"Can I shake your hand?"

I came home from work the other day and Asa was sitting at his new table eating dinner. As I was walking up to him, he held out his hand and said, "Can I shake your hand?". Of course, I was blown away by this and replied, "Of course, you can shake my hand!" and I held my hand out for him and we shook hands. As were were shaking hands, he floored me again by saying, "It's nice to meet you, Mommy." OMG! How cute is that?!? But, it doesn't stop there!! Later that night when I was getting him ready for his bath, he insisted on taking his clothes off himself, however when he had struggled enough on his own, he finally relented and came to me for help. After I got his clothes off and in the tub, he looked at me and said, "Thank you for helping, Mommy." Does it end there? Of course not! Last night I came home and greeted John and the kids as usual. Asa asked me to sit next to him at his table while he ate. (He pats the seat next to him and says, "Can you sit next to me?") But then, literally out of nowhere he says, "I like your outfit." I CAN NOT say enough how much I LOVE the daycare he goes to because even though we try to be courteous around the house with the kids, Asa certainly DID NOT learn the above from us.

Below are a few pictures that my Mom took from her camera during Christmas and ZooLights.

Gamma & Gampa got Lexi and Asa their own hooded towels. Asa is the dog (as seen above) and Lexi is a bunny - cutest little bath bunny you have ever seen, I should add!

John got us a Wii for Christmas along with the Wii Fit. We brought it over to Mom & Dad's Christmas weekend. Here is Dad bowling. He's still got it! Look at that form!

Asa and his colored spy magnifying glasses.

Lexi making friends with the snowman.

"I think I'll just rest here for a second and chill."

Gampa feeding Lexi Chocolate Mousse. Thanks for making it Mom! Yummy!

Sharing a laugh with Gampa. I love this pic!

The whole gang.

Foot Update: My toe is healing really well. I am finally out of the boot! However, the downside is that I still can't wear "normal" shoes, but the upside is is that I can wear slippers! Who wouldn't want to walk around all day wearing comfy slippers to keep their feet warm! Anyway, the latest xray shows that the bone is fusing back together nicely. The screw removal surgery is scheduled for Friday, February 6th.

Our New Table and Chairs!!!

By far, the BEST present we got this year was this table and chairs from Gamma and Gampa. Now check this out... My dad actually made this table from scratch, including painting it, double painting it and then sealing it. This is the most awesome table EVER!! And the kids LOVE it. Mom and Dad brought it to our house when they came over for ZooLights last Saturday.

Father and son enjoying a nice quite Sunday lunch together... so sweet!

Reading our books together. This was a pretty funny picture because the book he is reading is actually titled, 'What Son's Teach Us'. My mom got if for me last year and I'm still not sure how he got his hands on it. Made for a cute picture though!

Time to climb like monkeys!

Ever since Sunday, Asa has been pretty much eating all of his meals at his new table. Here his is eating Sunday dinner. Such a big boy!

ZooLights!!

One of the best presents we get every year is our Annual Membership to the Phoenix Zoo from my mom and dad. Along with the membership we also get 2 tickets to ZooLights. We were really looking forward to going to ZooLights at Thanksgiving time, but someone decided to fall down the stairs and break her toe and we couldn't go. But, now that I am walking better (still in the boot) we decided that the first weekend of the New Year would be the ideal time. (Plus it was the last weekend we would all be able to go.) This year we invited my sister's husbands kids(I guess that would be my niece's and nephew in-law?) Robbie, Pattie and Tracey to go with us and my mom and dad drove into town. After an home-made Beef Stew dinner by John, we all loaded up in the vehicle's and were were zoo-bound!

This is how cool Lexi is... Kicks back and puts her feet up!

Asa really liked the spider and spider-web.

I really liked the Palm Trees.

Everyone seemed to like it and had a good time! Awesome job Phoenix Zoo! Thanks Mom & Dad for the Membership Renewal!

New Years Day Fun!!!

What better way to spend the very first day of 2009? You can't beat staying in our jammies all day and playing with all of our new toys!

Our future Rock Star - and no, I'm not kidding!

Asa's cool new Nascar Race Track.

Took this pic in the middle of it all and couldn't resist posting it... Can you blame me?

Playing in our new Ball Pit! This thing is so much fun! The kids love it. Mom likes it too, just wishes all 200 balls would stay INSIDE the freaking thing!!! Ugh!

The figured out pretty quickly that if they pressed thier faces to the mesh screen, it made me laugh really hard!

Love this face!

In case you are wondering - it's a Toy Sword. I think it was Uncle Richard and Aunt Lisa that got Asa the Christmas Mr. Potato Head. He loves it and I also found a Pirate Accessory Kit for it too! Mr. Potato Head is in the Ball Pit with Asa.

Lexi playing with her new dolly that Gamma/Gampa got her.

Not sure what these are called, but the kids love them!

That's what I like - working together as a team!

Asa playing with his Doctor Kit Stethescope that Santa Claus left for him in his stocking.

Making sure Lexi's heart is still beating...