Snow....FINALLY!!

We finally got enough snow to get out & play in it today. I say "finally" because every time it's snowed in the past few weeks, I've had to endure a thousand requests to get out our snowman kit & build a snowman. We still didn't get to do that today because it wasn't sticky enough, but they were appeased by getting out in the wet stuff.

Now, those of you who know my second son know that he HATES the cold. I thought he'd do better this year because he's been right there with William begging to be able to build a snowman. But, no dice. As we were putting on all of our snow gear, he started his mantra, "Mommy, I don't like the winter" with a definite whiny pout to his tone. I was having visions of spending 15 minutes getting him dressed to go out in it, only to spend 15 more getting him out of his snow gear. I made sure to point out that he was covered all up--gloves AND mittens on his hands; a hat AND a hood on his head; a shirt, snowsuit, AND sweatshirt on him; snow boots, etc, etc, etc. I made the mistake of saying that the only thing that could get cold was his nose! Well, he then spent the first 15 minutes we were outside whining that his nose was TOO cold & he needed to go back inside!! Oh, that child of mine.

In contrast, William can be dunked under a snowdrift & come up laughing with snow stuck in his eyelashes & eyebrows! We battle because he eats the stuff!! Oh, how different they can be. Here is a quick video of them flying down the slide in the snow today & then a bunch of pictures of them having a ball. Even Daniel had a blast once he got used to it!

From Big kid videos

I don't think I could get more clothes on him if his life depended on it! This one is before his nose got cold ;-)

From snow day pics

I had to call this one back to take a picture! And, he doesn't look too thrilled about it, either.

From snow day pics

Sitting in our failed snowman pile:

From snow day pics

The geese, honking loudly as they landed on the pond behind our neighborhood:

From snow day pics

Helping Daddy shovel the walk:

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Snowangel!!

From snow day pics

And, Mr. Redcheeks while he waited on his hot chocolate:

From snow day pics

We're supposed to get a bit more tonight. Here's to hoping we can have some more outside time tomorrow. I think we ALL need it!

Colin's 8-month update

Colin was 8 months today! Nothing majorly new to report--he's not quite crawling yet, but is easily getting up on all fours from his tummy & has progressed from rocking to "hopping" both knees forward at the same time. It won't be long now! I was supposed to get to the store for some extra baby gates today, but the snow (more on that in a later post) foiled me. Just today, he figured out how to get from sit to all-fours without wiping out.

He's still madly in love with his big brothers. Some mornings, it's all I can do to keep a hold on him when I'm carrying him down the stairs because he's craning his neck so hard to see around the corner & see what they're doing. When he hears their voices, he freezes & looks around for them!

He still loves all food & HATES dirty diapers--it's the only time we hear him REALLY cry. If Colin starts his angry cry, we now know to check his diaper first! I've seen babies get fussy if they need to be changed, but this gives a new meaning to it. Other than that, he's full of giggles & kisses (otherwise known as eating the face of the one he's kissing) and has started smacking his lips when you make kissing noises at him. He loves to bang things & has started clapping his hands together.

Here are his 6-month pictures. We had these taken at 6 months, but only just got them back recently:

From Colin pics

(love the fat baby rolls on this one)

From Colin pics

From Colin pics

And, here is a quick video of his new trick. I'm holding my breath this trick will occupy him for a few more weeks!! Wish me luck.

From videos

And, then, just because I got nostalgic, here is one of William, and one of Daniel, too. These are longer, but SOO cute. I just forget how they sounded a few short months ago!

From Big kid videos

From Big kid videos

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Day dawned here, but it wasn't too bright & early. Since the boys stayed up so late last night, the two big guys slept in until almost 8! Colin was still sleeping when we made our way downstairs to see if we had toys or lumps of coal in our stockings. The boys must've been more nice than naughty (or Tricks did them a favor with his reporting!) because they definitely got some good toys! Here they are with the one that occupied their attention most of the day:

From Christmas 2009

And, then opening gifts from both sides of our families

From Christmas 2009

William got the one gift he'd been asking for all year long--a camera!! Look at the wonder on his face. I think he was a little disappointed that Santa hadn't brought it:

From Christmas 2009

Colin finally woke up & was pretty shell-shocked by all the noise & STUFF for the first little bit. Here he is exploring some of his gifts:

From Christmas 2009

And, the obligatory shot of all three in their matching Christmas jammies:

From Christmas 2009

We even got a teensy bit of a White Christmas! It didn't stick around & it wasn't much, but it sure was nice to look at for a bit:

From Christmas 2009

We spent the rest of the day in our jammies playing with new toys:

From Christmas 2009

From Christmas 2009

We finished the day off with a traditional Christmas ham dinner. We definitely missed being with family this holiday season, but it was nice to have just our little family, too!!

Christmas Eve traditions

This was the first year we've spent at home with just our family since the year William had his first Christmas. Since he was too young to remember anything, this is the first year we've really had to think about what traditions we want to start. We spent the day around the house just playing with the boys & talking about Santa & Baby Jesus. We ate a very early dinner (3:30 PM) and then got dressed for Mass. Mass starts at 5, so we had a hard decision to make--get there early & have to entertain the kids for an hour PLUS Mass time, or get there on time & risk having to stand. We chose to risk it! It worked out well, because, although Mass was crowded, I've definitely seen worse & there was a bit of room in the cry room. The boys did amazingly well during Mass, but Colin was starting to meltdown towards the end, so we rushed home to put him to bed. Then, the big boys each got to open one gift:

From Christmas 2009

We then headed over to our neighbors to bring their girls a little something we'd gotten them and have some grown-up Christmas time! William's gift from Maddie & Allie was Spiderman roller skates & I think they might just win the contest for favorite gift this year! Daniel got a Buzz Lightyear & had to sleep with it, so I'd venture to say it was a success, too.

From Christmas 2009

Since William hadn't napped, we weren't sure how long we were going to be able to stay, but they both made it until 10! It was nice to spend the evening with good friends & let the kids have some crazy time! The girls even sent our boys home with a little something special that we had to sprinkle around the yard before we could go to bed:

From Christmas 2009

We couldn't take a chance on the reindeer not being able to find us!!

Then, it was into the house to put out cookies & milk for the big man (William didn't insist on any fruit this year!), then upstairs for the traditional reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Our boys definitely went to bed with visions of sugarplums dancing through their heads!

Colin's First Christmas

For all of my boys' first Christmases, I've had their picture taken in their diaper & a Santa hat. This year, we did them at our local JCPenney's. Colin was his usual curious self when we walked in, getting very serious & checking everything out. As a result, the first few of our group Christmas shots include a very solemn-looking baby. As he warmed up, he returned to his usual smiley self. By the time we were done with the group shots, he was having a blast! Here are his "first Christmas" pictures:

From Christmas 2009

From Christmas 2009

From Christmas 2009

From Christmas 2009

And, then to take a trip down memory lane, here is William's first Christmas picture (11 months old):

From Christmas 2009

And, Daniel's (5 months old):

From Christmas 2009

And, here were the two best group shots we managed to get:

(No smiley Colin yet)

From Christmas 2009

(and, the return of the smile)

From Christmas 2009

Merry Early Christmas!

Brunch at the O'Club

We went back to the O'Club for brunch with Santa again this year. We had to make a much later reservation than last year because I was working the weekend he was going to be there. Since I'm always out by noon on Sundays, 1 PM it was. Our good friends the Bautzes came with us. We weren't able to stay as long as last year because it was directly during Colin's naptime, but in standard Colin form, he was a trooper.

William & Luke:

From Christmas 2009

Daniel & Will (there's that "in severe pain" face I was talking about a few posts back!):

From Christmas 2009

Cutie-pie in his high chair (think that thing was around when I was his age!):

From Christmas 2009

And, trying to stay awake after he ate:

From Christmas 2009

Getting slap-happy with Daddy:

From Christmas 2009

On Santa's lap--William was thrilled, the other two not-so-much! (Daniel insisted that he didn't want Santa to come into his house):

From Christmas 2009

And, our two with Luke & Will:

From Christmas 2009

Overall, it was a good lunch, if a bit quicker than we'd have liked due to Colin's impending meltdown! There was live entertainment & the four big boys entertained themselves by running around in the back of the room & dancing to the music. Hopefully, next year, we'll have more than one excited to see the jolly old elf!

Daniel's three-year pictures

We were a little late on Daniel's three-year old pictures, but at least we got them done before he was four! We took these at JCPenney Portrait Studios last month & I was very impressed by how great a job they did. Daniel tends to want to smile & say, "Cheese!" and, as a result, ends up looking like he's in severe pain. While we did get a few of those, we mostly got some really cute pictures of my little man! Here is a sampling:

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

He's looking more grown-up by the day!

Christmas goodies, and goodies, and goodies!

I baked this year. I usually make a few treats to hand out, but Scott wanted to send stuff to the guys he works with, so instead of the very simple things I've done in years-passed, I decided to go for broke & expand my baking experiences. Wow! It was fun, but much more involved than I'd thought it was going to be. And, the worst part of it was that I couldn't even eat 90% of it because of my non-dairy diet. Did I mention that I went through 3 BOXES of butter???? Here is a quick snap of my kitchen at its worst:

From Christmas 2009

And a sneaky shot of my wonderful husband helping out (I was joking when I asked, but he took me seriously & agreed, so who was I to turn him down?!?!?):

From Christmas 2009

Here are a few things I learned about myself and my kitchen-gadget obsession during my two days of torture, um, I mean baking:

1) I have NO patience for things having to "come to a slow boil" or "melt slowly over medium-low heat"

2) While I don't love the Pampered Chef chopper for vegetables, it's a must-have for chopping nuts, peppermints, and chocolate chips!!

3) The Pampered Chef small scoop is a must-have for mini-muffins and the perfect size for small cookies. I also used it to make meatballs for a party appetizer & it's the perfect size for uniform meatball appetizers, too! Who knew I couldn't live without a teeny scoop???

4) I hate kitchen mess. I kept having to stop what I was doing & wipe the counter down. I mean, I knew I was anal, but had no idea I was OCD!!! And, dishes in the sink DIRTY drive me crazy--I might need it for something & then I'd have to stop & wash it. Why not wash it now & be done with it?? (insert eyeroll here!)

5) Yes, you do absolutely need more than one size scraper. Little scrapers just don't do the job on big bowls.

6) I actually like to bake. And, I mean LIKE it. Who knew???

And, it only took me about 3 dozen gooey-caramel bars, 6 dozen chocolate peanut clusters, 2 dozen peppermint meltaway cookies, 2 dozen cinnamon candy-cane cookies, 2 batches of chocolate pecan fudge, and 6 dozen triple-nut bars to figure all this out. PHEW!

Happy Birthday again!

So, today is my "little" sister's birthday! Hard to believe she's as old as she is (especially since I'm only 26???). I remember her looking like this. Amazingly enough, she looks like Daniel, or I guess I should say he looks a lot like her, thus the title of that blog post. It's so hard to be away from family during the good times. Happy Birthday, Little Sister!! We love you.

Happy Birthday to me!

My (26th?) birthday was Wednesday, the 9th. Corey & Dawn took us out the following Saturday to celebrate! We ate at this wonderful German steakhouse called Kreis' Restaurant (prounced Chris's, apparently!) that was fabulous. Prime rib is not my favorite cut of meat, but I'd definitely recommend it from this place. And, the atmosphere couldn't be beat. After dinner, we headed over to the Fox Theatre for a production of Charles Dickins's "A Christmas Carol". The play was quite entertaining & our first non-kid live production since we moved here (the boys & I headed to the Fox for Backyardigans Live last year). We've vowed to return soon! (Maybe even in January for "Grease"?) Here are a few snaps of us out to dinner:

From grown-up pics

From grown-up pics

From grown-up pics

From grown-up pics