Play Group Christmas Party

First generation of play groupSecond generation of play groupOpening our gifts from our friends

We had our annual play group Christmas party the Sunday before Christmas. As usual we had a great time playing with friends, eating, and catching up with all of the kids and moms. Each year we have a secret Santa gift exchange. This year Chase received the movie Madagascar and two games from Tricia and Luke got a cute outfit and maracas from Brody. Needless to say we left extremely happy and tired.

Sledding with Paige

Having a blast
Look at those smilesHis own version of sledding

The Saturday before Christmas was the perfect time to hit the sled "hill" in Paige's backyard to have our first sledding adventure of the season. Blake and Chase had a great time sledding and were even more excited to head inside for some hot chocolate. We're hoping that it snows again soon so that they can hit the slopes again!

Shoveling

Busy "Working"
All done!

Monday night Chase was busy working outside to help Blake shovel our first snowfall that we actually broke out the shovel for. Needless to say, he was so thrilled to be helping do real work. I don't know if he was more excited about snow to play in or getting to wear his Spiderman boots when they were truly needed. Ever since we bought him this pair of boots, they are the ONLY shoes that he will wear. I can just see him in the middle of August wearing these things :) I can't wait until we have a meaningful snow, he'll really be excited!

Polar Express

Chase, Casey & Cassi waiting for Santa on the Polar Express train
Mommy & LukeSanta handing Chase the "first gift of Christmas"-a bellThe Polar Express-yes, that is real snow falling!

This past Saturday we continued with what we promised would be a Christmas tradition of riding the Polar Express train. We invited Aunt Dana, Casey and Cassi to come along too. We boarded the train and immediately received our hot chocolate and cookies. Chase wasn't into the hot chocolate this year but loved the cookies! The train started on its trek to the North Pole. On the ride, which took about 10 minutes, the Polar Express story was read aloud. When we got to the North Pole, Santa and Mrs. Claus climbed aboard the train to pass out the first gift of Christmas to all of the kids. It is so much fun seeing the excitement in the kids eyes when they see Santa. There was no fear, only awe. On our ride back from the North Pole, we sang Christmas carols. All of us loved the experience and can't wait to do it again next year!

Horse Buddy

Luke and Buddy
Yee-Haw!!
Casey, Chase & Cassi

We couldn't resist having Luke "ride" Buddy. The situation was just right and it was a great photo op. We had a great weekend with our niece and nephew. They spent the night on Sat. and stayed Sunday for the Bears game. It was a good time for the cousins to play together. For the most part, they get along great. Only a few sharing issues came up!

Zoo with Aunt Katie

Aunt Katie and Chase

Happy Luke

Over Thanksgiving break, my sister came down and spent the day with us. We decided to head out to the zoo because we were feeling stir crazy from being in the house. Although it was cold, we all had a good few hours out. The tiger there was really roaring and Chase got a big kick out of it.

Setting up the tree

Daddy putting on the tree topper
Chase watching Daddy work
Putting the tree together

The day after Thanksgiving we typically break out our Christmas things. This year was a little different because it was the first year we haven't gotten a real tree. I have to say, I don't miss watering it or cleaning up all of the dead needles! Chase was so excited about setting up the Christmas tree, he wanted to be part of everything. The holidays are that much more fun because you get to see them through his eyes. The magic of childhood is so wonderful.

Fun at Home

Chase getting Luke's belly
Chase is driving and Luke is riding in the back, can't you tell?

Laundry basket fun
No he's not gagging, he's singing his heart out!

I had to post some of these random pictures from just hanging around the house. Things with the boys right now are really so much fun. Chase is SO good with Luke, I really can't believe how attentive and loving he is to Luke 90% of the time, which is pretty good for a 2 year old! If Luke starts crying in the car, Chase will start to entertain Luke (unprompted) with one of his favorite songs, either Itsy Bitsy Spider or Open and Shut Them, a favorite from Miss Joan's music class. I feel like we're so blessed to have these wonderful boys, they truly make our lives richer and more meaningful.

Luke's 6 Month Pictures

Our Family-November 2008
The boysLittle StinkerHe always has his mouth open!
My favorite!

Okay, who am I kidding, it seems like I'm behind with a lot of things lately so he was really 7 1/2 months in these pics but, oh well, at least we got some! It was nice to have a child that smiled again for pictures, unlike Chase. The only problem was that he kept on looking at me and not the camera.

Update

Well, I'm happy/relieved to say that things here are starting to make a turn for the better. We took Luke in for his weight check to make sure that he was gaining weight and he gained almost a pound in 6 weeks (He's 16 lb 9oz now). The doctor said that was good and he his now maintaining his weight rather than losing. She also said not to worry too much that he still isn't eating any solids. Since he is reaching all of his physical milestones she doesn't feel that he needs any sort of therapy, she just thinks he may be stubborn and when he's ready, he'll come around. We also discussed his sleeping and she said that we needed to cut out his 2 am feeding. After one really bad night of crying, he has pretty much turned around. He will now only wake up once/night (I hope that I'm not jinxing myself by putting this down in writing!)

Our bedtime disaster with Chase has also calmed down. After talking to the nurse at the pediatrician, she basically said that we had to take away things he would want if he got out of bed and give him something he would really want if he stayed in. So, we made the deal that if he was a good boy and stayed in bed without crying, he would get a candy in the morning. Well, after 2 nights, he realized that candy was definitely the way to go and our bedtime at home has become so much less stressful! He does remind us at 6 am that he needs to "get a candy" but we're hoping to phase that out and replace it with something else as soon as the Halloween candy is gone. He actually said to me this morning, "My candy is almost gone, we better go trick or treating again." I laughed outloud.

Daddy and Chase "cheersing" their Kit Kat at 5:30 am

Blake got his results back from his content area test of history to go back to school and become a teacher and he passed! He was absolutely shocked, I wasn't. I'm so proud of him for going back and doing something that he truly wants to do. I think he will develop such a passion for working with kids that he'll wonder why he ever wanted to do anything else.

Now, if we could just sell our house, things would be great!

The Big Lawnmower

A big boy ride on the lawnmower
So excited!

Last weekend we decided that we should mow the lawn one more time. We had the riding lawnmower at our house from the rental property so Blake took Chase on a ride. He absolutely loved it. He did the entire yard with Blake even though it was pretty cold outside. I just love his smile, you can tell that he really thinks that he is hot stuff!

The Twins Turn 4!

Do I dare go down this thing?
No turning back now!

Look at that tongue!

Ah, I'm so proud he's raising his hand!

On November 9th, our twin niece and nephew turned 4. I can't believe that they are getting so big so fast. I also can't believe that I don't have pictures of them from their birthday party, what a terrible aunt!

The kids had a great time at Pump It Up aka the jumping place. It is so much fun to see Chase grow into the little boy who doesn't need his mommy all of the time anymore. What a relief! It's amazing how kids just learn to follow directions and cues from their peers without being told. It makes me feel more confident about Chase going to preschool!

After the party we went back to Aunt Dana's for gift opening, it was a long fun-filled day.

Halloween 2008

Yum, look at this candy!
The kids after collecting all of their treats!

Luke was tired, can you see his owie on his face?

The gorilla surveying the next house

Luke, Chase and Reese

Halloween was a long but exciting day! It started out at school, visiting my students with the boys and Daddy. My job share partner Kim, her husband Josh, and their daughter Reese were also there. Our students definitely got a kick out of having the kids there, they were very good with them.

That night we went trick or treating with our friends Sara, Keith and Paige. The kids were really excited about the actual going door to door as well as answering the door. Of course we had to dump out the candy and do some taste testing when we got home. I don't think Chase has ever had so much sugar in one day.

It was so much fun experiencing Halloween through the kids eyes. Blake and I were thinking back to our Halloweens as kids and how awesome it was. We're hoping that we can make those great memories for the boys as well!

Halloween Party

All moms and kids!
A Tigger & a gorilla!
Craziness!

We had our annual play group Halloween party this past weekend. It was a little bit of a bummer since not everyone was able to make it but we all had a good time eating, talking, and of course, playing! It is so nice to be able to get together with girls that I have so much in common with, kids almost the exact same ages as mine! It was so much fun seeing all of the toddlers interacting with each other, I can't believe how much all of the kids have grown. It was also nice to see the "2nd generation" of our play group grow and change as well.

Chase did really well "holding" Luke for these group shots. He thought he was really hot stuff. I know that he isn't really fond of being a gorilla for Halloween but there wasn't much out there that I could find for his size. I'm hoping the costume serves its purpose on the big day, keeping him warm!

The Riverwalk with Grandma

A smiling Luke
Feeding the ducks
Climbing the treeGrandma and ChaseGrandma and Luke

On Saturday we went to the Riverwalk with my mom. The weather was beautiful and I think everyone enjoyed getting out the house. Luke was pretty happy to finally be able to sit up well in the stroller and see his surroundings. Chase was thrilled to see the ducks and geese, especially the friendly goose that stood about 1 foot away from us, begging for food. We had a picnic and ended up feeding Chase's left over sandwich to some fish in the pond. Boy, was that exciting! :)