Warmed up to Santa

Well, we made 2 more visits with Santa since the last post. Elijah warmed up to the jolly old man quite quickly. A week after the previous visit, we went to the North Pole Express in Grapevine. Before we went on the train ride, we went to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop. Elijah walked right up! Of course, the candy cane bribe migh have helped! :) Nathan was being a stinker and refused to visit with Santa so this time, it was just Elijah.

Our final visit with Santa came a few days before Christmas. Our friend, Desiree Chapman (Just One Year Photography), hosted a Christmas celebration and took pictures of the kids with Santa. Elijah was leery at first, but he warmed up fast. And, you will notice...he isn't smiling a ton in these photos, but that's Elijah. He's very passive, and it just takes a lot to get him to smile.

Happy Holidays from the Lingenfelter Elves!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ag4in9CPg98tTLBH

*Can someone tell me how to put the video directly on here so that I don't have to do just the link???*

Santa Picture

We took the boys to meet Santa about 2 weeks ago when he arrived in Allen. We stood in the cold for hours to see him arrive on a firetruck. Elijah was ALLLLLL about that - chanting, "Santa, Santa, Santa!" while waiting and peaking under the railing to wave at him while we were in line. He and Nathan could hardly be kept back when it came time to see Santa. But, alas, when we got up there near him, this is what we got...

Happy 2nd Birthday, Elijah!

I'm a day late on this post - Elijah turned 2 yesterday. But, since I was up until 5 a.m. cleaning for his party today and then up again at 10 a.m. to get ready for his party...I'm just a bit slow! LOL

Sean took the day off yesterday to celebrate with the family. The morning started off with donuts for breakfast. Sean took the boys with him to pick out their favorite donuts...$13 and two boxes later...we had a box filled with donut holes - Elijah's favorite - and another box of an assorted dozen. They even threw in some sprinkled ones for the birthday boy! After getting dressed, we headed to The Zone, an indoor bounce house play area here in McKinney. We thought it would be a special treat, but the birthday boy wasn't as thrilled. He did get in, but he had to be holding on to Sean or I for dear life the whole time. Apparently, he does not like the instability under his feet that a bounce house offers. LOL

After that time of fun (we DID have fun; Elijah just wasn't thrilled), we went to Toys R Us to use Elijah's $3 off coupon that he got for being part of the Toys R Us birthday club. We went in and told them it was his birthday - he got a crown to wear and a mylar balloon. As we were walking through the store, we heard an announcement over the intercom, "We have a special guest in the store with us today. Elijah is turning 2; you will see him walking around with his crown and balloon." And, as we walked through the store, other customers wished our little man, "Happy Birthday!" It was so sweet. He wound up picking out a huge dinosaur from Animal Planet. It's the size of a stuffed animal, but plastic and soft inside. He slept with it last night! And hey, it was only $8 so we paid 5 bucks for it with the coupon. From there, we came home for a lunch of PB and banana sandwiches (which Daddy thinks is weird so he had PB and honey). Then, it was time for the boys' nap...during which time Daddy and I cleaned house some more for the party today.

After naps and a viewing of WALL-E (which Pawpaw Link sent Daddy for his birthday), we decided to take Elijah out to dinner. We thought about going to Chick-Fil-A for a change of pace, but Elijah doesn't like Chick-Fil-A. Yes, that' right...we cannot get him to eat CFA. The last time I took him there, he held the nugget in his mouth until he gagged on them and then spit them out. But, the one place where he will down all 4 nuggets....McDonald's. Yep, that's where we wound up! Pretty funny, huh? He climbed up into the play area, got stuck and Sean had to (he volunteered, really LOL) go get him because Nathan couldn't.

Once home, we gave the birthday boy a bath and got him snuggled in bed. But before that, he'd gotten birthday calls from both grandmas, Geoffrey the Giraffe from Toys R Us and Mickey Mouse (something Sean ordered online with some Disney points he had from movies). Elijah loved all his phone calls.

Today was his Elmo/Sesame Street birthday party. All of our family and close friends were here. We had Little Ceasar's pizza for lunch, then presents and an Elmo cake made by my best friend, Amber. While Elijah loved all the gifts (which he maticulously opened, as I mentioned earlier), the party was all about the Elmo CAKE for him! (He got all upset the other day when he requested an Elmo cake from Amber and she couldn't produce it right then. LOL) And the cake is all about the ICING! He was a blue mess by the end (blue and yellow trim/writing). I have some pics I need to upload and will post later. We had some cute crayon candles that Amber found, and Elijah was yelling, "Crayons!" Our friend then pointed out to his son that these were "special" crayons - we don't light real crayons or put them on cake. LOL And, Elijah sang "Happy Birthday" to himself when the rest of us sang; it was very cute.

I took these picture of the birthday boy a few weeks ago at a local park. We used the one of him with all 3 Sesame Street characters on his birthday invites...Enjoy!

My Guys

I am very behind in my blogging. Life just got really crazy for us there for a bit! We just finished Elijah's birthday party today, though, and I think we're just ready for Christmas and New Year's now...oh, and my 30th birthday (Ugh!).

I just had to take some time to brag on my guys, though. I am so proud of all 3 of them!

Youngest first...Elijah turned 2 yesterday. I can't believe my "baby" is entering his 3rd year of life. Wow! How did THAT happen? His vocab has grown by leaps and bounds, as I mentioned. There are a few things that I still have to interpret, even to Daddy. LOL But, most of the time, he's pretty clear. His most recent accomplishment has been learning to catch a ball. He's been able to throw for a while, but catching has been troublesome. That is until righ before Thanksgiving when he caught a ball that Sean threw to him. What a big boy! I took him to the doctor the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and he's huge - most of you who have seen him in person already know this. He weighs 30 lbs. - over average - and is 37 inches tall (off the charts). I was told that he is the size of a 3 year old! Geez, son!!! Elijah is my little perfectionist...everything has to be lined up just right and perfect. When opening gifts today at his party, he maticulously took every.single.piece of paper off the gifts. Very organized about it. Actually quite funny to see in a 2 year old. LOL Here's a recent photo of my big boy...

Nathan is growing by leaps and bounds too. I have already mentioned how he is memorizing Scripture in his new "big boy" class at church. He already has 3 verses under his belt (since the end of Oct.) and is currently working on two verses for the church's Christmas program on 12/21 (Citipointe Church - meets at Clark High School in Plano, 10 a.m. - would love to have you join us). Just to tell you how amazing his memory is...my sis and brother-in-law got a Christmas Story ornament a few years ago. It's the scene of the boy with his tongue stuck on the poll. Nathan was over at their place 2 years ago when they got it (after I had Eijah and was rehospitalized; he was 2 at the time). We didn't make it over there last year during Christmas so it has been 2 years since he's seen this. Well, when we started talking about decorating for Christmas, he started talking about this ornament. We were all amazed that he remembered something that he saw once 2 years ago. Heck, I'm shocked he remembers anything from 2! My memories don't start until 3!!! Here's a current picture of my biggest "baby"...(shhhh! Don't tell him I said that! He IS 4, you know!)

This is Nathan and his best bud, Grant, at Sean's 30th birthday party last month...

And finally, THE BIG MAN! LOL Sorry, I meant to say the OLD MAN! Ha, ha! Love you, Babe! I have to give him a hard time because he turns the big 3-0 next Saturday. :) I just told him that he was entering his last week of his 20's, and he gave me that SHUT UP smile. Anyways....there is a point to me mentioning him...LOL Most of you know (or maybe you don't) that Sean is an engineer, but technically, he's an engineer-in-training. What's the difference, you ask?! Well, there is a process to become a professional engineer. First, you must receive a undergrad/grad degree in engineering (any kind). Sean received his bachelor of science in electrical engineering (his first job pursuit) from UTD in Dec. 2004. At the time, Sean had many years of experience (since high school) in CIVIL engineering - just a field that God opened the doors into in high school. While he was out of a job for 7 months in 2004 (fun times - I was expecting Nathan!), he pursued work in the electrical engineering field, but to no avail. The field was still recovering from 9/11 and was not interested in new hires. After getting a new job in the civil engineering field, he took the next step by taking his EIT (engineer in training) test in April 0f 2005. Once approved as an EIT, one must then work 4 years of apprenticeship under professional engineers. At the time, that seemed soooooo far away....BUT, coming this spring, Sean's 4 years will be fulfilled. It is then that he will complete his final step - taking the big exam to get his professional engineering license. It is then that he will be Sean Lingenfelter, PE. He ordered the books and registered/paid for the exam last week (his company is compensating). Even though it is still 6 months away...okay, 5 months...he is already super nervous. So, any prayers lifted this way for this matter are greatly appreciated. You should see the books he has - wowzers! I am just super proud of him for making it this far and for pursuing his dream. He would really love to be in land development someday, but until then, he is following where God leads. Doors are opening already for him with his position on the P&Z Committee. I am anxious to see what God has in store. Here's a new photo of the birthday boy that I somehow conned him into taking for his own surprise birthday party...

In general...Our finances are being stretched right now (our garage door broke this a.m. and Sean's insurance just went up at work), but as an old song says, "Things are looking right for a miracle. Ain't no reason I should get hysterical - open up the door; God, you've done before. Things are looking right for a miracle." And hey, what a better time for a miracle right here at Christmas. Things are definitely lining up for one! :)