Photos and answered prayers...

Our friend, Kacy Chaffin, is heading to Africa with YWAM and Ten Thousand Homes (more for her awesome story, check out the website KNOWN. in Our Incredible Friends section on the right). We are so excited for her and all that God is going to do through her and in her during the next months. In order to help her raise money, her good friend Loryn, used her talents and had a photo shoot for members of our church. Granted it sounded like a good idea at the time but the 9:30 am slot we had in the frigid 36 degree weather was not much fun for us. Nathaniel was fussy and would not leave my side...so much for Chirstmas pictures of him. I cannot imagine Kacy and Loryn being outside in the cold all day. Nonetheless, Loryn did a good job! And to top it off, they raised over $1700 for the trip!

Ted had to work, hence the pics looking like I am a single mom!

From there we went to a little community arts and crafts show across the street. In typical toddler fashion, Nathaniel was enthralled with Santa. He smiled, pointed, and waved at him....until the hand off. Whoa, let the screaming begin!!! Poor Santa!

Then this evening we had the Oberts over for dinner. Now in the last few Obert/Yancy kid adventures, we have learned that Nathaniel is a bit of a bully. When he decides he wants a toy he takes it. It does not matter if one of the girls are playing with it (and of course that is always the one he wants). As a parent of only one child, I did not realize that he was so aggressive. Of course Ted and I do not typically fight over toys with him, so I had no idea. This has been quite an eye opener for me and has allowed us to work on sharing at home. Now, Nathaniel is not a big fan of sharing. So if you have advice or tips, send them my way. However, much improvement was noted this evening....although we still have a far way to go! Once he did begin sharing, he looked like he was having fun. (Thanks for the pics Nicci)

Thanksgiving Continues....

After recovering from turkey hangovers, the rest of Ted's family came over and we had a leftover feast. My mother-in-law is an amazing cook and she prepared King Ranch Turkey and brought over her delicious desserts.

As always, Nate's cousins, Ryan ("Ry-Ry") and Emma were sweet as can be with Nate and had him cracking up at their silly antics. Uncle Lee was pretty darn funny too! We enjoyed visiting, eating, and laughing. I believe those are the things we do best with them!

Thanks for coming down and for all the great food!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nathaniel celebrated his second Thanksgiving at his Great Uncle Mose ("Elmo") and Great Aunt Peggy's (Gram Aunt) again this year. His Great-Granny's presence was missed but it was a delicious meal and a nice visit. We hope everyone enjoyed their time with family and friends as much as we did!

Nate liked it so much he was often found with all four fingers in his mouth

as he was shovling in the yummy food

Hanging out with Great-Grandpa and shape sorting with Granny

He crawled up in Great Uncle Mose's lap for story time

Playing with Great Gram-Aunt

Daddy and Nate recovering from turkey hangover

A Man's Man

He is growing up right before our eyes, turning from our baby boy into a Man's Man. Check it out....

He is learning to brush his teeth on his own

Flexing his muscles

Hogging the remote

Crying when his football team loses

Checking out cars.

(Thanks to his Great-Grandpa Bonecutter for sending him his first hotwheels, which are some cool antique models)

And pretending to study just so he can hang out with some hot chicks!

Yup...that's our BOY!

18 Month Check Up

We had Nathaniel's 18 month check up today. It was a little rough, there are several vaccines, he also got a flu shot and the H1N1 shot. Additionally, we found out he has an ear infection (thankfully it has been a long time since I have written that, and apparently we caught it early). Overall, he is doing great.

Current stats are:
Height : 32 inches (50%)
Weight : 26 lbs 4 oz (56%)

He is doing all the age appropriate things, saying new words daily (his newest is being able to answer "Texas" when asked where he lives!), using fork and spoon fairly well (better with the spoon than fork), walks, runs, loves to push things around (including his parents from time to time), will follow commands, stacks blocks/legos, does simple puzzles, like to do shape sorting activities, LOVES animals.....is starting to throw real fits when he does not get his way or is not understood, and is beginning to tell us "no" (not loving that). And just this week he began pointing and saying "poo-poo" after he goes - it is amazing what excites parents, I am thrilled about this. Seriously. He is nowhere near potty-training age but I feel this is a good first step. Wooo hooo, Nathaniel! He is a pretty happy child in general and we are so, so, so blessed to be his parents.

There are so many little things I hope I will never forget (but probably will): like the way he sits with his ankles crossed, the way my heart melts when he runs to me wanting to be picked up, how he gives knuckles/dap upside down, pretends to talk on the phone (but holds it backwards), how he always wants to play "where is Nate?" when we put on his shirt, and how he loves to scare/be scared. He is such an amazing little guy. I am often overwhelmed at how very much I love him.

As Christians, you are brought up hearing about "unconditional love", yet can't fully wrap our minds around it. Now I understand it so much better. No matter how fussy he gets, how stubborn he is, or how cranky I am; my love for him never wavers. And he really cannot give much back in return. Yes, the occasional hug and unsolicited kisses are amazing, the smile when he sees me after being apart all day, those are wonderful; but he cannot provide financially, fix things around the house, provide emotional support, shoot - he spends the day making messes that I joyfully (well most of the time) clean up. I am happy to see him happy. How much greater is the Father's love for us? It is amazing to think about.

Change of Plans

Last weekend we had hopes of visiting Dewberry Farm with Nate's cousins, Ryan and Emma BUT.....Ryan was not feeling well and since we were already out that way we decided to stop at the Forbidden Gardens, Nathaniel was not interested in much other than pushing his stroller around. The threw a fit when we took it away and put him in it to leave- this kid LOVES push toys.

Then we stopped at Grandpa and Grandma Yancys hoping to see them, but they were out. Nate had a lot of fun playing with Daddy in their front yard.

After awhile we decided to go visit his cousins anyway....well as we pulled on to their street, Nathaniel threw up. So Lee and Olivia were nice enough to let us use their washer and dryer to wash Nate's car seat cover and clothes - and we ended up having a fun visit anyway. The girls had scooters, which also doubled as awesome push toys for Nate!

So, all-in-all, it ended up being a fun evening, despite the initial wild goose chase!

1st Splinter

Not really sure how he got it. We dropped him off at Sunday School and when we picked him up, this was what his hand looked like.....ouch.

It was a 2-man hold down for the removal, but I think it was actually harder on Mommy and Daddy than it was on Nate. Certainly nothing a little milk could not fix.

He is such a trooper!

Happy Halloween

Halloween was pretty quiet this year in the Yancy household. I did finally break down and get the little guy an outfit. We picked a pirate because when we ask where his booty is he smacks himself on the hiney and says "booty, booty, booty". It is hilarious; however I was unable to capture it in video. He is now obsessed with looking at the pictures/videos and makes a bee-line for the camera. Oh well, I will have to store that one in the mental memory bank.

We began the festivities at our neighborhood celebration. There was a petting zoo, horse rides, and CANDY. But the best part of it was being able to hang out with a very cute dog and very cute lamb (otherwise known as Izzy and Abby Obert).

From there we went to visit Granny and all the little ladies at the assisted living commented on the cute pirate. What? Pirates are NOT supposed to be cute, but Nathaniel did not seem to care, he waved and smiled as he paraded himself down the hall to Granny's room.

Then we stopped off at Uncle Mose and Gram Aunt's, where Nathaniel got the treat of having Gram Aunt read about 5 books to him before loading him up with some special animal crackers.

Our evening concluded at Greg and Lauren Mitchell's, where we went to say hi and ended up staying and playing for hours. Some of Mommy's other co-workers (Ericka and Shawn) were there as well. Nathaniel loved being the center of attention and Mr. Greg let him play on the computer so Nathaniel was in heaven.

So, no trick-or-treating, but it was a lot of fun!

Fall Festival

Our church helped sponsor a city-wide fall festival. Immediately Mommy and Nathaniel jumped on a hay ride through the old part of the city. Nathaniel did not play any games, but thoroughly enjoyed picking up cans and handing them to the helpers after kids knocked them down. He also found walking up and down a little hill and over a bridge to be fun (who needs moonwalks, cotton candy, face painting, etc?).

The pics are not great because Mommy has lost her battery charger and is taking pictures sparingly right now....pray she finds it soon!

P.S. Thanks for the cute shirt Auntie Leslie!

Quick beach trip

For the first time in a long time we had a true weekend, so we decided to enjoy some time at the beach while it is still warm enough in south Texas to do so. In true fashion, Nathaniel's reaction to the beach is varied and unpredictable. This trip he would walk to the edge of the tide, stare and point but did not like getting his feet wet. He did repeatedly say "Wa-Wa, Wa-Wa" which is his version of "water".

He did go in with Mommy for a few minutes, but decided it was not for him.

Instead, he much preferred the mud. Yes, he loved digging in the mud, getting mud beneath his fingernails, and throwing mud.

He also found chasing birds to be hilarious and entertaining.

It was a nice family trip. We are not holding our breath for him to be a navy seal or do competitive swimming any time soon.