Christmas Decorating

Nothing says Christmas like temps in the upper 70's. Lucky for us, we were having a "cold front" move through the day we put the tree up which made the temperature dip into the sixties. Brrr. Nevertheless, we had fun putting up our Christmas decorations. Leyton is very smitten with the tree. He tells me every 10 minutes "Wook, momma! Cistmas wights! Twee!" I am proud to say, he has only knocked off one ornament. He loves to touch them and make them spin, but hasn't yet tried to take them off. We'll see how it goes. He also loves our stockings and hugs them all the time.

Here are a few snapshots from our day. Oh and there are some from the morning after. I just couldn't resist getting pictures of L in his footie pajamas. It gets harder to find footies as they get into toddler sizes. I love them.

A visit from Gran

My mom came in for a visit earlier this week, or "Gan" as Leyton calls her. We had a grand ol' time and Leyton gave away plenty of his good hugs. We exhausted ourselves playing, went to our favorite airplane spot, and Gran even bought him what every little boy needs: a red firetruck.

A Day of Thanks

I'm thankful for:

Our loving God who extends his unfailing grace to me on a daily basis.

My precious little boy who makes me laugh every day.

My selfless husband who continues to amaze me.

Our health.

Our family. We wish we could see them more, but we are grateful for the time we do get.

Our home. Many people have lost their home the last few years due to the economy so we don't take this for granted.

My mom's recent visit (pics coming soon).

Our church that has taught me to be more open minded and try to see people as Christ does.

Our jobs. We couldn't be more blessed.

Leyton's teachers that watch over him on Tuesdays and Ms. Heather that watches over him on Thursdays. We are blessed that he loves going both places and thrives on learning.

Our friends near and far.

The little things in life, like seeing the excitement Leyton gets when he sees Christmas lights. Oversized t-shirts after Thanksgiving dinner. Or the fact that Mr. Cadbury decided to make his Mini Eggs into chocolate Christmas balls.

Love.

Wordless Wednesday

Successful Saturday

While the hubs and I attended the UCF vs USM game (which we won, btw), Leyton spent the day hanging out with our favorite Ethiopian/Dutch family. Apparently he had a blast and they had a blast. He watched the "pishies" in their aquariam, read books, played drums, played piano, went swinging, painted, charmed "MeMe" with his lips and lashes, took a three hour nap and saved all of his poopies for momma & daddy. Win-win. Mariam or "Aunt Meme" was so sweet as to take pictures and send them to me. Doesn't look like he missed us much.

Washing hands with Amber, Aby and the neighborhood kiddo.

Recent Ramblings...

I suppose I am long overdue for an update post. I realized earlier that I haven't been very good recently about jotting down Leyton's latest tricks, milestones and such. Since I sort of use the blog as a journal following Leyton's little journey, I figured I better get busy and try to get some of it down before I forget it all. Here are some of his recent "happenings:"

• He can recognize and name all of the letters of the alphabet (uppercase).

• He can count to three.

• His most often used phrase is "No Way!" I don't know where he learned this, but a simple "no" will just not suffice.

• He can recognize and name blue, red, green, purple, orange, yellow and black.

• In true toddler fashion, he does exactly the opposite of what he thinks we want him to do in any given moment.

• He LOVES books. Sometimes all he wants us to do is read him books. His favorite books right now are Dr. Suess books, Berstein Bears, Good Night Moon, and a Piggies book.

• He would now prefer exploring the neighborhood by way of sidewalk over playing at the playground.

He can throw a good ol' down-home, countrified fit with the best of 'em. Sometimes it is painful to try and keep from laughing. Other times it is just pitiful.

• He is a parrot. He repeats almost every single thing he hears, which can be cute until I am fussing at him.

• We are working on his manners. He has please and thank you down. But it drives the southern gentleman in Jeremy nuts when he says "yeah" or "yep" instead of "yes ma'am."

• He loves his "night night" time and nap time. And he does not fare well when he is woken up. We are all much better off if he wakes up on his own time.

• He now has a new obsession with the garage. I don't get it. I really don't. Of all the places in the house to play, WHY the garage?

• He is so much fun, and is usually in such a playful mood.

• Anything with a motor is the coolest thing in the world. Boats, trucks, choo choo trains, tractors, motorcyles (or as he calles them "bikes"), airplanes, firetrucks. You name it. It is in a boy's dna, I suppose.

• He is starting to use adjectives: "big truck, yellow ball, bright sunshine, orange lights"

• His favorite songs are "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" aka "Isty Bider", "Twinkle Twinkle", "Jesus Loves Me" and "Oh Happy Day"

• When you ask him his name he says "Leyton Knight." See video below.

• He randomly tells people "Happy Birfday"

• He loves going to "school" on Tuesdays, Ms. Heather's on Thursdays, and church on Sundays. The busier, the better.

• He is pretty much a Chatty Kathy. He picks up on new phrases and words everyday. It is amazing to think that there was a time when he couldn't talk. Here are some of the phrases he has been saying recently:

I broke it :"uh-oh, I bokit"

Fix it :"Momma, pixit"

Where did it go? "Whey it doe?"

There it is "Oh, Dey it is"

Watch this "Watch dis"

What's that? "Whatzat?"

Put it in the trash "Puddy tash"

• He is the light of my life and challenges me in ways I didn't know were possible. He also brings me indescribable joy and makes each day an adventure.

Finally Fall!

Yay for cold weather!! It finally feels like Fall here in Florida. It may only last for a few days, so we are soaking it up this weekend.

Have No Fear...

Captain Awesome is here.

Halloween 2010

Here is my little Train Conductor for the evening. We had a successful outing at our church's annual Trunk & Treat event. Luckily we got there a little early, so Leyton got one of the bounce houses all to himself. He was just pleased as punch. For the remainder of the evening, all he cared about was having a lollipop firmly planted in his mouth.

(Leyton and Karys, his Thursday play buddy)

with Uncle Dave, better known as Uncle "Wee"