Bath Time Fun

Lily is finally loving her bath! It is so cute to see her kick and try to splash around in that small space. She loves every part of it and I am so anxious to get her in to the big tub and watch her go! Cole is also still a huge fan of bath time! We broke out the finger paints the other night...before bath time so that he could paint and do something a little different. These cold days are torture on him. He has so much energy these days but changing things up a bit helps. He told me, when he was out of the tub that night, that he would like to paint my shower next...oh boy!!!!

Rhonald's new job has been such an incredible blessing to all of us. One of the many awesome things about it is that he is able to spend a lot of time with Cole and Lily. We try to do something super fun at least once a week - sometimes as a family and sometimes it is just is Cole and Rhonald. From Chuck E Cheese to jumpzone to movie nights - we are having a blast! That time together has been priceless and we both can see the positive affect it is having on Cole. We are so thankful that God has led us on this path and that we can be together so much more!!!!

A Winter Wonderland

Sibling Love

We so love watching a relationship develop between these too. Cole is always wanting to hold Lily Kate's hand and teach her about everything he knows. In turn, Lily loves to watch him and smile at him, taking everything in. I can't wait to see them grow up together...and always have one another to lean on.

A Cup of Christmas Tea

What do you get a 2 month old for Christmas? Well, we weren't sure but we had to get her something because Cole kept asking what Santa was going to bring Lily. When we went to see Santa we let Cole ask him for something for Lily Kate. He quickly asked that she receive a tea set. I have no idea how he knew what a tea set was but he did and he asked for it. And luckily we found one and bought it. Once Cole had time to play with all of his new things he wanted to open Lily's new things. We let him open one toy to share with her and he, of course, chose the tea set. So, the day after Christmas we all sat down to have a nice cup of Christmas tea and tea cakes...courtesy of Santa!

Christmas 2010

What a fun Christmas this was! Cole was so into the whole experience which made it so much more fun for Rhonald and I. We have had gifts under the tree for weeks and Cole has been so good not to touch them. I wanted Santa's gifts to stand out so we wrapped them in different paper and placed them by the fireplace. Cole was so cute when he walked in to the living room that morning. He slowly walked over to his presents and just stared at them. We had to tell him it was ok to open them. He loved everything! We learned a big lesson this year...Christmas is very overwhelming for a child and maybe less is more! Cole would have been happy with a stocking and 2 gifts. I was shocked when he asked me to unwrap his last two presents! He simply wanted to play with each thing as he opened it and there was so much going on. Cole loved passing out the gifts and telling us who they were from. He helped open Lily Kate's gift and would comment on everything she got ("Oh she likes that mom!"). It was a perfect day! We stayed in our pj's all day, ate when we felt like it and played with all of our new things. It was so relaxing and wonderful to be home just the 4 of us.

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Putting out the Reindeer food before bed

Singing Jingle Bells by the fireplace

The boys favorite part of Christmas Eve dinner - the ho rs devours. Especially those that could be picked up with toothpicks!

Christmas cuddles from Mr. Jim

Last year we decided that we would no longer travel on Christmas. We wanted to start our own traditions here at home and allow Cole and Lily to enjoy the day in a relaxed way. Normally we spend Christmas with Rhonald's parents but his mom had to work and so they could not come up until the day after Christmas. We really wanted to make a traditional Christmas dinner so we invited Jim and Em and Ben over to share it with us. It was so much fun to catch up with them (Emily is pregnant and was not feeling so hot during her first trimester) and share the holiday with them. It was a lot of fun to see Cole and Ben play and take it all in....in their own way. During nap time Santa dropped off a few early presents for the boys and both of the babies (both born and unborn) and the boys loved that! I had decorated the table with traditional holiday "poppers" - one for everyone - however I think it ended up that Cole and Ben each had 3. They had these cute paper crowns in them that the boys wore around the house. They watched a Christmas movie and ran and ran and ran. Luckily Jim and Rhonald were the ones that Cole and Ben wanted to play with so Emily, Lily Kate and I hung out in the living room and talked. After they headed home we quickly sprinkled our reindeer food on the lawn, set out our cookies and milk and read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Cole likes that book so much and even remembered several parts of the poem. The one part that he always laughs like crazy at is when they say that Santa's belly shook like a bowl full of jelly! When I was tucking him that night he was full of questions....what if the reindeer get thirsty-we only left milk for Santa! What if they get lost? What is Santa forgets to fill his stocking? And on and on...until he finally fell fast asleep...