Winter Wonderland

Sunday was an exceptionally beautiful day with temps in the upper 70's, so we decided to take a little trip out to Folly and put our toes in the sand. The only problem was, Henry wanted to put his fat little toes (and his whole body for that matter) in the frigid ocean water. So we were playing defense on him by the end of the day to keep him out.

The pier and beach were pretty crowded with people who had the same idea. There were even surfers in the water and Henro was mesmerized!

I love this pic above with my boys looking off into the sun!

And this one...

I can't believe we get to enjoy this weather in the middle of winter!

Christmas Day at Mimi & Pops

Christmas Day was a balmy 79 degrees and none of us got to wear any of the nice winter clothes we got for Christmas! Only in the south! Or maybe it's just global warming...

But, we did have on shorts and flip flops and it was heaven!

We got over to Mimi and Pops around 10:00 to begin opening presents with Daniel. Henry was knee deep in wrapping paper and loving every minute of FINALLY being able to "openit!" Doug and Frankie spoiled us once again this year and we are so grateful for all we received. We had 12 people for lunch at 3:00 and it was devine!

The Earnst Boys on the dock
Henry got an apron from Mimi and wore it all day so he could help Uncle D cook the standing rib roast on the Green Egg. Daniel is already teaching Henry the ways of being an "egg head".
He LOVES his Dump Chuck
Cute boys
Mimi and Pops gave Henry his first crab net so he can catch fish and crabs with the big boys.
Henry's filthy candy cane and dirt stained shirt....sign of a perfect Christmas Day!
Hitting golf balls into the creek is a Christmas Day tradition at the Earnsts house and Henry got to participate this year.
Look at the sun's rays coming down over the Stono River...Beautiful!
NON STOP!!!

Merry Christmas,

Brad, Shelby, and Henry

Christmas Morning

We were pleasantly surprised with a wake-up call from Henry's bedroom at 7:15 on Christmas morning. He has been waking up quite a bit earlier, so we were thrilled! We did the usual stalling. You know, setting up the camera and last minute touch ups. And then we let him come into the living room and just take it all in! And boy did he! The first thing he saw was his basketball goal and he looked at Brad and I and said: "abakaball" with a huge grin on his face. And then he just sort of walked around the room from toy to toy in amazement. It was probably one of the most fun Christmas mornings I've ever had. Seeing it through my baby's eyes was truly amazing! Santa was very good to all of us this year and we feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have each other, a warm home, food on the table, jobs to provide, and the love of our family and friends.

Henry checking out his new bathtub toys.

They have already been a big hit! He also got some letters that stick to the bathtub wall so we can learn the alphabet.

We're trying hard to enhance his creative side, so Santa brought him a "Doodle Pro". He likes it, but would rather be riding his trains and motorcycles around the room. We're gonna keep trying, though!

One of our traditions is that we cook a big breakfast after we open all of our gifts to tide us over for the big meal later in the day. This year Henry wanted to help "cook it". He would come over to the stove with my tongs and say "cook it", so I held him up and he loved helping. We made "Oozy Bread" and had fresh grapefruit. Oozy bread is 1 stick of butter, syrup, biscuits, and bacon. I mean, it doesn't get better than that!

Brad probably held Henry up to the b'ball goal 100 times to dunk it! Both of them loved it!

This is Henry coming into the living room first thing looking cute as a button in his red pj's.

Some of Henry's goodies from Santa...

a new bath towel, rain boots, new outfit, and Happy Feet Movie

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for a great 2009!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was so much fun this year! We went to the 5:00 service at our church, which was really for children. You couldn't be too loud or rambunctious in there and Henry loved the Christmas Pageant and sitting with Olivia. Afterward, we came home for a quick pizza dinner and then rode around and looked at Christmas lights before the party at the Patricks at 8:00. The party was lots of fun and Brad got to catch up with some old friends from high school. We were home by about 9:45, in time to get our Christmas Eve traditions underway.

Henry opened his first present and was none too thrilled that it was pajamas and not toys. But, this is a tradition in my family and I plan on keeping it alive. I loved these little flannel "boyfriend" pj's and couldn't resist getting them while I was in Charlotte.

Daddy read The Polar Express and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas while our little boy listened so intently. It was precious how he hung onto every word! We then got out the cookies and milk for Santa and off to bed at 10:00 for one tired little boy. This is waaaay past his bedtime, but he did great with all the action!
Brad and I stayed up to "prep" for Christmas morning and then we were off to bed shortly after.

Visions of sugarplums danced in his head...



These traditions that we are making as a family are so fun and important and each year just gets better and better!

Friends

Tuesday Rebecca came to town to hang out while she's in the South for the holidays. Brad was kind enough to keep Henry at home so I could go out with mine and HIS friends. We had dinner at the Mustard Seed and then to Gene's Haufbrau for a few drinkies! We had so much fun and it was great being with Rebecca, if only for a short while.

Frozen Veggies Anyone?

I was "cooking" Henry's supper just now and had this bag of frozen green beans out on the counter. He was having a fit to "havone" so I handed him one. And wouldn't you know it...he loved it! NASTY! Hard as a rock, frozen, and ice cold. But, he loved it and kept asking for more. I guess my boy doesn't have such a sophisticated pa let after all.

As Promised...

Henry has been practicing some of his daredevil moves lately by standing on the side of the sofa and falling face forward. He begins by saying: "Watchis" with sort of a hillbilly twang.

...and then falls into a fit of giggles.

Henry with Grammy and Tricia
We headed to Lexington to spend some QT with my Mama's family. TT was a great hostess as always and we had so much fun!

Henry and I delivered our homemade party mix to our neighbors this afternoon. He loved knocking on the door and delivering the goodies. And then begging for pretzels out of the boxes...nice!

Last week we took Henry to see the lights and tree at Marion Square downtown. It wasn't nearly as elaborate as the James Island lights, but fun nonetheless.

Our view of the tree from the bottom

And little man was THRILLED!!!

The countdown is on now and i'm about to die with excitement!!!
Merry Christmas Ya'll

What We've Been Up To...

Life at the Earnst household has been rather busy. Hence, the lack of posts and pictures. Sorry about that. I promise some soon! So, here's a little list of what's been happenin'...

• Last minute shopping trips
• A quick visit from Nana on Wednesday night
• Trip to Lexington to TT's Thursday and Friday nights
• Seeing my sisters precious "under construction" house...LOVE IT!!!
• Hook Family Party on Saturday
• Shopping with the Earnsts for our adopted less fortunate family's Christmas
• Wrapping presents
• Wrapping more presents
• Christmas Parties
• Driving around to light displays to see the wonder in Henry's eyes
• Trying to tame my "way off his schedule, high on sugar, overindulged" little almost 2 year old
• Early Church on Sunday
• Lunch and Christmas exchange with Keller Sunday afternoon
• Work stress
• Eating waaay too much
• Cooking not so healthy dinners for my family
• Making Chex Party mix for friends and neighbors
• Going out to din-din (Mustard Seed) with 2 of my besties tomorrow night...so excited
• Getting so so so excited about getting to experience Santa Claus all over again through my babies eyes!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Wal*Mart

Call it Wally World.

Call it a huge retail conglomerate.

Call a black hole.

Call it the abyss.

I call it H*LL!

And the Earnst family visited H*LL on Friday afternoon at, oh, around 5:00 rush hour! Along with every other "savory" character in North Charleston. *just an aside...North Charleston is ranked #7 in the U.S. for crime or most dangerous city*

Brad has searched high and low for a certain basketball goal for Henry for Christmas and every store that he has visited is sold out. This was our LAST option before ordering it online and having to pay for shipping. So we loaded up the Civic. Yes, I said Civic. The small compact car complete with car seat in the back and golf clubs in the trunk. Brad assured me that in the event that they have it (he didn't think they would), the box would fit in the car. "It's not that big.", he says. "I'm sure you're right honey.", I reply. Well, they did have it. THE LAST ONE...in the whole city I presume! We were so excited and Henro was oblivious to the whole event! He was happy as a lark just riding the buggy and viewing all of the interesting...err...crazy people. So we purchase the item and Brad hauls it over his shoulder and heads to the car. But before he could get out the door, the very manly girl receipt checker basically runs him down to get a look at his receipt. She was ticked to say the least, thought he was trying to bolt with the box, and was not amused by my laughter! I had tears rolling down my cheeks at this point from laughing so hard b/c my case of Bud Light kept falling off the cart causing major 'traffic jams' and I had just clipped the heels of a fellow patron. I thought he was going to beat my arse!

So, we finally make it to the car with the box, the boy, and the beer in tact. Pop the trunk. Box doesn't fit. Try the back seat. Box doesn't fit. Try the front seat. Box doesn't fit. So we rearrange the trunk and shove the box in with half of it hanging out and take the dog leash, that happened to be in the back, and strap down the trunk. Ghetto style fo sho! Brad, God love him, was a nervous wreck cruising down I-26 with our baggage and was petrified that we were going to be the cause of a 20 car pile up. Brad was white knuckling the steering wheel, Henry was "squealing" and I was still laughing! TYPICAL!!!

But, we made it home safe and sound and there is gonna be one happy little boy on Christmas morning when Santa Claus delivers that BIG OL TOY!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Big Fat "Goose Egg"

About a month ago Uncle D predicted that we would be taking a trip to the ER with our rambunctious one before Christmas. And he was ALMOST right! No ER, but we did visit the after hours clinic at St. Francis tonight.

I was digging around in my closet after work when Henry came running into the room to get me and tripped over a bag that was in the middle of the floor. He fell face first into the corner of the closet door and came up with a BIG FAT GOOSE EGG on his forehead! No consciousness lost, no broken skin or bleeding, and no vomiting. Only about a minute of hard crying. I called the doctors office and they were already closed, so the doc on call called me back. She said he was probably fine, but it's never a bad idea to get checked out. And we did just that over at Peds Plus.

The precious Scottish doctor checked my buddy out and confirmed that he was OK, but that we need to watch him for about 24 hours. I knew he was OK. I just needed to hear it from a professional. And I'll sleep much better tonight b/c of it!

So, my little "wild man" has a new battle wound, but it hasn't slowed him down one bit! It looks terrible (much worse than these pics indicate), but he is one tough little boy! And I love him to pieces!

Holiday Festival of Lights

We took a little trip over to James Island with Mimi tonight for the Holiday Festival of Lights.
We rode all around the park to look at the awesome light displays and Henry loved it! He also got a chance to sit on the most jolly and real looking St. Nick i've ever seen. Henry told him he wanted toys and prizes. He was a tad hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up!

I mean, look at this Santa...and those rosy cheeks!

Afterwards we met Pops at El Dorado for some yummy Mexican!

Decorating the Tree and Damage Control

Whew! It is 8:20 and this mama is just plain worn out! We left G'ville at around 9:45 and got back to Charleston at 1:00. Our Christmas Tree was delivered yesterday morning and it was my full intention to have it up and decorated by 3:00. Well, that didn't happen after Brad accidentally stepped on one of the lights and blew that strand. That left only one and clearly not enough to do the job. So off we ALL went to Lowe's to get more lights and hopefully some lighted garland for my front porch. Wouldn't it be our luck that every last white light in that joint was GONE and all that was left some tackyfied icicle lights that i'll be having no part of. Apparently Lowe's was having some 50% off sale and everyone in the Tri-County area had heard of it and cleared the shelves. I also needed a live wreath for the front door and of course they didn't have that either. So, three out of the three things we needed they didn't have.
Home Depot...here we come. Got the white lights and was satisfied with that! No wreath and no lighted garland! Home by 4:00 with a toddler that had been couped up in a car/buggy all day...WHOAAA!

But, alas, the tree is up and decorated to my liking and my sweet little boy even participated in the ornament hanging. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE bringing out all of my ornaments and taking a little stroll down memory lane. I got teary eyed a few times looking at some from my childhood, the year we got married, when I was pregnant with Henry, and Henry's first Christmas.

Surprisingly, Henry has been pretty good with not yanking on the tree or pulling down the ornaments. Granted, I've got only the top half decorated, but he's trying sooooo hard to be good. Only a few little reprimands and death threats...just kidding!

"Mom, i'm outta here!"

Helping Mommy hang ornaments

On the way home from our "treasure hunt to find lights"! This boy was ready to get out!

Hanna and John Couples Shower

A bunch of us threw Hanna and John a Couples/Around the House Shower Saturday night in Greenville. It was a big success and they got tons of great things to start their new life! Hanna looked GORGEOUS!
Below are some pics from the evening...

Hanna and the F.O.B

Hanna and Me with Grammy and Papa (who I give total props to for being 81 and still traveling to parties!)

Sarah, Hanna, Shelby, Jean

Owen, Lauren and Jean

The Happy Couple

Hanna and one of her besties, Carene

Owen, Daddy, Deb, and Brad

The Earnsts and The Estills