Decking the Halls

I'm big on wanting to create Hylton family traditions.  This year I decided that every year we should pick a night to decorate the Christmas tree, order pizza, eat it right out of the box while we decorate and watch Christmas movies while putting the tree up.  My mind is constantly moving and creating different fun little scenarios like this so who knows what "tradition" I will up and decide we should roll with next year...but this year was perfect, messy but perfect.

Our tree is pretty big (maybe 10ft? I'm not good with measurements :) so for the past 2 years Eric has had it up and put together before we start the decorating process.  Elle and I came home with pizza and got to work!  First we "fluffed" the tree, Elle was a great helper.

Next, we started stringing the lights.  Elle was so concerned that they were hot that she just stood there and blew on them over and over trying to cool them off.

 

 

She had a little bit of trouble actually getting the ornaments to stay on the tree but she had fun trying.  A few days after the tree was up I bought her a pickle ornament to hide on the tree.  I have no idea where she hid that thing, I don't even know if it's on the tree.  We've had multiple people look for it and no one can find it, Henry is dying to know where that darn pickle is!

The finished product....

can't wait to load this baby up with presents!  I know a little girl who has been very good this year!

Henry's 3rd Birthday!

It's so hard to believe but our sweet Hensy is now 3 years old.

I was so excited to celebrate this little birthday boy!  His birthday fell on a Friday so we all met at mom and dad's Friday evening to start celebrating.  Per the birthday boys request he wanted a party at MawMaw's house.  I think he sees all the adults have birthday dinners & opening presents on their birthday at mom & dad's and he wanted the same thing.  After opening his first Mama Rita birthday basket we all headed to Kokomo Joe's for some birthday fun. 

Henry opened more presents (and immediately put on his new firefighter costume), the babes played in tunnels and bounce houses and then eventually made their way over to the bowling alley and games.  Henry and Elle even went on their first go cart ride with Unc & Paige.  Notice their car color choices, fits them both perfectly.  Elle was stoic and holding on almost the whole time.  Henry and Unc were 2 wild and crazy guys in that car!

The next day with Henry's Handy Manny birthday party at Mary & Nick's house.  He was so excited to get to the present opening!  At one point one of the babies at the party crawled over to his gifts and Henry ran to protect them while accidentally tearing his gift from MawMaw & PawPaw open.  Once his little eyes saw that a skateboard was in there, which he had been asking & hoping for, it was hard to keep him away.  As soon as he was able to tear it all the way open he immediately had PawPaw putting it together.  Soon after we were all chanting for PawPaw to blow up the inflatable Santa  we bought for Hen.  Dad is always the one asked to fix or assemble anything.  If any of Elle's toys aren't working or breaks she will say "PawPaw fix it".

Sneaking some licks of icing.

I love my little Hensy Hoo with all my heart.  He makes this world a happier, funnier place to live in.  He is the sweetest little boy and says some of the funniest things! He loves going to Chick-Fil-A where he can eat and play, is not afraid to let you know if something isn't his jam "Me no loves this", prefers everything be green or orange, refers to himself as "big boy", is one of the all time best shopping buddies you could ask for, will break out in song and dance at a moments notice, has some imaginary friends with some pretty creative names, goes to an imaginary school where his teacher allows him to use scissors and is a typical little boy who can't get enough bathroom humor.  He came into our life 3 years ago and turned our world upside down in the absolute best way possible.  I adore you, Henry.  Being your aunt and getting to spend so much time with you is one of the biggest blessings in the world.

November 2014

As soon as November rolls around we are ready for Christmas season, well Elle and I are ready...Eric is a firm believer in not decorating until after Thanksgiving but I'm starting to break him.  We spent a lot of the month celebrating the holidays and our Henry Hoo's 3rd birthday!

 

 

It was snowing on this weekend so Elle and I stayed warm inside and baked cookies and enjoyed toddler cocoa (chocolate milk and marshmallows).

 

 

Elle is in a phase now where she is constantly asking what stuff is.  She points to every.little.thing. and will say "what's thaaaat"....some things she knows what they are but she still asks!  Any noises

she hears she will say "mommy, what's thaaat noise?".

 

 

One night she was in the bathtub and heard the shower head dripping water in the shower.  Of course she asked what the noise was and when I told her what it was and that we need a new one that doesn't drip she said, "let's get a pink one, ask ho ho for it".

One night Eric, Elle and I were sitting on the couch eating a snack and watching a Christmas movie, Eric was sitting on his legs and I randomly said "Daddy's sitting like a squirrel, is daddy a squirrel?"  Elle responded,  "no, daddy's a tiger!".  Eric was so proud.

Starting on her big girl room!

Anytime Elle hears my phone ringing she comes running to find me yelling "MiMi!!!!".  Maybe Mary and I talk on the phone too much. ;)

Elle and Henry have the sweetest relationship.  They are the best of buds but can also fight like siblings.  Elle hadn't been at my mom's in almost a week and the first day she was back mom told me Henry went up to her and said, "Eleanor, I didn't know you were coming today, I missed you!".  Is that not the cutest thing in the world?!

Bear is Elle's little baby, she loves helping MiMi put lotion on him and shaking up his bottle...she's also great at helping him eat his puffs.  She always sweet talks her MiMi into giving her a little pile of Bear's puffs too.  I wonder when she is going to realize she is just as close in age to Bear as she is Henry.  I think little Bear will always be considered the baby.

 

 

Actually using the potty for the first time!

 

 

 

Eric went to a Mizzou game with Nick and brought home these pom-pom's for Elle.  I think she would have preferred daddy to bring home Truman Tiger, she LOVES him!

 





This was a particularly memorable Target trip.  Usually Elle and I go on a Saturday, she gets a cake pop, I get a Starbucks, she sits in the cart the entire trip.  End of story.  I don't take her through the toy aisle, we hit the clothes, baby section, homegoods and food.  This particular weekend we went with Mary, Henry, Charlie and my mom and we made several mistakes. 

1. Elle and Henry immediately wanted out of their carts and we allowed it. 
2. We walked through the toy section.
3. Elle found a shopping cart she loved and insisted on pushing it around the store.
4. As much as I kept telling her we weren't buying the shopping cart, it wasn't sinking in.
5. Henry found a mini shopping cart and decided to join the party.  I'm laughing as a type this just thinking about him sliding on the ground with his little cart.  Mary would tell him to stop, he would say "I'm sorry, Mom" then 2 minutes later you would see him take off sliding across the store.  His cart was quickly taken away. :)
6. Bear hates sitting in a cart so between us 3 ladies we had 3 carts with not a single babe sitting in them.

The whole scenario ends with crying babies, but not before I took this adorable picture.  The cuteness was ALMOST enough to give in then and there and buy the darn thing.  By the time her birthday party rolls around she will be a very happy little girl. :)  She was being a total stinker but her posing for this picture just melted me.  I know I'm a total pushover.

 

 

Perfect Sunday morning, watching Homeward Bound 2 in bed and texting Eric my breakfast cravings to pick up on his way home from work. :)

 



Mary and I took Henry and Elle to Yo Gabba Gabba at the Fox Theatre.  There were both a little timid the first half of the show but were dancing and getting the sillies out throughout the second half. Biz Markie ended the show with a mini concert which I thought was hilarious...and odd. They each left with a crazy overpriced microphone and we headed to Steak N Shake for milkshakes after.  I love our little adventures with the Voss family.

 

 

Kicked back and watching TV at MawMaw & PawPaw's house.

 

 

 Her first braid!

 

 

 

We are turning Eric's office into Elle's big girl room which means the computer is now in her playroom.  Elle loves it!  We go to PBS Kids and let her work her way through the Sesame Street videos.  Crazy how many electronics this girl has mastered before the age of 2.

 

 

Taking the PawPaw taxi one morning, her first time!

 

 

I love these little toes.  When we lay together they are always in my face and I adore it.  I know I'm biased but she is just the cutest little girl ever!  I have so much fun with my Roni!





 

 

Halloween 2014

Halloween fell on a Friday this year which was wonderful!  I loved that it was just kicking off our weekend.  Mary and I have decided to switch off hosting Halloween every year, this year was her turn.  After work Friday I rushed home to get Elle in her costume then we headed over to the Voss house to start the Halloween fun.  Originally I wanted Elle to be a Peach from A League of Their Own but the only costume I could find was insanely expensive.  Maybe next year I will find a more reasonable one and the baby can be Stellwell Angel. ;)  I gave Elle the choice of Sully from Monsters University, Olaf from Frozen or a 1980's exercise girl, here is what she chose.

 

 

Mary and I always say we want the babies growing up with big Halloween parties filled with themed food.  This year Mary made mummy hot dogs and I made a Shredded Monster Dip (hoagie dip) that Nick mistook for a salad.  :)

Elle was a tad grumpy on Halloween and wanted Mommy at all times but she did manage to have some fun.  She was by far the slow poke out of her little trick or treat gang.  McKayla, Henry's cousin, Henry and Elle took off for some trick or treating.  It was crazy to see the 1 year age difference between Henry and Elle.  Usually I barely notice it.  Henry was off like a light zipping from house to house and Elle was always in the back of the pack, slowly walking up to each house and taking her sweet time picking out a piece of candy.  She did walk up to a couple houses without me which was adorable, she looked so teeny tiny standing up there by herself.

We walked to about 10 houses and then headed back inside since it was freezing and let Henry and McKayla continue at a much faster pace.

After everyone was back inside from trick or treating the babes went through their treat bags from MawMaw and PawPaw which were filled with glow sticks, candy and stickers. We turned on some music and had a dance party which mainly consisted of Henry and Elle bickering over which song to play next.  Elle wanted to slow things down with "Let It Go" and Henry wanted to speed things up with "Who Let the Dogs Out".

I'm already brainstorming ideas for next Halloween...and Eric is already shooting down my ideas.  If you see him dressed as Doc Brown and me as Marty McFly next year you'll know he eventually caved in. :)

Halloween Spirit

I love holidays so I always look forward to them.  I love the ABC Family 13 Nights of Halloween and this year it just so happened to kick off with Monsters Inc.  Elle is a big Monsters University fan so I figured she would love this one as well. We had family movie night, all ate dinner in the living room and watched our favorite monsters.  A surprise favorite this year was Toy Story of Terror.  Elle would ask to watch her Halloween movie everyday leading up to Halloween.

One night I came home from work with Monsters Inc. pictures to paint and a silly Frankenstein to hang up.  Elle loved painting and is so proud of her pictures.  They are proudly on display in the kitchen.  "Monster Man" ended up being a tad scary at first but she grew love him.  He is actually still hanging in our laundry room and she will say "hi monster man" whenever she walks by.  I tried to take him down to start Christmas decorating and Elle found him.  She walked through the house holding him up on different walls and saying "Mommy, cute spot!" as if we were redecorating and trying to find the perfect place for him. :)

One day at my parents house Elle and Henry made these cute Halloween houses with PawPaw.  Elle loved this thing!  She would point out all the stickers on it, she was so proud that it was her creation.  I love it...it will be a part of our Halloween decor forever.

We spent one Saturday at Boo at the Zoo.  The weather was so nice, actually almost a bit too warm.  The night before I asked Elle what animal she wanted to see, to my surprise she said "turtles".  Not sure where the turtle love came from.  She falls asleep every single time we go to the zoo...her nap usually starts at some point on the train.

 

 Thanks to Truman Tiger her fear of characters has gone down.  She still needs mommy there holding her but she is excited to say hi.  Henry wanted nothing to do with them!

 

 

 I love that Henry is heading for the "Please do not touch" sign in this picture. 

 

He stopped and posed and ask KayKay to take his picture.  Isn't he the sweetest?!

 



 

Mary, Henry and Elle enjoyed a carousel ride at the end of the day.  Bear and I decided to sit this one out.

The next day (Sunday) we took the babes to a pumpkin patch.  We met Mary, Henry and Charlie for a Mexican lunch to decide which pumpkin patch to hit up.  We started looking at one in Wright City and Henry was yelling in the restaurant "let's go to WRIGHT CITYYY" it was hilarious.  So off to Wright City we went. Henry and Elle loved the sandbox and Elle was excited that they had turtles you could hold...I was less excited.  She actually tried to grab the turtles head and pull it out of the shell.  #turtlemurderer Those dirty little fingers from the sandbox kill me, I have a lot of adjusting to do before I become a boy mom!

Henry helped me pull the pumpkin wagon and even picked out a pumpkin for baby Hylton.  Elle picked out a big family pumpkin for us to carve and a smaller one for her.  We ended the day with fried oreos...Elle was a huge fan.

For anyone who doesn't know green and orange are Henry's FAVORITE colors.  He loved that they were in green and orange cars.  If anyone says they love those colors too he will say, "no, Me's favorite colors!".  He has these colors claimed so don't even try it!

We spent one night the week before Halloween pumpkin carving/painting/stickering.  I carved the big family pumpkin, Elle painted a pumpkin for her and one for brother, then she put silly face stickers on another one.  Eric was on a mission of baking pumpkin seeds which ended up tasting a lot like popcorn.

Don't mind the dead mums int he background, I can't seem to keep those alive for longer than a weekend.  Eric doesn't understand why I buy them every year when they go brown days later. :)

The night before Halloween Elle and I got to work baking Halloween cupcakes to take to Mary's house for Halloween.  She of course loved the icing and was great at adding sprinkles.  She loves getting on her step stool and helping me in the kitchen!

Successful Halloween season :)