Christmas '08

We had a wonderful Christmas, despite both kids being sick for the week! (Stomach bug, croup, ear infections & bronchitis. Whew!) We spent Christmas Eve in Syracuse with the Heimerman clan, and Christmas Day at our house with all of the grandparents.

Santa was on his game this year with the kids! Brady got a new guitar and motorcycle, and Ainsley got a farm and xylophone. The winner of best gift this year is Brady's guitar! He just can't put it down, and often he'll ride the motorcycle while playing the guitar. Thanks, Santa!

We missed not seeing all of our family this year, but look forward to celebrating with them in the future!

A new family member!

A hearty congratulations to Moe and Nate- her FIANCE!! Moe and Nate were engaged on Dec. 17th after Moe (unknowingly) foiled many of Nate's plans. Moe managed to keep the engagement mum from the family until her big reveal at our family holiday party. Everyone is thrilled for them!

Welcome to the family, Nate!!

December Happenings

It's the holiday season! Which means lots more things to do on top of a crazy life! :) Here's a summary of what we've been up to!

1- Jeff and I attended a work Christmas party, and had a night away from the kids. (They stayed at Nana and Papa's house!) It was a treat for us, and we enjoyed getting a solid night of sleep. Maddie was quite confused when we walked in the door without the kids. She kept whining and running to the door looking for them. We weren't sure if she was thinking "Where the heck are the kids?" or "Do I really have a night away from those kids?!". :)

2- We celebrated Maddie's 5th birthday on Dec. 10th. Our dog is finally older than all of us. I'm thrilled not to be the oldest one in the house anymore!

3- Gramma Sue, Aunt KK, Henry & Helen visited us for a couple days. The trip was a day longer than planned due to Aunt KK's car being "broken", but we all enjoyed the extra time together.

4- We had dinner with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. It's always great to see them, and the kids were a huge hit for the old folks. Ainsley was in her glory with all of the attention (she sang her heart out for all), and Brady got to see some great model trains. We had to pull him away from the trains to eat!

5- We made Christmas cookies with Gramma Sue, Grampa, Aunt KK & Henry! And boy do they taste good! Some of them have massive piles of colored sugar decor on them, but we had a lot of fun.

6- Jeff and I got another date night! We went to Dinosaur BBQ and caught an Amerks hockey game. While we were out painting the town red, Brady & Ainsley went out a special car trip with Grandma Maria & Papa Gene, to a HUGE and EXPENSIVE toy store. Brady got to see $800 trains and did a good job not breaking anything.

7- Ainsley has begun sleeping through the night again! Four of her six new teeth have broken through, and we are much happier people. She'll have a total of eight teeth before the New Year.


Jeff and I are still working through our gift shopping, Christmas cards and such. We have a family party this Saturday (in Syracuse). Christmas Eve will be celebrated with the Heimerman clan in Syracuse. Then, we are having all of the grandparents over for dinner/dessert Christmas day. We're hoping to catch up with friends next weekend, and then maybe some rest?

We hope you are all enjoying the spirit of the season! And YES- it is still snowing! (We did see green grass a couple days.)

Ainsley is being invaded...

...by teeth! Ainsley has four, and possibly six, new teeth coming in all at once! She's being a trooper about it during the day, but loses the battle at night. Which means we ALL lose the battle and SLEEP. Hopefully they all break through soon, and we'll get a teething reprieve.

QFT

We had a week of Quality Family TIme (QFT) with the Milella and Miller families! We celebrated Grandma Maria's birthday, had a baby shower for Eudora, celebrated Jeff's birthday and then Turkey Day! A busy, but fun time!

Snow bunnies

The snow is certainly not leaving us anytime soon, so we're learning to cope! The kids have received early Christmas presents of snow pants, hats and gloves. That's allowed us to show them the finer points of snow, like shoveling and snowmen!