Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year! Today is New Year's Eve. 2010 has been such a special year. Our family has grown in the most spectacular way with the addition of Tucker. Owen continued to blossom and has relished his new big brother role. We have watched our babies grow into little boys and we couldn't feel more blessed or happy. We have had so many memories and great moments with family and friends. Thanks to all who helped to make this year extraordinary.

Here is the main photo I wanted to send out as part of our annual holiday card. It didn't happen. Instead I sent an email. I figured it was better than nothing. I know I missed at least a few friends and family, so here it is... our two boys - laughing. We took this picture during our family vacation to visit Kris' family in Roanoke. The boys were playing in the middle of the photo shoot, and the photographers captured this special moment.

We hope this next year brings many more laughs and smiles to all. As great as this year has been, we are looking forward to this next year and all that it may bring!!

Happy New Year! Cheers!!

An unexpected question

Today, as I was driving the boys back from school, Owen asked me how the earth was made. Lately, he's been asking a lot of questions like this, such as "where does corn bread come from?" or "where do flowers come from?". I have to admit, this one threw me for a second. I paused and started to tell him that there are a couple of theories that exist. Luckily, before I had to explain in detail, he continued to tell me that that the earth goes in circles around the sun and at the same time he started to make circles with his fingers in the air. Then he explained that earth moves around the sun and makes morning and night. A second later, as we were pulling into our neighborhood, he happily switched topics to start telling me about what house and neighborhood he thinks his friend lives in. I just shook my head and marveled. Just weeks (okay days) ago we were immersed in poop talk. Now, we are on evolution? God, help me.

Happy 11 Month Birthday Tucker!

Happy 11 Month Birthday Tucker!

Tucker,

In the past month, you have really started to transform from a baby to a little toddler. Two weeks ago, you took your first steps and last night you really started to get the hang of walking!! You can now stand up from a sitting position and walk all on your own! Your record to date is about eighteen steps! You love to climb onto chairs, so much so that we have to watch you closely as you enjoy climbing from the chair to the table top! You haven’t had any more teeth come in but you are eating more and more finger foods. So far, you have taken to peas, carrots, corn, green beans, and cheerios and you appear to like chili and corn bread and spaghetti or macaroni n cheese most of the time. You absolutely LOVE to dance to music. Since you were a teeny tiny baby, music has soothed you, and now as you change into a little boy, music continues to hold your attention and make you smile.

We have to keep a close eye on you when we’re downstairs because if we accidentally leave a door open, you dart for it immediately. You also are sneaky and will quietly crawl your way into the bathroom or find your way up the stairs. Such an explorer! It’s hard for us to decide what your favorite activity is, but we have it narrowed down to the following: riding on the tricycle with big bro, playing on the cardboard slide, playing in the toy kitchen, or crawling up the stairs and onto chairs.

Tucker, you bring us so much joy. Your big brother loves you and regularly says, “ohhhh, him’s so cute” or “ohhhh, Tucker I love you” or “Tucker, come here” and you go! We love to watch you play with Owen. You are always happier when he’s in the room with you, well, that is as long as he’s not trying to play on top of you!

We are looking forward to our first Christmas with you, Tucker, and we can’t wait to take you up into the snow. We’ll be sledding with you in no time.

We love you baby boy!

Thanksgiving 2010

Because we just returned from Virginia and because we're going to spend Christmas with my family, we decided to stay home this Thanksgiving. We had a lovely afternoon with friends at the Gulbrandsen's with a delicious feast and football galore. Dinner really was a feast; we enjoyed a perfectly cooked turkey, a green bean casserole, a broccoli and cheese casserole, sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing, mash potatoes, mac and cheese, fruit, rolls, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin bread! Yummy!! Owen had a blast playing with the kids and Tucker did great considering we had to contain him to the high chair or in our arms throughout the evening. A few days ago, he came down with a funky virus known as "hand, foot, and mouth" which is a mild bug, or at least it was for him and most of his pals, with fever and rash symptoms. We have our fingers crossed that we did in fact contain the germs and that none of the other kids, or adults for that matter, end up with it. We are grateful that the bug is so minor and that really we have such healthy children.

We have so much to be thankful and grateful for in our lives. We feel so blessed to have supportive and loving families and wonderful friends. This is our first thanksgiving with both Owen and Tucker, and we couldn't feel luckier or happier.

Virgina 2010 Vacation

We timed our trip to Virginia perfectly this year. We went back to meet our new niece Olivia and new nephew Peyton and to give Kris' extended family a chance to meet Tucker. Luckily for us, the babies made it home from the hospital about one week before we arrived so we were able to hug and dote on them all week long.

Highlights from our trip:

• Crisp sunny fall days with beautiful fall foilage surrounding us everywhere we went
• Giant piles of leaves for the boys to play in for hours at a time
• a big family party at Great Grandma's which included a full afternoon of trampoline jumping with cousins, petting goats, looking at the beautiful horses, a ride in the back of a pick up truck, almost petting a buffalo and a cow, and yummy food and great company.
• Owen and Tucker playing with Jenkins and Onyx
• a trip to Build a Bear with Auntie Kyndal
• a trip to the toy store with Nana
• a visit with Robert & Jenny and their sweet baby Abby
• a delicious Thanksgiving feast with Robert and his pals at his Smith Mountain Lake cabin
• first park trip with Auntie Kyndal and her beautiful babies
• a family photo shoot
• lots of relaxing and watching movies in the evenings
• yummy meals at home with the family
• Aunt Jackie's AWESOME sugar cookies

can you believe this color on the maple tree?

could they be any sweeter?

A visit with friends

A few weekends ago, our good friends, the Okzresiks, came out to visit from Ohio. They used to live in Folsom, but moved to the Midwest to be closer to family a few years ago. We miss them terribly and were so happy to see them and meet their son Colin for the first time.

We had a really nice time hanging out with them and a bunch of other friends at the Berry's house for a relaxing Saturday afternoon BBQ. When we first started to hang out with everybody, we had just graduated from college. Now, most of us have little ones. What a difference a few years makes.

Welcome to the world Oliva & Peyton!

On September 10, my sister in law Kyndal went into early labor and delivered her two twin babies, Olivia and Peyton two months before their due date. The babies were very tiny, both less than four pounds, but they were oh so cute. They spent the first seven weeks in the NICU, growing stronger and bigger, developing at impressive rates. Kyndal and her husband Tracy, were finally able to bring the babies home a week before our scheduled vacation to meet the twins and visit with family and friends.

During our Virginia trip a few weeks ago, they had a check up on November 10 which can in some ways be considered their Day 1 for milestone tracking. Peyton weighed almost the same as Tucker did at birth (1 oz heavier) and Olivia weighed almost the same as Owen at birth (2 oz lighter). It was especially sweet for me to hug and kiss my new niece and nephew and to also be reminded of how itty bitty my babies were such a short time ago. The size difference between Tucker and the twins is remarkable.

Owen treated the babies so carefully and lovingly, it was adorable. Here is a picture of the four grandkids. Kris' parents went from one grandchild to four in 1 year!!