Happy 2011!

Nathan just loves running around naked after his bath....

Is that the cutest little butt you've ever seen or what!?!?

Nathan is getting so good at feeding himself but he likes to put a HUGE amount of food on his spoon...

However, he always gets his mouth open wide enough to fit it in...

We had a nice big snow storm around the middle of January and Daddy took Nathan out to play...

Daddy introduced Nathan to the fine art of snow eating...

And although Nathan was quite puzzled at first...

He decided to give it a try for himself and was actually quite a fan...

As was Baxter...

Check this out - the snow was up to Nathan's knees...

Daddy also introduced Nathan to making snow angels...

 

Although Nathan wasn't too interested...

He was all for standing on top of Daddy while he laid in the snow...

Happy 19 month birthday Nathan...

This month, we decided to promote Nathan from his high chair to a booster seat.  We've really enjoyed having him sit at the table with us (by the way, this is his new picture pose; usually, as soon as you pull out the camera, he tilts his head to the side like this)...

We've been bathing Nathan at night before bed but of course we don't like him to go to sleep with a wet head, so he's all about blow drying his hair...

What a face...

Nathan has really taken to playing hide-and-seek.  Do you notice anything behind the coat tree (the sippy cup of milk on the floor was a dead giveaway)...



As usual, I need to share some cute Nathan stories from the month...

In the middle of the month, Nathan gave us quite a scare - he gave us the impression that it was time to start potty training him!  Mommy has been dreading this more than the phase of letting him learn how to feed himself.  For two weeks in a row he would stop in his tracks, say "pee pee" and pat his crotch...and sure enough, afterwards, his diaper was wet. Then, one day, I got him out of his bath and was drying him off and getting ready to dress him while he was on his dressing table.  As I was getting his diaper on, he patted his crotch and said "poo poo."  I knew there wasn't any poo poo because I had just put his diaper on...but sure enough, after getting him dressed and his hair brushed, I checked and there was a poo poo! So, he clearly knows the difference between the two and he also apparently knows when it's coming!  We put him on the potty a few times when he gave us the "pee pee" warning and although he really thought it was fun to sit there, nothing ever came of it - thank God!  Diapers are my friend and I'm in no rush to get rid of them! 

One of my personal all-time favorite Nathan stories...one Sunday we were getting ready to leave for church and Daddy said "I need to get my Bible."  Well, Nathan took off running from the living room and came back with his Jesus Story Book Bible - TOO CUTE!!!!!

Many of you have heard me comment on Nathan's "unibrow" and one day this month when Nathan and I were shopping at Aldi, a little old lady commented that she wished she had his eyebrows because she has to paint hers on...what a hoot!

One last cute story - one day I was walking out of Nathan's room after putting him down for a nap and he waved and said "bye bye!"  What a doll baby he is!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Nathan rang in December - literally - by helping our good friends Josh, Linda, Cai Theresa and Caleb Walz ring the Salvation Army bells at Shop-N-Save...

As you can see, Nathan had a pretty fun time hanging out in the grocery cart, regardless of the chilly weather...

Then, it was off to our friend Nolan Wright's house to celebrate his 4th birthday.  What a fun party, which included cookie decorating (and of course some icing tasting in-between)...



A bit messy, but lots of fun...

December continued Nathan's strip acts...

Really enjoying his strawberries...

And shaving with Daddy...

December started one of Nathan's favorite past-times...crawling up onto the couch with a good book...

And making a bench out of just about anything...

Here's Nathan trying on Mommy's gloves for size...

December 18th marked a momentous first for the Krestels as we ventured off to Valley Farms...

Perused the tree selection...

Checked them out thoroughly...

And carefully chose our 2010 Christmas tree...

Which Daddy cut down!!!

It was a fun occasion that we enjoyed with Grandma and Grandpa...

And while Grandpa and Daddy got our tree securely on top of the car, Mommy, Grandma and Nathan enjoyed some hot chocolate and marshmallows...

As soon as we got the tree home and put up, Hobbes made himself nice and cozy underneath...

That evening Mommy and Daddy decorated it and the next morning Nathan was surprised to see the transformation...

He was especially enthralled with the bubble lights (what a blast from the past as Mommy enjoyed them on her Aunt Sandy's tree every year)...

And of course he enjoyed pulling off and playing with all of the low-lying, soft and unbreakable decorations...

Even the stockings were fun to play with (Mommy and Daddy bought him the cute train stocking this year as we're awaiting one from Great Aunt Sandy that she's needle pointing for Nathan)...

Here's our birthday boy on his 18-month birthday!  And what a treat - he got to go to his 18-month pediatrician appointment on his birthday!  He weighed in at 22 pounds 7 ounces (27th percentile) and measured 32 3/4 inches tall (61st percentile)...

But we ended the day with a truly special treat - a visit from our friends Josh, Jamie and Selwyn Teague.  They used to be our next door neighbors but moved to Charlotte, NC a few years ago.  We were excited to catch up in person and finally meet each other's kids...

Nathan was truly taken with Selwyn...

But with her beautiful eyes, who could resist!?!?!

One of our best Christmas gifts this year was a visit from MaMoo!  What a great picture before heading off to Christmas Eve service...

Here's Daddy reading Nathan The Story of Christmas on Christmas Eve...

Although our tree had lots of gifts underneath it Christmas morning...

God blessed us with the special gift of a white Christmas...

Our annual family jammie photo...

But here was our official Christmas card photo...

Here's Nathan ripping into his favorite Christmas gift...

Which was his ride-on race car that MaMoo got him - complete with cool sounds like an engine starting up, a pit-stop check and a crowd cheering him on...

We wrapped up our Christmas morning with MaMoo and Nathan making some sugar cookies.  Nathan was a natural at cutting out the dough...

And after watching MaMoo decorate a few...

He got the hang of it right away...

Then, it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's to celebrate with them and Uncle Steve and Aunt Hanna...

What a cutie...

Cuddling up with Mommy...

You may wonder why Nathan has such a big bottom here...

Well, it's because Aunt Hanna bundled him up to head out for some fun in the snow (aka "no") with Daddy, Uncle Steve and Baxter...

He took to it right away, like Daddy, like son...

Our little snow bunny...

Making tracks...

Learning how to pack a snowball...

Considering going in to get warm...

But deciding to keep on playing...

He may look like he's having fun with Daddy...

But things got even better once Daddy pulled out the sled...

Rosy cheeks...

Inside thawing out and helping Grandpa build a fire...

Sporting his Elmo (aka "Melmo") jammies from Uncle Steve and Aunt Hanna as we get ready to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus...

Celebrating the birth of our Savior - God's Greatest Gift...

In December, Nathan announced "to the world" that he's going to be a big brother...ETA June 22, 2011...

Before MaMoo had to head back to Philly, we spent the day at The Magic House with Aunt Carrie and Sarah...

The kiddos enjoyed playing on the lighted sand table...

And in the sandbox...

Nathan had a ball climbing through a little passageway...

And back out...

Oh boy...water...one of Nathan's very favorite things to play with...

He thought this little fountain was pretty fun...

Until it came squirting out at him...

One of the highlights for Nathan was the Goodnight Moon room since Daddy used to read this book to him every night before bed...

Yay - bubbles (aka "Bubba")...

Enjoying the huge music wheel with MaMoo before heading out...

Here's Nathan stuffing his face on New Year's Eve - we celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa's along with Uncle Steve and Aunt Hanna...

Cuddling with Daddy - who, believe it or not, did make it to midnight even though it was looking doubtful at this point...

Before saying goodbye to December, I want to share a few sweet Nathan stories... 

One day, Nathan and I were in his room and it was about nap time. I went over to his book shelf to pick out a book to read to him before putting him down and he came over, moved me out of the way, sifted through his oo cute!

Speaking of sleeping, this month Mommy and Daddy finally got to experience something precious that they've been waiting for - one morning Nathan woke up before Mommy and Daddy so Daddy went in and got him out of his crib and brought him into our room and he laid in bed and cuddled us for about twenty minutes - what bliss!

Another cute story…between running errands, we came home to grab something and I left him it the dining room with his coat on but when I came back seconds later, he didn’t have his coat on any longer.  I asked him where it was and he ran into the living room and showed me that he had laid it at the bottom of the coat rack.  What a smart little guy - hey, he didn't realize we were going back out!

One more…one day he was helping me with the laundry and as we were pulling the dirty laundry out of the hamper, he grabbed a placemat out of the basket and ran and put it on the dining room table.  He just knows that everything has it's place!