Holiday Fun with the Fitzgeralds

This Christmas Holiday was such an exciting one. I can't believe how much Kellen go into it this year! It is incredible how much he has matured and grown in just one year. Last year he could've cared less about the Christmas tree, presents, Santa Claus, etc., but this year, watching him take it all in was like reliving our childhood all over again. His fascination for Santa Claus grew rapidly once he realized that Santa was the one who brought him new toys on Christmas Day. Kellen kept saying "Santa Claus, bring me toys!". Quite adorable, if you ask me. :) When we met Santa, Kellen was in awe. His big brown eyes were just fixated on him and he kept mumbling "Santa Claus, bring me toys." and "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas". When it was time for our Kodak moment with Kellen sitting on Santa's lap, he was not having it. So...mommy had to sit on Santa's lap with Kellen sitting on mommy's lap. We couldn't get Kellen to look at the camera because he just wouldn't stop staring at Santa! Such a classic photo!

Our traditional annual neighborhood Sleigh Ride was cancelled this year due to the chance of freezing rain and snow. Even though the forecast was grim, we decided to have some family and friends over anyway for some good eats and drinks. Kellen loved having all his buddies over. Bella, Hannah, Ethan, Reese, Myle, Mattea...they had a great time playing together and checking out all the Christmas lights Colin and our neighbors put up. The Christmas lights this year were a big success! Colin made an enormous "Lake Fitz" in the middle of the yard and filled it with all kinds of animals. Needless to say, Kellen wanted to be outdoors EVERY night. He really enjoyed helping Colin or I turn on all the Christmas lights on our house and really looked forward to the blow-up penguin "waking up!". It'll be so fun to see Kellen helping out his daddy next year when the light season comes around again.

Christmas Day was such a wonderful experience. Santa brought Kellen a work bench and tools (that grandma and grandpa Fitz help coordinate), a Thomas the Engine hut and tunnel, and a toddler vacuum just like mommy's. When Kellen came into the living room to see all his new toys, he didn't know what to play with first. The excitement and happiness that appeared on his face warmed my heart. We are so fortunate to provide Kellen with such fun things.

SNOW!! It snowed again this year and Kellen LOVED it! Thank goodness we had a snowsuit that fit him because the kid was out in the snow for hours!! If he wasn't eating the snow or trying to eat the carrot off of the snowman's nose, he was falling down on purpose and walking around hearing the crunching under his shoes. If only he would've kept those darn mittens on!! The poor kids' hands were bright red when he finally came back inside. Such a boy! Too bad the snow only lasted for a day. Maybe we'll be lucky and get some more before Spring arrives.

The Holidays were a success. We are so thankful to have such a loving and healthy family. We are truly blessed.

Kellen's Going to be a Big Brother!!

We are thrilled to announce that we're expecting our second lil' Fitzy!!! Kellen will soon be a big brother! Baby girl or boy is estimated to arrive June 29th. This pregnancy so far has been completely different than my pregnancy with Kellen. I was truly spoiled with Kellen. Not one day of nausea, flawless skin, and my hair....my hair was so thick and gorgeous! Not so much this time around. If I'm not dry heaving into the toilet every hour or so, I declare it a fantastic day!! It feels so different this time around. Maybe that means this one is a lil' girl?? I've kind of already convinced myself, but who knows! It would be heavenly to have two boys, but I have always wanted to know what it would be like to have a daughter. Either way, I'll be thrilled. I just hope the gagging and nausea goes away soon, but if it means we'll be blessed with another healthy baby, I'll take it!! ;-)

Halloween 2009

Colin and I have season tickets to the Ducks and we easily decided that we wouldn't be making it to the USC game because of Halloween and Kellen being able to actually trick or treat this year. It was a smart decision (even though it was a spectacular game!), but we know that we will never be able to get these early years of trick-or-treating back.

Kellen absolutely LOVED all the Halloween decorations our neighbors had up this year. He especially loved "Frankie" aka Frankenstein. Every day he would ask to go see the "Scary" and we'd make a loop around our corner checking out every neighbors scary display. I was impressed by the lack of fear Kellen had. He truly enjoyed seeing all these ghosts, witches, screaming zombies, etc. and would often say "more, more" every time we'd walk away. Trick-or-Treating was going to be a piece of cake! So I thought....

It all started with Larry our neighbor coming out of his house dressed in a full bodied skeleton costume that even scared me! Kellen literally started shaking! I convinced Larry to take his mask off so Kellen could see it was him and the minute he revealed his face, Kellen said in a relieved voice "Hi Laaaaary!". I think this sight set him off, because every masked costume that was remotely scary, Kellen would grab a hold of me as tightly as he could in his adorable lion costume. We didn't last long trick or treating, but it was exciting to see Kellen light up every time candy was put into his pumpkin bowl. I gave in and let him have a lollipop when we got home. It was his first piece of candy and boy did he enjoy it! :-)

21 Months of Utter Cuteness!

Kellen turned 21 months old on Friday the 13th and Colin and I sit back and are amazed at how fast the time has gone by. It is so hard to imagine Kellen was once this 7 1/2 pound newborn that was 100% dependent on us. Now he is Mr. Independent! Although these last few months have been trying with Kellen really wanting to be independent and do things when HE wants to, they have truly been fantastic months. Seeing how much he is learning and soaking in daily is truly unbelievable! This lil' boy is so bright (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a very proud momma..HA!)! He counts by himself from 1 to 10 (sometimes he'll count to 5 and then skip to "fourteem, fifteem"), he can sing his ABC's (with a wee bit of help), he can identify letters "O", "M", "A", "B", "C", and "D", he is starting to learn his colors and definitely has the color red down (maybe it'll be his favorite color??), and boy does this kid love to sing! I've taught him the song my mom and grandma used to sing to me when I was little called "Tu Tu Tu Tu Wah Wah" in Spanish. Kellen always asks me to sing him this song when he goes to bed. I honestly get teary eyed every time he starts to sing along with me. It is the most precious sound in the world! These moments will always be cherished in my heart. There is no doubt about it that Kellen is growing up fast. Every day he says or does something new. The latest is the word "yah". We'll ask him a question and he'll respond "yah"...very confidently I might add. It is hilarious! Kellen's dancing has also become quite the scene. I have never seen a toddler get so into dancing like Kellen does! It's a bit wild, but truly comical to watch. I'll have to post a video of him in action soon. We are just over the moon with this lil' man. He has been such a joy to watch grow up. I can't believe his 2nd birthday is a mere 3 months away!

Pumpkin Patch 2009

We headed over to LakeView Farms Pumpkin Patch again this year. It is definitely one of our favorites. Grandma & grandpa Fitz and Nana came along for the excitement. Kellen loved the train and the boat ride this year. It was so neat to see him soaking it all in and actually being able to really understand what was going on this year. He was a trooper for being up WAY past his nap time. Kellen even managed to find some perfect pumpkins! The weather cooperated nicely as well. Thank goodness!!!