I was off all week in anticipation of Christmas. Mama and daddy were still here on Monday, so they went with me to the doctor and then we had some Christmas fun. We went to Hotel Roanoke and looked at all the Christmas trees, Graham was quite impressed with all the different decorated trees. Then, we went to the mall in search of Santa, first a stop at the train with Pawpaw, then we headed to Build a Bear and made a bear for Graham to give Evan when they meet and finally stopped to see Santa. Graham had seemed to be in to it until it came right down to it and then as you see below, Mommy had to be in the pic as well. Santa kept assuring me that he had ahold of me, ha! Graham was wore out and fell asleep on the way home from our big adventure!

We continued our Christmas activities on Tuesday, heading to Blacksburg to have Christmas with Kelly, Grey and Reed. The kids had lots of fun opening their gifts and playing together, right up until they were all ready for naptime! We headed out and Graham napped all the way home! Graham got a really neat tent and sleeping bag, so we got it all set when we got home and he thought it was super neat! He wanted me to get inside with him of course and zip ourselves up and wait for daddy to get home, ha!

On Wednesday, Dean was also off so we ran some errands and had a fun lunch out at IHOP. Dean and Graham went to Barnes and Noble and hung out while I was at Physical Therapy, so that is always a fun time! We got back home and started getting ready for our two big busy days of Christmas celebrating!

We headed out early Christmas Eve morning to Dean's parents house. They had a big turkey dinner spread laid out and Graham was very excited to see that Opa had the trains and tracks laid out and waiting on him and Dean to build! My parents, Michelle, Adam, Al, Jason and Kim joined us. We had a great meal, exchanged lots of great goodies and had lots of fun. Graham was very in to opening his presents and handing out presents to others. He especially enjoyed getting Cousin Adam to play with his cars with him, they are so cute interacting with each other! We left there and headed to service at church. Graham fell hard asleep on the way there and I finally had to wake him to go in to the church. He got another gift from the teacher in the nursery and we had a gift for her as well, so that was nice. We headed home and got our Christmas PJs on, opened one gift and then put out the cookies and milk for Santa and finally got Graham in bed about 945pm! Way late for him!!!! But, he had a very big day! Then, it was time for Santa's work, we got everything all set up and couldn't wait until morning!

We woke before 8am and waited and waited for the typically early riser to awake! Sure enough he slept until 840am! The latest he has probably ever slept, ha! He was very excited to get down and see what Santa had left him. He was beyond thrilled with his new trains and train mat and his Handy Manny workshop. Then, there was a big pile of gifts to open, but he kept going back to his trains! We had to keep reminding him there were more presents to open, but he would say, "I just want to play trains!" Finally, we got through them all and then got ready and headed to my parents house for another round of Christmas!

We got to my parents in time for a big lunch and then Kenneth, Danah and Lillian joined us and we dove in to more presents. Graham was quite occupied with two different remote control toys, so that was fun. He also liked playing with Lillian toys and she just wanted to put everything in her mouth, ha! We played and laughed and had lots of fun until late that evening. We put Graham in his PJs and headed home, he fell hard asleep on the way home and stayed asleep when we took him to bed and slept again the next morning! We spent the rest of the weekend putting up and putting away! Graham got sooooo many new toys. We need to pack up some of the older toys and we even put up a few of the newer things to gradually get back out. He got so much, he didnt even miss any of the things that we put up! He truly had a big big Christmas!

With all the excitement of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, he did great with his potty training, no accidents. He still sleeps so hard at night and wakes up really wet so we are still using diapers at night, but he is starting to question that a little bit as he has really embraced wearing big boy underwear! So, we will see how nights go in the weeks to come!

Graham is still doing wonderfully with his daytime potty training, an accident here and there, but overall such major progress. We are monitoring how he wakes up in the mornings, still typically wet, so he is still going to bed in diapers or pull-ups, but he is definitely in the routine of going potty right before bed and as soon as he wakes up! He is very proud of himself and loves being praised!

On Thursday, First Baptist had a Christmas Open House, so I headed to that in the afternoon. They had all kinds of yummy food and Graham's class performed 4 Christmas songs for us - Lemon Drops, Jingle Bells, Happy Birthday Jesus and We Wish you a Merry Christmas. It was very very cute and all the kids were very excited to sing for all the picture taking mommy and daddies!

On Friday, a BIG snowstorm hit us! Dean was already using a vacation day on Friday, so I headed to work for a few hours before the snow started and left Dean and Graham home in the bed. Graham was very excited to stay in his PJs all day and play with daddy! The snow started around 230pm and Graham was most interested in watching it and wanting to know when we could go outside and throw snowballs at daddy and build a Frosty! So, we headed outside around mid-day Saturday and had a great time. The snow was nearly a foot deep and both Graham and I had a hard time walking around in it. He was very interested in helping Dean shovel, taking every step that Dean took(and using his beach shovel)! Finally, after lots and lots of falling and both Graham and I being soaked to the bone, we decided to head in! It wasn't really good snowman snow, but he still had lots of fun nonetheless! We were supposed to have a big day of going to Santa and doing some other fun Christmas errands, but that didnt work out because of the snow!!!!

On Sunday, mama and daddy dug out and made their way to our house. We were supposed to go to Tammy and Mark's for our annual Christmas celebration, but we decided they would have an easier time getting to us, than us getting to them, so they brought a big lunch to house and we had a big time! Graham made out with the most loot, he was in heaven with all his new toys and books and puzzles. We had a great visit and it was a fun way to spend a snowy Sunday afternoon!

Needless to say, he is getting very excited for Christmas! I am off all week and Dean is off part of the week and we are gonna try our luck with Santa again on Monday!

Graham continued to do great with his transition on the potty training front! There is still an accident here and there and naps and nights are still a work in progress, but daytime training is well underway! Graham is very proud of himself and very very independent (meaning he likes to go in the bathroom all by himself and lock the door!). So, we are adjusting to the transition as well, it is quite different after 3 years plus of constant diapering.....of course, diapering full time is right around the corner for us! ha!

Graham continues to enjoy all the Christmas decorations, lights, trees, movies and songs. He frequently just belts out Jingle Bells for us! It is very cute! He likes to go and visit the tree and admire the ornaments, but so far he continues to not "mess" with anything, so that is good!!!!!

Graham and I had a big weekend. We headed out on Saturday morning for swimming first. Graham was great about going right in to the pool with the instructor and didn't fuss a bit. He learned some new back strokes and was very proud to show me after his lessons what he learned. We left there and headed to my parents house and then from there went to our annual holiday Christmas get together with Carol, Stacy and the kids. We had a great time and the kids played so great together and had fun exchanging Christmas ornaments and making crafts.

We left there and headed to Kenneth and Danah and Baby Lillian's house to visit and take some fun Christmas photos by the tree. Lillian was pretty cooperative and Graham was hit or miss on getting them to pose together. We figured we would have a better chance at this point, than with all the excitement on Christmas day. It was lots of fun and Lillian stood for us several times and took a step here and there. Graham is still his lovey dovey self to her. I am quite sure Baby Brother Evan will stay covered up in kisses! We had some dinner and headed back to my parents and called it a night.

Graham slept until about 7am and got up and went straight to potty and then come found me! So, that was a good sign, that things on the PT front are clicking even in a different place! We visited awhile for the morning, while waiting for the freezing rain to stop and then got on the road after lunch. Graham talked non-stop the first part of our trip and finally konked out! Dean was able to carry him to his bed and he slept a good while longer and then woke up dry, so that was pretty exciting! Dean stayed home and did some house cleaning and Santa assembly work, so that was fun to see when I got back home!!!!

Next weekend, we are gonna give Santa a try! He has been talking a lot about what he wants Santa to bring him, so maybe just maybe, he will be a little bit in to sitting on his lap! But, I am not getting my hopes up, ha!

Graham hit a major milestone with potty training this past week, after a successful 4 day holiday weekend with hardly any accidents, we sent him to school in underwear. The first day was an amazing success - NO accidents and the rest of the week progressed the same from there. During the whole week, he only had one minor accident and he was in the process of getting to the bathroom when that one happened! So, he is still in pullups at nap time and diapers at nighttime, but we think we have won the battle on daytime! We have cut back on how much we give him to drink but he still goes alot! And, he is totally fine with going in every public restroom that crosses our path! We know there will still be accidents here and there, but we definitely seem to have crossed a certain threshhold that hopefully we wont have any major regressions when Baby Evan gets here!

Graham is really enjoying starting to see the Christmas decorations as we drive home at night and see more and more houses all lit open. We spent most of Saturday and a little bit of Sunday getting the house all decorated. He helped me with a few ornaments but wasn't too interested until I was all done. He thinks all the presents are pretty and he only messed with one box, that he picked up, shook and declared it was legos and started to open it. We explained about waiting until Christmas and he put it back. It was to him, but I think it was actually a puzzle. We had some fun around the tree Saturday night after bath, with him in his Christmas PJs and took lots of pics and Madison even joined us for a few pics! So, that was fun. We put the tree in the formal living room again, since most of the free floor space in the den is his play area and he likes to go visit it, but that way it isnt a constant temptation. He "helped" with a few other projects, getting things out of totes and handing them to me and pulling totes around. One time, I asked Dean to help me do something and he jumped up and said, I can help you mommy and grabbed his Handy Manny toolbox and came running! It was very very cute! I did scale back a "little bit" on decorating in the spirit of being 8 months pregnant and trying to make less work for myself now and after Christmas, but I was still exhausted by the time I went to bed on Saturday night! But, the house looks very festive and all the shopping and wrapping is done! So, now I can move on to some other "pre-baby to do items!"

Dean and Graham went to swimming on Saturday morning while I started decorating. He was a little fussy and whiny at first, but once he got go going he did great and came home telling me all about it. They also went and got haircuts on Thursday evening, just the two of them. That was the first time they did that without me and they had a fun time, even got McD on the way there! So, they have been getting some good daddy / Graham bonding time!

We have a full weekend planned for next weekend as we start our Christmas visiting and celebrating, we will have our long standing annual holiday get together with Carol, Stacy and the kiddos, so that will be fun. Then, we will end up back at my parents and spend the night there and head back home Sunday. Dean is gonna do some "santa" assembly work while we are out of the house!!!!