COWS

While at Grandpa and Grandma's for Christmas we went to see a dairy farm. Monk LOVED all the animals and seeing the baby calves. We were able to see the cows get milked and everything. VERY FUN!

Christmas 2008

Well as I began to sort through the 270 pictures that I took in a time span of four days I realized what an amazing Christmas we had as a family. Sometimes when you are in the middle of it all things seem not so relaxing and SUPER chaotic. We were VERY busy going from one place to another, but the most important thing of all was that we were together and that our boys loved spending time with their cousin's, aunt's, uncles, Grandpa's, and Grandma's. Tuesday night we went to my Grandpa and Grandma's and began the celebrations there. On Christmas Eve morning our family of four opened up our gifts. I was so excited to find the boys Polar Express trains even though they were VERY hard to find. I managed to find the hot chocolate cars at a little store at normal price while they were selling on e-bay for almost $100. I have to admit that I was a little tempted to sell those guys and make all the money, but I knew that the boys would love them.
Christmas Eve night we headed on over to my parents house. My brother was in town and so this made things out to be an extra special treat! Monk's favorite gift was this here scooter. It pretty much has to go wherever we go.

Bebo went to bed a little earlier than the rest of us, but he was able to enjoy some of the festivities as well. He was a GREAT sport about the whole situation. One of his gifts was a water table. I am so excited to get the boys out this summer to try it out.

Christmas day we headed north to Fisherman's parents. Monk had so much fun playing with his cousins. It was mighty relaxing! Monk got a new camera and has been taking pictures ever since. I can't wait to download some of his masterpieces. Who knows, they may even make the blog.

Bebo loved the ball that he got in his stocking and has already enjoyed playing with the new tub toys that he got.

Our Christmas was amazing and we hope that yours was too. Often times I found myself reflecting on how blessed we are. I mean look at this stinkin' kid! How could one not feel blessed when they have children like Monk and Bebo.

Merry Christmas

We hope that you all have a safe, happy, and very Merry Christmas. We hope that your day is filled with all the things you love the most. Christmas is a time to spend with the people that mean the most so hug those you love tight!

Busy Busy Busy

We have been busy over here with lots of firsts for Monk. We made a Gingerbread house together.

Made some Christmas Cut out cookies.

And got a new sled and went sledding down a hill! I may have mentioned this before, but the best thing about having kids is that I get to do all the things that I loved to do as a kid. I have been having a fun week.

Comparing the brothers

I took some pictures similar to these of Monk right around this age and thought it would be fun to compare. Here you can look at Monk's pictures.

Teeth and Longies

This little man is looking so big with all these teeth in his mouth. I just keep thinking of him as a baby, but he is growing into a toddler real fast these days. I also had to get a picture of his cute fleece longies that I just got. For those of you who don't know Longies are pants that you use as a diaper cover. So far I am really liking them. Hope you enjoy the nice toothy grin!

Critter Barn

We made a trip to the Critter Barn this year again. It is always a good time. Monk really loved holding the animals and he looks good as Mary don't you think?

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Eight is better than Twenty-seven because this year I was able to watch a little boy named Monk grow and change. I witnessed each new word he has added to his vocabulary. I have seen so many smiles and that little man has created so much happiness in my life this past year. I am so glad I was blessed with another year with my Monkadilly.

Twenty-Eight is better than Twenty-Seven because I was able to experience the miracle and joy of giving birth to another baby boy. I have had the chance to watch him grow and learn new things everyday. I have had the chance to hold him close, snuggle him, and smell his baby goodness each and every day.

Twenty-Eight is better than Twenty-Seven because over the past year I have been able to fall deeper in love with my husband and had the chance to learn a million more new things about him. We have been able to stand together and hold on tight. I have been able to see him be a wonderful Daddy to another beautiful baby boy. Never in my life have I felt more supported than I have from my husband in the past year.

Twenty-Eight is better than Twenty-Seven because I was able to follow a dream of mine and start my own little business. I was finally able to take a passion that I had and do something with it.

I look forward to what this next year has to hold for me and I can only hope that it will be just as good as this past year has been. I am so lucky that God has given me this long to enjoy my life. I have been able to experience so much!

Christmas Tradition

With all the different holiday parties that we have to go to we aren't really able to have a Christmas tradition of our own so I was so excited to find this little advent calendar at a craft show I did. It is a great way for Monk to see how many days are left before Christmas and has encouraged us to do some fun things that we wouldn't normally do. Each day we turn over the circle for the day and do the fun thing that it has behind.
I hope that this little tradition will create lasting memories for Monk and Bebo.

Thirty-Four Months Old 12/08/08 - Monk

Monk, two months away from being three, that is just pure insanity! I let your hair grow a little longer this past month and while I loved it, you seemed to have this small patch right in the back that insisted on throwing a party every single day (shown above) so we ended up cutting it again. We found out that you really LOVE christmas and that your reasoning for pretty much anything is "cuz we have a Christmas tree."
You are a creative little man. You love seeing how things work and are constantly getting into things you shouldn't instead of playing with the toys that you have. Your favorite little character to pretend to be is Yucky Man from the Backyardigans. I love the picture above because it captures you in your Yucky Man state.

You are not beneath being bribed. I hate to admit it, but I do bribe you now and then especially when I have to take your picture lately. You love swords, balloons, and yogurt. You don't like being away from your Daddy and getting your nails cut (this often involves some sort of bribe as well).

This is your mean face. I NEVER look at you like this so I am trying to figure out where you may have learned this.

Monk though you can be rotten at times you are the most lovable little man. Just the other day I came to pick you up from Nana's, you lifted up your arms for me to pick you up, you snuggled in my neck, and said, "I love you Mommy." You are a loving kid. I hope to make you an excellent loving husband someday. I love you kid with everything that I am! Love,

Mama

Ten Months Old 12/06/08 - Bebo

My little Bebo you are ten months old. A lot has changed in the last month. It is like your learning abilities just took off. Within the time span of practically a weekend you learned how to do patty cake, wave bye-bye, and pull yourself up on things. I can't believe how quickly you are moving away from baby and moving into toddlerhood.
You are still not crawling in the sense of being on your hands and knees crawling. You drag your whole little body by pulling yourself with one arm. Who needs to be up on all fours when this gets you where you need to go, right? However, you did learn how to move from your tummy to your buns in the past month. I wasn't sure if you would ever be able to do it with the cloth diapers that I put on you.

You love standing up on things. You could probably do this all day. I am thinking that you may learn to walk before you crawl. In one months time you have gotten three teeth and I think you are working on number four. You love to imitate. You stick out your tongue when I do, you click your tongue when I do, and you blow raspberries in return.

You are not the biggest fan of eating lately because of the new teeth coming in and because there are so many things to see and do. You don't like to have your face wiped, your diaper changed, or get your jammies on.

Bebo, you are full of life. I love the way you snuggle in my neck when you hear something loud. Or how you crawl over to me in the middle of playing just so you can have a little break to suck your thumb and get a snuggle from Mom. I love your smell and your goofy smile. I love you more with each passing day kid. Love, Mama

Christmas Parade

We were some of the crazies that went to the Christmas parade this week. It was wicked cold! Well it wasn't that cold, but the wind was bitter. Monk doesn't get cold easily, but he figured out quickly that if he put his face in his jacket he would stay warmer.
Bebo and I did lots of "shopping" in the stores to stay warm while we waited.

Ok I have a confession, I didn't actually know that real reindeer existed, but here on is, CRAZY!

When we got home we warmed up with some hot chocolate. Despite the cold we had a really good time and saw lots of fun stuff.

Oh Holy Night II

This is how Monk set up the Nativity scene this year. To see last years version click here. The animals are all very well fed. Each has a trough of food or hay in front of them. Baby Jesus is hopefully sleeping since he is all alone. There must be a baby monitor hooked up some where that Mary and Joseph are listening to while they are off hanging out with their shepherd friends. I love to see what Monk comes up with each year.

Nut Allergy

Well over Thanksgiving weekend we had a bit of a scare with Monk. Soon after he was one and started eating adult food he would sometimes have a reaction to certain foods and would get a red rash around his mouth. His doctor suggested going to an allergist. The allergist said that it was just a slight food allergy, but that he should be fine. He told me to hold off on Shell fish and peanuts until three though. Since Monk is only a couple months away from being three I thought that I was in the clear. I started giving him peanuts, peanut butter, and almond butter. He had no reaction. So while we were at the cabin this weekend I didn't hesitate to give him a cashew. Seconds after he put a small piece in his mouth he started coughing, crying, and telling us that his throat hurt. He couldn't stop crying. We finally got him to bed, but he was still coughing. Minutes after we were in bed he started vomiting. Soon after that his whole body broke out in hives. You can see a bit of it in the picture above. He even had hives on his eye lid which you can faintly see on the picture. Poor little man! He won't be having anymore nuts I can tell you that much.

O Christmas Tree

This year we didn't have the chance to cut our own tree, but we were still able to pick our own out. Monk was sooooo excited to put up the Christmas tree. He has asked me everyday if we can get a Christmas tree since we have been seeing them in the stores.
Bebo was diggin' the lights.

Monk was able to put the angel on the top

Bebo loved hanging out in the middle of all the decorating action.

We like to think that we rescued our tree. It has a pretty major bend in the trunk making it pretty impossible to get it straight. Builds character, right? We had such a nice family time together putting up the tree. It is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.