Dreaming of a White Christmas?

If so, this post may change your mind. We're currently experiencing the Blizzard of 2009, something that Oklahoma rarely ever sees.

Oklahoma City is the crossroads of three major interstates and numerous turnpikes, all of which are currently shut down. There are multi-car pile-ups around every bend, people stranded in the cold and the National Guard has been working since this morning to assist drivers.

Meanwhile, we're passing the time by opening a few gifts early, making arts and crafts, cooking and dancing to Christmas music. The timing of this storm just happens to coincide with the week that Michael has decided to train Roxy to potty outside. She's been pad trained her entire life, and is now refusing to pee outside during the blizzard. I don't blame her one bit, but I must say Michael's patience in continuing the training is admirable. Here they were this morning on one of several failed attempts to potty in the backyard:

Notice Roxy's ears. That's from the crazy blizzard wind.

Despite her doggy coat, Roxy is not excited for some outside time.

My dad and Susan are housebound with us and brought an ornament making kit with Grayson's hand print. That kept us entertained for a good portion of the morning.

By 3:30 Mike and Grayson couldn't stand it anymore and they decided to venture out.

It took about 10 minutes to get him dressed and about 45 seconds to decide he didn't want to be outside anymore.

Here's the view down our street a few hours ago.

Our house which currently has 2+ foot snow drifts surrounding it.

The accumulation by the garage door.

Party time

Last Friday Grayson's school had their Christmas party. For one-year-olds this basically means singing a few songs and then eating a bunch of junk food. I took a few party pics to mark the occasion.

Here they are singing and waiting on their plates of junk food to be delivered. Notice the girl next to Gray sucking her thumb. Her daddy cut her bangs a few weeks back and now she has a full-on mullet. Her mom was not a happy camper, as they had yet to take their holiday picture.

Now do you see what I mean about junk food? Cheese puffs, cookies, marshmallows and cupcakes just to name a few. Grayson enjoyed the cheese puffs, sliced cheese and juice box, but didn't care much for the sweets. I was in shock that he could even maneuver the juice box straw, but he managed quite well.

Roxy at 5 years

Today is Roxy's fifth birthday! She may be a little grayer and a little more crotchety, but she's still as spunky as the day we brought her home. I remember trying to pick out a name with Michael the day we got her (which was actually in February once she could be weaned from her mom). I was dead set on naming our dog Bella (that was well before the Twilight series character phenomenon), but when we met her it just didn't fit. I don't remember how we came up with Roxy, but it suits her well.

This little lady has been through a lot over the last five years. She's lived in two states, three houses and gone from being the queen of her domain to low woman on the totem pole. She's had a hip joint removed, survived Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and dutifully makes car trips to Houston despite her auto anxiety.

Roxy is a great cover stealer and for being such a little thing, manages to take up just as much bed space as a human. But despite these nuances, she's a snugly companion who is fiercely loyal (as long as you rub her belly from time to time).

Roxy's reign may have officially ended 15 months ago, but she still gets to be queen for today.

Merry Christmas from the Three Amigos

We recently got together with two of the couples who were part of the 2009 baby boom you may recall from last summer. Baby Liam and Baby Cora are now around six months old and as adorable as ever.

To mark their first Christmas together, we wanted a nice picture of the trio that we could look back on over the years. Here's a glimpse at how the brief photo shoot went.

Don't worry, Grayson wasn't really punching Liam in the eye, it just looks like it from the angle.

The rivalry over Cora's affection has begun!

And, we're done.

I must say, Liam was quite the trooper during the entire thing. I think he's going to be laid back like his parents.

Here's a link to our Flickr site where I've uploaded the rest of the pictures.

Our Little Explorer

This week, Grayson discovered the toilet. I don't mean in a "I need to go potty" kind of way, more like he wants to put his hands and toys in the water kind of way.

We've been keeping the lid down, but were trying to avoid using a baby proofer strap on the lid since the bathroom he plays near is also our guest bathroom.

Instead, we've been trying to keep the doors closed as much as possible, but this week he managed to get past us and not only drop a small plastic bowl in the toilet, but then stick his own hand in to fish it out.

He's also enamored with the shiny silver flush knob and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he discovers the toilet paper roll as well.

Ah, the fun times we have ahead. Guess we should locate our plunger for quick recovery of Little People figurines and small toy cars. Fingers crossed our cell phones or iPods don't land in there as well.

A Day in the Life

Lately we've had several family members ask what Grayson is in to these days so they can search out a Christmas gift he'd like. The problem is it's difficult to describe to people some of his favorite activities, much less buy things to go along with those pastimes. Here's a short list of Grayson's current hobbies of choice:

Opening up boxes of his Gerber Graduate Entree meals and also stacking them on his highchair

Wearing hats and gloves and pulling them on and off himself

Opening and closing the door to our laundry room

Playing in the cabinet where we keep his Gerber entrees and his sippy cups (there's also a lazy susan in there which is all kinds of fun to spin around)

Giving hugs and kisses

A Kodak Moment

Last year for Grayson's first Christmas, Michael and I decided we were not going to take him to see Santa at the mall until he was old enough to ask for it. We didn't want him to be traumatized by the big red guy.

Then this year, Grayson's school decided to have Santa come to them so all bets were off. After forking over ten bucks, we got this wonderful keepsake photo of Grayson's first visit with Mr. Claus.

Not only is Grayson quite the disheveled looking boy with pants riding up and holding some random toy to distract him from crying, but to top it off, Santa isn't even looking at the camera and his belt is held together with a paperclip. Ah, the joy of the holidays.

I hope Grayson asked for a refund for Christmas.