christmas in WISCONSIN

yeah, it does probably seem like i'm always in WI to those who read this blog. but i'm not really. just thanks to my little nephews i've made some exceptions this year. BUT i do make a point to be here for christmas. only 1 year in all my years did i NOT go home for christmas.
this year was definitely a classic home-y family christmas.
we arrived at nearly 11 p.m. on Christmas day, worn out from travelling from 1:30 p.m. EST to 10:48 CST. so...that is a long day. but, it was a great travelling time, caedmon was an angel and we enjoyed our christmas morning before the travelling began.
7 a.m. christmas day: caedmon wakes up and ryan does and believe it or not - i did too! we opened gifts and watching our son so excited was really special. we just love him so much and he's our little joy.
9 a.m. christmas breakfast: my own tradition, DELICOUS TRADITION. soo good i was "rubbing my face like uncle will." (my brother rubs his face when he's sooo full he's about to bust.)
10: a.m. CLEAN UP, take down tree, play with toys
12:00 eat again...just to get full before heading out on our way.
clean the rest of the house after breakfast and pack up the car....
1:30 on our way
2:10 arrive at airport toooooo early, but get good longterm parking on lower level of central parkikng - BONUS!
TRAVELLLLLLLL
arrive at what i will always call HOME and the first bright face i see is THIS: ELLIOT JACK JACOBSON! the cutest 7 month old on planet earth!
sat dec. 26th: did chrsitmas! it was great, the first gift was a snomobile for my dad. he was estatic and nan, will, and i had to try i out on a field later in the day!
caedmon loved opening gifts and was beside himself with joy when uncle will came over. he LOVES will. mason was introduced to uncle ryan for the first time and our family was all together with all the new additions, including aunt dede for a second year in a row.
mom and dad went allllllllllllllll out with gifts this year! the best being tickets to the bears/vikings monday night game. 8 of us enjoyed this pleasure two nights later...more to come on that.sundayafter church at BBC our entire babler-extended family was together. it was great. a very memorable christmas, we were all so happy to be together, and shared in a baby shower for our cousin luke and his wife tracy in honor of another babler entering the world. grandma babler hosted what will probably be the last christmas in her home as things are becoming too much for her in her health these days. but in this moment, we were all together, all happy and all praising God for the love our family has for one another.another huge highlight of sunday at grandma babler's was caedmon signing the BIBLE and JINGLE BELLS for everyone. he was a showman...so great. so articulate, and so proud.my dad and sister had tears in their eyes and my heart was so warm i could feel it heating up the whole room. he was precious.

monday....we left at 12:30 armed and ready for sub-zero freeeeezing temps and a hard game, probably a loss for our bears. we arrived at Soldiers Field with optimism and LOTS of layers and hot hands at 7:20 p.m....right before kick off.
we left that game (the 6th most televised game in all cable history) with JOY pouring from every pour of our bodies, the cold didnt' seem to matter anymore we WON our version of the 09-10 SUPERBOWL. IT WAS AWESOME! THE BEST GAME WE'd EVER SEEN! after killing them in th efirst half, we were able to somehow give it away and get it all back again in OT!
that night we stayed at the posh "W HOTEL" on the lakefront.
i didn't have my camera, so no pictures of this great game or the hotel or our time in CHI but i will be getting some from wes, karen, and brian.
here is a link to the hotel: amazing!http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=2005

this night was our first overnight away from caedmon. it went well, he only cried in the night one little tear for mommy and daddy...and had his grandma right by his side. what a good boy he's been this WHOLE trip. what joys he's had and entertainment he's brought to my family. so much love...

also, we ate awesome indian food, cooked a lot of good food at home, ate way too much, had a fun shopping spree with gift cards, saw sherlock homes, laughed so hard we almost cried, watch julie and julia (loved it!), and left way too soon...of course!
:)

christmas time is here!

so, as christmas has approached i've been trying to not stress again - that is my goal. and i would say i'm achieving it, other than the crazy CCA christmas pageant day, but we recovered.

things caedmon has been doing:

meeting santa - that was a huge highlight! he was not his normal bubbly self, caedmon was close to nap time and was very chill. he walked right up, we were first in line. caedmon got right up on santa's lap and said, "Hi, i want drumming, guitar, and microphone. i saw you on prep and landing" Here is the link to prep and landing, the nbc Disney Pixar special - so awesome!http://abc.go.com/watch/prep-and-landing/243219/243629/prep-landing After meeting Santa Caedmon has gotten really into the "good boy" side of things. he understands that santas coming and bringing him presents that Jesus picked out just for caemdon because he loves him. that's what he thinks.

sunday we got snow...lots of snow. we only played in it a bit before he said, "its freeeezing." yes, caedmon it is freezing. ryan had to snow blow twice and church was cancelled. the bummer - caedmon's sunday school christmas production was cancelled to. the upside - it got rescheduled for christmas eve.

ponderings for the new year:

1. i just can't work this much. i know i've said that before but after hearing this, i just can't:

"momma you're going to work?" me : "no, i'm not going to work today, it's sunday." caedmon: "YES!caedmon don't like when momma goes to work." that broke my heart. when i told my mom this story, i thnk she cried. not cool. sad. i just don't want to be away from him. i miss him just like he's a newborn still! and i love getting things done at home.

2. scrpabooking. it was my LIFE! now, i never really hve time to do any. and when i do have time, i have NO energy left over. however; this week caedmon and ryan spent time in my scrapbook room, what caedmon calls my "workshop" ADORABLE! we made cards and caedmon drew on paper and made bookmarks. the cutest was when he said, "dadddddy!I made this for you! i made it for you! come and see, daddy!" he was so proud! he loves to color. so, i have to make more time to get things done, it relaxes me and helps me remember all the good times and good things in life!

i had so much fun shopping this year for chrsitmas this year. i have a few things left and then i'm home free! not free by any means, but i'll be headed home with one whole suitcase just for gifts probably!

new pictures are coming!

fa la la la la

wow. first off, i know i'm a slacker! i am worn out on everything. so i just need to rise above it and keep bloggin!
caedmon has been a busy boy this winter and here are FINALLY pictures to tell you what we've been up to:
enjoying our christmas party!
making cookies from food network mag
date night this monday with laura and ryan wagner at Tabocos Brazillian Steakhouse!

in bed sleepy head

i guess i've been going to bed early and not bloggin...the holidays do wear me out a bit. mostly, i'm trying this holiday about all else *except getting amazing deals/bargains while out shopping* is to NOT STRESS. i just don't want stress. i want to relax. work has been a little stressful in and out lately and i want to just let it go and not freak out!
caedmon has been amazing though...very good boy. he's doing so well and we're extremely proud. everyday we say to eachother - how is our son over 2? how is our son almost 2.5? how did we get this far and not mess something up!?!? hahaha, not the last question actually. we know God is empowering us each day to raise this little boy and BOY is it a privledge.
caedmon's newest:
back to eating AWESOMELY well
practicing his lines for the christmas play at church:"We brought love, God loves us" instead he says "me and you and you and you," inplace of us.
momma, i wanna help you? caed constantly wants to help us cook, cut things, turn lights on and off, brush his teeth, do anything we need to do on our own. he just wants to help. it's a great thing.
"I MAKE YOU HAPPY!?" yes, caedmon you make me extremely happy. i had a crying day on sunday and he was just so sweet. rubbed my back and said that. how can you be sad after that. there is no way! he's so precious and "tenderhearted" just like ryan. i love it!
left and right: he knows his left and right on his hands and feet. some second graders don't even know that! hahaha
christmas countdown: everyday caed is in charge of changing our chrismas countdown chart. he loves this job. he knows that today is tuesday and it's 17 days until christmas. impressive.

yes, i realize i brag about him a lot...i can't help it. he amazes me and he's the only one i got to flaunt! so, deal! ahahah :)

how could i not be thankful?

thanksgiving was a nice time spent with ryan's parents. we thankful that Caedmon loved being with his grandparents and they gave us some "time off" as full time parents :)

we celebrated christmas and thanksgiving in one weekend, which was nice and a good way to get a lot of "quality family time" with ry's parents who we haven't seen in a year!

actual thanksgiving was spent stuffing our faces at the Drumm's house, eating so much i was practically sick. a good sick! then, laurel and i went shopping from 5:30-7ish. that was great, got some good deals and matching outfits for my family christmas pictures that are always a hit! coming soon...this week!

caed and evee were adorable friends. they were so sweet together, and he just laughs at the thought of evee. he loves her so much and loves everything she does!

black friday was awesome - got some amazzzzzzzing deals!

parenting note: caedmon has not been eating meat. he's been not eating any meat unless we hide it in a quesadilla. we have NEVER had eating problems EVER but now since he was sick he doesn't like to eat anything that has FLAVOR. he's not into anything but rice, yougurt, pasta, and fruit snacks. so, we're tricking him into it.