Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! With much love, Tim, Danisa, Kellan and Henry!!

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas to our sweet boys, Kellan and Henry!! Kellan was awake around 630am this morning, about an hour earlier then his usual wake up time, but he was just way too excited. Henry awoke shortly after from hearing all the commotion. So downstairs we went to light the tree and get one quick photo before presents are opened.

Let's start opening Mommy! Harmony is right in the mix with us, good girl!

Henry has caught on quickly from his brother on how to open presents. He squeals with delight at his new things! Too cute!

Looks like a tornado went through this place!
Now it's breakfast time and off to church to celebrate!!

Christmas Eve

We started Christmas Eve day with some grocery shopping at Wegmans followed by lunch there. I highly recommend avoiding all grocery stores on this day! A little chaotic, but we had fun doing it all together. The remainder of the day was spent at home just relaxing, playing, the usual.

Since naps were all thrown off during the day, Kellan decided to take his in the car on our way to see the light show. We thought the kids would enjoy a drive thru Christmas light show, but they both ended up falling asleep. Tim and I enjoyed it!

Since the kids are still so young, we haven't quite got our "traditions" figured out yet. We used to always open our stockings on Christmas Eve. So, we let Kellan open a package that came in the mail from our friends, the Warnock's. He was very excited to get a doctor kit. We promptly opened it and did some "check-ups".

Bear seems to be in good health. And hold still Henry while I get your blood pressure. Yep, you are good too!

Stocking time.

Time to read some stories and get some sleep. We know tomorrow morning will be very early!!

Party at Ollie's

We enjoyed getting out of the house for some good birthday fun for Ollie! Kellan hadn't been up to much since his tonsils came out, so this was needed. He didn't do too much talking, but did some playing and cake eating with his pals Wyatt and Ollie. The 3 of them together are a riot!

The number two's were all awake and present too. Wes, Lily and Henry. Not too much interaction between them yet, but very soon. We attempted a 3 boy shot, but couldn't quite get them all to cooperate (Kellan being the uncooperative one!) Oh well, they are all sitting still anyway!

A Visit to Santa

I have been discussing Santa with Kellan and he has told me a few times that he really didn't want to sit on his lap and that was okay. We decided to go to the mall this morning to get Kellan a haircut, ride the train and just run around a bit. For whatever reason, the mall happened to be very empty,which is nice. After Kellan got his haircut, we headed to the middle of the mall where Santa was. I was curious to see what Kellan would do. Well, he surprised me by running right up to him, practically knocking the fence that surrounded him down. He was excitedly waving his hand yelling "Hi Santa!" There was no one else in line, so we were able to go right up to him and Kellan wasn't shy one bit. It was so cute! Kellan got right up on his lap and told him about the Toy Story toys he wanted for Christmas. I put Henry on his lap too, and he wasn't so sure about this big bearded man. He would look at me, then look at Santa and start crying. Look back at me, then back at Santa. We were able to capture this cute picture in between cries from Henry. Good job boys!! They both got stuffed animals from Santa afterwards which they loved!

We love our mall train rides!! Henry's checking out big bro to see what he should be doing. The boys were so sweet and well behaved today. Fun day!

10 Months Old is Henry!

A little football anyone? I got my Ohio State Buckeyes colors on!!

Big bro likes to help sometimes. He's usually pretty nice to me, but he forgets that I'm still little too. Someday soon I'll really be able to wrestle with him! I'm generally a very happy, smiley boy and there's not much I don't like, even when big bro takes my toys from me. I can really crawl now, so I get to where I want to go pretty quickly. I pull up on whatever or whoever I can find. I like to dance (wiggle my bottom if I'm sitting, or bounce my legs when standing) anytime I hear music. It's way cute!! I still have no teeth, but they got to be coming soon right?!

Glasses? or no glasses?

Let's go outside Mom, I got my hat on!

Bye-Bye Tonsils!

Kellan brought this big red card home the last day he was going to be at school for awhile. His class had made it for him. I just love it!! He got lots of hugs from all his friends and teachers.

Today's the day Kellan's tonsils and adenoids come out and it started very early for everyone! Kellan and I were up at 5:30am to get to the surgery center by 6:15am. Henry had to get up shortly after to go to daycare by 6:30 so Daddy could meet us. We had prepped Kellan somewhat a few days in advance, explaining the best we could as to what was going to happen and what he should expect. We didn't go into too many details, just so we wouldn't scare him to death! He mostly got out of it that Dr Lee was going to fix his throat and it was going to be ouchy. Yep, that sums it up. Kellan is getting a breathing treatment before going back to surgery. He was a great patient, letting the nurses and doctors do their thing. Lenny the Lion became a new friend throughout the process. They give stuffed animals to all their little patients.

This is Kellan post surgery: Morphine + a Toy Story video = Happy camper! We didn't take a picture of him 20 minutes prior to this...Unhappy camper!! It about broke my heart seeing him crying in pain and asking for medicine. :(

Home and on the couch. Nap time for everyone, especially Mommy who started getting a flu bug. This was taken shortly before Henry's daycare called saying he was having explosive diarrhea. Wow, can the day get anymore fun?! Thank goodness Tim was home to take over! Kellan was content watching his movies, eating his popsicles and sleeping.

Kellan in his chairs watching some more Toy Story! He did great and overall, has been a real trooper! The first 2 days went way better then I thought. He ate, drank, took his medicine. Then day 3 came....not so well. I could tell he was really swollen and very sore. He did not want anything. It took much convincing to just get his medicine in. Each day gets better and his energy is slowly coming back. Tim and I laugh at the sound of his voice now. We've been used to this nasally deep voice for the past few months and it's now back to a high-pitched little boy voice. We now have to actually put our hand on his chest to make sure he's breathing because it's so quiet. He was snoring so loudly before. I think his sleep quality is going to improve greatly! We're just so proud of how brave he was!! And we're so glad it's over!!

Elf on the Shelf

This year we decided to try the Elf on the Shelf. Kellan is 3 and has a pretty good idea of what "good" and "bad" behaviors are (I say this loosely!). The box comes with the story book and a little elf (see pics below). You read the story and name your elf. We chose Pete for our elf. Don't ask me why. So Pete comes to visit for the Christmas season and watches over the little boys in the house. He then reports back to Santa at the North Pole each night. Every morning he finds a new location to perch and watch. Pete can't be touched, doesn't talk, but loves to be talked too. I think you get the idea here.

Here's a few of the locations Pete was found in throughout the month of December. Kellan had a fun time finding him each morning when he came down the stairs. We had to remind Kellan (when behavior turned bad), that Pete was watching and reporting! Not sure how many years he's going to fall for this!

We had fun with this too, but also reminded Kellan daily of the real meaning of Christmas. It's not the presents/Santa we're anticipating, but the birth of Our Lord or Jesus's birthday!!

Say Cheese!

You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now with these professional photo places. First off, why do I think I can do it alone?? Second, why do I think I can do it alone and with 2 children? Third, why do I think I can do it alone, with 2 children and at Christmas time? It's humorous when you look at the hundreds of photos they take and I struggle to find but about 3 that are really good. Actually, now that I pull a sampling out for you to view, they are all pretty funny!! I'm just not laughing at the money I've spent! Enjoy!

No Henry, we don't want you to eat them, just play with them. Sorry baby, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Go ahead and smile now, anytime, we're waiting!

Yes Kellan, you are hilarious, but please close your mouth just a little. No, the kitty doesn't go on your head, in fact, I don't want it in the picture at all!

Cute Henry, just a little less chin! Nope, leave the hat on, now turn your head.

Your funny! And way too cute! Just a little less hand.

Now is not the time to be serious Henry. And now is not the time to keep crawling away. Stay and smile, is that so hard to ask?

Sorry Kellan, Mommy picked out an awfully wrinkled shirt for you and pants that are too big. It's okay, just smile.

Act like you two love each other. That means sit real close and smile nice! Almost...

Good job Kellan! Henry, you need to act a little more excited. Oh, you liked it when Kellan was waving his arm in the air, but Mommy didn't.
Whew!! Mommy's exhausted, let's go home!