The Holiday Season...in pictures!

We started the Christmas season off in Fairfield at Ma & Pa's...
Then off to Austin to visit Grammy & the Falcone family...

Finally Christmas Day at our house!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Chris Loves Santa!

Can't you tell...?

Lesson learned!

What did we learn this weekend? Don't take your kid to the doctor when he's sick... ; ) Okay, just kidding but apparently when we were at the doctor last weekend for his 102 fever for several days he picked up the dreaded RSV virus! Thank goodness Christopher is no longer an infant and all this really did to him was cause a RIDICULOUS cough and wheezing - otherwise he was in full force all weekend long! His only treatment is breathing treatments (Albuterol) every 4 hours. When the doctor told us this we were like "ha, yea right. you expect our 17 month old to sit in one place for 15 minutes every 4 hours...". Well to our surprise (and delight) our child actually likes them. Here's proof-

We are still trying to figure out the 'special' ingredient other than the albuterol....

Vintage Airplanes!

Chuck and I spent a small fortune today picking out the furniture and decor for Caleb's room. The theme is Vintage Airplanes! We looooove it (well, the idea at least - the final product may be a different story...)! Here is a picture of the only thing we could bring home from the store! The rest will arrive in 8 weeks!
I'm also very excited about the airplane theme because Christopher is mild-moderately obsessed with airplanes. So hopefully this can help the two bond. I so can't wait for them to meet! Christopher has been very observant of other babies lately and points them out everywhere! Our neighbor just had her baby too and we've been working on "shhhh....be quiet...the baby is sleeping....". It's cute - he will put his finger over his lips and say "shhhhh".


Well hopefully in 8 weeks I can post pics of the final nursery product! = )

On another note- Christopher has officially moved up to the 18 month class. It's a little over a month early but he was ready! Sadly, this means a whole new class with a whole new set of germs! We had to pick him up from school early on Thursday for a fever of 102F that lasted for 3 days!!! He was MISERABLE...as were we! It was just a virus (of course) and he is finally better as of today! Yea!

What does the bird say?

Chris recently began having this obsession with birds! First of all, he came home from school doing this really weird thing with his mouth and fingers...it took Chuck and I a bit to figure it out (along with some research on the internet) but sure enough it was sign for BIRD. And just recently he started copying all the bird noises in our neighborhood! It's too funny - and he knows it! Here's a quick clip -

Virginia!

About 2 weeks ago we flew to Virginia to visit the family! This was Christopher's fifth time on an airplane!!! Call us crazy! I can definitely say it is getting more difficult to fly with him and we will for sure buy him his own seat from here on out...we are just soooo thankful for stickers and suckers to get us through the flight home when he decided to not sleep AT ALL! = )

Anyway, while in town we got to visit with the family and watch my younger brother kick butt playing the drums at his band performance during their homecoming football game! We also went with Pap Pap to the pumpkin patch/petting zoo! We definitely had a wonderful and relaxing time!! Can't wait until next time!!

Chris in the pumpkin patch-

Daddy, Chris & Pap Pap-

Chris loves feeding animals-

Waiting to see Uncle Mike in the homecoming parade-

Mimi, Chris & Pap Pap at the parade-

Uncle Mike & his drums!-

Trick or Treat!

Christopher was a super cute lion for Halloween! We were super excited most of the family was able to come celebrate with us! Chris looooves candy and had a great Halloween!

Caleb was a little pumpkin! He was 19 weeks on Halloween (now 20)! I've been feeling him kick for a month or so now. It's fantastic! I forgot how much I missed this part of pregnancy! Anyway, he is growing and appears to be a healthy little guy!

Christopher meets Caleb!

PIZZA!

It's official (like baby book official) - Christopher's favorite food is PIZZA!

Chris LOVES playing with his daddy!

Time is flying by...

Well Christopher is 15 months old now! He is CRAAAAZY! He is keeping us super, super busy running around the house and just being a goofball. He loves to laugh, talk, run and get into all sorts of trouble! We took him 'camping' last weekend and he looooved it! He was so happy to be outside and spend time with family! He seems to be doing great post ear tube placement! = ) We are moving his bedtime to 8pm. This has been AWESOME lately since it means he sleeps in until 7:15 now (woohoo- much better than the usual 6am!). I guess when the time changes in a few weeks we will be right back where we started...oh well!
Snacktime on the patio-

All the boys camping-
Typical Chris-
Our other child has now baked for a whopping 16 weeks. Only 24 more to go! So far it seems that everything is going well. I've gained 5 pounds and my waistline is expanding. I think it's time to start getting the maternity clothes washed and ready. We have our BIG ultrasound in a couple of weeks. I'm still leaning towards boy...but we shall see. I talk to Christopher about Peanut a lot but he only cares about my belly button. We will make progress soon. = )

Anyway, everything is great in the Falcone household. We are definitely enjoying the fabulous weather and getting into the fall spirit!

Tubes are done!

Phew! Finally! Christopher has tubes in his ears. The doctor said during the procedure he saw a lot of cloudy fluid behind the right ear drum and the left ear drum has already started to build up scar tissue- so this is a great thing we had them done now! We were totally not worried about the procedure but we were really caught off guard by how disoriented and combative Christopher was waking up after surgery (it only lasted about 30 minutes but boy did it suck!). After the procedure we drove around Pearland for an hour or so running various errands while Christopher napped in the car. We got breakfast at the Chick-fil-A drive through, did a drive by drop off of Max at the groomer and a drive by HEB shopping trip! Once he woke up we went home and played with a balloon and ate Chick-fil-A. He was doing soooo much better by the time we got home! I'm really hoping these tubes make our little guy feel better! = )

Chris napping during our errands:

Chris with his balloon and food:

Anyway, very glad it's over....I'm sure we will be doing this all over again in a couple of years with Peanut! ; )

Toilet Paper-1 Chris-0

Bilateral Tympanoplasty!

= ear tubes of both ears! Christopher is getting them next Friday. We are very ready for this to happen as soon as possible since he is on ear infection #14! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers during the procedure on September 24th! Will let you all know how it goes.

As for baby #2 (Peanut)- things are going well. I had a really rough week with nausea, headaches, etc. but am optimistic that this will pass soon. We are getting very anxious to find out the gender! We have an appointment in 3 weeks so I'm hoping we can get them to at least take a sneak peek! We are still pretty set on Caleb James for a boy (Christopher's originial name...) and aren't too sure on a girl name yet...any suggestions?!? = )

MEET PEANUT FALCONE!

Here's the newest member of the Falcone family- PEANUT! By the way, that's a hand over his face and not a horn (that's what the ultrasonographer told me- duh!).Now the question is- girl or boy!?! We just can't wait to find out! We are very excited about having either so as long as he/she is happy and healthy than we couldn't ask for anything more!

However, for the meantime we have been entertaining ourselves by guessing the gender. Here are the stats (feel free to cast your vote):

BOY VOTES:

1. ME! (this must count for two)

2. The pen on a string test

3. Chinese calendar #1

GIRL VOTES:

1. My baby's daddy

2. My mother*

3. My mother-in-law*

4. The wedding band test

5. Chinese calendar #2

*They just secretly want granddaugthers!

It's a close call....and we are very anxious to find out in TWO MONTHS! For the meantime I will just continue to eat anything and everything in sight and grow another baby! = ) YEA!

New Kicks!

Chris got some new kicks this week- a pair of slip on Vans with flames & some green striped Adidas! Neither really match any of his clothes...but they are just too stinking cute! He has been stomping around the house in them and thinks they are just great! = )

On another note- it looks like Chris is going to get tubes put in his ears. He's had about 10 ear infections now and he's only 13.5 months old- eek! We have an appointment with a specialist on September 1st so we shall see what they have to say!

Baby Barrett has arrived!

Our nephew, Barrett, was born Thursday! He is an incredibly precious baby boy! We drove to Rockwall to meet him and see his parents, Amanda & Erich, and his older brother, Nathan! Barrett and Nathan are exactly 15 months apart- they are going to have so much fun together.

Unfortunately, after birth Barrett was transferred to the NICU for a birth defect. You can visit his blog for further information- http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/barrettthomashefner/journal. We have confidence that Barrett will recover quickly and go on to live a perfectly normal life!

During our visit we helped take care of Nathan while his parents spent the day with Barrett at the hospital. Chris and Nathan become more interactive each time they see eachother. It's pretty fun to watch them. Here's a clip from this weekend-

Anyway, please keep our nephew and his parents in your prayers. They have a long road ahead of them but I know in the end it will all be okay!

Big Boy Jams and Pool Day with Dad!

Chris is getting so big. He recently ripped through his 12 month old dinosaur jammies in the buttock region because they were so tight (and our child actually has a ghetto bootie)! Here he is in his new puppy ones, size 18 months!! = ) What a stud!

Sunday Christopher and Daddy went to the pool to swim. This kid is finally a huge fan of water (about time)! I tagged along to play photographer... = )

Belly Surfing in Target

Taking Chris grocery shopping is a total chore. He likes to walk down the aisles by himself, take items off the shelves and put them back. That's his new thing- putting stuff back. Anyway, if he's not acting like a grocery store employee he really likes to push the cart. This is so annoying when we are in a hurry (which seems to always be the case). He doesn't like when you go too fast either. He likes to set the pace. Well today at Target he decided he wanted to be extra slooooooow and push the cart on his knees. This ended with him on his belly which apparently he didn't mind too much! This happened several times during our trip today. 1 hour and $130 later we finally made it out of the store!

Brazoswood c/o 2000 Reunion!

Charlie and I had our 10 year class reunion this weekend! It was great to catch up with those we haven't seen in awhile and also with those we're still super close to! = ) We spent Saturday at the beach with our besties and Chris got to spend the day with his besties too! We then dropped him off at Grandma Henry's house who was so kind to keep him for 20+ hours while we went to the reunion and spent the night at the beach house! I even slept in until 9AM! Hallelujah! = )
Here are some more pics of Chris' new favorite things- pulling all the tissues out of the box and getting in the dog crate with Cooper! This child is always trying to find something new to do!!!