The Vestal Family: December 2014

I love the end of year holidays. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to be with family and Christmas is a million times more magical and wonderful with children in the house. We spent Thanksgiving this year in Sulphur Springs at Aunt Kobie's house. We decided to limit traveling this winter since it's so tough to travel with an infant and a toddler, and we've missed the Vestal side of our family quite a bit. Thankfully, Andrew hasn't forgotten any of the family he loves and can still be heard early in the morning talking about Uncle "Ma" and PawPaw. This Christmas, we have a lot of family coming to see us, and we're very excited to celebrate with all of them. We'll be at our house on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day (DD is coming to spend some time with us), and then the Price family is coming to celebrate with us on Friday (the 26th). PawPaw and Grandy will be back in FtWorth to see us the following week and we'll celebrate Christmas with them then. We'll definitely miss seeing Uncle Matt & Aunt Kim and our cousin Lexi and Uncle Mark.

The boys have been lots of fun this holiday season. Our Elf on the Shelf arrived with Grandy this year! Andrew is loving finding his elf in different spots in the mornings. We're also using our very special Advent calendar that Grandma Lil made for Tim many years ago. Andrew has absolutely loved getting all the sweet animals out of the pockets each day. It's been so sweet and heart warming to have this in our home to remind us of our special grandmother and how much she loved to make these sweet things for her grandchildren.

Charlie continues to be the most flexible and easy going baby. He's easy to tote around and generally patient when his schedule is off during the day. Andrew is still a very sweet big brother. He has his moments of jealousy, but when Charlie is upset, Andrew is still the first to bring him his paci and all the toys that Andrew knows are his favorites. He's a big boy and is wearing Andrew's 9-12 month winter clothes from last year - thankfully they are getting lots of good use! He loves to eat most of the time, but is never excited about eating peas. He loves sweet potatoes and corn and all fruits. He's a happy loving boy and an easy baby.

giggling during our bath time

5 months old!

At the museum with brother and Amanda. Charlie wishes he could get out and play too!

Sitting with his Great-Grandmother

Andrew is growing and changing so quickly. The latest "Andrew-isms" have been his love of choo choo trains and fire trucks (and the fun noises they make), and how he is always holding his hands behind is back (most often when he's nervous or being extra thoughtful about something). We've had so many meltdowns at home due to his frustration with not being able to communicate well yet... but our hearts have melted watching him interact with other kids. He's showing us that he's caring, thoughtful, generous, and a fun playmate. He has his moments of jealousy, but they are few and far between. He can often be seen watching a friend become sad/frustrated (Andrew will watch with his hands behind his back), then Andrew moves in with a toy or a pat to try and make them feel better. He loves to hand out hugs and kisses to the friends he knows best. He's also recently started nodding "yes" very dramatically when he either agrees with you or is responding with a yes to a question. It's such a simple gesture, but it's made our lives so much easier and has helped us make huge strides to communicating better.