Crosswhite Christmas

The Christmas tradition at my mom and dad's house is that the grand kids get to decorate a gingerbread house. I believe this picture is Jack's side of the house.


We had a great time at Gramma Trish and PaPa's house. Jack had so much fun opening presents with his cousins. Here is a pic of Jack and cousin Ben, playing with their Incredible Hulk "punching glubs". Jack then decided that they would work great on his feet too.



Hanna is the oldest of the Crosswhite grandkids. Hanna has always held a special place in my heart. I love this girl!

Sweet Sara Grace is quite the princess. Well she thinks she is. Sara got this beautiful crown and wand for Christmas and I don't think she took it off the entire day. The dress that she is wearing, Hanna wore it in mine and Aaron's wedding! It is still a beautiful dress. I am sure that two years from now, Miss Molly will be wearing this dress at Christmas.
Benjamin and Jack are quite the pair. Always wrestling and causing trouble. Both spent the day wearing their matching pajamas and playing with their new toys. Rock Em Sock Em Robots was a hit!


Molly spent most of her day; eating wrapping paper and any food that she could get her chubby little fingers on.


Here is my handsome, single, intelligent younger brother, Patrick.
My great aunt Tancy spends the holidays with all of us. She is always responsible for bringing her delicious stuffing and famous fudge!
My sister Maggie and her fiance, Travis, were unable to make it home for Christmas. They live in Cleveland. Maggie and Travis are getting married next December! We missed them so much and we wish them the best in 2009.

Santa

Jack and Molly woke up from their naps yesterday and were very surprised to find that Santa had come to our house. We are leaving for Jefferson City, MO today and had to do our Christmas a little early. Jack was so excited. He yelled, "Santa!".


Santa brought Jack this big wheel. Jack calls it his, "motorcycle 3000".




I think he was most excited about the Batmobile. He had to sleep with it last night and he was up by 6:30 standing by my bed with it. He then decided he and the batmobile needed to get in bed with us.


This is what Molly got from Santa.




This is what Molly did the entire time we opened presents. She was happy sucking on the candy cane.

Now, we are off for a fun road trip to Missouri. Yippie!!!!

My Dad

Check out the January edition of "Sooners Illustrated." My dad made the magazine and he looks so handsome! He is the one in the middle, in case you could not tell.



The story covers the OU/Nebraska, "Game of the Century". Dad played at OU from 1969-1972. We are so proud!

The Strope Face

Jack is quite the entertainer. He gets in his crazy attack mode, and we just laugh. Here he is about to attack Molly and I. He grunts and growls at us, it is too funny.


Now here is Molly with her face.

Pulling up!

Molly has been pulling up for a few short weeks. She is constantly moving and getting in to things. Molly now needs to master sitting back down. She gets up and then is screaming at me to help her get down.

Tis the season to be fat!

Aaron left for Amarillo last night, but before he left he got a package in the mail from his boss. He opened it and out came a gigantic box of chocolate! Godiva chocolate!! I believe Aaron ate one before he left, so the rest have been eaten by me. The goldfish represent all of the missing chocolates. I guess I will be signing up for the Biggest Loser next year or maybe I should join the YMCA... for the third time!

All I want for Christmas...

Jack and Molly got to sit on Santa's lap at the mall. Jack was so excited to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. He told Santa that he wants "a green dinosaur with a remote control and a Batmobile". As we were leaving the mall, he realized that he forgot to tell Santa about the Speed Racer car that he really wants. He keeps crying because he forgot to tell Santa. I love Jack's excitement regarding Christmas. I keep reminding him of the true meaning of Christmas, he loves that it is Jesus' birthday.

So, have you noticed the red icing stain on Jack's face. He ate a big red sugar cookie right before we went to see Santa. Santa looked a little disgusted with Jack's red crusty icing and Molly's snotty nose. I ran out of wipes. Oh, well.

Oops!

Well, Molly took her morning nap this morning without a diaper on! I don't know how or why I did it, but I did. I actually forgot to put a diaper on my 8 month old peeing and pooping machine. She slept an hour and forty-five minutes and wasn't to terribly wet. I know, mom of the year award. I think it just proves that I need a break!

Rotten Kids

Sunday mornings at our house are always crazy. Now that Molly is mobile and very curious, she gets in to everything. Jack leaves all sorts of little choking hazards on the floor. It is so hard getting back in to the routine of keeping the small objects out of her reach and sight. So, this morning as I was standing in my bath towel dripping wet, trying to get Jack set up on the computer to keep him busy while Aaron and I got ready for church; Molly eyed a candy cane underneath the coffee table. She was so sweet under the table sucking and slurping that candy cane. Mmmmmmm.... She would not pose for the camera because the sugar from the candy cane was much better than smiling at the camera. Of course she was a sticky mess and ticked off when I took it away from her.




After Mass, while Aaron and I were finishing our lunch, Jack was being awfully quiet. Quiet=TROUBLE!!! This is what we found Jack doing.



Jack thought if he could stack the pillows up high enough, then he could reach the candy cane at the top of the tree. Aaron is pointing at the candy cane that Jack wanted to get.

The nights that Aaron is out of town are often spent at our neighborhood park. By 4:30 the kids are driving me crazy and so we get some fresh air. I took my new camera to the park on Monday and tried to get some good pics of the kids. Well, from the pics below you can tell I did not have much to choose from. Our park is not to shaded at this time, so all of my pictures are overexposed. But, what I did manage to get was a picture of Jack having a "sword-fight" with the tree. He got really angry with that tree, and Miss Molly sat and enjoyed the show.

Jack-A-Roo

Jack gets rather annoyed when I try to take pictures of him with our new camera. I get the worst looks from him, especially whenever I ask him to sit still.



But, when I do catch him in a willing mood, this is what I get.



I love this little-big guy!

Eight Months

Molly had her 8 month check-up this week. She is growing and changing so fast. She started to army crawl on Thanksgiving and she was up on all fours crawling this morning. She weighs 21.6lbs (90%) and she is 28.6inches tall (95%). Dr. P said she is perfect, I have to agree. Molly loves to eat baby food, drink mama's milk, and she is accomplishing that sweet pincer grasp with her finger foods. Aaron and I are blessed with a beautiful baby girl. We love you, Molly Wobbles. Or as Jack would say, "Cakes" or "Cakers". Which is short for baby-cakes.




P.S. I love my new camera! I am still trying to figure out how it works, and every now and then I may get a great pic. Hopefully I will get Photoshop for XMAS and then make them even better. The Stropes are officially back to blogging.