Do you hear what I hear?

We like to get our Christmas decorations up the weekend of Thanksgiving.  It is easier because we know it is a long weekend and plus, we get to enjoy the Christmas spirit that much longer.  Colin was singing "Do you hear what I hear..." throughout the day.  It was super cute.  Probably more so since that is one of my faves. 

So we are having a bit of a Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas.  I brought back a lot of ornaments from my Germany trip this year.  Things like:

My Father Christmas ornament.  I love wood ornaments, especially ones that depict old fashion pictures.

You have to really look, but there is our pickle!  The German tradition is to hid the pickle within the tree and whomever finds it gets an extra gift.

I bought Meli and Colin their ornaments this year from the Käthe Wohlfahrt store.  This one is Meli's. 

My biggest find from Germany was something that Will and I have been looking for since our first Christmas 6 years ago...our Christmas Angel!  Will is a bit picky when it comes to tree toppers and we both wanted something super special.  So we have our own Käthe Wohlfahrt angel.  Is she not the most beautiful topper ever?!?

My cozy little Christmas baby! Probably dreaming of Christmas ba-bas

Colin enjoying his hot cocoa while we put up the tree.

May loving the lights!

Our tree!

A bonus picture of little May sleeping with a stuffed animal that Colin let her borrow.  She loves his Big Bird.

So excited for Christmas!!!!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Poor Gobble Gobbles

I enjoy this holiday because it brings family together and there is always good food.  I am, however, a strong believer in the fact that the victors write the history books and usually those individuals want to paint events a little nicer than they occured.  Thus, I have a hard time believing that the first Thanksgiving went the way we learn in grade school.  Maybe it did.  Even so, the times to follow were not so pleasant.  I am split with the event since my family was more than likely on both sides of that dinner.  But I never condone the idea of inhabitants being forced off their land and having religious views pushed on them.  I also feel for the poor turkeys.  How they must dread this month.  Besides all that I do plan on using the holiday to teach Colin and Meli about a group of people whose existense has been so diminished.   It will be a celebration of the natives of this country.

Enough of the seriousness...we did have a wonderful holiday spent with family.  We started the day at my father-in-laws to wish him a happy birthday.  Colin, as usual, had a blast at his house.  Always so many little trinkets to play with. Grandpa showed him all of his little bones he uses for school.  Like a rat, a turtle,etc.  As most boys probably would, Colin thought they were fascinating. 

Then we headed over to Grandma Liz's to have dinner.  It was a lovely dinner.  Michael made delicious holiday cookies and Liz made a turkey, corn pudding (a must for Will), sauerkraut, asparagus, stuffing, mashed potatoes and several other wonderful dishes.  Liz was so sweet and took care of everything.  All I had to do was make a winter salad.

Another aspect or tradition of this holiday that I like is the part of reflecting on what one is thankful for.  I have so much to be thankful for.  I am very blessed. I am so thankful for my loving husband, my two beautiful children, our jobs, being so close to being done with my degree, my wonderful mom & dad, my brothers, the sweetest mother-in-law a girl could ask for, my always entertaining father-in-law...all of my in-laws actually...life is good.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

A Chronicle

Our sweet, precious little baby boy turned 4 yesterday.  I cannot believe it.  Last year he understood that he would get presents but the concept that it was his birthday was still a little away from him.  This year he really seems to understand.  He had his party and he knows that yesterday was his special time with our family.  We went to the library to pick out some new books, opened his gifts from Grammie and us, and then had a cake with strawberries on it.  That was his special requests.  I asked him what he wanted for dinner and he squinted his eyes like he was really thinking and then he answered, "I do not need dinner, just a treat will be good".

I thought to celebrate my favorite little boy I would  post some of my favorite pictures of Colin.  A little chronicle of his first 4 years...

2007/2008

First Christmas

His introduction to Football Sunday

First Halloween

First birthday

First Thanksgiving...well second one but first out of the hospital

2009

Intro to Superheroes!

Pretty Little Blonde

More Pumpkins

2010

First Big Snow

First Bike

2011:

Love my baby boy!  Happy birthday, Colin!!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family



Oops...

I realized I did not put Meli's 6 months stats.  She was 16 lbs and 10 oz at her last appointment and 26.5 inches.  She is in the 50 percentile for both and then the 75th for her head.  The doctor remarked that her head was big (which is good) but to me it looks smaller.  I think the only reason is because Colin had a BIG head.  His was always in the 95th percentile.  She is talking up a storm and if I did not mention it her first tooth popped through last week. 

I looked at Colin's status for 6 months and he was about 2.5 lbs heavier and about 1.5 inches shorter.  My little chunky monkey! 

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Party like a Superhero

We had Colin's birthday party today.  Super fun!  Will and I were a little hesitant having more than just the 4 nephews and adults this time....We had a full-blown par-tay!!  It actually went pretty well.  It was Superhero themed.  So, a lot of Batman, Spider-man, and Ironman decorations.  Will and I came up with some pretty fun games.  There was Pin the Spider on Spider-man (that was mine, thank you!), Clothes Pins in the Mason Jar, Hackey sack Toss, Bowling, and Guess How Many Superhero-colored Candies in a jar.  There were some lessons learned but overall it went pretty smoothly.  Prizes were won, fun was had and smiles were all around.



Colin really enjoyed himself.  He did think at first, since he was the Birthday Boy, all of the prizes were for him.  But once I explained the wrapped gifts were for him and the prizes were for his friends he understood.  For the most part.  There may have been a relapse or two.  Maybe.  Colin made off like a bandit.  He got some really cool gifts.  We try to take a picture of all of his gifts each year so he can look back at them when he is older.  I remember doing that once I got a camera for Christmas.  It is a lot of fun to come across those now that the toys have all come and gone. 

Pin the Spider on Spider-Man

Birthday Boy

May hanging out with Grandma Liz

A Happy Boy

We are making him wait until his actual birthday (Monday) to open our gifts for him.  We want to make sure he understands that it is his real birthday.  I cannot believe our baby boy will be 4!!!

Storytime (our walls are definitely not purple, I blame the camera on Will's phone)

Most of the ideas for this party came from inspiration from pinterst.com.  A site that I just love!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

6 Months!!!

Meli turned 6 months on the 10th of this month. She is already doing so much.  She is a master of sitting and definitely wanting to move all over the place.  It is so sweet to see her really starting to play with Colin.  He makes sure that she has toys to entertain her (still learning to share when it is one he wants to play with - baby steps).  Meli also has her first tooth popping through!  Luckily, it has only caused her to be a little cranky. 

Sibling Playtime

Party outfit

Meli loves her toys

...and her daddy!

An outfit sent by one of my Canadian friends that I met while pregnant with Meli.

Colin has a new book that he can trace letters and numbers.  He loves it!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

It is just a number...right?

This is my last birthday in my 20's...so sad but life is so good that you cannot complain about something as simple as a number.  Will is so good at making birthdays special - which helps.  He spoiled me with fun activities and little treats all week.  This year, Colin picked out his gift for me ALL by himself.   They were at a store looking for something else and Colin came across a wooden box that he told Will would be perfect for mama's birthday.  He also picked out a cute little bracelet to keep safe in the treasure chest.  He painted the box and everything!  Like most 3 year olds, he is not so good at keeping secrets...so I got my gift as soon as I got home after work on Friday. 

On Saturday, Will got me my special coffee and made me cinnamon rolls (yum) and let me just relax.  He also took care of dinner all week (nice break - Such a sweetie).  I decided I wanted a family day for my birthday.  So, we went and played minature golf and then hit the batting cages.  I really liked the place we went and may start going there once it starts warming up again.  Then we had Pinkberry (frozen yogurt) and I got to pick out an outfit at Charming Charlie (my fave store).  I usually take advantage of birthdays and make Will watch a movie with me (we do not watch a lot of movies) - I picked Bridesmaid this year.  I have seen it a few times but just LOVE it.  Not so sure about Will though.  For dinner tonight, I felt like Mexican.  We got a babysitter (thank you Uncle E - sorry Meli is teething) and had a date night.  I got to wear my new dress (which Colin said I looked so pretty in my birthday dress...sweetheart!).

I had an amazing birthday!  I loved the activtivies, food and gifts.  Thank you to all of my family and friends for the birthday wishes.  Love you all!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family