ChRisTmAs

This year Christmas was exciting because it was Nixon's first Christmas and it was also sad because it was our first year without Robi here. We all miss him so much and are so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. Knowing that we will see him again is so comforting, but it still is hard not having his bubbly personality here. I remember last year when went to Opportunity Village ( there is a bunch of christmas lights and fun things to do ) I asked Robi to take a picture of Peter and I but to make sure to not get my gigantic belly in the pic ( I was prego ) and he zoomed in on my belly and took the pic. He always did funny things like that.

This year for Christmas we did gift exchange with the most of the family ( We missed you Melissa and William ). My Mother-in-law, Nancy, got us all gifts from Robi. When we opened them up there were the exact same brand of slippers that Robi would wear. They were hot pink, fuzzy, and super duper comfy! I can see why he loved those slippers so much. I will always cherish the memories that I have with Robi. We all miss you and love you. Keep watching over us!

Now onto Nixon's first Christmas...

Peter and I didn't really know what to expect. We didn't know if he would open his gifts or if we would open them for him or what. We were really happy that he loved opening his gift and ours until we realized he liked the paper more than the toys for the most part. We would put a toy in front of him and he would crawl over across the room to get to the paper that we put into the garbage bag. He did like his gifts once we put the garbage out of sight. Here are some pictures. Try not to get distracted with how hot we look in the pictures...

Nixon's sweet cousin, Madeline

As a tradition we go to IHOP for breakfast on Christmas morning. Nixon wasn't very happy sitting at the table so Peter got up and played with him.

Sweet face.

I love it when he yawns. It is so cute!

Opening his stocking stuffers from Oma

Christmas Eve Pajamas - I got Peter, Nixon, and I all footsie pajamas in remembrance of Robi.

Another tradition is every Christmas Eve we each get a new ornament. As you can tell, Nixon was so excited to get his very first ornament. Peter got me a Wonder Woman ornament and I got him one of Ralphy from The Christmas Story in his bunny outfit.

On Christmas Eve we went over to Peter's Aunts house for some delicious food, good conversation, and an awesome program of the nativity story. Nixon was a sheep. I made him an hysterical outfit! I glued cotton balls over a onsie and made some ears and attached them onto a headband of mine. He looked more like a bunny when we put the ears on him because I had no idea how big sheep ears were. He did make a cute sheep though. It was so funny because he left a trail of cotton balls when he would crawl. They either came unglued or he pulled them off. All in all it was a cute little program.

My sweet Nixon is all grown up!

OH MY HECK! So yesterday I was playing with Nixon and I was trying to scare him by going behind the couch and then jumping up. He loved it! Well, he started following me behind the couch and saw the stairs and decided he wanted to try and go up them. Well he got up one then sat and looked around for a few seconds and started to cry. I am assuming that it was because he couldn't figure out how to get down or go up anymore. Tonight Nixon decided he wanted to show daddy. We got footage of it too! I also have some pictures of the last couple weeks. Plus the video below.

Nixon going up his first stair.

BATH TIME!

Helping daddy put the decorations away in the attic.

His new favorite thing to do is get all the dvd's out.

Another thing he likes to do now is pull the scrapbooks onto the floor and then step on them.

back view.

It was so cute! Nixon went on a wagon ride with Henry and Lily. Henry insisted that he hold onto Nixon. It was so cute! I hope Nixon is as cute as Henry when he gets older!

This is a small portion of the video. Enjoy.

PICTURES

Here are the pictures from the dunes last weekend.

Daddy and Nixon

Nixon riding in Robi's Jeep

Daddy going to comp hill

Peter lookin' hot!

Family pic

Aunt Abby and Nixon in Robi's Jeep

These are some pictures of Nixon for my Grandma in his church clothes

SAND DUNES

Today we were able to go to the sand dunes as a Sundell family activity. It was nice because it was perfect weather, a motor home to stay in when we weren't riding, and having the family there. We got there about 9:30ish and it hadn't warmed up yet so it was 43 degrees exactly. After about an hour it started to warm up a ton and was beautiful! I was really bummed because my very first ride on the 4 wheeler I rolled it on top of me and got knocked out for a second. It was crazy! I remember that I was turning and I got a bit out of control and tried turning the other way. Next thing I know I was laying on the ground with the 4 wheeler on my legs and Peter calling my name. I have a small bruise and had a bit of a headache pretty much the entire day, but I feel much better now. I still was able to have a good time and put that embarassing little incident behind me. After that, I rode in Robi's jeep and it was really fun to drive because the seats are really comfortable and it didn't hurt my tailbone. Riding the 4 wheelers it didn't hurt either because I was leaning forward and not sitting on it. Nixon also went in the jeep with me and he went on the children's 4 wheeler with me. He enjoyed it a ton. He loved watching the other people driving their toys. Oh, and might I add how HOT my husband looks in his motorcycle gear! Oh my heck! He looks seriously so SEXY! Anyways, I have a screaming child upstairs who needs me. Bye. I will post some pictures of the dunes when the camera gets recharged.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year for Thanksgiving we stayed at home and had a delicious dinner with the Sundell's. It was so nice to have mostly everyone in town and to be able to spend time with one another. It felt a bit empty not having Robi physically there with us, but I know that he was with us in spirit. One of the things that I am especially thankful for is having the Gospel in my life and Plan of Salvation. It is so comforting to know that we will be able to see Robi and all of our loved one's who have passed again.

A small list of some of the things I am thankful for:

my loving husband, Peter

my energetic son, Nixon

mine and Peter's sweet families

that Peter is a worthy priesthood holder

temple marriage

my awesome calling doing the ward bulletin

family dinners

having Peter be a wonderful provider so that I can stay at home with Nixon

scriptures

my beautiful home

Like I said earlier, this was only a small list of things that I am thankful for. I could go on and on. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

STANDING AND PAINTING

Well. This week was a fun week! My mom was in town from Tuesday until today! We had such a fun time! I love when she comes! She picks up after me, watches Nixon so that I can catch up on some much needed sleep, and makes us dinner! It's like having a housekeeper! Not only do I love having her her to do stuff it is fun talking to her and hanging out!

A couple weeks ago my Aunt Elaine came to town and I wanted her advice on decor ideas for my house. Well, she told me to paint my railing black. So I did. I LOVE IT! Peter and I started on Thursday night around 7:00. He helped me until about 8:30 ( his bed time ) and then I finished it about 1:30am. I had to wait an hour in between paint coats to let it dry, but other than that I was painting the entire night! I LOVE painting! It is therapeutic for me.

Also, this week Nixon has started standing and pulling himself up! I love it! He is getting around so much crawling and now he is standing! Before I know it he will be walking! I am a little scared for him to walk! Right now he is only crawling and I feel exhausted just following him around making sure he isn't putting anything in his mouth! Speaking about stuff in his mouth...last weekend Peter was watching Nixon. They went into our guest room to get something out of the closet. Peter looks on the ground making sure there isn't anything that he can eat then puts him on the ground. A few minutes go by and Nixon is chewing on something. Peter puts his finger in his mouth and does "the scoop" and pulls out what?!?...............................

A BUG! EWE! YUCK! I am so glad that I wasn't there!

Okay. Bye.

Just when..../

I though Nixon was getting better he starts throwing up. He has thrown up 4 times this morning. It's not just a little throw up, it's like a cup! Poor kid! Well, maybe next time I will wait to post about us finally getting better until we are all actually really, truly better. Have a wonderful Sabbath!