Christmas Eve Fun

The Annual Kuhlman Christmas Eve celebration was again at the Solana Marriott, and we were so excited to celebrate with everyone. Lincoln was especially excited to sing Christmas carols, play with his cousins, and to open a few gifts. Linc and Daddy played catch with his new Razorback football then stopped for a picture! Thanks to the Conns for the cool Razorback football that Lincoln wouldn't let go of, and thanks to Lincoln for stopping for one second to smile!

Beau stole everyone's hearts with his big blue eyes and sweet (sometimes sly) smiles! He and Pops chilled out a bit!
Lincoln recruited Nana to play a little ball too. Another great picture! Lincoln was on his best picture-taking behavior!

Beau loved all the paper in the presents. I should also mention that Beau got the coolest gifts. Both Lincoln and Mason loved playing with Beau's baby toys!

Mason gave Lincoln a cool Monster truck that chases him around. Watch out!

The boys had Christmas cookies after dinner. Yummy!

Lincoln had been waiting all day to sing Christmas carols. Marian had a make-shift piano to accompany the vocals, and Linc was thrilled. He passed out the song books and gave the order of carols.

I love that there are Official Kuhlman Family Caroling Books! Lincoln was singing Deck the Halls (more specifically fa la la la la la la la in the picture.)

Pops needed a little help handing out more gifts, so Lincoln delivered the envelopes.

We left in good spirits, watched Linc's new Veggie Tales DVD on the way home (thanks Joanne and Larry), and made it home before anyone fell asleep! Lincoln sprinkled the reindeer food in the yard and prepared Santa's milk and cookie. He was really concerned that Beau would steal Santa's cookie and demanded that Beau get away! He knows how grabby can be!

It was a wonderful evening with the Kuhlman family. I think Santa has a few cool things to deliver for the boys. The spirit of Christmas is alive in our home, and for that I am glad. When Lincoln says his prayers these days, he adds "thank you for my Jesus." I am so glad that he's thinking about Jesus along with his presents!

Bobby the Elf

The Elf on a Shelf began his annual visits to our home this year. Lincoln named him Bobby, and Bobby has been a very important part of our Holiday season. Every night Bobby goes to tell Santa if Lincoln and Beau have been good that day, and he appears in a new spot the next morning. We search the house when Linc wakes up to see where Bobby has landed for the day. That Bobby comes up with some silly places to hang out! Sometimes he steals an ornament from the tree . . .

Once he sat on top of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree . . .

One morning we found him hanging from the light fixture in the playroom to get an extra good vantage point of Lincoln and Beau playing . . .

Bobby even stole one of the Christmas cookies that Linc decorated . . .

It has been so fun to search for Bobby each day and giggle at the funny places he hides. I think Bobby might need to make a few appearances throughout the year to remind Lincoln and Beau that Santa and Bobby are always watching to see who's naughty or nice!!!!!

Oh, Beau!

Oh, Beau! I'm sure he suffers from Second Child Syndrome often, but it is apparent tonight! I'm just trying to get Lincoln a short bath and shampoo, and Beau is all over the bathroom. Before I can turn around, he's got toilet paper everywhere! I would NEVER have let Lincoln play anywhere near the toilet or toilet paper, but if Beau is happy out of the tub and Lincoln is happy in the tub . . . live and let live!

Christmas Cookies

Lincoln is being very helpful with our Christmas preparations this year. Nana was getting ready to make cookies and asked Linc to pick out his favorite cookie cutters. His choices: candy cane, gingerbread man, Christmas tree, and Santa's sleigh. When it was time to decorate the cookies, Lincoln was all in! He "helped" me with the icing. The mixer was really cool, and he did a good job holding it steady. We only had one mishap; Lincoln turned it on (out of the bowl) with icing on the beaters, and the kitchen got a spray of sugary icing!

After all of that hardwork, Linc needed to test the finished product. He labored over which cookie he should eat, and finally picked a candy cane with green icing. It was super yummy!
He's already decided which cookie we should leave for Santa. Such a thinker!

Beau is 9 Months Old

Beau is the busiest 9 month old! There is never one dull moment with Beau, and we are all trying to keep up with him. He wants to be involved in every single thing that goes on around here. Beau is such a happy baby unless he's been cut out of the action. Here are Beau's stats at 9 months.

Weight: 21 lbs 3 oz. 70th percentile. Beau is a great eater, and is pretty good about whatever fruit or veggie he is served. He also loves lots of snacky things like Puffs, crackers, vanilla wafers, and anything Lincoln has in his snack bowl. We transitioned from breast milk to formula just a few days before his 9 month birthday. He didn't do too well at first, but he's come around. Now he's formula-only and doing great. The sippy cup isn't really interesting to him, but we're working on that.

Height: 28 1/2 inches. 50th percentile. Beau is wearing 9 month clothes but occasionally 6 month pants. He's not squatty, but he's not long and lean. I think he's perfect!

Crawling: Beau is a crawling monster! He tries to do the correct "up on all fours" crawl, but he usually reverts to the army crawl because that's way faster for him. He is such a bulldozer and so fast. He crawls way more than Lincoln ever did.

Pulling up: There is nothing Beau can't pull up on. He loves to stand and cruise around the furniture. He pulls up on chairs, walls, ottomans, tubs, trees, anything! He's pretty brave and will let go to see what happens. He's not bothered when he falls back on his booty or crashes on his face. He just scoots around and pulls up again.

Teeth: 3 all the way, 2 emerging. Beau's 4th and 5th teeth are making their way out, and he's handling it way better. I am so thankful! He had a couple of days with fever and fussing, but he mostly chews to relieve the pain. He crunches everything with his big teeth!

Fun Stuff: Beau is really the happiest kid ever! He loves to be around Lincoln and now wants to participate in everything (instead of watch). He loves peek-a-boo, loves when we sing songs to him, and loves to splash in the bath.

Beau doesn't have any "real" words yet, but he talks up a storm. He mostly sticks with vowel sounds. When I'm coaching him to say dada or mama, Lincoln always tells me Beau should say Lincoln first. We have a lot to work on! Dr. K gave Beau a clean bill of health at the 9 month check up, as if I didn't already know that he's perfect! We love our Bo-Bo!

Sunday Fun

It was an especially fun Sunday, and we spent lots of family time just playing around. Lincoln got to enjoy the warmer weather on the playground after church, and that always makes his day! Beau found himself in many interesting predicaments while playing. He bulldozes over anything to get where he wants to go and sometimes gets in a little trouble. He's definitely in the throw every toy in sight stage. Fun!

I kept telling myself (for 9 months now) that one day the boys would really enjoy playing together. I was starting to wonder if that was going to come true, but they decided to surprise me. I got so many things done while they played. Beau doesn't need me to play with him if Lincoln is willing to do it. I kept sneaking glances at them as I passed by the playroom. So cute!
Linc decided to build a fort and invited Beau in. Of course Beau knocked down a block immediately, but they recovered! (Notice that Lincoln built windows in the fort-they yellow blocks stacked on top of each other. He thought that was very important to share!)

All of Linc's friends were moved to the floor by the tree for a better view, I guess. Instead of sitting with them for a picture, Lincoln just dove on top!

Beau and Mommy had a quick hug. I love Beau hugs, and he is usually agreeable to hugging. He's always trying to hug Lincoln, but Linc thinks that Beau is trying to attack him.

I had to stop a couple of slap fights, and calm a few crying spells, but overall they played great together. Daddy and Mommy got so many things accomplished - Christmas cards mailed, laundry put away (that one's a shocker!), floors swept and vacuumed, dinner prepared and cleaned up, toys vetted (to make room for new Christmas toys), and even our holiday grocery list and recipes prepped. I love that they had fun together, and I loved watching them interact as buddies (for the most part). They are brothers for life, and I'm glad they've started to get the hang of it!

Santa Visit 2011

We had an exciting Santa visit this year! Because my office is across the street from the Galleria, I hang out there often. I love their Santa and can keep tabs on what time of day the line is not too long! Nana joined us on Friday morning for our yearly visit. We have been discussing Santa often and what we should tell him when we go to see him. Lincoln was insistent on wearing his sunglasses on the way to the mall because "it so bright outside, Mommy!" (It had been raining for three days straight so the sunshine was a big change!) Because of my diligent reconnaissance, there was no line at the time we chose to visit Santa! Score one for Mommy! I told him Santa would be waiting for him and would be very excited to meet him. I asked Linc if he wanted to take off his sunglasses before he talked to Santa, and he said no. Whatever! I pick my battles! Lincoln was ready to talk and told Santa he wanted two presents for himself, and that Beau should get two presents too. Santa asked if he had been a good boy, and Lincoln replied that "I been a bad boy yesterday Santa." Santa suggested that he be a good boy today because that's nice. Thanks Santa! Beau was pretty OK with the whole thing. He just sat there watching them talk. We had lunch at Corner Bakery, shopped a bit and Lincoln got to admire the ice skaters. Before we left, we stopped by Santa's Village to say Merry Christmas. Santa wasn't looking, so Lincoln yelled "Merry Christmas Santa! Bye Santa!" What a fun morning, and I'm so relieved no one cried!

Charlie Brown Christmas

It's no secret that we love Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. Lincoln got to display all the characters in scenes like in the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. He (barely) stopped to say cheese.

Lincoln was very serious about putting all of the characters in the right place. Linus needed to stand by the mailbox with his 'structions (Sally's letter to Santa). Of course Lucy was at her Psychiatry stand with money bucket on display, and Linc moved Charlie Brown over there to get some help. Schroeder was a confusing one for Lincoln. His little piano plays music, but Lincoln couldn't figure out why. He kept saying, "What Schroeder's hands do? How they play that? They no move!" Smart little devil! He doesn't know what to do with Pig Pen, so he just kind of hangs around. Beau was trying desperately to be involved while we were unpacking everything in the floor. After lots of coaxing, Lincoln was able to share Lucy's hat with Beau (who immediately started to chew it). Linc didn't like that AT ALL, but we've all recovered. I think this decoration will get quite a work out in the next few weeks!

New Discovery

Beau finally discovered the door stopper thingy tonight! He's an expert crawler, but he has never ventured near the door. I guess because Lincoln and his fun toys aren't anywhere near there! He was crawling around (trying to find mischief) when he spotted this cool spring thing. Instant amazement!

Lincoln needed to see what all the hubbub was about and came running over. In ever Big Brother fashion, he proceeded to show Beau exactly how it worked. Beau was enjoying it fine on his own, but Lincoln's involvement added a whole new level of excitement.
This weekend brought another first for our family . . . the first time I left my boys for the night. Kevin's company Christmas Party was in Houston on Saturday night, and we recruited Nana and Pops to babysit. I think we were only gone for 28 hours, but it seemed like forever! The boys had a great time, and Nana sent me lots of text pics of the fun they were having. Our hotel was at the Houston Galleria, so I had a little time to shop. I was completely crazy paranoid about leaving and typed out a minute by minute schedule for the babysitters. Everyone had a great time (both in Dallas and in Houston), and we even slept in before heading back home. I don't think I've slept past 8:00 am since 2009, so this was quite the Christmas present! Lincoln and Beau were happy to see us, thankfully. Linc was a little sad that Nana and Pops had to leave, but we quickly got over that. What is it with grandparents???? Lincoln does the same thing when Minnie and Bubbles (and Ally) leave . . . is it so depressing to just have Mommy and Daddy?!?!

Peek a Boo

Lincoln was playing peek a boo with Beau tonight. He would try to hide behind the foot board of our bed and jump up to scare Beau. Beau decided to climb (almost) over the foot board to catch Lincoln when he would jump up. They had so much fun!

No children were harmed in the making of this photo. I promise I stood at the ready to catch a daring 9 month old trying to dive at his big brother!