Happy New Year!!

Well, my last two weeks of 2008 flew by. Christmas has come and gone. We are all playing with our new toys. Joshua loved his tricycle, but loved all of his new puzzles so much more. He scored a wagon from his Nana & Pops (aka David). He scored a fishing puzzle & a mallet toy from JJ & Mani (aka Uncle J & Aunt M) and more shake and go cars from Buka and family (aka Uncle Brandon's family). He also scored a Disney Cars play rug/mat from his cousin Adam. From Mommy & Daddy, he got puzzles, a MagnaDoodle (which he loves playing with) and an Etch-a-Sketch (he loves sitting still and turning the knobs). And other Cars things & stuff that I just can't think of right now. He has so many new toys & books that he goes from toy to toy to toy playing with everything often.

Jeff loved his new hedge trimmer....but it is still in the box. I think he is planning on putting it to use this weekend. He got me wii music because he couldn't find a wii fit. Then on the Monday before Christmas, he went to try just one more time and Wal-mart had the wii fit....so he got it for me! It is so awesome. He and I have been working on daily on it since then. I did skip two days in a row, but I will allow myself two days off each week, because life is more important than wii fitting.

We spent New Year's Eve as just the three of us. We went to Denny's for dinner and ordered non-breakfast things. And then drove through this neighborhood in Bedford with lots of lights...lots of red lined yards and houses....huge houses. The neighborhood has this gazebo that I just love and they always have it decorated so cute as Christmas time. We came home and Joshua opened one of his puzzles. We decided that this might just become a Christmas Eve tradition for our little family.

Christmas day was spent opening gifts at home with the three of us. Then we headed to my brother's for a family Christmas. Ribs, potato salad, green bean casserole & cheddar bay biscuits (that I made). It was all tasty. My sister arrived in the afternoon and we opened all the gifts. 'Twas a good old family Christmas.

New Year's Eve, we went to dinner with my brother and his wife. Then they came to our house and we just hung out. The boys played on the wii and Mandy and I talked pictures and babies. Mandy wants a little one so badly.....hopefully 2009 will bring her one.

Today, New Year's Day, we went to Northpark Mall to see the Train Exhibit put on by Ronald McDonald House. It was really cool. A tour across America via mini trains sets. The city of Dallas was huge and all in all the entire exhibit was well worth the time. Joshua kept saying "choo choo" throughout the whole thing. It was so cute.

It is hard to believe that in 2008, we went from having a child who was barely sitting up good on his own, then started crawling in January, right around the time of getting his first tooth.
- he finally said "mama" in March.
- he turned one in May and had an awesome pirate birthday party.
- then finally started walking in June.
- we took a vacation in late September.
- and have rounded out the year moving up to the tricycle stage.

Joshua has gone from bottles, to sippy cups to pretty much only cups with straws.
From size 6 months to size 18 months clothes.
From size 3 shoes in February to size 6 shoes in December.
From 20 lbs 8 ozs December 31, 2007 to 26 lbs 8 ozs December 31, 2008. Both December 31st he had to go to the doctor...lovely.
He had two febrile seizures this year and his first surgery (it was actually two surgeries).
He has moved from his crib to his toddler bed.
He has learned all the words he knows (except Daddy) this year. Dada was his first word in November 2007.

2009 brings exciting plans.
- planning a second child. The plan is to be pregnant before the year's end.
- to redo two rooms in our house....the office & the second bath. We are well on our way to getting the second bath redone. My mother bought us the new bathroom set we wanted and I got a great Nemo picture from my cousin Daniel for the bathroom.
- a new vehicle in the summer.
- a scale-downed vacation in late August.
- opportunity at my new job. So far, so good.

The new year 2009 also brings resolutions, of which I have made three.
1. Better dental hygiene. And teach Joshua about brushing his teeth.
2. Edit, upload and send out pictures more often. (And get family pictures done!!)
2. Updated my blog everyday if possible.

I need to get to bed, because I have to work tomorrow. I don't want to go, but I have to go. I didn't get to pictures tonight, but before the weekend is up I will post one of Joshua's new tricycle....in action.