Snow and the Little Red Wagon

We took Daniel for a ride in his wagon the day after Christmas.  Because it was so cold and he had been sick, the trip lasted maybe 3.5 minutes, but he loved every second of it and smiled the entire time!

First Official Haircut

Secret's out!  I have been trimming Daniel's hair for several months now.  Just before Christmas (the day after the above picture was taken) I took him to see a professional!  The bowl cut was just not cutting it.

He did very well - didn't squirm and was a complete angel the entire time she was cutting.  Of course he had one of his cars with him.  Side note: it is amazing how quickly boys learn about "boy things," like toy cars, trains, knocking down huge towers of blocks, making huge messes then laughing about it, and so on.

So it wasn't too big of a difference, but enough to blog about.

Merry *White* Christmas!

We sure did have a lot of snow at my parents house.  It started snowing in Bluff Park when we left home and was still snowing when we arrived in Mountain Brook.  It snowed until 3:30 or so.  There was some accumulation, and I think we can safely say that we had a White Christmas (or as close as Alabama may get for some time).

Christmas Eve was spent with Welles' family.  Daniel was surprised by a precious Thomas the Train riding toy and a fire engine. 

Cousin Tyler was very excited about opening her gift from Daniel and received pajamas and a Cinderella doll.  Sweet Heidi wasn't up to opening her gifts, but we know that next year will  be a completely different Christmas Eve for her.

Santa did come to drop off some gifts for Daniel!  Tonka trucks and a wagon made his morning merry and bright. 

Unfortunately, Daniel is still sick and is on a second round of antibiotics that make him cranky and overall pretty miserable.  There were some happy times throughout the day, and many sleepy times.

Toys were played with...

And toys were broken...

And there was a small fire--Aunt Ashley came to the rescue!  Unfortunately, a small elf was caught up in the blaze and was injured.  See how his right mitten stayed attached? 

Mary Linnley prissed around with a purse...she was seriously one of the cutest things I have seen in a while!

 Scotty built a snow baby...

Daniel and Mary Linnley received card tables, trains, musical instruments, tunnels, books, and cute outfits.

The women in the family received scarves, shoes (I got a nice pair of boots), watches, sweaters, and jewelry.  The men received disk shooters, sweaters, jackets, and a trip for two to the blue ridge mountains!  We are really looking forward to that vacation!  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

 "Hi Mary Linnley.  You're so pretty.  Can I have some of your food?"

Overall it was a fun Christmas, and we are so thankful for the many gifts, great food, and time with family that we enjoyed.

Sick little buddy

Well, we had a good run of about 2 months, but Daniel has caught the latest bug going around.  Poor thing!  They called me from daycare yesterday saying that he was running a high fever.  One pediatrician visit and a copay later, we know that you can get an ear infection post-tubes.  Last night he also developed croup and was coughing most of the night.  Fever again this AM, and we are sending up prayers that Daniel gets well for Christmas!

After picking him up at daycare:

Picture taken at the Pediatrician's office; I was begging for a smile:

I think it's time for a haircut...

Christmas Visits

I wanted to recognize a couple of friends that we visited with over the last few weeks.  Welles' cousin Max came to visit the night we put our tree up.  He brought his guitar and entertained Daniel for a while.  Please excuse the mess in our living room in the following video.  I love how Max asks Daniel to give him a beat, and Daniel starts shaking his maraca!

We also visited with one of my friends from UAB who has really rallied around us, and her entire family truly loves Daniel!  They have graciously passed down many wooden blocks, a child-size kitchen, a small chair, and have given a multitude of gifts to baby Daniel.  We are thankful for the Gunther-Canadas!  We enjoyed tea and cupcakes at their house one Sunday afternoon.  Lily Cate did a great job of trying to entertain (or contain) Daniel.  He was all over the place.  He loves a good book, though.

White Chicken Chili

This is a recipe that I have been meaning to post, but haven't had time.  This is for Margaret who recently asked for recipes for the fam:

White Chicken Chili
1Tb Olive Oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine (or just add another cup of chicken broth)
2 cans great northern beans
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

• Heat oil in a dutch oven over med-high heat.  Add chicken and cook until no longer pink.  Remove chicken and set aside.
• Finely chop onion, mince garlic and cook in the dutch oven until tender (about 5 mins)
• Add chicken, wine, beans, mustard powder, cumin, salt and pepper.
• Cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes. 
• Scoop out a couple of ladles of the northern beans and mash - this will release the starch and allow the chili to thicken.
• Return mashed beans to the pot and cook to desired thickness.

Welles always adds a tiny tip of a fork-tine of Dave's Insanity Sauce to my chicken chili.  This is more than enough.  You can add a little bit of your favorite hot sauce if you like the heat.

Serve with sour cream, corn chips and cheddar cheese.  ENJOY!

Santa is familiar!

This year, we took Daniel to my parents house, and a familiar Santa was there.  Even though Daniel should have recognized this Santa's voice, he was extremely frightened.  Finally, Santa removed the unfamiliar parts of his costume so that Daniel would not be so terrified.  We hurriedly replaced said unfamiliar costume pieces for the picture below.  I call this one, "Picture with dissheveled Santa!"

Party Time!

Daniel loved his first birthday party.  Since he can mimic some barnyard animal sounds, we thought it best to play up his strengths.  I hope to have a video to post soon of Daniel tearing into his cake. 

Look, Mom!  No hands!

Happy 1st Birthday, Daniel!

1 year ago:

Today:

We took Daniel out for his favorite meal on his birthday - spaghetti!

 

I look *very* excited in that last picture!  Ha Ha!

Last Friday night we took Daniel to the Galleria to ride the carousel. He loved it!

  We hope he gets to meet Santa next week and will post pictures at that time.

 It is so amazing how much Daniel has grown in the last year.  He says several words, including his name, and loves to make those animal noises.  He can clap and likes to try to clap my hands together when he is in my lap saying, "CAP! CAP!"  Daniel loves to give hugs and cuddle, too.  He is an expert crawler (not just military crawling), and cruises around the furniture.  I don't think it will be too long before he is walking.  All I can say is, we have a lot of preparation to do before that day!

Daniel has brought so many smiles to our lives, and we are very thankful to God for blessing us with such a precious gift!