Christmas 2013 (Part 2)

The second part of our Christmas season includes spending time with Chris' side of the family as well as wrapping up the holidays with RiRi & Pappy and then Grandma and Grandpa. Andrew is one spoiled little boy.

Overall he was a trooper throughout so much activity, missing naps, late bedtimes, pack n plays, hotels, etc. He just rolled with it and opened lots of presents! We had a great 2013 holiday season!

Christmas in Muskegon. Can you tell he likes Mickey Mouse?

Sitting with cousin Charlie

Christmas at RiRi & Pappy's - let's see how sturdy this box is...hopefully not fragile!

Tuckered out - too many presents

Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa! Golf clubs =)

Christmas 2013 (Part 1)


Christmas has always been one of my favorites times of year (aside from the stress of trying to buy the perfect gifts and staying within a reasonable budget). The holidays to me represent time spent with the family, lots of laughing, and probably a bit too much eating and drinking! If I thought the holidays were fun before, it is so much more fun with children around (we do back off on the drinking a bit with the little ones around!). Andrew was only 3.5 months old last Christmas, so this Christmas was truly so much fun watching him take in all of the action.

Our holidays started off with a road trip to see the family in Memphis. Andrew was a trooper during the trip. We traveled down through Louisville and stayed overnight in a hotel to break up the drive, then we stopped at Opryland the next day to see all of the decorations. I think Andrew was more excited about getting to run around in the empty convention center than he was to see all of the decorations.

The Christmas celebrations always start on Christmas Eve at "Pappy's." This is my mom's side of the family, and we always have a great time. Andrew was really enamored by his cousins and of course the Mickey Mouse gifts.

Christmas Day is at my Aunt & Uncle's and used to be a very relaxing lunch followed by naps then presents. Now with the kids around, there isn't much napping (except if we can manage to get them down for a nap).

The festivities continue the day after Christmas with more gifts and family time.

By this point, we are all starting to get a little tired of the holidays, Edie's look pretty much sums it up :)

The White Stuff

The only way to really describe winter 2013-2014 is a lot of snow. It started off strong in December and just never seemed to go away. We got a ton of snow in mid-December and decided to take Andrew outside and see what he thought about it. He wasn't thrilled. He got used to it as the season wore on (he didn't really have a choice as there was always snow on the ground), but I wouldn't say he ever really enjoyed playing in the snow.

Fight! Fight! Rah! Team Fight! Victory for MSU!

Early December 2013

As you all know...the Johnson household bleeds green and white. The 2013 football season was a pretty impressive one for MSU. Chris's buddy Dave was able to get tickets to the Big Ten Championship game in Indy and off they went one weekend to see the game. Chris had probably been gone for about 30 minutes, and all of a sudden, Andrew starts puking. Perfect! Home alone and just got thrown up on. So we both go into the bath, get out, dry off, get dressed, and he pukes again. Start the process over. This continued from about 6:30-11:30. Lots of baths, lots of laundry, and one sleepy kid. I ended up sleeping on the floor of his room that night and he woke up the next morning feeling fine. Very tired, but no more puking. Phew!!

Meanwhile Chris was in Indy having a great time. MSU beat Ohio State and they were off to the Rose Bowl. Chris felt pretty bad when he got home, and he got to spend a nice Sunday with Andrew while I rested =). Andrew didn't show him much mercy either. I don't think Chris was feeling very well, so I imagine Andrew bouncing on his back was not helping!!

Late Oct/ Early November - Visiting Friends & WALKING

November was a month filled with visiting friends. Andrew is so blessed to have so many friends that are right around his age, so we had quite a few birthday parties to attend. If I remember correctly (this was over a year-ago) both Kinsley and Christians' parties were mid-October and Logan's party is around Halloween. It is so fun seeing him with all of his friends.

We also made a quick trip up to Traverse City to see the Mack's. Andrew and Myla have a great time playing together, and I can't wait to watch them grow up together!

It was around this time that Andrew discovered two new talents: (1) he can wave and (2) he can be much more mobile and started walking.

Happy Halloween

October 2013

Andrew was a giraffe this year for Halloween. We stayed home, and he greeted people at the door when they came for candy. We easily went through 4 bags of candy this year. Andrew is going to love growing up in a neighborhood with so many kids!!

 

He is still a bit unsteady on his feet, but he loves to dance. And he LOVES Mickey!!

Family/One-Year Pictures

October 2013

Toward the end of October, we had our first "Family Pictures" taken. These were also his one-year pictures (a little late). Erin Alies Photography did the photo session, and as always, she did an excellent job. It turned out to be a very chilly day that we were out in the park, but Andrew was a pretty good sport, other than his shoe issue. Chris and I made a rookie mistake as we let Andrew go barefoot all summer since he wasn't walking yet. Well this presented quite the conundrum when Andrew did start walking (and the weather starting getting cooler) as he had no interest in wearing shoes. We would put the shoes on his feet, and it was like we glued his feet to the ground, he just would not move them. So...in the family pictures, you will see that he is wearing shoes in some pictures (where he is either sitting or standing still as a statue) and socks in the pictures where we are trying to get him to walk along the trail. Andrew - 1 point; Chris & Amy - 0 points