A Very Etue Christmas

Christmas was a whirlwind of family fun!  Let's start from the beginning!

Christmas Eve we went to Derek's parents house for their annual family and friends Christmas party.  We ate lots of food and the kids got some great presents.  The girls were just beginning to figure out this Christmas thing.  Tyler didn't last too long there.  A lot of us were a little jealous cause he was the only at the party that had a bed upstairs waiting for him!  He went down for a little nap until his sisters were begging to go home too.  We all lasted till 10pm, which for us Etues is very very late!  Once we were home it took the girls about five minutes to fall asleep!  That made Santa very happy, cause I think he was waiting on the roof to appear!

Tyler was the first one up on Christmas morning.  He was squeeling and yelping so loud, that Mommy had a hard time going back to sleep.  So me and Daddy were up with him at 6am, preparing breakfast.  We were done with breakfast and pretty much pacing the floors until Lexi got up.  She came into our bathroom like it was a normal morning.  Then Derek reminded her "Santa came", here was her response:

Lexi then went in to wake Addy which was kind of hard since Addy is on the top bunk and Lexi doesn't know how to climb the ladder!  But I helped her out and lifted her to Addy's level.  She said "Addy, Santa came!",  Addy opened her eyes and said "hey, how did you get up here?".  Once again, Christmas confused!  But it only took Addy a second to realize what Lexi was yelling at her and she jumped out of bed and to the tree they went!

In all these Christmas morning pics take special note of Tyler, he was a Christmas Maniac!  He sat in the middle of the action and just went at it!  Grabbing everything he could!  The girls were screaming "his name isn't on that"!  He then resorted to chucking hammers into my Christmas tree.  Towards the end of the opening he had to be removed and put down for a nap, I could not handle his wildness!

Lexi was more than thrilled with her Dora Kitchen.  She could have had that one present and been perfectly happy!

Addy loved the Disney Castle with all the Princesses!!

Check out Miss Styling in her new Disney sweats and Croc shoes!  And note:  She is in new Disney sweats in the above picture too, they both changed several times until all these new clothes were no longer new.

As soon as Santa presents were open, Grandpa and Grandma Etue came over with more toys!!

Boy toys finally!!  Daddy was more than happy to see a race track in the house!

Our last celebration of the day was at Papa and Grandma Zorn's house at around 4pm.   By this time, Tyler was D O N E !!  He pretty much took one picture over there and then went straight to bed for this third nap of the day!!

Tyler is letting everyone know in this picture that he is OVER Christmas day.  No more presents, no more extra people, no more pictures!!!  The boy took off out of the horse stalls this morning on a fast dash, and he just didn't have the stamina to finish the race!!  He should have paced himself better, maybe next year!

Happy First Christmas Tyler Ivan Stinker (Lexi's name for Mr. Ty!)

So this christmas season is coming to a close.  We are still trying to find a home for all our new things.  And the girls are now asking "when do we say, happy new year?"  The Etues have sure been blessed with good health, family, friends, and love during 2011.  We have been thru obsticales successfully and became better people because of them.  We have many hopes and dreams for 2012, including a few vacations, job advances, and a successful surgery.  But most of all the Etue party of five will be trudging through the new year together!!!!

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH

Tyler has been not sleeping, and acting kind of crazy.  I just figured,, ah, he is an Etue.  Nope!  TEETH!  I put my finger in his mouth a few minutes ago and I got bit!  From the top and the bottom!  Yikes,, upon further investigation, He has TWO FRONT TEETH!  Of course they are hidden behind his piece of maxilla skin, (thats not a medical term, just a mommy term!).  They look like they are in the right spot though and straight.  I am sure it will be a month or so before we can actually view them without prying his mouth open like a wild alligator, but none-the-less, Tyler got his two front teeth for Christmas.  I honestly never thought this day would come for him.  We have been doubting they were there at all due to his cleft issues.  But, just like the Christmas magic during this season, they appeared.  So go ahead Buddy, be crabby, get us up a bizillion times a night, refuse bottles... but my boy HAS TOP TEETH!  Any other parent is probably like big deal right,,, but when you have a child with facial differences as a mom you cling to anything that keeps them right in line with their peers.  And although not real religous lately, I still count my blessings that our Tyler is growing and developing just like every other healthy child.  Despite a few upcoming surgery's and maybe some emotional rollercoasters later in life,,, our Tyler will grow to be a mature functioning adult.  Love you, my boy!!

We dug out our video camera last night!  What a hoot!  Video I didn't even realize we had and loads of life happenings we missed by keeping it tucked away.  For the first time in his life, tonight, Tyler will be filmed!  It's his sisters preschool christmas program, we are all geared up to film the girls and I will be sure sneek a few minutes of the baby brother cheering them on! 

Christmas Season Pictures

Tyler's Christmas Picture

An attempt at taking a threesome christmas picture!!

Tyler eating Thanksgiving Dinner, He was stuffed after turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and corn all blended in the magic bullet!!

Thanksgiving table at Grandma Sheryl's,,, ranch and ketchup really???

Tyler loved holding the power saw during our hunt for a Christmas tree with grandpa and grandma Etue

December 2011--Happenings of the Party of Five

No blogs in a while means everything is going great at the Etue Estate.

Tyler is growing like a weed.  He is now eight months old and ALL boy!  He is sitting up and scooting around my house.  He is up on all fours and rocking, and grinning all the way.  Ty is eating like a hog!  Baby food, adult food, whatever he can get into his mouth.  On a typical day he eats his six jars of food and then whatever is on my plate.  We are in the process of switching him to a sippy cup, but that is challenging with any child, let alone a child with no suck.  He drinks from the rim of a cup better than a sippy.  But neither is very convient for mommy right now.  He only takes good bottle feedings from mommy so for now we just play that feeding game.  Tyler has managed to get all the ribbon off of our christmas tree and a few ornaments.  I have sense removed the ribbon since i was losing the battle.  Tyler has some new favs: pounding any and everything, saying mama repeatedly, computer cords, cell phones, pulling hair, head bunting, spinning the wheels of his trucks and the occassional barbie.  We have put away all his baby toys as he is more into toddler toys.  He loves his blocks, cars, and learning toys with buttons to push! 

The girls are still as crazy as always.  Preschool has become easier for Lexi, thank god.  It only took her three months to adjust to being away from me.  They are still each others best friends and love playing together.  They play daycare, preschool, disney world, and just about anything thing else that we really do, they imitate for weeks later.  They are trying to understand the season of Christmas.  And we laugh at their misunderstandings of it!  Howie our elf, is helping them learn some lessions along the way.  Although, Howie is giving us parents some lessons too, like how to move him before 3am when we awaken suddenly to relize we forgot to move him! 


We are already having an exciting holiday season.  We have made some home improvements including new paint thru the entire house, new tv/fireplace stand, and a new huge tv.  We are loving our newly designed spaces.  Merry Christmas to Mommy and Daddy!!  We have also been to our communities christmas light parade and festivites and are planning a trip to disney on ice before chrismas day arrives.  We are also looking foward to our girls first preschool christmas program.  Should be an interesting night watching Lexi have a meltdown infront of hundreds of people!   The kids will be having a grand christmas day with all their wish list toys already wrapped and locked in our basement bathroom.  We cannot wait to see all their smiles while celebrating the holidays with family.  The barbie shoes have been super glued on their barbie, and the trucks have been removed from the boxes.  Just a few more things to put together and we will be ready for the big day.  They are all at super fun ages!  And as soon as the holidays are over the Etues are becoming content with life.  We are no longer wishing for a new larger home, or larger toys, we are going to become content for a while and see where that gets us.  A new year with new dreams of loving what we already have,, each other!! 

2012 Etue Estate
In Our Home
We do second chances
We do gratitude
We do grace
We do laughter
We do mistakes
We do thank you's
We do real
We do muddy shoes
We do creativity
We do I'm sorry's
We do imperfect
We do funny
We do loud really well
We do hugs
We do family
We do love

I am having trouble uploading current pixs.  Will try again later.  Stay tuned to A Very Merry Etue Christmas!!!!  (Probably will be a sequel to National Lampoons Christmas Vacation!!)