Lydia turns 4

This weekend we were lucky enough to get to celebrate the birthday of one of our favorite people, Miss Lydia.  She turned four a few weeks ago and were were able to celebrate with her this weekend in the form of a fabulous pool party.  We had a great time and found out that we now not only have one fish in the family but Harper is a swimmer right along with her brother. Briggs really spread his wings and swam on his own a ton, if you know our little scaredy cat this was a big feat.  Lydia we love you and thanks for sharing your party with us! 

 I am hoping if I keep working out my legs will not look like this in a swimsuit at spring break!  Love those thighs.

 So proud of her tinkerbell cake.

She kicked her legs and splashed her arms till she was exhausted.  I think she would have jumped in without the floaty.

Kuddos to the boys for swimming with the kids, the ladies choose to stay on dry land. 

Admiring the cake, lots of green mouths were to follow.

What a big boy!

Lunch Dates

The girls and Kelli decided to get out and about a bit today so they stopped by to see me over my lunch break.  I loved seeing them and it sure made my day go by faster.  Hadely loved the gym, the balls, and watching the boys shoot the basketballs.  Harper was pretty happy to walk with her basket and crawl on the floor.  Think it was one of my best lunch dates lately.  Maybe we will make it a weekly date!

Lucky Man

There are many reasons why I feel like I struck gold with my family and am the luckiest man in the world, but here are a few specifics why:

Sara:
She is the most supportive wife a person could ever ask for. When the crazy idea of me going back to school to make a life altering career change popped up, she hopped right on board with enthusiasm and never made me doubt my decision…if anything she urged me on more. There is a saying that your spouse should be your best friend and your biggest fan and I definitely have that in Sara. She put in just as hard work as me over the past few years with nights home alone with the kids while I was at school, but she never let it phase her. Along with being supportive, she still can amaze you with how dedicated she is in every aspect of her life. She is a wonderful mother and our kids adore her, she is absolutely amazing at her job and I strive to be as good of a teacher as her someday, she is a great friend and sibling and will do anything for anyone, and she still makes me want to speed home from work just to see her even after being together for 11 years now (crazy how time flies).

Briggs:
This little guy has to be one of the funniest kids I’ve met. Yes he is in his 3-yr old phase right now so he can be a handful at times, but I love listening each day to new things he has to say. Who else can make you laugh while explaining evaporation to you (not that any other 3-yr old would probably even know that), or says his legs are all “warmed out” instead of worn out after a long walk, or can’t simply just say he has to go #2, but instead has to say “I got potties first and pooper-nuggets second.” He’s also one of the most loving little boys I’ve ever seen. He’s a great snuggler every morning at 5:30am on the dot when he crawls in bed with us, and is always up for a hug or to watch one of “his types of shows” on your lap. I’m going to miss these days at some point in my life when he gets too cool for me, but for now I’m going to soak up every moment of him thinking I’m the coolest person ever and laughing at everything I do.

Harper:
Talk about the most motivated and driven 8 month old in the history of time (hmmm, wonder where she gets that from Sara?). This is a girl that you cannot stop from doing what she wants and I love that about her. You can tell her no and pull her off the stairs ten times in a row, but she’s like a wind up toy and will just go back for more while smiling at you the entire time. Speaking of that smile, it has to be one of the best smiles and she will throw it out at any time. The best thing about her is when you go in first thing in the morning when she wakes up and she looks up at you instantly starts smiling. I can already tell she is going to be the most loving take-no-prisoners type of person and that makes her daddy proud. I was a little nervous when we were first told we were going to have a girl, but I think my worries are going away more and more with each passing day. She has a perfect role model in her mother to learn from and she won’t take any grief from anyone.

I love you three more and more each day……Greg

Weekend

I love three day weekend more than anything.  It is so nice to have that one extra day to relax and more importantly to have one less day of work for the week.  We had an awesome weekend and were able to see lots of friends, have a few playdates, and catch up with family.  Monday Greg had to work so the kids and I went and explored a new park and enjoyed 60 degree weather in January.  Briggs was also my model for a baseball photo shoot.  I have been looking at baseball prints to put in his big boy room and have very little success so thought I would try my hand.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  I will probably have them put on canvas and then hang them.  What a handsom model!  Have a great week.

Bathtime

Just a few pictures of our new favorite nightly routine, bathtime.  Harper is so excited to take a bath at night that I can hardly get her clothes off before she has one leg in the tub.  I love seeing she and Briggs in the tub together.  Briggs is learning, slowly to share his space and his toys and I think really loves having his little sis to share bathtime with.  Crazy to think that she is old enough to sit up in the bath all by herself. 

Harpers new haircut (2nd cut already).  I figure she may look just like her Daddy but she can still have mom's hairstyle!

Winter Break

I remember when the Holiday break was actually a break from school and a time to relax, well that was before I had kids.  Calling it a "break" now would be stretching it a bit.  While relaxation was not on the menu we still managed to have an absolute blast and I loved being able to have some quality time with my babies.  We started our break out with a trip to Olpe to visit Grandpa Nub and a few of my mom's sisters that we do not get to see near enough.  I loved being able to see all my aunts and Grandpa without a million other people around.  We had a great time and even managed a trip to Emporia to see the new Chimpmunks movie and a chilly four wheeler ride. Olpe and the farm will always be one of most favorite places in the world, so glad I get to share it with my kids. 

Loving on Aunt Viola, what a great hostess.  Thank you for letting us stay with you and being a wonderful kid entertainer.

Aunt Leona and Harper.  Leona, we would have you move in as our nanny any day.

Our third recent visit to the Union Station model trains.  Hadley got to attend this time and they loved riding the mini train.  I think there might be a possibility that Briggs will be a train conductor someday. Harper loved the trains this time as well. Think it might be time to retire the baby bjorn, she is getting really heavy.

We could not have asked for better weather over break. We were able to get outside and play almost everyday.  Below a few pictures of our visit to Antioch park.  We fed the ducks and had a great time playing at the park. 

Kelli and I decided we were feeling ambitious/crazy so we packed up and took the kids to the zoo.  It was a beautiful day and probably our best zoo trip to date.  The animals were all out and about, we had zero wait for the train and carousel, and we made it through the whole zoo with no major meltdowns.  I tried out a backpack for Harper and it was awesome I even took Haddie around for awhile.  I was one worn out mommy by the time we headed to the car.  Great trip all around.

I am so lucky to have a job that allows me time to spend with my kids and family.  Love being able to spend time with my sister and Hadley as well.  Kelli is a huge help and a fabulous mommy, so wonderful our kids get to grow up around each other.

Christmas 2011

Well here I am almost two weeks out and just getting to my Christmas post.  I am not sure if I am in denial that Christmas is actually over or have just been too busy to blog, probably a bit of both.  To say that our Christmas this year was perfect would not even be doing it justice.  We decided years ago that once Briggs turned 3 we would be at our home for Christmas.  What a good choice that was, we loved being able to start traditions, see the magic through a 3 year olds eyes, and just be together with our little family.  We started Christmas festivities on Christmas eve with lots and lots of baking.  Briggs was super excited to be a part of making Santa's cookies,  I think I went through about 10 spoons each batch of cookies after all the licking of dough by our little baker.  A few pictures of the day.....

 

First batch of chocolate chip cookies, Briggs was sure that was the kind Santa would want!

The Bakers' assistant in the background.  She seemed pretty happy to just chew on a spatula. 

Sampling the finished product.... from the smile we must have done a good job.  Pretty sure all three meals that day consisted of cookies, puppy chow, and milk.

Harper and I heading out for early Christmas Eve mass. 

Round two of cookies, sugar cookies for Santa and Grandad Terry. Both have a fondness for them!

Getting prepped for the big guys arrival.  Most people feed the reindeer carrots but Briggs insisted they love goldfish crackers so goldfish crackers it was for our reindeer.  Yes that is our child outside in December with no pants on, we are in the running for parents of the year!

Cookies and milk for Santa.  Love that Briggs wanted to use da boot glass for milk.  I know that during college milk was never the chosen beverage for that glass. 

Stocking hung and stuffed

Christmas morning we woke Briggs up to tell him that Santa had been to our house.  Not sure who was more excited Briggs or Greg.  We ran down the stair to find that Santa had brought just what Briggs asked for a big buzzlight year with wings that pop out (monster baby has a hold of him above).  Briggs was really intrigued that Santa knew exacly what he had wanted, we chalked it up to magic!

Opening presents and pausing in between each to play a bit.

Around 9:00 Papa, Doe Doe, Craig, and Tata came by for a visit.  We had a delicious brunch and were able to show off all our new goodies. 

After a much needed nap we headed over to Gram and Grandads  for more festivities.  As you can see we were no less excited for Santa the second time around.

We had a great afternoon and evening relaxing, eating way too much, opening more presents than we could count, and enjoying great company.

We gave Mia a teacher set for Christmas, what a natural born leader.  I only hope if she does become a teacher her students are a little more attentive than Briggs. 

We feel so blessed that we were able to spend the holidays with the people we love the most and really just enjoy some down time with our kids.  Thanks to everyone who helped to make Christmas a special time for our kids.