The most wonderful time of the year

It sounds so stereotypical, but Christmas was magical for all of us this year. The kids were giddy about every aspect of it ... the month of Elf on the Shelf that we did, waking up every morning wondering where "Emily" was going to be watching them for the day ... visiting Santa (three times!) ... baking cookies for Santa and leaving them and milk out and carrots for the reindeer on Christmas Eve ... and of course, the gifts and time spent with our families. We are so blessed!

Big boy bed!

Last night Liam spent his first night in his 'big boy bed.' We converted his crib to a toddler bed and he couldn't be more thrilled! We've been talking it up for a few weeks and he seems ready. As I put him into bed last night, he looked at me with a huge smile and said, “good night, Mommy. Fank you for making my big boy bed.”

And, so far so good--he's slept overnight and napped in it great! What's happened to my baby boy?! :)

Seeing his big boy bed for the first time!

So excited!!

'Tis the season

The past few weeks have been filled with Christmas activities and fun. I enjoy every minute of it with the kids and am glad we get to do so many fun things!

Making gingerbread trees ...

Holiday on Main ...

Picking out the perfect tree ...
 



































Baking cookies with Grandma ...

Our annual tradition of downtown Macy's to watch the Christmas puppet show, see the Elf display and see Santa and watch the Holidazzle parade from The Newsroom with Nana and G.G. ...

Christmas program at daycare ...

 

Hooray for a white Christmas!

Nora's baptism

Mike and I were honored to be asked to be Nora's Godparents. She was baptised last weekend and looked as cute as ever!

Happy Turkey Day!

We definitely don't take enough time to reflect on how very blessed we really are. I am grateful when Thanksgiving comes and reminds us. We got to spend part of the holiday with my family and part with Mike's. I love nothing more than to be with our families. It was perfect.



Me & Mom (photo credit: Ava! :)

They sure do love their Grandma!

 

My loves

 

Wherever Nora is, you'll usually find Ava too :)

 

Bre Rose, Ian, & Nora



All the kids about to crash and burn! Fun day!

 

A very tasty and sophisticated drink of water!

Ava's second year of preschool



Ava is enjoying her second year of preschool. She is going three days per week this year and looks forward to going each time. We had conferences with her teacher this week and Miss Sue's final comment sums up the report. She said, "we are lucky to have Ava in class. Thank you for sharing her with us." Miss Sue reported that Ava is very eager to learn, very popular with the other kids, and doing very, very well academically. We weren't surprised when she said that Ava doesn't participate much during group-time and is very quiet. But what's most important is that she is learning and socializing well and she's doing great in those areas!

 

We also got to spend part of a class with Ava last week for parent participation day. Ava loved showing us around her classroom, introducing us to her friends, and doing a few crafts together.

 

We are so proud of her!

 

Making a turkey hat with Daddy

The Oreo turkey Ava made with Mommy

 

We're outnumbered

The eight of us gals who have remained a tight group of friends since college now collectively have 9.5 kids and are very much outnumbered. It was fun to get them all together last weekend and we actually got them to all sit for a photo!

Mason (Megan), Cooper (Megan), Liam (Brie), Ava (Brie),
Addie (Angie), Jack (Mandy), Kate (Liz), Max (Angie),
and Henry (Mandy)
(.5=Liz's baby due in March!)