Christmas with family.

We spent Christmas evening with Bob's family and it is a ton of fun with 6 grandkids! There were a lot of gifts to be opened and we all had a great time.

Christmas 2007

Opening presents.

Addison got a toddler razor scooter from Bob's parents. We will just have her use it in the basement until she gets really good at it. The kids also got a radio flyer double red wagon from my parents and I can't wait to take the kids for walks in it.

Bill, Linda, Molly and Katy.

Shawn, Holly, Tyson and Brendan.

Bob's parents and all 6 grandkids (and their dog Susie).

And just a cute picture of Lucas. He smiles when I get the camera out unlike his big sister.

Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning was so much fun this year. We feel so blessed and thankful that we have 2 amazing kids and get to experience holidays and so many fun times with them. I think Addison understood Christmas just a little this year and of course Lucas has no clue. It is going to be so much fun as they get older.

Bob and I got each other a nice gift this year. I got bob a GPS system for his car and he got me a new digital camera!

Here is Addison opening up her doll house.

Lucas checking out a new toy. I even packed away a bunch of his baby toys after Christmas that he has zero interest in lately.

It took awhile to clean up!

They both love the ball pit (of course it is now in the basement).

Christmas Eve 2007.

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. We spent it with my family and my mom's side of the family. Kevin and Nicole were in town with Avery and Addison just loves him.

Here is a picture of Addison sitting by the pool table. My Dad lets her even play on the pool table sometimes.

This is an attempt at a family picture but the kids wanted nothing to do with it.

This picture just shows Addison's cute dress.

Here is a picture of my cute nephew Avery.

And this picture was a from a few days before Christmas but I had to share.

Picture with Santa.

Saturday we took the kids to see Santa. We waited until just a few days before, but still only waited in line for about 30 minutes so we were happy with that.
We knew Lucas would do fine with Santa but were very worried about how Addison would react to him. Once she found out she would get a candy cane she was fine with sitting on his lap. It was cute cause she kept looking up at his face and even gave him a hug. She told me "Santa's not big." We got one good picture (of course Addison is not smiling) and we are happy with that. Oh and Addison told Santa that she wants toys for Christmas. I have a feeling he will be bringing her a lot!

Playing in the snow.

We had our first snow fall of the year in St. Louis on Saturday. I have no idea how much we got, but maybe 4 or 5 inches (which is a lot for here). Addison went in the snow for a little bit on Saturday and again on Sunday. She loved it and would have loved to play in the snow for hours if she could. We need to invest in some better gloves for her though and then maybe we can build a snowman night time.

Addison's first haircut.

We did it. We finally got Addison's hair cut for the first time. My cousin Toby's wife is a hair dresser and has an amazing hair shop in their basement. She is great with kids and I knew it would be perfect for me to take her to Karen for her first cut. It went great too. Addison did really well. All she needed was to play with the spray water bottle and Karen even has a tv in the room and she got to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Her hair is still long but we just took a few inches off the back and evened it up. Her hair looks nice and healthy.

Before (wasn't it long)

After (she would not sit still and let me take a picture of the back)

Now Lucas is standing/pulling himself up!

We can't believe it but after just a week of crawling, Lucas began to pull himself up and stand on Monday. It hasn't even been a week and he is now pulling himself up to stand and he has even taken a few steps while holding onto the coffee table. This seems so soon. He is only 8 months old. Addison was walking at 10 months so I guess I should not be surprised. He is also crawling all over the place and getting into everything. He loves going after the tv and Louie's dog bowl.

This first picture is actually the very first time he did pull himself up. I managed to get the camera right away!

And here is just a cute picture of Addison giving Lucas a kiss. She loves him but she is not loving that he is going after her toys!

Lucas is crawling!

Our little boy is crawling! Lucas is just growing up so fast but we love that he is doing more and more. He had been really close to crawling for the last few weeks. Finally on Monday he crawled for the first time when I took him to the mall and he crawled at the mall play area. Since Monday he has been crawling farther and better every day. He is also pulling himself up on his knees which he loves especially to get things off the coffee table.

Lucas has also become very good at picking up cheerios. He loves to munch on his cheerios before I fed him his baby food and it also keeps him occupied while we are all eating dinner.

What is new with Addison.

Addison has been staying very busy. She is busy playing with her toys, talking in long sentences, counting to 15, trying to say her ABC's and singing songs. I think she is getting very excited for Christmas and loves to look at all the Christmas lights outside. She is fighting me on taking her nap everyday and won't fall asleep until about 3pm for her afternoon nap (if I even get her to sleep). I guess she knows there is so much else she can do other than sleep.

Here she is playing with her art easel. She loves to play with her markers and I am just so glad they are washable.

And here she is marching with her drum.