Sunday, December 30, 2012

12.12.12

Twelve twelve twelve.  A day that would sure to be magical!  That morning, I was greeted with sweet coos coming through the monitor and found such a happy baby in the crib!
Winston has been a really great sleeper and I'm always excited to see his sweet face so I can greet him with a kiss and song.  Lulu is always quite close behind me to see our little guy and is quick to curl up in her bed.  And yes, her bed is a moose!  She needed to have a bed that matched the decor properly!
Winston has consistently been a very good natured baby - he is super laid back and very responsive to smiles, learning that they are the sure way to win people's hearts!
After I got him ready for the day, I set him in his Boppy so that I could do a check on the diaper bag and when I came back, I saw this:
The little monkey had spit out his passie in exchange for a thumb!  When I told Benjamin and showed him the pictures later that night, he said that a thumb was better than sucking fingers and that Winston could enjoy that thumb until he was 4!  
And this just had to be shared because Lulu was smiling at the camera!  She's such a proud fur-mama!

Holiday Round Up: Thanksgiving

Slowly but surely, I'm catching up on documenting our holiday season and writing about a few other things that have been going on in our world.

Check out what we were up to this November:

Viva Las Vegas!

Awhile back I had mentioned that Benjamin and I had a trip to Vegas on the books.  We had a little hesitation since we knew that Winston would be about five or six weeks old when we were to leave him.  Thanks to my mom's encouragement, we went ahead with the plans and I am so thankful we did!  As much as we loved our new transition into parenthood, it was a refreshing trip for Benjamin and I to have together.  Our daily conversations had become more about Winston's eating, sleeping and pooping schedule with a little bit of updates on Benjamin's day thrown in.  This trip allowed us to catch up with each other and have a special time to share how we were both doing with the whole becoming parents thing!  And more than that, it gave us a second wind to use when loving on Winston Ace!

Now, for those of you who know Benjamin and I, you will get a kick out of hearing that our Vegas experience is not like the Vegas experience most have - we were eating dinner around 5, seeing shows at 6:30 and in jammies no later than 9 o'clock at night!  Still recovering from the C-section, I would tucker out from the short walks during the day and was ready for a fluffy pillow early - no clubbing for this mama!

On the first day we did indeed go to the Neon Museum and it did not disappoint!  Not really knowing a whole lot about Las Vegas or it's history, we heard stories of how Las Vegas came to be, why neon was so important and history on the signs that were now part of this collection.  I highly recommend!  We then headed to the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign and crossed that touristy thing off of our list.  Since I had never been to Vegas before, we also decided to do some walking through a few of the casinos and we started at the side of the strip that was to me, places that smelled of sadness and dying dreams.  I was so thankful that we were staying at Aria with all of it's fancy amenities and cleanliness!  We did spend a little bit of time at the 25 cent slot machines and realized just how quickly hitting a button makes money disappear!  We also saw David Copperfield at the MGM Grand that evening and enjoyed it immensely!
Day two found Benjamin participating in the Invisalign Conference while I spent that time leisurely getting ready and catching up with Kala.  We dined that evening with another Houston resident and his special lady and then headed to the new Cirque show at the Aria, Zarkana.  It was my first Cirque show and I was very entertained!  It is the story about a circus master who looses his magic and sets out on a journey to find it and his true love.  Before the curtains open, while guests are filing into their seats, the characters roamed up and down the aisles interacting with anyone who would indulge them.  Since it was still early {translation: we are old people} we headed down to the Bellagio to take in the famous fountains.  I was taken aback at how HUGE they were!  Ocean's Eleven doesn't do them justice!  Haha!  Then we headed back to Aria where we savored delicacies from Jean Philippe Patisserie.

Our third day in Vegas, Kala and I headed to the Bellagio to see the gardens and was met by another significant other, Jamie.  We then did a little shopping, ordered some yummies from Serendipity and sat outside enjoying the great weather chatting about this and that.  The boys joined us when their session was over.  Benjamin and I joined the Bailey's on their adventure to the pawn shop of the TV show Pawn Stars.  Unfortunately, none of the Stars were there, but we did enjoy walking through the store seeing what they had to offer.  Then we headed back to Aria and spent the night eating dinner in the hotel and enjoying a night to be low key.

All in all, we had a nice time enjoying the shows and the hotel while spending time with our dear friends.  The trip became more about Benjamin and I reconnecting after our life changing addition and for that I am thankful.  Most people have a "babymoon" before the baby arrives and I can see how a couple would need that time away together.  However, I would venture to say that planning a trip for after the baby arrives was one of the best things for our us.  I'm not sure that Benjamin and I will venture back to the Vegas strip again - we were glad to visit and we were glad to get home!  I mean, who wouldn't be glad to see this little face again?

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Winston meets Santa!

Right before the calendar flipped to December, Winston had his first encounter with Santa and it was fabulous!  My mom had been shopping at Market Street when she saw they were preparing to open Santa's Workshop.  Days later she and I walked by to see what hours Santa would be taking visitors and made plans for Winston to visit.  They had a great backdrop with live Christmas Trees and festive decorations!  An added bonus was that it was located outside of the mall and we were certain that it wouldn't be as hectic.  Benjamin's only question was "Does Santa look like the real Santa?" and all I could say was, "Wait until you see him!"

The big day came and we dressed Winston appropriately for his first meeting with the man in the red suit!  When we arrived, we were the only people in the store and Santa was more than thrilled to meet Winston and give him plenty of cuddles!  Winston was such a sweetie and even smiled for the camera!
Doesn't he look like a little Keebler elf sitting there on Santa's lap?!  I just love his grin and how his little hat looks!  I think he looks quite dapper all dressed to match Santa, if I do say so myself!  And yes, Benjamin was impressed with our little Love Bug and was convinced that Winston met the real Santa!
While Winston was chilled out on Santa's lap we listened to Santa tell stories of Christmases past. It was a fabulous experience with Santa and his photo elf!  There's something quite magical about taking your kiddo to meet Santa for the first time and I'm glad that I have now joined the club.  I am looking forward to next year when he'll be more aware of the magic of Christmas.
But for this year, I will soak up and enjoy our first Christmas with this tiny human and how adorable he is!
After meeting Santa, we ventured into the courtyard so that Winston could take in the largest Christmas tree he'd ever seen in his new life!  It has been so fun to start sharing my love for Christmas with Winston and this is just the beginning!
 Me and my sweet elf!
Tuckered out from an exciting morning with Santa!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

One Little Turkey

This Thanksgiving we had much to be thankful for including this little turkey:
And in case you're wondering, yes, I put my child in a roaster with a hat that looks like a turkey on his head.  Cruel?  Nah... It makes for a delightful picture!  Don't you agree?

Want a turkey hat of your own? hat

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thanksgiving Day!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Hand {and Foot!} Made Turkey

Little baby hands and feet are just too cute for words!  Since this was Winston's first Thanksgiving, I got a creative|crafty hair and decided to make cards for the family.  I knew I had made turkeys out of my hands when I was little and thought it would be a good thing to do with Winston's small hands.  So together with Benjamin and our magical Silhouette, Winston "made" his first craft!

What you'll need:
colored construction paper
googly eyes
glue
scissors
red puff paint
orange puff paint
5 x 7 note cards
envelopes

To start, we traced Winston's hand and a socked foot onto a blank sheet of paper.  Benjamin then scanned them into the computer and imported them into the Silhouette software.  We then let the Silhouette do all of the cutting of the little feet and fingers.  This was much easier than me cutting them out by hand with scissors!
Then I took the body and added two googly eyes so that our little turkey could see!  A beak was created by cutting a small triangle from orange paper and glued under the eyes.  Then with the red puff paint, I drew the gobbler.
To make Turkey Lurkey pop, I put a bright piece of construction paper beneath the hands on the blank card.  Using four different colored hands, I glued them to the green paper creating the feathers.  Then I glued the body on top of the hands and voila! a little turkey is formed!
There was something missing as I looked at the little guy and after staring at it for a few minutes it hit me... LEGS!  With the orange puff paint, I gave Turkey Lurkey some legs and wrote a greeting above his head.
The inside of the card read this:
This little turkey made with Winston's hands and feet
wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving full of love and lots to eat!
And because this was made on a 5x7, it also fit nicely into a frame for a great keepsake to put out year after year!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Where We've Been...

The delay in any sort of posting or updates has been due to spending time with this cute face:
Don't worry, we'll be back soon with stories of how we have been doing and more photos of our sweet Winston.
Hope that you all are doing well and enjoying fall keeping in mind all of the amazing blessings to be thankful for!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Mr. Speedy

Yes, we are still alive!  We have survived week one and are enjoying every moment - the busy ones and the nap time ones.  Here's a few moments of cuteness to tie you over until the next post.  Our Little Mr. Speedy!  Isn't that a cute little turtle?  And Winston's not too bad either!  Haha!  
I just love that he is using all of his facial muscles!  Cute faces!
One of my favorites from the night...
From a monkey hat, to a monkey pose...
It's exhausting having a Mommy who loves to snap up all the cuteness she can get!

Friday, October 19, 2012

The People I Love

Winston wanted to us to share some photos of him with some of the people he loves that have been able to visit him while he is still here at the hospital.  He is all set to go home tomorrow and is looking forward to meeting his furry big sister and seeing his room.
Dharma and PJ
Grancy and Grandy
Aunt Sam and....Uncle Ben?

Unke Noah
 Auntie Salem
 The Baileys
Winston has already figured out how to work the camera....
 ....which apparently Sara is still figuring out!
Never mind, she's got it!
Us and our little pasty burrito
Only three days old and already holding his own pacifier. Even when he is tired this kid still has mad skills!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Our Little Stud

As promised, here are some more photos of our newest family member!




Thank you all for your prayers.  Sara and baby Winston are both doing well and are looking forward to going home on Saturday!

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