Christmas 2013

Here is a recap of our Christmas festivities this year:

We were able to meet the newest little McDonald on Christmas Eve, as Jamie and Cassie hosted Christmas this year at their house.  Finnegan Sloan McDonald arrived just one week before Christmas.  

Here is Finn sporting his new little Santa suit (I love the look of anticipation on Liam's face as he is waiting to hold him).     

 A family now of five; Shea and Liam are such proud big brothers!

 Presents everywhere!

The chef and construction worker

On Christmas day, Eli was excited to see a surprise from Santa.

Quite the little farmer

Then, we headed to my mom and dad's to celebrate Christmas with our family.

Santa stopped by for a visit without a tear even being shed by Eli;

in fact, I think they have now become friends.

Lastly, we wrapped up the celebrating today 

with my mom's side of the family.

 Playing with one of his favorites, Anna

 Eli was intrigued by the remote control helicopter.  

If you look closely, you can see it in midair.

 Thanks for the train set, Paige!

 My mom and her brothers and sisters

Cousins

Looking at these pictures again, I think of the family and legacy Grandma and Grandpa Winter have created and know they are looking down on all of us. 

2-1/2 Years

 Height:  38 inches

Weight:  38.8 pounds

At 2-1/2 years, Eli is always on the go.  He is an independent and content toddler who can entertain himself easily.  We have noticed more in unfamiliar situations he demonstrates a much more reserved demeanor, which is to be expected I guess with parents who are both introverts.  

As for his eating habits, Eli has developed his own preferences and is much more reluctant to eat foods he does not like.  For the longest time, he would not drink juice either, but he now enjoys juice of all flavors and of course his milk.  He still refuses to drink water.  Among his favorite foods include oatmeal, french toast, tuna and noodles, chicken nuggets, fruit snacks, pretzels, pudding, all types of fruit, and of course any kind of sweet treat.  Here's a new one we just discovered he loves - onion rings.  He will not eat any vegetables except corn and raw carrots.  

We are still waiting to begin the potty training process.  I don't think he is anywhere near ready yet.  He will occasionally announce that he has a dirty diaper but only after the fact.  His little potty has been set out for a while now, and he sat on it a few times, but we haven't really been too serious about it yet.  He has shown more interest in the real toilet by lifting the lid and flushing.

Eli has always been a really good sleeper.  When it was time for both his nap and to put him to bed at night, I would always lay him in his crib and he would go to sleep on his own shortly after.  Now, his sleeping habits are changing a bit since he will wake up at times during the night.  For the most part, he still sleeps from 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.  He will take a 3-hour nap in the afternoon almost every day.  It seems about once a week now he decides not to take a nap.  He has also been working on perfecting the art of stalling before he goes to sleep by attempting to pick out a whole bunch of books to read or requesting to be rocked before he goes to bed.  I have to say I truly enjoy those moments with him rocking in the chair since I know he will soon outgrow my lap. 

After multiple failed attempts to transition him out of the crib to a twin bed, I decided to try it again a few weeks ago.  Surprisingly, he decided he was ready for the "big boy" bed.  For a couple of weeks straight now, he slept in it for naps and at nighttime without any issue.  He occasionally will still opt for his crib, though. 

Eli loves being outside with Ian; they are really two of a kind.  I just love to see the two of them outside together riding by in either the tractor or gator.  He also spent a lot of time in the combine this fall.  

More recently, Eli has really developed a love of putting together puzzles and he will do them over and over and over again.  He can put together the simple wooden jigsaw puzzles independently.  

(Notice the tongue sticking out; 

always a must when fixing puzzles.  Maybe a concentration tactic?)

He is still interested in playing with anything that has wheels that he can push around.  He loves to move all his vehicles and farm equipment from one place to another and at other times will line them all up as if they are in a parade.  He has engaged in more pretend play, using his toys in a more meaningful, real-life way.  

He also loves school buses and always points them out when we see one on the road. 

Eli recently found a pair of Ian's sunglasses.  He insists on wearing them to do all kinds of things around the house.  

He loves to talk on an old phone we have; whenever you ask who he is talking to, he replies, "Elsa," a girl from his daycare.  

Shopping cart rides are still fun for Eli.  When we get home from getting groceries, he even enjoys helping me unload all the stuff by putting it on the counter.

Even unloading the dishwasher seems to be a highlight for him.  

As soon as I set out a box of cake mix, he will push a chair over to the counter and get a spoon out of the drawer to be a part of the action.  

Eli still really loves books.  He will not sit on my lap like he used to when I read to him (unless it is before he goes to sleep), so now I find myself reading to him when he is sitting at the table eating.  He still loves browsing through books on his own and remembers the titles/subject matter of books and will repeat that as he looks through each one.

He also likes to color and doodle.  Whenever he is given a blank sheet of paper and draws something and you ask him what it is, he answers, "School bus."  

The TV shows Eli still enjoys include "Bubble Guppies," "Dora," and "PAW Patrol."  He is starting to prefer to watch more of the animated movies, such as Monsters, Toy Story, and his favorite - Rio.  

He really does not enjoy getting his hands messy when eating.  This is something that never seemed to bother him until now.  Another thing he still does not enjoy - sitting on Santa's lap.  Even when you ask him what happened when he sat on Santa's lap, he remembers and will say "cry."

Finally, his vocabulary is rapidly expanding.  He readily learns new words and really surprises me sometimes by how he remembers them even days later after first being introduced.  He is beginning to understand that Eli is his nickname, while his full name is Elijah.  If you ask him his name, he will say "Eli," but if you ask him something such as who made this mess or did something that he wasn't supposed to, he will reply, "Elijah" almost as if he blames it on his alter ego.  

He is a very observant passenger in the car.  He can spot the stores we regularly go to it seems sometimes a mile away, almost as though he knows they are coming up.  Maybe he has Ian's good sense of direction.  Local stores like Walmart, Fareway, and Dairy Queen are a regular part of his vocabulary.  When we go to Dubuque, he will point out Applebee's from the highway and even the Harley store, which has its sign kind of tucked away from the road, but he seems to recognize the logo even from a distance. 

Since going to church is a weekly outing for us, I thought it was about time to try to introduce the concept of who Jesus was to him, which proved to be a bit of a challenge trying to introduce such an abstract concept in a concrete way to a toddler.  We have lots of books with bible stories for kids, etc., and now, Eli knows we "see Jesus" in church and will recognize statues of him.  Even characters in books that have long hair and beards he refers to as "Jesus."

Around the time Eli turned 2, he showed interest in identifying colors.  At first, everything was blue, but then he learned the rest of the colors, although he is still working on black, gray, and pink.  With some prompting (but mainly it has to be on his own accord), he can count to 10 and thanks to Dora can count to 10 also in Spanish.  Another Spanish word he learned from Dora is "abre" for "open."  I wasn't even aware he had picked this up from the show until he started using it in context.  

He is starting to recognize a couple of the letters in his name (E and I).  The only shape he can identify so far is a circle.  As for these academic-type tasks, they are usually not on his agenda, so I try to take advantage of the times when he initiates some interest, such as when he plays with the magnetic letters.  

Eli still attends daycare twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays.  From the little bit that I have glimpsed from when I drop him off, I think he tends to keep to himself.  It has still been a good experience for him to be around other kids without me there.  He really seems to enjoy being there.  When we talk about his day after he comes back home and who he played with, he will go through the whole litany of names of the other kids there.  Whenever I ask him what he ate that day, he will usually say macaroni and cheese and hot dogs, but I am sure they have other things on the menu:)  

Overall, Eli is a mild mannered toddler.  He is an enjoyable little boy who makes us laugh often.  

Cousins

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Ian's family today.  

The cousin picture turned out to be a bit more serious this year.

Liam, Eli, Betty, and Shea

Still not a fan...

of this big man...

It seemed a little early this year seeing Santa 

even before Thanksgiving, but we went anyway. 

Eli had the same reaction as last year --

(Sorry, Mom, but I just had to post the pics.)

Before Santa arrived this year, we toured the Festival of Trees, which he really enjoyed.  There were a lot of creative themes used for the decor.  I am always amazed by the time and talent used to decorate those trees. 

Happy Halloween...

...from our little mailman.

After we mentioned to our mailman what Eli was going to be for Halloween this year, he placed this in our mailbox a few days later, a customized name badge to add to Eli's costume!

 

Tried and True

Over the past few weeks, I have been trying out different recipes I have pinned on Pinterest.  My mom is always searching for and finding really good meal ideas and dessert recipes on this site and they always turn out so tasty! 

The recipes below are ones that caught my eye.  I have tried these out and they truly did turn out as good as the picture AND even passed Ian's taste test!  He is not usually big on desserts, but he really liked these.

First, a picture of my baking assistant:

 (Great Grandma McDonald would be proud)

Now, for the recipes...if you click on the title of the pictures, it will take you to the link with the website that includes the recipe.

Chocolate chip cookie dough brownies

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies

Texas Roadhouse Rolls  (you have to scroll down quite a ways on this website to get to the recipe)

To be honest, the rolls I made did not look quite this symmetrical.  They were a little misshaped but still tasted pretty close to the actual ones, albeit a little heavy on the flour, which I think gave them a bit of a doughy texture.

These buns would not be complete without the famous cinnamon butter recipe.

A long time ago when I first started pinning recipes, I came across the "rainbow cake."  

I thought it looked so neat and would be fun to make.  Here was my attempt:

I'm not sure how they got such bold, vibrant colors when mine turned out more pastel.  More food coloring maybe?

I have also attempted to create cake pops, but they were not even really photo-worthy.  I have yet to discover the trick to making a truly rounded cake pop after it has been dipped.  Mine turned out more lopsided. 

Lastly, my cake baking adventure led me to try the fondant type frosting used on many of the fancy cakes on the shows like "Cake Boss."  My favorite cake decorating show used to be "Ace of Cakes," which I don't think is even on TV anymore.  I tried using the premade Wilton brand rolled fondant.  It took forever to get it rolled out thin enough to be usable.  

Here is my first attempt at a fondant cake.  I'm not sure how to get the rolled fondant ball border to look smoother...

Maybe I will keep pinning to see where my next baking adventure might lead.

25 Random Tidbits

I have come across a few blogs and even Facebook posts of "25 Random Things About Me" where people have created lists of random facts about themselves.  I always find these interesting to read.  Inspired by this, I have created my own list of random tidbits.  Plus, I just enjoy blogging and maybe you will learn something about me you didn't already know:)

1.  My favorite childhood memory is playing school.  I remember spending countless hours creating lesson plans and activities for my sisters and decorating one of the spare bedrooms at the time in order to transform it into my classroom.  I always wanted to be a teacher ever since I can remember.  My first teaching job was exactly what I had hoped for; fifth grade in a Catholic school setting.  

Fast forward 5 years from when my teaching career began and I decided to embark on a different career route.  Now, my work-from-home medical transcription job is perfect for this stage of my life.  Maybe when we are done having kids and they are in school, I will once again pursue the education field but in a more concentrated position, such as reading/language arts.  

I also remember daydreaming about future careers when I was younger and if I had to choose something other than being a teacher, I had wanted to be a florist.  

2.  A childhood nickname I was given was "flower pot."  My dad is big on nicknames and once one is given to you, it sticks with him.  As a kid, I would much rather be inside than play outside, much like a flower pot sits on the windowsill inside I guess is how this nickname came to be.  I did not even like going outside for recess as a kid.  As this nickname faded away, it was replaced with "chucks," which started with my sister calling me that as being short for "chuckles" since I laugh a lot.  Both my sister and of course my dad still call me that.  

3.  When I was in grade school, I had entered a spelling bee and became the winner of the local bee in our area.  When I advanced to the regional round, I did not last long; I still remember the word I misspelled:  quadruple.

4.  I worked at Dairy Queen when I was in high school, even fulfilling the role of cake decorator, which I really enjoyed.  Working in this fast food restaurant was a fun social experience but also hard work at times and truly taught the skill of multitasking.  I also was a telemarketer.  While this job was not quite as enjoyable and the time went by so slowly, I did like the challenge of trying to achieve the sales goals that were set.  

5.  The first real concert I went to was 'N Sync.  I truly loved all the boy bands.  I still think Nick Lachey is the HOTTEST man to roam this planet.

6.  I do not have an athletic bone in my body and was never out for any sports.  In fact, I always dreaded PE.  I attempted to always pick a spot where I was sure the ball would not land for kickball and I feared dodgeball (seriously, why is this not yet banned in schools?!).  I was one of those kids picked as one of the last on the team...every...single...time.  I can't blame the captains though.  I would not have been an asset to any team!  Playing the piano was my forte and I also played the organ in our church. 

7.  My first car was a little red, somewhat sporty Mercury Tracer.  I was so excited to get a compact car!  It was exactly what I wanted.  I thought the neatest feature was the automatic seat belts.   However, I almost flunked out of driver's ed.  I was such a nervous driver, which probably didn't help any.  I remember the driver's ed instructor sending home a letter to my parents requesting that they spend extra time with me behind the wheel.  

8.  While I did excel in school academically, my common sense department is lacking. 

9.  I am not a big animal person.  I know Ian really wants another dog some day and Eli loves animals, so I will probably have to get used to having a family pet, but if I have any say in this decision, I would want a black lab.      

10.  My all-time favorite food is chicken strips.  Dairy Queen has the best!  I also crave McDonald's McNuggets and fries...often.  In fact, I would be just as happy going out to eat at McDonald's as a fancy restaurant.  

11.  I have never broken a bone, had a cavity, or had any kind of surgery.   

12.  I am not a big jewelry person.  I have never even had my ears pierced.  

13.  I have never been to a tanning bed (obviously!) and am not interested in getting pedicures/manicures.  While I am not into these things, I am very particular about my hair stylist and I finally found one in Maquoketa I really like instead of driving over an hour back home where I was loyal to my stylist there.  I love, love, love short hair styles!  My favorite styles are the inverted bob and the pixie.  I also have a chronic habit of hair twirling, although never in public, only at home.   

14.  I will wear glasses for life; I will never get contacts.

15.  My all-time favorite author is Nicholas Sparks.  His books are so well crafted from beginning to end.  While he is a part of the romance genre, his plots go much deeper and have more substance than typical romance novels I have read. 

16.  Frugal should be my middle name.  I love to find a good deal.  I never go shopping without a list and I always stick to the list.  Although I am not a big couponer in stores, I will search and search until I find the perfect deal for things if I am shopping online.  Free shipping is always a bonus!  I also wait until either Shutterfly or Snapfish offer their "Penny Prints" deal (usually 99 prints for 99 cents) and will only order pictures with this offer. 

17.  We were offered keyboarding classes/typing lessons even in grade school, which I really enjoyed.  This was another area I excelled (probably due to taking piano lessons), so when I took the exploratory class of keyboarding in junior high, I was completely bored because this seemed to be the first time most of the other kids who went to different elementary schools were introduced to this.  Little did I know then my keyboarding skills would come in handy for my transcription job I have now.  I can usually average about 90 words per minute. 

18.  I would describe myself as a very independent person, a perfectionist when it comes to certain things, someone who gets easily annoyed, and a worrier.  I think I create problems that don't even exist at times with my worried thoughts.

19.  I am a strong believer in birth order theory.  It seems to ring true as it describes myself and my two younger sisters.  I love my position as the oldest child in the family. 

From:  http://www.womansday.com: "Oldest children tend to be conscientious, ambitious, organized and—in relationships—dominant. Says Cane, 'Firstborns like to be in control.' They are dependable, accommodating, and persistent. While some first borns have a strong need for approval, so that they grow up pleasing people and taking care of others (often being taken advantage of in the process), other first borns are high achievers, hard driven and ruthless. One common characteristic of many first borns is that they tend to be perfectionists. They don't deal well with criticism and are devastated by failure." 

Yep--that's me.

20.  I am a quick decision maker.  

21.  I prefer "Good Morning America" to the "Today" show.

22.  My favorite clothing store is Maurices.  I can always find something there I like. 

23.  I tend to be a punctual person.  I would consider myself late if I arrive exactly on time somewhere.  I like to be early.

24.  I am more of an early bird now.  Before Eli came along, I had no trouble sleeping in; now, if I can make it to 6:00 in the morning without getting up, that would be sleeping in.  I don't even have to set an alarm anymore.  My body naturally wakes up around 4:30 in the morning, but I don't usually get out of bed until 5:00.  I am ready for bed by 9:00 at night, though.

25.  If I had to choose just one channel to watch on TV, it would be TLC.  I also like "Cupcake Wars" on the Food network and I just have to watch the Kardashians on E! (even though their whiny voices drive me crazy and their lifestyle is one I would NEVER want or even agree with).

I sure wish "Jon and Kate Plus 8" was still on TLC.  Those were the good ol' days...lol.  "DC Cupcakes" was another favorite of mine.  Love those sisters who run the cupcake shop -- and the cupcake displays they create!  It seemed to be a short-lived series.  As for all the different wedding-themed shows on TLC, "Four Weddings" is my favorite.  Watching "Sister Wives" is yet another guilty pleasure, although I do not agree with their lifestyle.  I was first introduced to "Undercover Boss" on TLC as well.  I think I have seen every single episode of this series.  Seriously, how do those CEOs get into their positions?!  "Honey Boo Boo" tops the list for me.  When this was first advertised, I thought to myself there is no way I am watching that.  As time went on, I found myself watching the episodes and laughing...multiple times...out loud.  I think it is funny in itself these people need subtitles during the entire show to be able to understand them.  Their inventive vocabulary cracks me up, too.   

There you have it -- my 25 random facts.