December thus far...

Fisher and I have been trying to find fun little Christmas things to do.  One day when we were having a wintry kind of day he and I made a gingerbread house village.

 I put them together but Fisher was in charge of decorating.

It was a happy little village until the local monster decided to stop by.

 After that it was no longer a happy little village.

 That same day we received a package in the mail with the first gifts of Christmas.  Christmas PJ's from Grandma L.  Fisher was more than happy to open them so the boys could wear them through the month of December.

Fisher was so excited to play in the snow.  Granted, it was not very much but enough to keep a little boy content.

(These pictures are all really dark.)

One happy little boy making a snowball to chuck at his Daddy.

 Can you find the snowball?

 Making a snow/grass angel.

My boys with bedhead.

Cooper excited about the water syringe thing Todd brought home for Fisher and Cooper to play with in the bathtub.

Fisher actually cooperating with me when I ask him to smile.

The boys loving Fisher's dinosaur blanket that Grandma L. sent.  This has been the year of dinosaurs for Fisher so when she saw this fabric she just had to make it for him.  We have used it as bribery for good behavior telling him it would not be mailed until he earned a certain amount of stickers on his naughty and nice chart.

Cooper stacked that tower all by himself.

He also discovered opening presents this morning.  I now have to move everything back into the closet in our bedroom.  No presents under our tree unless we want it to be Christmas morning today.

Even if he is turning into a monster baby he makes it all okay by being a cute one.

Todd has been relaxing by playing Rock Band/Guitar Hero with buddies. 

It makes me laugh to see grown men living out their rock star dreams through a video game.

And since I haven't really been posting pregnancy pics...

here I am at almost 26wks4days a week ago.  I feel like I am 9 months pregnant.  Some of the clothes I wore during the last month with Fisher are already feeling very snug.

I am now officially in the third trimester.  At times it feels like we don't have much time left before this baby is born but then I stop and wonder how the baby will continue to fit for another THREE months in my already huge abdomen! 

Then starts official panic attack.

Thanksgiving 2010

We spent Thanksgiving in Cincinnati. Originally we had plans to drive up on Wednesday but both boys were sick and I was coming down with what they had. In the end we drove up that day and stayed a few days.

The boys had a lot of fun with Grandma & Grandpa and Uncle Jedd.

Cooper wanted so badly to play outside but we could not let him run around too much or else it would send him into fits of coughing that would later end with him throwing up.
(Three weeks of him coughing all night long with about an hour of consecutive sleep was really beginning to take a toll on me & Todd. There were nightly parties of having to wash the blankie which Cooper would throw up on after one of his big coughing spells. Not fun. This winter is going to be a long one. Thankfully, we have finally found a combo of medicine that seems to keep the coughing at bay.)

This is what Cooper was observing so longingly. Grandpa Church enlisted Fisher for yard duty.

Fisher was in heaven.

He really enjoyed using the blower all by himself. The look on his face tells how hard he was concentrating and just how manly he felt.

In action.

I already put this one up but I thought I would again so that it was officially with the Thanksgiving post. They boys had fun messing up Grandpa & Fisher's hard work. They also had fun coughing from all the playing.

Our soon to be FIVE year old. His birthday is only a couple of weeks away.

Our soon to be 18 month old.

We tried to get a picture with G & G but it was tough.

Either Fisher was coughing...

Or Cooper was coughing...

Or both were coughing.

I call this one

"As good as it gets"

It was a fun time. Wish we wouldn't have all been sick, but all the same it was still a good time with great food and good company. We love you guys!

And here is a quick family snapshot from Thanksgiving day. I have to say that I love my two tone hair and chubby face. Really classy with the brown on top and blonde on bottom. After seeing that I made a quick trip to the hair salon to cut off a good four inches and had some magic worked so that it is all one color again. I know you all care so much, but I feel like a new woman- even if it is a big fat pregnant one.

Back to November

During the month of November Cooper learned what happens to suckers when they go wandering from the mouth.

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His hat obsession was at an all time high.

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He went to nursery...but not officially. I was subbing that day and he came in for a little bit. December 19th is the big day!

We were unable to get him off the the little table.

And the big one.

He decided it was much more enjoyable to eat on the table with Fisher than in his high chair.

Fisher has had chapped lips for about a month now.

The boys decided they were animals and played a lot of follow the leader.

Cooper spent a lot of time attacking Fisher. Fisher is definitely going to be in trouble when Cooper is a little bigger. There will be a lot payback in store. :)

Fisher helped me decorate for Christmas. He loves the holidays.

Cooper was giddy with excitement and confusion over the Christmas tree.

Whenever I see him this close to the tree it is cause for concern. I would have only decorated halfway down the tree out of his reach but he loves pulling the lights off (or attempting to which leads to the tree almost falling over) so the ribbon and ornaments are a nice distraction from the more dangerous items. 18 months has proven to be a challenge with the Christmas tree!

It was pointless putting ribbon on. It always looks horrible- especially after Cooper has had his hands on it which is about a good 5 times a day. :)

Fisher loves playing with the ornaments as well. He has discovered nutcrackers and snow globes this year and thinks they are the coolest things ever. We have ornaments of both.

He is also obsessed with our little elf who moves around every night and reports back to Santa about whether Fisher is being naughty or nice. Fisher thought it was pretty funny to see the elf dangling from the ceiling fan. I am just relieved that Elf was hanging by his hands.

I had put up a similar picture in earlier posts but this one is of Fisher actually putting the star on the tree. He was so excited to do this task! Fisher also learned that we have a fake tree and now asks everyone if their tree is fake or real. I love real trees but we would not have been able to put it up before Thanksgiving if it was real.

I had an urge to do white lights with all red and gold this year but then I remembered our tree is pre-lit with colored lights. We add additional strands but all the same, white would not have worked. I think Todd would be so sad if I changed from the colored lights. Not to mention that we collect ornaments every year and they would not work on my red, white and gold tree. Eventually I am going to do two different trees. One can never have too many Christmas trees.

The end of Soccer

This is a month old but that is no surprise. Fisher's soccer season is over and done with and I will be honest and say that I am not sad it is over. :)

No more seeing Cooper's back as he runs away, normally towards the field.

No more having Fisher wander OFF the field because he does not feel like playing.

We were able to end on a good note. Fisher was very excited to be given an award. I think he paid more attention here than he did at all the games and practices combined.

Congratulations Fisher!

His coaches decided that the YMCA medals were not enough and so parents chipped in $3 and the kids were given some pretty fancy trophies. Fisher was so proud!

Even receiving a certificate, medal and trophy do not diminish the fact that his favorite thing about soccer was the snack and drink after the games. I think that is what he will miss the most.

That and playing in the nets.

Cooper is well on his way to playing soccer like his big brother. :) Better luck next year!

Fisher

F: "Mom, I love you so much that it makes my heart crack up."

F: "I think you look pretty Mommy."
M: "Why thank you Fisher."
F: "But I don't think other people will think you look good because you are wearing blue pants and a red shirt."
(I was wearing jeans with a red vest.)

M: "We are going to move to Omaha, Nebraska."

F: "I want to move to North Carolina."

M: "Omaha is where Grandma Pat lives. (Mom C's identical twin)

F: "Can I ride on that one thing when we get there?"(Referring to the tractor he rode on this summer when we drove through.)

M: "Probably."

F: "Okay. We can move there."

We had a little bit of snow yesterday and today and Fisher was ecstatic. He was running and jumping all over the place with his bright eyes full of excitement. Today on the way to church he was telling me how it is going to be snowing every day because it is winter and it snows in the winter. I certainly hope we have a white Christmas or else we will have one disappointed little boy.

So the Air Force called...

Todd received a call yesterday saying that we will be moving to Omaha, Nebraska for one year while he does an AEGD. (Advanced Education in General Dentistry). We were not expecting Nebraska out of all the locations what were available but we are thrilled Todd received one of the residency positions! It will also be nice because we will have family there. In the end we feel like that is where we are supposed to be for that short time. After that we will have four more years with the AF. (This one year program is in addition to our payback years for a total of five years.)
Now I am in full panic mode about what we are going to do this summer...When are we going to sell our house, do we move before the Lund family reunion or after, before Todd's officer training...or will we move after his training in August?? So many questions. We don't know if we will be living on or off base yet. Each base is different. We are supposed to be receiving a packet in the mail with all that kind of information. After we know that much I plan on researching the school system there (so glad there is family there to help us out on that info!) since Fisher will be starting Kindergarten. Hopefully the education system is better there than here. It is a nightmare in Louisville. That is enough of my worried rambling for now. I am sure there will be plenty to come in upcoming weeks and months.
I haven't posted any of our November pictures or Thanksgiving in Cincinnati so here are a few pictures of the boys playing in the leaves at G & G Church's.

He Passed!

Todd passed his Board Exams! Whoo hoo! We are so excited- especially Todd. I am so proud of him and the hard work he put in studying. Congratulations Babe! Now if only we could hear something from the Air Force in regard to our assignment...

In other news, we decorated for Christmas today. I am normally all about decorating the day after Thanksgiving but we won't be home that day and I want to come home to a nice Christmasy (if that is even a word) atmosphere.

Fisher could not wait for Todd to help him put the star on top.