Christmas Brunch!

Today our family hosted a Christmas brunch. It was so much fun to spend some more time with family!

Auntie Michelle and Victor were there, and we even got a special visit from Santa!
Great Grandpa Glenn spent some time with the grandkids!

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning we awoke to find that Santa had come! Macie and Ethan had let mom and dad sleep in until about 7:00, so that was a great present for us!

Later in the day, we journeyed to Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Les's house where the kids had a blast playing with their cousins and getting lots of toys from Grandma and Grandpa, and Uncle Jason and Aunt Shelley. Ethan got lots of trucks and insisted on holding all of them on the drive home. Macie especially loved the ornament cousin Andrew made for her at school! So thoughtful!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma Mary and Grandpa Mike's house. It was a fun, relaxing night with a delicious meal of spinach lasagna.

Here are the kids enjoying their presents . . .
It's always a challenge to get Ethan to sit down and eat!
Auntie Jen, Ben, and Oliver were there . . .
Macie is showing off her pretty Christmas dress!

Preparing . . .

Wednesday was spent preparing for Christmas by making Christmas cookies!
We also worked on potty training, which went quite well! Don't worry, there was lots of hand washing going on that day :)

"Are you sick?"

Poor Ethan has been really sick with strep throat and an ear infection. Since he still talks in questions much of the time, here are some that we've been hearing frequently. (When he asks a question, it's like that's what he wants you to ask him so he can say, "yes." I know - very tricky - it's like he speaks in code ;)

"Do you want to lay on the couch?"
"Does your face hurt?" (Referring to his throat)
"Mama lay with you?"
"Are you getting sick?"
"Are you OK?"
"Do you want some medicine?"
And . . . my personal favorite . . . "Do you want a bucket?"

OK, that's a quick update. As for Macie, it appears that her cradle cap may be resurfacing, but we are unsure . . . . more on that later . . . It's an exciting place around here!

Sorry I've been ignoring my blog for the past week. I really have nothing too exciting to report . . . Let's see . . . Macie isn't feeling well - she was up late last night and the only thing that made her happy was sitting in my lap, so I let her watch my Sunday night shows with me. Who knew she was such a big fan of Extreme Home Makeover!? She keeps cracking us up with her funny antics and is soooo determined to get whatever it is she has on her mind.

Ethan is really into spelling words. He loves to ask us what words (especially animals) start with. He usually knows some simple words if we spell them out for him (hot, cold, snow, truck) but the other day I asked him, "What does T-R-U-C-K spell?" and he replied, very seriously, "diapers!" So . . . of course Trav and I cracked up and he said everything spelled "diapers" for awhile . . .very funny. Also, he has asked to go on the potty a few times recently. Might we be seeing a glimmer of hope in the are of potty training? One can only hope.

St. Nick's Day!

St. Nicholas came and filled our stockings last night!
Macie is getting acquainted with her new kitty.

Ethan's ABCs

A couple clarifications:
1.) For "I" he says, "lizzard." He's thinking of Iguana. Ooops.
2.) For "W" he says, "fish." Not sure where that came from. Ooops.
3.) A couple that are hard to understand: "N" is for "newt" and "U" is for "unicorn."

Macie learned how to walk using her little lion push toy this week.
"Look out, big brother! Here I come!"

Well, the results of the pole indicated that our readers think Macie and Ethan look as much alike as any other set of siblings out there. Kind of anti-climactic. Sorry :) It's funny- Most people have a very strong opinion that Ethan looks EXACTLY like either dad or mom. I think the consensus is that Macie looks like daddy.

We are heading to Target on Sat. AM to get pics taken for Christmas cards. Should be interesting. Wish us luck. I'll consider it a success if we get ONE decent picture of both of them that is Christmas-card-worthy. I feel sorry for our poor photographer. We always request her and she probably dreads seeing my face come in to make an appointment, and even more so dreads the day my two little monkeys come in for pics!

Thanksgiving!

We had a super fun Thanksgiving day at Grandma Mary and Grandpa Mike's house. I'm not sure how I managed to get the above picture, because Ethan was definitely running around far more than he was sitting and eating.
Macie spent the day mastering climbing the stairs.
It's always fun to pull yourself up at Grandma and Grandpa's TV.
On Friday Ethan and Macie spent the day with daddy while mom and Grandma, along with Cousin Lizzy and Aunt Cathi went shopping. We were at Walmart by 5 AM, and had started ordering online at 4 AM.
Poor Liz could barely fit in the car when we were done! I'd say that's proof of a good shopping day.

9 months old!

Our little Macie is 9 months old today! She gets more and more fun as she gets older. She is also keeping mom and dad on our toes lately, with crawling, pulling herself up, and putting everything in her mouth. I remember when Ethan was this age thinking that it's hard to believe babies survive this stage!!

Above is Macie hanging out with daddy. She has become quite the daddy's girl lately! She is showing off her two top teeth, which she should be proud of, because the entire family has gone through a lot for those things to come in!!! (VERY fussy at night! Diaper rash, etc.)
Serious Macie. Now that she's 9 months old, she must think it's time to do some serious contemplation about life.
This is the best spot for watching Barney with brother.
If you'd like to see Ethan at nine months, click here!

And here's big brother . . . .

We had some fun friends over today! Mom's good friend from college, Katherine, came over with her two kiddos, Grant and Evy. Grant is a year older than Ethan and they played so well together!
And here's little Evy. She's 5 months old and sooooo sweet and cuddly!
Macie and Evy and fun getting to know each other!
It was great for mommy to spend time with such a wonderful friend!

Toddler Chatter

• Ethan from the back seat: "Mama is a CRAZY driver!"
• If anyone asks Ethan what he wants for Christmas his reply is: "A sleeping bag, please."
• Many things are "silly old . . . " Especially, "Silly old Macie!" When reading a book about all the places God loves us it was, "Silly old beaches!" (LAUGHTER!) A book about making soup, "Silly old onions!" (LAUGHTER!)
• He likes to count the number of people in any given room and then report the number to mom or dad.
• Ethan often says things that he wants someone to say to him. For example, "Do you want some chocolate pudding?" or "Do you want to go outside and play?"

Some Recent Pics

Helping daddy rake and bag the leaves.
Ethan likes to climb in and visit Macie in her crib in the morning. It's good bonding time for them.

Playing at the park . . .
Visiting Baby Evan. So fun!

Why I Love You . . .

I have been thinking lately about all the reasons I am absolutely crazy about my kids these days. I want them to know, when they grow up, how mommy felt about them as babies - and, of course, I never want to forget either! Here's a brief list of things that come to mind when I think of the million reasons why I love my kiddos . . .
Macie

• I LOVE rocking you to sleep at night. You snuggle with your pink blankey, listen to music, let mama feed you your bottle, and then snuggle on my shoulder before dozing off. Such a sweetheart.
• I LOVE watching you explore. Now that you are on the move, you want to see, touch, and taste everything possible! You are curious, adventurous, and so much fun!
• I LOVE hearing you laugh. You have the most adorable little belly laugh, and you are such a happy girl. The best is when Ethan makes you laugh and the two of you are both belly laughing. I think you're sharing a joke that only brother and sister can understand.
• I LOVE reading to you. You laugh at the pictures in the book, and want to touch every page. You especially enjoy touch-and-feel and lift-the-flap books. It's amazing watching you learn.

Ethan

• I LOVE how sweet you are to your sister. You can't wait to see her in the morning. You wake up and say, "Go see Macie!" You go to her room, climb up on the ottoman to see her in her crib, and give her a good morning kiss. I know you will always love and protect her.
• I LOVE reading with you. You have your favorite books that you have memorized and can almost "read" by yourself. You can recite the entire alphabet/animal book from memory. Every night the last book we read together before you go to sleep is Good Night Moon. If I get the words wrong, you are quick to correct me.
• I LOVE playing with you. When you want to play with me you will say, "Mama play cars!" It's fun to sit on the floor with you and have fun!
• I LOVE hearing you chatter. We were so worried about your language and now you are talking up a storm! You say the cutest and funniest things. The other day you said, "I would like a big, beautiful apple, please!" You love to count by 10's and 5's all the way to 100. It's so fun to be able to have a conversation with you and know what you are thinking about.

At every stage of the children's lives, I want to stop time and keep them right where they are (well, except when Ethan is screaming and tantruming and Macie is crying in the middle of the night!). Although I love and enjoy them so much right now, I can't wait to see the people they will become.

Happy Halloween!

What a fun-filled Halloween we had! Ethan was a ferocious lion, and Macie was an adorable, happy lady bug!

In the evening, Victor, Michelle, Grandma and Grandpa came over for pizza and trick-or-treating. Victor was an adorable Pooh Bee, and Grandma and Grandpa came in costume as well! We also met Ben, Oliver, Jen and Drew for trick-or-treating.

Earlier in the day we carved our pumpkin. The kids were a big help!

Here is our exhausted lion at the end of the night. As I said, very ferocious.