Well, I guess we wanted to start off December with a bang because on December 1st, we found out we are expecting baby number two! He/she is, as of now (pre-ultrasound), due August 19th! We couldn't be more excited!December was also filled with some big milestones for Ethan. He can now spell his name, count easily to thirteen, and rattle off all of his letters (by sight) without a thought. We are also loving his growing imagination and love for pretend play. Although there are lots of fun new things, there are also some not so fun things. We continue to work on his attitude, saying no, yelling, and hitting. He is learning, but it is definitely a work in progress. Another new "skill" Ethan has is learning lots of names. He has even started calling Mike and I by our names...we continue to try not to laugh and tell him in a serious tone that we are, to him, mama and daddy.
To start off the Christmas season, the first weekend of December we went to the Milton High School for Breakfast with Santa. Ethan was pretty excited to see Santa, so we started off with a quick visit. After getting a bit closer, he decided maybe Santa wasn't such a great idea.
Although it didn't last very long, we were able to snap a few pictures of Ethan with Santa.
After all of that, we ate some breakfast then had some time to sit and visit. Ethan even got a special kiss from Lainey!
One of the boys...
After finishing up at the high school, we all went over to Mike's mom's house for the annual Christmas cookie baking day. The kids even helped decorate the sugar cookies.
Although immediately after decorating his, Ethan decided it looked good enough to eat.
At least he was able to create one cookie without eating it. Here it is!
After all was finished baking, here is what we had. I'd say it was a pretty successful day!
The next weekend, we met up with Mike's mom again to head over to Rotary Gardens and look at all of the pretty Christmas lights they set up. It was pretty cold that night and for the first time we really had to bundle up. Doesn't Ethan look excited? :)
Before grandma came to pick us all up, we went out for a short little walk. Ethan had fun playing in the small little patches of snow on the ground.
Family pic where Mike and I got married with all of the pretty lights.
After looking at all of the lights, we went back inside and watched the trains go around the tracks and had some cookies and hot cocoa.Another new activity this week is the starts of some pretend play with his little figurines and stuffed animals. Here he is one afternoon "feeding" his turtle some cheese.
To start off the holiday season this year, we ordered a few ornaments to give out as gifts. No one in the family knew our big news yet so this is how we decided to tell them. Let's just say there was lots of excitement and happiness this Christmas!
Our first Christmas this year was on Friday December 23rd. We headed down to Rockford to Mike's Aunt Anne and Uncle Tom's house and had a great holiday dinner and family time. 
As part of the holiday tradition, we always do a $10 gift exchange. There are always some interesting gifts! This year, Mike and I got an automatic card shuffler and a car scraper with a built in mitten. Here are the kids with the gifts (don't mind the naked Ethan).
After all of the excitement of gift opening and dinner came to an end, the kids and moms snuggled up on the couch to watch some cartoons. They especially loved the episode of Christmas with Shrek. 
The next morning, we had a full day of company. Every Christmas Eve morning we have breakfast and gift opening with my mom, sister, and brother when he's around. This year he had to work until the afternoon so he couldn't make it. Think Kileigh is a little excited to open presents?
Cousin love :)
Gift opening
After we finished up with breakfast, we all went downstairs and had some good play time before the afternoon activities started. Here is Ethan in his "I'm going to be a big brother" shirt. We decided to put him in this to tell the rest of the family our news. 
Happy boy!
Not the greatest pic of me, but here's a shot of all of the kids on Christmas Eve waiting patiently for their turn to open their gifts. 
After the kids finished up with their gift opening, we had a pretty large game of Cranium to play! We were extra lucky this year because we had a few additions to the group. We always love when my Aunt Kim and Alex can make it for the holidays and this year we even had my brother in town! We had a pretty good group for the game and had lots of fun!
While the adults were busy playing the game, the kids snuggled up for Shrek - Ethan's favorite movie right now!
After a late night on Christmas Eve, we got up early and had our little family Christmas with just Ethan. He opened his presents from Santa and even had some time to play a bit before heading off to my dad's house. I think one of his favorite toys was this battery operated Thomas the Train.
On day three of present opening, Ethan definitely had the hang of how it all works. 
After present opening, the kids and Mike were busy reading Ethan's new books. One of the favorites definitely being his dinosaur book filled with jokes. As you can see, there are some pretty funny ones!
Ethan taking pictures with grandpa! Too bad the camera is backwards :)
After an eventful few days, we had lots and lots of new toys to pull out. We are slowly transitioning them in because we have another full year before he gets another round of new toys. One of the firsts to come out with another addition to his Thomas set. With the new battery operated Thomas, he can attach all of his other cars and they run by themselves. He is loving it!
Whew! To put a great end to a busy December and to a busy 2011, we celebrated New Years Eve with Kelly and Chad and Chad's brother Nick and his wife Heather. We went to Fuji for an amazing dinner and some alcoholic, and for some non-alcoholic, drinks. After dinner we went over to Kel and Chad's house for some dessert and games.
Happy New Year! Bring on 2012!
