Holiday review...

Our Christmas tree!! And check out our adorable Santa countdown calendar...a big, special thanks to our MA cousins for that! :) BC can hardly wait for Dec. 1 to get his first Hershey's kiss!

BC quickly lost interest in decorating and decided it was way more fun to play with the Christmas train instead!

Daddy helping him hang one of his favorites...a race car!

My 2 babies... sweet as can be!

Part of the Thanksgiving crew! BC looks like he's about to get into some trouble with that spoon...

The self-portrait... check out those blue eyes on my man! :)

My pretty Mama (the hostess with the most-ess) and me! :)

2 silly sisters...aren't they cute?!?!

Bear Cub hanging out with Uncle Gene - in the kitchen, of course! :)

Hi all! Well, here we are...on our way to Christmas now! I can't believe it...although we are fully decorated here and shopping for Bear Cub is D-O-N-E. This year was so easy to choose things for him, because basically, as long as it's a toy...he LOVES and WANTS it. :) Christmas is going to be so fun for him (and us!) this year!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving at my mom's...having a fairly quiet celebration with my aunts and uncle. We had beautiful weather, delicious food, and best of all, a wonderful family to be with. I really am continuing to remember all that I am thankful for and all of the great things we have in our life. I need to do that all year long, and not just at this time of year. :)

It was so nice to have Daddy Bear home for a long weekend, too! We did some shopping (even venturing out on Friday with Mimi Bear for a bit) and also got a lot done around the house. We have a big patio/paver project in the works here, so Daddy got a lot done in the yard in preparation for the big task of putting in the pavers. I'm excited to have a place to put our outside table and chairs! :)

Well, just the usual here for us this week. Enjoying our nice weather, school on Tuesday and Thursday, and a play date with friends. This weekend Bear Cub will have the chance to meet Santa here in our community and do some fun activities too, so that will be fun (Or scary?? He's a little iff-y on the big guy).

Have a great week and let the countdown to Christmas begin! :)

Bear Cub's BIG DAY!

Yesterday we headed to our mall so Bear Cub could go to Build-a-Bear! He has wanted to do this for a long time now, always stopping to check out the bears and puppies when we shop. At school, he's been working on being a good listener and "sitter" during Circle Time and finally earned enough frog stickers to make his BIG trip to build his dream puppy! He had a blast! He knew the process (because of all of our visits to the store!) and loved actually getting to do it! Here are some pictures from our fun outing. Yay for Bear Cub...we're proud of how hard he is trying at school...what a big boy he is! :) Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Trying to decide which puppy to make....

Decision made! Here he is helping to put the "bark box" inside his puppy's paw.

He did great at helping to "fluff" his puppy!

BC hugging his puppy's heart before it went in...he also gave it a nice, big KISS!

His puppy is almost done!

Here he is, brushing and blow drying his new friend!

YAY!

Bear Cub entering in his puppy's information on his birth certificate....he officially named his puppy, "ROSCOE." (just like his friend's real dog in Jacksonville!)

All loaded up and ready to take Roscoe home!

Roscoe's first car ride...he did very well! And look how HAPPY our Bear Cub is! :)

Gobble, gobble!

At breakfast this morning, BC told me that his piece of bologna was the "vocal sac of his frog plate." Um, ya see....he LOVES frogs! :)

He's been so excited to take "night walks" after dinner...he brings the flashlight to look for...you guessed it, frogs and toads! And he usually finds them...and catches them!

At Epcot -- only some of the Christmas decorations were up there

Daddy and BC in front of the model train set outside of Epcot's Germany. BC could stand there for HOURS watching the trains go by!

All smiles in front of a mock fire truck at "Innoventions" Epcot.

Hello! Well, happy week of Thanksgiving! Bear Cub is at school this morning...a little different from his usual schedule because of the holiday week. He's recovering from some little bug...had a fever on Saturday so we stayed home all day yesterday for him to get better. He seems to be doing well! We did go to Epcot on Saturday and had a good time... had to cut our visit short once we felt how warm our lil guy was. I will say that it was REALLY nice to just spend some quality family time at home yesterday! We need to do that more often! :)

Have a wonderful week ahead! My goal for the week is to really focus on all the things that I am thankful for. It's a shame that it takes the week of Thanksgiving to get me thinking like this, because there is SO much in life to be thankful for...each and every day. So, to start off...I'd like to say that I am thankful for my friends and family that read this blog and care about Bear Cub and his family! :) I'll post more again soon... Take care!

Bad blogger alert

Hi all! Geez, I'm sorry for my lack of posting and creativity as of late! We've been busy with our usual stuff around here -- library trips, school, playing with friends, and visiting with family. Last weekend, we headed to our home town for my sister-in-law's baby shower. Bear Cub's newest cousin is due January 1 and we had a great time celebrating her on Saturday! I can't even believe this little girl's wardrobe already... it's incredible! BC's great-grandma and aunt & uncle were in town for the occasion too, so we really had a nice time seeing them. :) It all really makes me remember how thankful I am for such a wonderful family that we have, all around!

Bear Cub's biggest thing lately has been the question "WHY??" to EVERYTHING! Oh my...we have some conversations that go around and around....with each answer of mine, he turns around and asks another "Why?" question! Eventually I have to throw in the towel because I'm out of answers! He is one curious little guy - which is absolutely wonderful. And he soaks it all in, just like a sponge!

Science is definitely going to be BC's forte. You know he LOVES frogs, but he is interested in anything related to animals. This week at the library, we probably checked out 15 science-related books --- reptiles, frogs, nocturnal animals, insects...the list goes on and on! I'm excited that he loves science so much. It really makes a walk around our neighborhood an adventure because he can find any little creature imaginable and we always end up learning something. I do believe we have a future scientist on our hands. :)

I promise to post some pictures soon! I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is next week - I swear the weeks just keep slipping on by. Hang with me and the blog...I'll get back to my old ways once again soon! Have a great Friday...and an even better weekend! :)

Happy Birthday to our girl!

Our Zoe Belle is now 7 years old! I had to post in honor of our spunky, barky, sweet and cuddly lil girl pup! I'll have to find some pics from my old computer to post of her when she was a puppy -- oh my, she was the cutest thing ever (not much has changed!). We love our "first born!" :) Happy, happy birthday!

Bear Cub picture post

Bear Cub's bathroom -- recently outfitted with a new shower curtain and awesome frog poster! We LOVE it! Ribbit, ribbit...CROAK!

Big shoes to fill...

I think he enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies I made this week! ;)

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone! :)

Introducing...

Mr. O!! He's the cutest 3-month-old ever! :)

This weekend, I took a 2-night trip to Atlanta (all by myself!) to visit my cousin, her husband and their beautiful new son. It was such a great time...I loved holding this little guy and getting those sweet baby snuggles from him. It was so fun to visit with my cousins too -- they are some of my favorite people in the world! Little Mr. O loves to be outside, so we spent most of our weekend enjoying the gorgeous Fall weather --- wow, I even got to see some leaves that had changed color! So that's what that looks like! ;) I feel more like an auntie to this lil man, as his Mama and I are definitely more like sisters than cousins. I'm so happy to have gone up to visit...and in case you're wondering, my own little & big men did just fine at home. :)

P.S. I SWEAR I was there...we just never got around to taking any pics of ME with Mr. O!

Next time...

I just LOVE his big, gummy smiles that I got out of him! :)

Ahhh...the things you do to a baby, just to get a cute picture!!

Mr. O...I love you!

Still here!

Hi all! I'll post pictures soon (hopefully today!) from my great weekend visit with my cousin and her family...including pictures of their ADORABLE 3-month-old son....whom I'll refer to as Mr. O on the blog. :) Check back in the next day or so! Have a good one!

More Halloween pics & a VIDEO!! :)

Pumpkins, candy...Ruff! Ruff!

Heading out to carve his pumpkin on Thursday afternoon

Working hard....so serious!

Helping Daddy...

Our cute pumpkins!

Say, "BOO!"

Trick-or-treating at school on Friday...it was TOO hot for him to wear his costume pants!

Bear Cub and his lovely ladies. They wanted him to "Ruff!" the whole time!

Getting his puppy nose drawn on before trick-or-treating

Our "fire dog" - he's been wanting to be a dalmation for Halloween since early summer!

Off he goes! Poor guy...he was SO hot after about 20 min. of walking around the neighborhood.

BC with our neighborhood buddies

Looking for the perfect piece of candy...

Well, we had a fun and busy Halloween! Bear Cub was the cutest pup on the block (also the hottest -- so much for any cool Fall weather for us!) and got a decent amount of candy. After about 30 min. of trick or treating, he said he was ready to go home and take his costume off. He helped pass out candy for a while...and wow, did we get A LOT of kiddos at our door! We were inside, with lights off, by about 8 p.m. ... hot, sweaty, and tired! It was fun...but now, it's on to the next holiday! Bear Cub's latest question is, "Is it Trissmas time yet???" Ho, ho, ho! Just around the corner, my lil pup.... ;)