. I think they’ll become good buds before long. 
As 2016 comes to a close we have much to reflect on and be thankful for. We look forward to the new year and what 2017 has in store!