Thriller!

I had on some tunes this morning and Thriller came on, Ethan was feeling the music.  Check out these moves...

Rainy Saturday...

So, this is what we do on a rainy Saturday afternoon...

After pretty much emptying the pots and pans cabinet.

 He was having a wonderful time stacking, un-stacking and putting the lids anywhere they would fit. 

Oh...I'm not supposed to sit here??

Christmas Time at the Colliers

I love Christmas time and all that comes with it!  We have our tree up and decorated as well as the rest of the house!  Ethan is very interested in the tree and all the 'balls' that are decorating it.  It makes me a little crazy, trying to keep him from pulling down the tree...but that's alright, he's just at that age.  I should be cherishing these times, right?!?  Anywho, Saturday our little village had a Christmas Parade.  It was COLD, but we went out anyway.  Ethan was less than thrilled, but I think he enjoyed seeing the fire trucks and he got a photo op with Santa!

Swinging before the parade starts

Ethan and Daddy enjoying the sights and sounds

Ethan's first Santa encounter...he didn't scream.

 Later on Saturday, we put the tree up and decorated it.  And I took some pictures around the house to share. 

Fireplace...

The 'Believe' vase on the end is my newest piece!

Ooooo, look at these!

2010 Christmas Tree!

Really wanting to play with the ornaments

O Christmas Tree...

Tonight we headed out to the Christmas tree farm (aka: Kroger parking lot) to pick out our tree for this year.  We have purchased our tree from the Boy Scouts for the past 3 years and have been very happy and our purchase goes to a good cause!  Ethan was a good helper and liked the branch the man gave him to hold.

Which one should we pick?!?



In the truck bed with the final decision


After we got our tree we drove around to look at Christmas lights.  Ethan sits up a lot higher in Jared's truck so he can see them much better.  I think his favorites were the colored ones, but we saw a lot of nice decorations.

Checking out the scenery

He sees some coming up on the right...and he likes them!

Oh Happy Friday!

I love Fridays!  Friday means I get to spend the whole day with Ethan, that I don't have to worry about getting things ready for work the next day and Friday means that tomorrow is Saturday and we get to spend the whole day with Jared!!  Today we have just been hanging around the house, playing, cleaning and such.  Here are a few pictures from our morning.

Ethan saw his hats hanging on the hook and had to have them all to put on.



After he took the hats off and tried to put it back on by himself.



This is where I found him after I had been vacuuming in the bedrooms and decided I had better check on him.  He was very happily talking and singing away : ).

This one is from Wednesday when I was peeling potatoes for dinner.  As always...he wanted to help.

Big boy at the sink, helping Mama!

 

More Weekend Fun

The last post was getting a little lengthy, so I decided to split it up a bit.  Friday afternoon and evening we headed out to Iuka and spent the evening at Jared's parents.  Grandma Karen found some balloons and Ethan had a great time trying to blow them up and throwing them around after they were blown up.  It was a great evening and Ethan loves to hang out with his Grandma and Grandpa Collier, not to mention Uncle Dustin and Amanda.

Rolling around with the balloon

Who's in that box?!?

Grandma, Grandpa and Ethan

Cuddle time with Grandpa

Saturday we had our 2nd annual Christmas gift exchange with the Squibb family.  We packed the Puricelli house full and had a great time trying to decipher Mike's games, opening or stealing gifts and (of course) eating.  The exchange was for the adults, so the kids were busy doing what they do...play.

Presents!

The Kid Play Room

Abby, Alex and Ethan

Hazel helping her Mommy (Amanda) open her present

Since we had 10 out of 11 Squibb Grandkids home this year, we decided to try to get a group picture.  Tyler (my brother's oldest) was sick Saturday night : ( so he isn't in the picture.  Here's the best shot I got...and I took a lot!

L-R:  Caleb 9 mo, Hazel almost 3, (laying down) Callum 9 mo, Ethan 18 mo, Haley 2 1/2, Markey almost 7, Paige 4 1/2, Josiah 2 1/2, Finley 2 1/2, and Scout 15 mo

After the party, I just had to get a picture of the 4 Blair grandkids that were here, so we got Tyler up and took a few...again, this is the best one I have : ).



Josiah, Tyler (11yr), Ethan and Paige



Thanksgiving Festivities

We have had a great and busy Thanksgiving weekend.  Jared, Ethan, Max and I headed to Salem on Wednesday night.  My brother (from Florida) and his family were able to make it this year.  Jim, Shannon, Tyler, Paige and Josiah (and their dog, Bella) got in Wednesday night as well and the kids all hit it off right away.

Paige and Ethan playing

Grandma and Pop reading to Paige and Ethan

Bathtime!

Ethan's new best friend, Tyler

Josiah, Ethan and Tyler playing Wii!  Cousin fun!

Thursday, we had 2 dinners to attend.  We had lunch at Grandma Collier's.  All the food was amazing, as usual, and several of Jared's aunts, uncles and cousins were there.  We had a great time catching up with family and Ethan enjoyed being chased by and chasing the dogs.  I forgot my camera...so no pictures, sorry.  Then Thursday night we had dinner at my parents house.  All in all, I think we had around 30 people here.  It was a loud house full, but always worth it. 

Jared carving the turkey

Toddler/Toy chaos!

The Kid Table
Josiah, Haley, Markey, Finely, Paige

Playing Hide-and-Seek
Josiah, Haley and Finley

Ethan and his buddy, Scout

 

Just Chillin'!

One night last week, I looked down and Ethan was just chilling on the floor.  He had his pillow and his legs were propped up just hanging out!  I thought it was pretty funny so...I grabbed my camera.

Happy (day after) Thanksgiving!!

Such an ornery boy...

Ethan likes to play with the tupperware drawer.  Take things out, put them back, stack them up and so on.  Since nothing in there can hurt him, I let him.  I heard him playing over there this morning and didn't think much of it.  Then I looked, and this is what I saw...

He had cleared out just enough room to sit in the drawer.  Oh and when he saw me coming with the camera, he seriously started saying 'cheese'!  What a little ham!

'Cheese, Cheese'

Jungle-Jared

Ethan and his Daddy have a special connection.  He loves to crawl, roll, stand, walk and jump on Jared.  Tonight they were having a great time so I got out the camera to catch some cute father/son moments. 

Yes...he is balancing on Jared's bum

Preparing for a belly flop!



Look at that smile...



Hand stand!



Vegas Vacation!

Jared and I had always talked about going somewhere for our 5th anniversary.  As fate would have it, we were having a 1st birthday party on our 5th anniversary (and we had a blast)!!  When I found out my boss was taking some vacation time around my birthday, I started planning.  We decided on Las Vegas.  We don't really fit the Vegas lifestyle, but knew there was a lot more to see and do than just gamble (even if we did find a pretty fun penny slot).  We flew out on Saturday (my birthday) and came back on Tuesday the 9th.  We packed those 3 days full of walking, sight seeing, eating, walking, show seeing, walking and a little penny slot action.  It was exhausting, but very much worth it.

In front of the Bellagio

U-Spin Penny Slots on my Birthday!

Saturday night we had tickets to Tony n' Tina's Wedding.  It was an improv/comedy show where we were the guests at the wedding and reception.  It was pretty funny and we ate and danced along with the cast.  Thanks mom and dad for the birthday present!

Cast of Tony 'n Tina's Wedding (Pregnant bridesmaid and all)

Jared and I with the lights of the strip in the background

Nevada's countryside from the Top of the World restaurant

Jared enjoying lunch at the Top of the World

Stratosphere Observation- A beautiful view

Venetian Canal

Sunday night we had tickets to Blue Man Group and the Venetian.  It was awesome!  We were 5 rows back in the 'poncho' section.  Thankfully our ponchos were not needed, but the show was great.  I got a nice view of one of the Blue Men as he stepped on the back of my chair to walk into the crowd.  We had a great time and would definitely recommend this show to everyone!

We've donned our ponchos!

Apparently I missed the memo about not smiling.  This is an actual Blue Man!

Our last night in Vegas we ate at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill.  It was phenomenal!!  We didn't see Bobby, but that's alright, his food was there.  We got all dressed up and I walked way too far in heels.  We had a great trip and are so lucky to have parents who were so willing to watch our sweet Ethan. 

Thanks for a great meal Bobby Flay!!

P.S. Keep scrolling...there's more :)