2008 on the horizon

We had a wonderful Christmas at home, with the boys being blessed with numerous presents. Now the challenge is finding space for all the new stuff, as it sure seems to take over the house. It was nice being able to see both sets of grandparents within the week and celebrate the holidays with each of them. Zach was really into the whole Santa concept this year and was so proud on Christmas morning that Santa and his reindeer ate all the cookies he had made and left out for them.

Now with the busyness of the holidays behind us, we are looking forward to and counting down the days till our Mexico vacation. Hence the need to add a ticker to the blog. We are going on a trip with my folks and my sister and her clan. Even though its not till April, with the long & boring winter ahead, we need some warm weather to look forward to!

Christmas Happenings

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord, we are starting new traditions and embracing old ones.

First and foremost, is the return of my parents from England! They arrived last Sunday and needless to say its been a whirlwind of a week, as it usually is when they are in town. My parents have gracefully been doing activities with Zachary, which includes numerous trips to Panera for bagels and coffee, as well as going to the library, the book store, making Christmas cookies, and a trip to the local Children's Museum. He loves being the big brother who gets to go on outings and have sleepovers at Nana's condo all by himself!

We also made our first Gingerbread house this year, well actually it was a train, which Zachary thoroughly loved. We are definitely ready for Santa to come!

Bruisers and sitters

Zachary fell on one of Cam's toys on Friday night and instantly received a big, fat shiner underneath his right eye. It was so bizarre, by the time he stood up and we responded to the crying, it was already bruised and swollen. And you can forget trying to talk a 3 year old into holding ice on their face. That attempt lasted about 2 seconds.

The side profile, displaying the instant swelling.

Anyhow, took him to the doctors last night for unrelated symptoms (sinus infection) and was a little apprehensive about how he looks. I was questioned by the nurse and the doctor about his injury and then Z was questioned as well, I guess they wanted to make sure our stories matched! Thank goodness we had reviewed the details on the way there.... Hopefully Children's Protective Services won't be knocking on our door any time soon!

On a development note, we got a sitter on our hands (even though he's not sitting in this picture)! I love it when they are sitting up and are entertained with toys all around them. He (not me) also seems a bit anxious to crawl, as he tries to pull himself forward when he's on the floor. Don't quite know if I'm ready for a crawler yet, time to baby proof I guess.

Little Lambs Program

Last night we attended Zach's Little Lambs Christmas Program, 'The Message of the Angels.' It was quite entertaining! It was our first time attending such an event and it almost made me cry that our 1st born is getting old enough to be part of such an amazing program. He didn't sing a ton or complete many of the hand motions, but none the less, we were extremely proud of him.


I think in these situations you just pray they don't embarrass you with flashing the audience or sticking their finger up their nose, and fortunately he did neither! We did videotape the whole thing and if I can figure out how, maybe I will post a short clip. Primarily for grandparents of course :-)

In correspondence with the Christmas programs, there is also a Live Nativity scene outside.

The quality of this picture isn't the best (I think a new camera might be on the Christmas wish list), anyhow, can you find Zach in the sea of children??

He's about the 4th row up, 3rd child from the left.

after all, it is her birthday

Cameron & Chloe being good little babies, just relaxing in their seats

While Zachary was at Little Lambs this morning, we met up with Stacy, her two girls, Lauren & Chloe. As well as Kris Haartman and her 2 week old little one, Kasey.

Much to Stacy's dismay, this is how Lauren looked upon arrival.... HILARIOUS!

On the car ride to the mall, Lauren was begging for this small makeup case that Stacy had out. Well, being the good Mom that she is, she obliged to Lauren's wish, let her play with it, thinking that she will never figure out how to open the zipper. Well, low and behold, and for those of you who have spent anytime with Lauren, know just how smart she really is... she got it open! After parking, Stacy went to get her out of her seat and discovered she had opened it, and beautifully decorated her face with all kinds of fun things!

Well, one can't be too mad about it, like I said, after all it is her birthday today.
Happy 2nd Birthday Lauren!

The Santa Train

Our second annual Santa Train Ride was this morning, although this year I replaced Mark with my friend Megan and her daughter Hailey. Zach had a blast, he saw Santa, a clown, we sang Christmas Carols, and of course, Zach's highlight was the gift bag that he took home. The snow started coming down during the ride, which made for a very picturesque ride through the 'burbs. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a lunch out.

Here's to a happy start to the Christmas season!

Zachary putting on a brave face while being held by Santa.

1st family road trip... a success!

Our first road trip with the boys went relatively smooth, all things considered. We encountered some bad weather (snow storm) on the way down going through Iowa, but other then that, the boys were on their best behavior in the car. During the two days we managed to see a few sites of Kansas City, as well as spending quality time with the Leys' clan and enjoying some good turkey. One of the highlights was having Zach share a room with his two cousins. They had an absolute ball and stayed up till almost 11pm talking about who knows what. It was hilarious to stand outside the door and listen to them. I wish we would have taped their conversations, oh well, maybe next time.


Nana & Grandpa Leys trying to manage all 4 grandkids in an attempt to get a decent picture.

Zachary, Charlie and Emily showing off their Indian shirts that Aunt Jackie made for them. They were a big hit!

Train ride at the beautiful Kansas City Train station. They also had a huge train display and fantastic Children's Museum that were both worth checking out.

Quality time with a surprise visit from Uncle Paul from LA