Christmas 2009

We hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas! We sure did and boy were we busy!
**********************************************************
We started out the holidays by traveling to Sparta to spend Christmas eve with Jim's side. We had a good time despite the fact that Jim and I took turns rocking Caleb in the back bedroom because he was pretty much screaming the entire night! Two days later his first tooth emerged and I am sure that is why he had such a rough night! His family was great about it and totally understood - love his family!! Wish that I could have talked to them a little bit more, but that it how is goes!:)After we left Sparta, we headed back to Kalamazoo where my mom, sister, and brother were. It was great to see my sister, twice a year is just not enough! Ethan enjoyed sipping his "hot-day-day"and watching Tigger and Pooh with his Aunt Kelly before it was off to bed so that Santa Clause could come! He woke up the next morning bright eyed heading straight for the living room to see what Santa Clause left for him. I think that this part was more fun for me then it was for Ethan :) Due to the fact that Jim had to work on Christmas, we had Christmas at our house this year! It was a blast and I owe a HUGE thank you to my mom!!! Having two small children and trying to cook was not easy, so my mom stepped right in and did it all!! Thanks mom! We had a great dinner and a great Christmas - we actually had the entire family around our dinner table including Jim who walked in the door just as we were sitting down to eat!

Jim and Mark playing the new extension of the game Settlers of Catan - they played it all day!:)

The day after Christmas, we headed back to Grand Rapids to have Christmas with Jim's parents and grandparents. In the morning we went to Lowell and had a yummy breakfast and opened presents with Jim's family. Ethan loved his new toys and played with them all morning and Caleb loved the wrapping paper!!:)

After spending some time there, we headed to Jim's grandparents house to have Christmas with the entire family - which is always a good time! The next day we were to head back to Grand Rapids for a pancake breakfast with my grandparents, but due the fact that I was not feeling well, I decided that we would just stay home - we did miss seeing everyone though!!

That was our wonderful Christmas and Caleb's first Christmas and it was a great time! God Bless!

Good-bye 2009 - Hello 2010

As I sit here today and ponder over what joy 2009 has brought our family, it is hard to believe that it is gone and 2010 is quickly approaching. We had a great year full of changes - the biggest one being the birth of our sweet child, Caleb who was born almost 8 months ago - time flies (he just got his first tooth!) Ethan is changing everyday into a polite, inquisitive, happy boy who just loves life! Jim is halfway done with his second year of residency (whoo-hoo!) and feels more and more confident everyday in his work and decisions that he makes as a physician, not to mention is a great dad! I find myself privileged and overjoyed to watch our children grow each and everyday and I am amazed at what they surprise with on a daily basis. There is nothing more I want in life than to be a mom - that is most rewarding job ever!! So here is to the new year - may it bring just as much joy and happiness!! HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Mark Graduates!

I have to give a shout out to my brother Mark, who graduated from Western a couple weeks ago in business management. He has already landed himself a full time job at Target distribution! We had a nice little celebration dinner at our house after graduation. We are very proud of him - way to go Mark!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Have to love the shirt!

Our little boy who is not so little anymore! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Playgroup Christmas Party

Last week we hosted our playgroup Christmas party. I was a little nervous that 30+ people would not fit in our house comfortably, but with the downstairs now finished, it ended up working out just fine. We had a great spread of food from ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, to some really yummy desserts. The biggest event of the night was Santa Clause coming to see all the kids!! He even brought them all a present!! The kids loved getting books form Santa and taking their picture with him, except Ethan of course who screamed "go upstairs" really loud the entire time he was in our basement. He did get his picture taken with him against his will, but was happy with the outcome, the book was worth it. We had a great time, good food, good company, and a wonderful visit from Santa -what more could you ask for!!

Our Little Artist

Ethan loves drawing on his chalkboard in his room - here are some of his drawings....

Pointing out the snowman that he made after copying daddy's.

Drawing a school bus with lots of wheels.

Drawing airplanes with lots of windows.

He is so proud of his art work and so are we!

Finger Foods!

Caleb is now eating some finger foods and it is so hilarious to see that excited, eyes bulging out of his face look and then quickly grabs whatever is in front of him and stuffs his face! He is a good eater and loves trying new textures and flavors. For anyone who does not know, Caleb REFUSES to take a bottle of any kind so we are working on skipping the bottle stage and going right to the sippy cup, which is actually going pretty well. He still nurses, but I want him to be ready when that comes to an end. I can't believe our little guy is 7 months old - time flies when you are having fun!

Christmas Party #1

December Fun

"Merry Christmas!"Ethan LOVES puzzles!Making Christmas Presents!Ethan was so excited to put sprinkles on the cookies!Decorating cookiesStockings hung by the chimney with care....
Having fun during the "blizzard"

Visiting Santa!

I thought that this might be the year that Ethan would like Santa, but after seeing him, screaming, running in the opposite direction and squeezing my neck so hard that I could not turn him around until Santa gave him a candy cane was a good indication that this was not going to be that year! As you can see from Caleb's face, he was not a big fan either :) There is always next year...

Finally some SNOW!!

Caleb loved the snow!
Each boy in their own sled:)
Ethan pulling Caleb around - they both enjoyed it!
"We all fall down!"

Since that we like Marquette and the UP in general, we could not wait for the first snowfall so we could play in it! Today was the perfect day to get the kids outside and for Caleb to experience playing in the snow for the first time - he loved it! His favorite part was when Ethan pulled him around in the sled, he could not stop smiling. Ethan and I had fun singing "Ring around the Rosey" while circling Caleb and then falling into the snow! When it was finally time to come inside, my pink cheeked toddler was not interested so I had to bribe him with hot chocolate:) The only down side to having two small children and playing in the snow is that it takes just as long to get all the gear on as it does to play in it, but we had fun!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

This past weekend my mom came to stay with us and she helped decorate our house for Christmas! I love the holidays and dressing the house up in lights...Caleb was pretty impressed too:) This year Ethan has really taken a liking to the Christmas tree and enjoys pointing things out that are on it. It is going to be a wonderful Christmas- we feel so blessed!