Back at home

Once we arrived back in Illinois, we still had our own presents to open from each other. We didn't return until the 27th and I had to work the next day, so we went ahead and opened them, even though it had been a long car ride and we had lots of stuff to unpack.
Conor was super excited to get Toy Story 3...the first movie he ever saw in the theater. Riley still just really wanted to eat the paper.

You can see how tired she was.

Santa came...

On Christmas Eve, we put milk and cookies for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph by the fireplace. We tracked his progress around the world online before bedtime. Conor really understood what was going on this year, it truly is so fun to see Christmas through a child's eyes. In the morning, it was a magical sight when Conor realized that Santa had actually come. He snuck into bed with me to snuggle for a little bit, until he remembered that there would be presents to open. The only thing he really asked for was a Barney Christmas move, and Santa came through!
He got a few other goodies too: Disney puzzles, Toy Story 3 water bottle, toothbrush and toothpaste, chocolate, and some chapter books for Daddy to read with him at bedtime.
Riley woke up after a good nights sleep and was still a little dazed when it was time to unwrap presents. Mostly she just wanted to rip and eat the paper.
She got a toy for her high chair, some little people, a book, and a toothbrush.
Santa also had a little help with the toughest project of all: making Frosty come to life. Laura, Grandpa and Conor had built the snowmen, Frosty and his girlfriend Crystal, earlier in the week (see last post). Conor tried so hard and waited so long to make them come to life like in the movie. He even waited around while the others went sledding and played in the snow, spraying water on them, singing to them, and doing whatever else he could think of. So when Santa came, he dropped some magical Christmas snow on them and they came to life and moved to the front yard. Daddy, Grandpa, and Laura did have to help them out a little.

SNOW!!!!!!!!

They had a LOT of snow in Minnesota. In case you hadn't heard, the roof of the Metrodome even collapsed the week before our arrival, causing some shuffling of the final Vikings games of the season. There were several feet of snow everywhere, with higher drifts along streets and driveways. We tried to take full advantage of Grandma and Grandpa's big yard and hill.
Plenty of snow to build snowmen.

Fancy Christmas Outfits

Not easy to get a good picture of both kids happy and comfortable in these clothes, especially when you try to add more people like Mom and Dad, Laura, or Grandma and Grandpa. Dressed up for church and parties, sporting fancy clothes...

All dressed up and no place to go

For my mom's family Christmas party, we had an ugly Christmas sweater contest. It was great fun. Everyone who participated had to strut along the "catwalk" modeling the sweater, trying to sell it to the judges as the ugliest, most hideous of them all. We had a great time.
Conor tried on my sweater before the big day.
We had another night hanging out around the house when the kids got a hold of Laura's Russian fur hat. I promised not to post the picture of Grandma wearing it, so I won't post the ones of me wearing it either. But it won't be as embarrassing to the kids when they are so darn cute.
We had watched the movie Home Alone this holiday season and Conor really loved it. We still find him quoting the movie at times. He also loves this classic iconic pose from the movie.

Carmen Rose

One of the very best things about this trip was getting to meet cousin/niece Carmen for the very first time. She was born December 1st and it was so fun to hold a tiny baby again.

Proud mama Leah.
Riley was VERY curious.
Not easy to get a good picture of these three, but we tried.
Conor loved to hold her, he is so good with babies.
Matching outfits that Grandma bought.

Ok, here we go....

Alright, so I am only a month late, but it is time to update the website!! YIPPEE!!! As far as catching up goes, I am going back to December when we traveled up to Minnesota for a wonderful 10-day vacation. We left after I got home from work one day, so we got the kids in their jammies and hit the road. It was cold, so we also hat hats, gloves and blankets to snuggle up with until the car warmed up. Here is Conor ready to go... Once we arrived, our time was packed full of fun activities and lots of time spent with family and friends. Laura and Conor hung out, sporting Wisconsin Badger gear for the upcoming Rose Bowl game. We dressed the kids in silly Christmas antlers Laura bought at the dollar store. We were able to spend a day with my dad's family to celebrate Christmas. Since my dad is one of 11 children, there are so many people that we have to rent out a hall to fit everyone in one room. And even though not everyone was able to make it, we still fill it up nice and cozy. I think Riley is great-grandchild #29, and one of six born in 2010 (her cousin Carmen is #30). Here is our family with Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandpa. Riley had 5 different dresses to choose from for each of our different Christmas parties, all from our dear friend Madelyn's closet. I am so glad Madelyn's mom loves to shop! :) She is eating more and more solid food and is doing really well with it. We have moved up to stage 3 foods, and she loves the fruits, and orange and yellow vegetables. We were still working on the meats and combo meals, and the green vegetables at the time this picture was taken, but even those are going down easier these days. Jar baby food is nearly a thing of the past these days, messy baby food all over the floor---here we come.

One morning we were driving to church and Conor was checking out the temperature display on the dashboard, and noticed that it said -2 degrees. As we were driving, the temperature changed to -1 degree and he quickly pointed out the change by saying: "it says -1; now it's hot".

Bedtime has always been a struggle with Conor. (My mom keeps telling me I was the same way.) One night, Grandma was doing the bedtime routine with Conor...brushing his teeth, going potty, reading a story, and singing a song...When she finally told him it was time for lights out and to go to sleep, he said matter-of-factly "Trust me, Grandma, I'm not tired!"

Christmas Day

The snowmen that moved to the front yard when they came to life like Frosty because Santa and the reindeer sprinkled some magic dust on them when they flew over the two snowmen we had made on the back deck (the snow was too deep to actually make them in the yard!).



Sledding in feet of snow...Grandpa plowed a path up the hill with a snowblower and it was still difficult to get  up the hill because it was so deep and hard to slide down the hill because you would sink in the deepest snow and it was hard to stay within the path of the plowed snow...but we tried!