Merry Christmas 2008

This is the time of year you take a step back from your everyday busy lives and realize what is truly important to you. I couldn't feel more blessed than I do right now. I have two beautiful boys, a sweet and loving husband who makes a wonderful father to our children, two sets of parents that continue to pour their love into our family and some amazing friends we can always count on. What more could you ask for?!

Well, we definitely had a great Christmas this year. Santa was good to us all. So, here's our week in review......

We started out celebrating at the T's on the 23rd with the annual Ham Fest. We love going to this because it brings back a somewhat lost tradition. Besides the good food and company, we all get together and sing Christmas carols accompanied by the T trio, with Uncle John on sax, Aunt Lori on the piano, and Mr. T on trumpet. The kids love it. Kyle made a special request this year for Frosty the Snowman and they came through, much to his delight. Thanks T's!

On Christmas Eve we took the kids to see Santa. Better late than never :) We started out at the mall and waited in line a good 20 minutes or so only to see Santa get up and leave the building. No one bothered to let anyone standing in line know that he would not be returning for an entire hour! No kid is going to stand in line for an hour, even for Santa. When we caught wind of this, let's just say Daddy gave the elves a little piece of his mind :) So, we told Kyle that Santa had to get to his next destination and that we would meet him there instead. We packed up the kids and followed his sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer to the next location. Here's how it went......

As you can see, Ryan was not a big fan of the man in the big red suit! Oh well, maybe next year!

That evening we all went to church and then headed over to the S's for some food, drink, and fun. This kids got some practice in, opening a few presents before the big day.

Then we went home to get ready for bed, set out the cookies and milk, and write Santa a letter. This wasn't just any letter. This was a letter from Kyle telling Santa he didn't need his pacies anymore and that he could give them to all the new babies, knowing that he would get presents in return. We have been prepping him for this for weeks. So, we wrote the letter. He wrapped up all the pacies and we set them out with the cookies and went to bed.

Ok, maybe the going to bed part wasn't that easy. Given all the excitement on top of no paci, we shed a few tears and FINALLY fell asleep by 11:30 p.m.! We were thinking we would at least be able to sleep in a little (past 7:00) since he was up so late.....Wrong! 6:00 a.m. rolled around and someone was standing at the side of my bed looking for his paci. When I told him he only had one hour until morning came, he was proud of himself for about a minute. So, as to not ruin what progress we had made, we took a sneak peak to see if Santa had left any presents. His eyes were as big as golf balls when he saw all of those presents under the tree! So, we snuggled back in bed for the next hour with Kyle watching TV and Mommy and Daddy trying to catch a few extra Zs. 7:00 a.m. rolled around and we decided to wake up Grammy and Papa and begin the unwrapping frenzie.

We had such a fun morning opening presents. Here are the boys with their very 1st presents. I don't think big brother wants to share this one. It's MINE!

Kyle was very pleased with his Leapster, as you can see.

Ryan loved his new little chair. Just my size!

Ahoy there, Maties! Thanks G-daddy and Nana!

Ryan couldn't get on his new ATV quick enough! Thanks Grammy and Papa!

This year the big kids in the house got a toy of their own, thanks to G-daddy and Nana! Nap time is now Wii time for Mommy and Daddy! It's so much fun! We even let Kyle have a turn every now and then :) He's actually pretty good at bowling. Here's Daddy teaching him how to play Mario karts. For anyone who knows Rick, this is definitely a proud moment.

We then wrapped up the afternoon with a nap. Remember that paci? Well, someone else did too. He decided that he didn't want any more presents and that he didn't like Christmas Day. He just wanted his paci back. Simple as that. So, trying not to ruin Christmas for the poor kid, we decided to give Santa a call. Lucky for Kyle, Santa told Daddy he hid one in a dresser drawer just in case Kyle might need it. When he overheard Daddy's conversation with Santa, all of sudden we were singing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. Talk about flipping a switch! The only good thing is that we're down to one and he knows once it's gone, it's gone. So, for now my 3 year old still has his paci (sigh). I guess we'll give it another shot in a few weeks, and no, cupid is not taking it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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A Holiday Performance

Kyle's preschool had their winter sing-a-long performance the week before Christmas. Even Daddy was able to get out of work to see his favorite little star perform. The kids were so cute. They sang quite a few songs, complete with costume changes (santa hats, antlers, bells, giant candy canes). I figured out that the candy canes were probably his favorite prop as he stopped singing and started battling the girl next to him with his candy cane. A new weapon, I guess!

After the performance, a very special guest arrived....Santa! Kyle asked him for a lot of presents. I think Santa asked him to be a little more specific and he decided a truck that carries cars would do. They had quite a conversation (a quiet one as you can see), I wish I could have heard it all.

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On the go!

Ryan took his first steps a few days before his 1st birthday! He really started getting around a few weeks later. Now we can't stop him. He's pretty quick on those two little feet! It's funny, he started out with what we call the archery walk..... leading with one arm, tucking the other one in, and heading for his target. Now that he's walking, it's a little easier keeping up with big brother.

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Happy 1st Birthday Ryan!

It's hard to believe my baby is 1! This kid is just as lucky as his brother was this year. I think we've celebrated his birthday 3 times now! We celebrated when Grammy and Papa were here, again on his birthday day with Nana,G-daddy, Aunty Julie, Uncle John, Holly, and Hope, and finally a week later with all of his little buddies. Being 1 is so much fun!

Because Ryan is on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet at the moment, I had to make him a special cake. Let's say my first attempt wasn't too successful. The cake turned out fine, but the icing was a different story. I don't think icing is supposed to be pourable. Oh well, he didn't know the difference and it served its purpose as you can see.

It was really tough trying to figure out what to buy him when he has so much stuff from Kyle. So, we decided he should have his own ride...

From Blogger Pictures

Hey! I thought this was MY ride!



Big brother Kyle was happy to show Ryan the ropes when it came time to unwrapping the presents! Ryan just thought it made a good seat.



Turns out G-daddy and Nana thought he should have a ride of his own too....just a different kind!



So, we finished up the birthday celebrations today with the party with his buddies. My second attempt at a "special" cake for Ryan was much more successful this time. It actually tasted half decent.





And this is the one everyone else got enjoy!



Happy 1st Birthday buddy, we love you so much!

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Vacaciones 2008

Daddy and Mommy decided it was time for a little R&R, so we took a little vacation to Mexico the week before Thanksgiving! Little may not be the right word. This was a 7 day trip without the kiddos, I'd say that qualifies as BIG! So as not to completely wear out the grandparents, they split the duty of watching the boys...Grammy and Papa took the 1st half of the week and Nana and G-daddy took the 2nd half.

We had such a great time. Nothing like only having to worry about yourselves for an entire week. Our biggest decisions were what drink to order next, where to eat breakfast, what drink to order next, where to eat lunch, what drink to order next, where to eat dinner...you get it. We did get up off our butts one day and took the ferry over to the Isle of Mujeres. We rented a golf cart and drove around the island. Beautiful views of the ocean in such an impoverished town, much like the rest of Cancun outside of the resort areas. It's hard to imagine what it's like to be a local, living amongst such extremes. Last Sunday was Daddy's birthday. He's an old man now....really owning his 30's. We finally made it out sailing on a little Hobie Cat during the day and had a nice dinner at the French restaurant. I had ordered a cake and had asked for them to decorate the room, so that was a nice surprise he came back to after dinner. Monday, I started to come down with something (still have it), but at least it didn't ruin our vacation since we were headed back to the States on Tuesday. After 7 days away from the kids, I was ready to come back. I really missed them a lot! Here are a few pics from the trip.

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I like to move it, move it...

Last weekend we took Kyle to see the new Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa movie. The first one is his absolute favorite movie, so when we heard another one was coming out, we knew this would be the one to take him to for his first theater experience. He totally loved it, popcorn and all!

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The leaves have fallen

Which means it's time to play! We were out raking leaves last weekend and couldn't resist making an enormous pile for the kids to jump in. Kyle had so much fun burying himself from head to toe. I remember doing the same as a kid, so mommy jumped in too for old time's sake :)

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The Beach

Two weeks ago (yes, I'm catching up again), we went back to Grammy and Papa's to see Great Grandma and Aunt Geri who were visiting for the week. We had a great time despite the fact that the kids were sick. I could shoot myself for not getting many pics while we were there. I think we were all just preoccupied taking care of the kiddos. Anyway, we did manage to get to the beach on a beautiful day. This was actually Ryan's very first trip to the beach, so it was his first experience with that tasty sand :) We look forward to going back when it gets warmer and hopefully Ryan will have outgrown the need to put anything and everything in his mouth.

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Election 2008

Well, the results are in and it looks like America is looking for change and to make some history! After more than 200 years, America has elected their 1st African American president. “Young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans have sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of red states and blue states,” Obama said. “We have been and always will be the United States of America." Let's hope this defining moment in American history brings with it the confidence America needs to get back on its feet.

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Happy Halloween!

Says the blue 3-eyed monster and the scary green dinosaur!

Here's the little monster trying to escape...



And the ferocious dinousaur giving his best roar...



And here they are ready to go.



We had such a fun night. We were out scaring the neighbors for a good 2 hours! Daddy was out of town, so Auntie Julie joined us for the night. Kyle had a blast. We started off the night eating each piece of candy as we got it. Mommy quickly put a stop to that, knowing the ramifications! After every door, Kyle would ask if we were going to get more candy. When mommy said yes each time, he was so excited. Ryan was such a trooper, he had a great time riding along in the wagon and taking in all the excitement. We didn't get home until 9:30 and boy was mommy tired of lugging those two around in the wagon all night. They're quite the load! Of course, when we got home, we had to check out all of our loot. Kyle kept saying, "This is a lot of candy!"



Earlier in the afternoon we got together with our playgroup friends for a little Halloween fun.



And the day before, we celebrated at Kyle's preschool with a Hallowen parade sing-a-long where the parents came to watch the little ones perform. My little dinosaur sang a few songs before he discovered his costume had a really cool tail. After that, we were a little preoccupied to join in for the rest.



Can't wait until next year, when Ryan will be off scaring the neighborhood too!

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A trip to Grammy and Papa's

Last weekend we made our first trip to Grammy and Papa's new house. We're so excited that they live much closer now and we love their new house. While we were there we took the kids on the ferry to the aquarium. Kyle thought that was pretty cool that we could take the car on the boat.

We had a great time at the aquarium. Kyle had a face to face encounter with some alligators and we loved watching all of the fish swim around in the giant tank, especially the enormous green eel.





Afterwards, we headed into town and got some icecream. I think somebody liked it!



But, to be totally honest, I think the highlight of the trip for Kyle was the bubble bath he had in Grammy's tub. There were so many bubbles, we could hardly find him! He's still talking about it and hopes he gets another one next time we visit :)

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