My Blog Request

Our sister, E, requested I put this video on the blog. T taught Z how to come down the stairs. Z previously knew how to go up the stairs, but not how to come down. So T taught him how to come down the stairs.

Note that the sound Z makes as he comes down the stairs; it is part of the package. He doesn't come down the stairs without the noise.

One of E's and Z's favorite past time is playing on the stairs (always when there is an adult present of course!).

My Christmas

Many of you probably don't know this...but the time from October 1st to the beginning of January is my absolutely favorite time of the year. When October 1st comes, all the Halloween decorations come out. Then on November 1st, all the Thanksgiving decorations come out. Then on December 1st, all the Christmas decorations come out. It is really my favorite time of the year.

This year, we've been so busy that I really haven't had time to stop and enjoy what's going on. Having two kids is so busy and takes some adjusting and I feel like I'm constantly running three days behind my life. But now that we have Z's baptism and E's birthday behind us, and Tim is back in town, I feel like I'm caught up on all the things I need to be caught up on and can finally enjoy the season.

We just put our Christmas lights up. Here is a photo of our front porch.

My Son's Second, Third and Fourth Words

The other day, Z said "cheese". We were taking a photo of him and we were saying cheese and he said it too. Now anyone besides his parents wouldn't know that the sound he was saying was "cheese", but we know, and that is all that really matters.

Word two: Also, the other day, he said "kitty". Now I'm not really sure he said kitty. It sounded like kitty and he said it multiple times, immediately after I was saying it to him, but he hasn't said it since (he has said cheese a few times after that). One of the reasons that he probably hasn't said it again is because he has sign language for kitty.

Word three: Down. Tonight at dinner, each time he knocked his sippy cup down, he said "down". Again, if you're not his parents, you probably don't know what he is saying...but I had a witness...my dad says it was down too. Dad says he said up too, but I don't agree with that yet.

Z does baby sign language....he can do the following signs....more, please, eat, milk, all done, kitty, dog, and frog (just about). We're working on fruit now, b/c he loves fruit.

My Bucket Head Boy

Last spring, we (T, J, E) went to Seaworld. We had a great time and got a bucket full of popcorn that we ate as we watched Shamu. The bucket has lived in our house. It usually holds matching blocks. But sometimes it becomes a hat for Z. He absolutely loves to wear it on his head. In fact he is doing it right now again as I type this. He can put it on his head by himself. Then he will walk up to you and show you how proud he is of himself for doing it. And he just looks so darn cute! I know you'll agree.

I can't have a picture of Z without a picture of E. We love to play with (clean) laundry. When the laundry comes out of the dryer, the kids love to lay down on the floor and I pour it out on them. Z in particular likes to fall right into the pile. E found some of T's pants and put them on and was walking around the house.

My Kids' Visit to Santa

Here is our pictures from our visit to Santa. Our Santa lets you bring your own digital camera and take some pictures. So we have the picture that we bought and the ones I took.

E was not scared, but got very quiet when Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She said a yo-yo. I figured that Z would cry and he did. This picture captures him just as he is realizing that I'm not there with him. I think in the picture that we bought, he is all out crying.

When I was a kid, my parents took me to Santa every year. And for each year I went, I have a picture of him holding me from the time I was a new born until I was in grade school. So I want to have that for my kids.

It was T's birthday yesterday. He is now in a new demographic 35-49. He is on a hunting trip with friends and having a great time. This is the second time he has gone hunting. My dad is visiting from out of town and we are eating our way through our town, one restaurant at a time. We went to a FABULOUS steak house last night and really enjoyed ourselves.

My First Video on the Blog

Here is a video of E and J playing HoneyBee, a game E got for her birthday, where you have to jump over the rotating bee. The kids had a great time with it. Just click on the play button or the video picture to start the video.

My Daughter's 4th Birthday

E's 4th birthday party was lots of fun. The kids ran around for an hour, then we had pizza and cake in the party room, and then they played for another half hour. We have two truly pooped children.

Here is the party room...(the before picture)



Here is dad, cousin J, E and Uncle C up in the Safari Stop playground.





Here is Z at the bottom of the slide. Even though he was really too small to play on the equipment, he had a good time.

Here is E enjoying her party.

Z and E doing what they do best.....having fun and playing together.

Here is E and me coming down the fast tiger slide. E went down the slide on my lap and as you can see, the slide was so fast that it was a bit out of control, but very fun.

Here is a pic of T and cousin M.

The Mc boys (that's Z's head in the front).

E and A playing in the tree.

Pizza time in the party room!

The birthday cake. Silly me, I thought that E would like the "shimmering butterfly" theme, however, Spiderwoman (not Spiderman) won out. Note that she wore her Spiderwomen costume to the party.

Here is a great shot of the birthday girl and her cake.

Enjoying the birthday cake!