Christmas Morning

Here is a picture of my boys just after everyone woke up Christmas morning. As you can see, Jacob and Andrew's cute matching Christmas jammies didn't make it through the night. They got their jammies wet, so we had to change into something new and warm. We will try again next year. Everyone is so tired because Jake woke up about an hour early at 6:30. He went and woke up Drew so he could join in the excitement. So they are still a little dazed. After this we all went downstairs to see what Santa brought and open all the fun gifts. It was a fun year to see their enthusiasm for exchanging gifts. --emily

Also Christmas Morning

The next few pictures are my favorites! Andrew kept sneaking chocolate. We normally don't have a lot of candy hanging around, so Andrew kept sneaking off to grab some stocking candy and then would hide and eat it. He was so funny! So I had him pose and show me what he was doing. He thought it was funny that I was taking pictures of him sneaking candy. The last picture is my favorite. Look at him savoring that chocolate. --emily

Christmas Eve

One of our Christmas traditions is to open one gift on Christmas eve. This gift contains new jammies. Now that I am a mother, I see why this tradition must be. It is because by December, our children have scraggly jammies. So that everyone looks nice in our family morning Christmas pictures, a new pair of jammies is purchased. This is also a great excuse to have a new pair of jammies. Here are my boys being so silly posing for a Christmas eve picture. We had a great evening filled with fun tradition and lots of family time. --emily

Snowflake Lane

Tonight we put the kids on our backs and ventured out into the crowds. In downtown Bellevue the city puts on what they call "Snowflake Lane". They have high school kids drumming Christmas songs. While some are drumming, others are on stilts or handing out candy. The performers are all in costume like old-fashioned drummers. It is quite the show. Then when the show is almost over, fake snow falls from the roof tops. The snow is almost bubble like but a lot of fun for the kids. It is worth the crowd surfing for the memories. --emily

2009 Christmas Card

Reindeer

The only way I can get Jacob to pose for a picture is to allow him to make a silly face. So here we are! Today at pre-school Jacob learned about the letter H so their teacher helped them make this fun reindeer Hat it is so cute I had to share it with all of you. --emily

Let it snow . . .

Today we had our first snow of the season. We took a family evening walk to try out our new snow boots. This isn't a great picture; I blame it on my dying camera. Jacob and Andrew ate so much snow I thought we might never get home. We stopped every two seconds to scoop up a new handful of snow. Andrew kept eating grass and leaves among his snow. It was so gross! I tried to convince them that this was gross, but Jacob just said, "Oh mom it is so yummy". Does that make me a bad mom for letting my kids eat dirty snow? Maybe, but that is okay! Bring on the snow! I am ready for a white Christmas. --emily

Let the season begin . . .

The day after Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. It is the beginning of the Christmas season in our home. Today we went to see Santa and have the kids' pictures taken with him. We have gone to the same place the Friday after Thanksgiving for the past five years. This year Andrew was not about to let go of dad. He had the death grip on Kelly and was not letting go for any reason or anyone. So Kelly decided that he would sit with Drew while he talked to Santa. Since he would be in the picture, Kelly suggested that I sit in the picture also. I did not come prepared to be in a family Santa picture. I would have done something to my hair instead of the standard pony tail, but whatever. It is all part of our family story that we write with our daily events.

Here is the 2009 Santa picture:

It was still early in the day by the time we where through with our "family portrait." The weather was still nice outside. Nice in the Northwest means not raining. So we decided to go and get our Christmas tree. We usually get it the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but with the weather being so unpredictable out here, we decided to take advantage of the good weather. We went to our local U-cut Christmas tree farm. It is a nice family owned place. We have gone there for the past few years and enjoy the trees they have to offer.

I love this picture of Andrew. It reminds me of my dad. Silly I know, but I have a memory of the family going up into the the hills in California to cut our own tree. In that picture in my memory my dad has on a down jacket almost the same color as Andrew's, though my dad's was stained with car oil.
Earlier in the day we stopped in a local store to pick up a few things. Jacob had to have this Santa hat so I said, "I will buy you this hat if you promise to wear it." He wore it all day. I even had to take it off him after he fell asleep. He wanted to wear it all night. I am so blessed with cute kids!

I tried to get a picture of everyone in front of the tree we picked as a family. This is the best picture from the batch. Andrew had melted, Kelly was being silly, and Jacob wouldn't hold still.

What a great day! Tomorrow we will decorate and bring the tree in. Yeah. . . --emily

We are thankful for . . .

our favorite lady. Emily/mom is the prettiest, most talented, hardest working person we know. We love her with all our hearts.

--Kelly, Jacob and Andrew

I am thankful for

a husband that has learned how to juggle family, career, and going back to school.

Jacob who is a healthy happy boy who can run and play.

Andrew who is silly and always knows when to laugh.

Gordon who is so loving to our family.

I am so grateful for so many things our family unit our home our health. We have been blessed in so many ways. Hope you all have a wonderful happy and healthy Thanks Giving! --emily

Snuggles

The other day I was getting ready for the day and the boys where being so good and quiet! Andrew had gathered all the cozy things he could find: animals, pillows, and blankets. He piled them onto the dog bed, then he snuggled in with Mr. Gordon dog. They played like this for a long time. It is so amazing the relationship the two of them have. Andrew loves our dog so much and Mr. Gordon sure loves our little Andrew! --emily

Taco Soup

Fall has come and winter is on it's way. 'Tis the season for a good warm soup. This is one of my favorite soups to make and eat. Please enjoy!

Taco Soup:

2 cans of corn with juice

1 / 28oz. can of diced tomatoes with juice

1 can black beans with juice

1 qt. of box creamy tomato soup

1 lb. Ground turkey breast

Dried minced onions

1 packed of dried taco seasoning

Chips

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese

In my crock pot I open and pour all the canned ingredients--corn, tomatoes, beans, creamy tomato soup--and turn my pot onto warm. Then I brown the meat on the stove top. While browning the meat I sprinkle it with dried minced onions about 4 table spoons. When the meat is completely cooked and drained, I add a cup of water and 1 pack of taco seasoning and let it boil for about 5 min. Then I add the meat to the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients. Turn the crock pot on for at least 8 hrs. low. I usually serve this over low salt or no salt chips top with a dollop of sour cream and grated cheese. Sooo good .... --emily

Jawa

Often during Andrew's nap time, Jacob and I will do a project of some sort. Today Jacob designed this guy--a jawa. Jacob has been talking about jawas since he watched Star Wars with his dad a few weeks ago. I asked Jacob what he wanted to make, and he drew the jawa on a piece of paper, picked the fabric he liked, then we cut him out of Jacob's pattern. Jacob helped turn the knob on the sewing machine as I sewed the jawa together. Jacob stuffed him with stuffing all by himself. He picked green for his jawa's eyes so they would match his, and he drew a heart on him so he would be alive. I stitched his name on. It was a fun afternoon project. I think we might have to do something like this again. Jacob had a great time.

--emily

Happy Halloween

On Halloween we celebrated Andrew's second birthday with friends and family. We had good doughnuts and cider instead of cake and ice cream. It was a fun time. Drew opened a few gifts before we ventured out for some trick or treating.

Here is a picture of the kids right before we headed out the door.

The weather was what we would expect for a Halloween evening, it was drizzly and chilly. The kids had a great time anyway. I love our community for holidays such as this. Our neighbors all get involved. The sidewalks are covered with kids and parents. It is such a fun sight! I enjoy saying Hi to neighbors and friends as we see them out with their kids. It is tradition for my parents to come over and pass out candy at our house so both Kelly and I can go out with the kids.

This year Kelly's mom and step dad joined us for this fun weekend.

--emily

The boy wonder

At our ward Halloween party tonight Andrew won first prize for best costume for nursery age children. The boys went as Batman and Robin they looked darling together. --emily

Taking good care of our house guests

A friend of ours has asked us to house her Christmas horses for a couple days until she can find a more permanent place, till the big day. We have loved the company. This morning I found Andrew feeding our house guests puzzle pieces out of a stacking toy drew enjoys playing with. What a good host! --emily

Carving the Pumpkins

Saturday evening we carved our pumpkins as a family. Jacob enjoyed this so much this year. He started out sitting on his stool. He worked his way up to sitting on the counter so he could see what he was doing. He had a much better angle from above anyway. He did a great job. His pumpkin looks awesome!

I wanted to get a cute picture of the boys sitting on the porch with their lit pumpkins, but Andrew was all done by this point. He is not usually the screaming meltdown kid, but there was no energy left even for a cute picture. I love the look on Jacob's face! --emily

Pumpkin Patch

This morning we went to our local pumpkin patch as a family. Kelly's dad is in town and we thought it would be fun to get outside and get some fresh air especially since it wasn't raining. The boys had a great time with Grandpa trompin' through the mud to find the perfect pumpkin.

What a beautiful place this is.

The patch we go to has free hay rides, a jumping hay pit for the kids, popcorn, hot chocolate, and a candy bucket. It is such a great place.

This is all my mom's fault. My parents house has outside stairs that lead to a deck that their front door is on. Every year my mom would buy enough pumpkins to put one on each stair and in little grouping in the nooks. So as you can see, I have that same bring-the-patch-home mentality. I can never buy just a few or one for each person. It is always a mini patch and I love it! We actually have more than is in this picture. We had a few stragglers in the kitchen still. --emily

Hey Mikey,

I was talking with your mom the other day and she had mentioned that you enjoy checking out our blog. So Jake wanted to send a fun picture to reminded you of the crazy fun you two used to have. You should tell your dad to send you and your mom up for an adventure! See you some time soon! --emily

The after party

This morning Andrew was caught in the act of sneaking a cupcake from his birthday party last night. He climbed onto the counter and helped himself to the yummies. --emily

Birthday Boy

Today is Andrew's second birthday. His story began with a bit of a surprise. He was a planned baby, but he came into our world 5 weeks early. I was at our baby shower planned by my friend Amanda; she gathered a few friends to celebrate our second baby. We had a great time chitchatting, eating good food, and opening a few gifts. It was a fun afternoon with my girlfriends. On the way home from this relaxing event, my water broke and Andrew was on his way. I continued my drive home to meet up with Kelly and take Jake to my mom's house. A few hours later Andrew was born. He was 6 lbs 3 oz and 19 in. long--big for a pre-mature baby boy.

He was given a room in the intensive care unit and placed on a CPAP machine to help him breath. We lived in the intensive care unit for 14 long days while Drew's lungs developed fully. I was given a room in the hospital for a few extra days until they kicked me out because they "needed" the room. So we where back and forth from Overlake Hospital and my parents' house in Bellevue for a few days. At the time our house was in North Bend and that is a long drive for the wee hours of the night and morning. So we crashed at my parents' place for that time.

What a crazy experience. I feel so blessed we have a healthy boy and we survived that experience. As stressful as it all was, we had wonderful friends and family to help us through unexpected moments like this. Drew has such a kind and loving spirit. He has always been so mellow and loving. I am so glad that he is part of our family. Happy Birthday baby Drew!

This is the first time Jacob had met his little brother Andrew.

Not so little Drew enjoying his birthday meal and momma-made cupcakes.

Drew was showing me all his new gear. His shirt was a desaster after the meal so that came off and we didn't get a shirt back on 'till after the bath. Drew is showing you his new skater hat and mittens, along with his new VW bus. Jacob found this car in the Target dollar bins. I love that the favorite toy is from Jake who knows what his brother is into, and it was only a buck! --emily

Special Story Time Today

Today our local library hosted: Caspar Babypants a kid band. The lead singer use to be in a band called the United States Of America. They were a big deal when I was in high school. They started this kid band for fun and boy did they have a great turn out. They had to open the garage door to the main Library and the place was packed. There where so many people it was awesome. The kids had a great time! The look on Jacob's face is so not wanting to be there, but he had a awesome time. He sat front row jamming with the band. The guy in the blue hat even complemented Jacob on his cool shirt. On the way home in the car Jacob even mentioned that he wanted to get the shakers out and play in a band. --emily

What season is this?

Yesterday was the first day of Fall, my favorite season. And look at what we where up to today! A snow cone party at our friend Avrey's house. I love it! But I hope we don't skip Fall and head straight into winter. Good old global warming! --emily

Pre School

Today was Jake's first day of Pre School. He had a great first day! He knows most of the kids and the teacher already, so it was an easy drop off. My friend is a stay-at-home mom but in her past pre-kid life she was a school teacher. She decided to take in a few kids, plan appropriate curriculum, and work with our kids for a small fee. It is a dream! This is a great opportunity for Jake, and I am so excited too! --emily

Celebrating Jacob's 4th Birthday

Oh my goodness what a fun afternoon! Jacob invited a few friends over to celebrate his birthday with him. Our clown, aka Kelly, made balloon animals. He actually did a pretty good job considering it was his first time. We also played kid party games. We had a blast.

I had to post this picture because of the funny story that goes along with our pinata fun. The story goes like this: The kids have all had a couple of chances to whack at the pinata and it is a solid structure. The kids finally break through it with much force when my sweet neighbor informs us that the strings hanging from Spiderman are "pull strings" and each kid is supposed to grab a string; and one lucky kid has the string that actually opens the pinata. What the heck? I have never heard of such craziness! What ever happen to the good old fashioned kid games like hitting the pinata 'till all the candy flies all over the house and you are dodging them like bullets as they fly toward your face. Everything is so safe these days. I see why a lot of safety precautions are put in place, but come on. Someone tell me that they still make the "whacking" pinata!

Okay, so moving on we ate homemade Spiderman cupcakes and opened gifts. Jacob had a great time opening his presents. What kid doesn't enjoy new toys and games? He received some very fun and thoughtful gifts. Thanks to all! Look at that smile. It is very hard to capture a true smile from Jacob.

It was a very fun day. We're glad that many of our friends and family could join us. Jacob is one year older and wiser too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! We love you son. --Love, Mom

Discovering Food Storage

Yesterday the boys and I helped my mom clean up and sort through some of the rooms in her house to decide what to donate or throw out. I am really proud of my mom for her new attitude. If she didn't need it, she tossed it or donated it. I think it was quite freeing for her. She has a cupboard above her fridge that is blocked by cool old jars and tin boxes, so the cupboard isn't accessible. Yesterday we cleaned it out! This cupboard was filled with food storage items that weren't properly stored for 20 years or longer. There were bags of beans, rice and noodles just stacked on the shelves, not in air-tight containers. In my mom's defense, she wasn't the one who put them there. There is no way they are still edible, so I rinsed them off and let the kids play in them. It was like a day at the beach. They tossed it, filled buckets with it, played in it and had a great time. It is the simple things that bring joy. --emily