A Very Merry Christmas!

We had such a wonderful Christmas and hope that all those reading this also did! We were so lucky to have Aunt Ashleigh, baby Braxton, Uncle Andrew, Mimi, and Grandma here! And to top it all off, Grandpa got here the day after Christmas! We were also lucky to wake up to about 4 inches of snow on Christmas morning! Zachary was actually saying that he didn't want to open presents, he just wanted to go outside and play in the snow when he first woke up and we opened his blinds so he could see outside! Once we got him downstairs and he saw his presents, though, he changed his mind! (Imagine that!) Ali and Braxton didn't quite make it through all the present opening, but they still had a good time opening a few presents each...the rest, we (meaning Zachary) just opened for them. Zachary also got to help open some of Mommy and Daddy's presents...I'd say he has the present opening thing down! After we opened presents we went upstairs and had a great breakfast of waffles, eggs, sausage and bacon! Daddy used his new wafflemaker to make some really awesome waffles and we were all very full for a long time after breakfast! After breakfast we played inside a little and then we got to go outside and play in the snow! Alison showed us what it was like to have a true snow baby and Zachary enjoyed the snow a lot more than he did the past 2 years. The wind was a little strong, so we didn't get to stay outside too long, but it was all worth it because both kids took a long nap once we got them in and warmed up. Zachary was actually so tired that he WANTED to take a nap and ended up sleeping til after 5 p.m. Needless to say, he was up really late Christmas night! It was a really fun day and we are so glad that we have family that loves us enough to drive/fly to see us...thank you! We will make it to Texas...eventually. :) Here's a video of some snow action and some pictures of present opening!

Union Station

So, we tried to take a family trip to Union Station in Kansas City while Mimi and Aunt Ashleigh were here, but as luck would have it, Alison vomited all over herself (and I do mean ALL over!) in the van on the way there. Luckily, we were not very far into our trip. We (meaning Zachary) was even more lucky that Aunt Ashleigh, Mimi, and Grandma were nice enough to take Ali and baby Braxton home in the van while Mommy, Daddy, and Zachary piled into Daddy's truck and headed down to Union Station! Zachary was all smiles and SO excited to be in Daddy's truck and to go see "Rudy" (a special Christmas train that looks similar to a Thomas train)! We had reserved a time to go on Rudy but with all the hooplah, we ended up getting there an hour late. We were again really lucky that even though we missed our time, we got to stand in the reservation line vs. the 4 hour line! It still took about an hour to get through the line and walk through Rudy's cars, but Zachary didn't seem to mind the line and did well until we got off of Rudy. The poor little guy was really wanting to take a ride on Rudy and was thoroughly disappointed (he wouldn't even look up to see Rudy's face when we walked by because he was crying so hard!) when we got off and he realized that was all we got to do. We got him back inside and once he saw all the other millions of trains again, he was better. It also helped that he got to ride on the little train inside! :) The Christmas train village they had set up inside Union Station was amazing and we were all enthralled by it! It was hard to get him to leave, and again there were a lot of tears, but it all worked out and it was "fun"! Here are some of the best pictures from our time there...

Alison's party

Happy birthday girl!!!




Wanting to go downstairs where Daddy and brother are!




Opening presents!




Fun toys!




Trying to get her hat on that I made here...she won!




All done!




So happy!




Mmmmm...yummy!




Ali's homemade cake and banner!




Playing in the ball pit with Luke!




Miss December!




Cutie pie!



Well, the kids got better after a couple of days and we ended up having a small birthday celebration for Ali on Sunday, the 13th. We had a few friends and their kiddos over and had some tacos and taco salad...and of course, cake! Did I mention our heat was out that weekend? Yep, it is purely our luck that probably the coldest week of 2009 (so far) was the week our heat went out. It took the heating guy a few days to get all the new equipment and then install it. In the mean time, a few friends lent us their space heaters (thank you again!) and Zachary got to sleep with Mommy and Daddy for a few nights! That was "fun"! Zachary slept for 14 hours straight the first night he was back in his own bed...enough said! Okay, here are some pictures from Ali's party!

Alison's Birthday!

Today Alison turns 1! Unfortunately, she is really sick and miserable! Poor little thing! We are postponing her birthday celebration until Sunday, but we are going to have cupcakes and a few presents tonight after dinner! Here are a few pictures of the pitiful, little thing and a sneak peek of her birthday outfit!



Her tutu and hat! (hat still needs some work)


Her shirt and bloomers!



Trying to get them both to stand still and smile for a picture...not easy!



Mean birthday girl!



Birthday Girl on her birthday!

Santa!

Well, Mommy messed up and didn't get us to the Children's Christmas party on base in time to see Santa Claus...SO, since we HAD to see Santa, we actually found a place in town that had a Santa with a backdrop and everything! Zachary was super excited to see him, but still got scared right when we got there. You can tell he just didn't know what to think. He didn't want to go near him at first, but once Santa offered Zachary a candy cane, he went right over! He is still talking about seeing Santa again and getting a candy cane! Alison, well, I'll let the pictures explain!




Zachary was still VERY leery, but we managed to get him up for one picture!



We were still trying to convince Zachary to sit on his lap...it's blurry, but you can still see the "I don't know about this" look on his face.



Alison and Santa!

Ali can slide!

This video was taken on the evening of November 15th...she worked all day on perfecting this!



This video was taken the same day while she was "practicing"...see how tough she is? LOL

Alison is 11 months old!!!

Month 11

Month 10

Month 9

Month 8

Month 7

Month 6

Month 5

Month 4

Month 3

Month 2

Month 1



We can't believe she is almost 1! Wow, time really flies when you're having fun (well, most of the time at least)! I just want to take a few minutes and write some things about her that I really want to remember...I know I have already forgotten some things! Here goes:

-She LOVES her brother, Daddy, and Mommy very much! Zachary makes her laugh the most, though!
-She is into EVERYTHING! She is definitely my "climber" and will turn anything into an opportunity to try and climb. (She has already climbed out of the ballpit herself...something Zachary was scared to do for months after he got it on his 1st birthday.)
-She is a little daredevil...not scared of anything and doesn't get hurt easily at all! (She does however get her feelings hurt by her brother easily and will cry even if he just knocks her down.) :D
-She is a mama's girl and will only take her bottle at night from me. If she is playing independently and she sees me, she comes right to me and wants to be held.
-She eats everything!!! Anything she finds goes straight to her mouth. I really hope she outgrows this soon.
-As far as real food goes, she also eats that really well. I actually can't think of anything I have given her that she has refused. She really loves fruit and vegetables...and bread, and pasta, and cheese, yogurt...see! She LOVES food!
-She has been able to stand up on her own (by pushing up from a squat position with just her legs) since she was 9.5 months.
-She started taking 5 or 6 steps at a time the day after her 11 month birthday...until then she had been taking 2 or 3 steps at a time for a month or so.
-As soon as she sees the camera out she smiles as big as she can!
-She has recently learned to sit on her bottom and slide and will do it all day long!
-She says "domb" all the time and we have no clue what it means.
-She will sign "more" but does not do it consistently...we're working on it. :)
-She says dada way more than she says mama...still. She definitely knows who we are and uses the right name for the right person. She usually doesn't say my name, though, unless she is upset or wants something!
-She loves blankets and will find one and then lay down and suck her thumb.
-She also loves to play on pillows!
-She loves her babies, but her favorite one is a cheap one we bought for Zachary (a boy baby) before she was born...not sure why.
-She is a big kisser! She is always kissing us, her babies, and pictures in books...she is definitely much more affectionate than Z was.
-She will not keep a hat or headband on for more than a few minutes at a time, but she will let me clip a bow into her hair on the top of her head.
-She has been taking formula since she was almost 10 months old, but still only takes between four and five ounces four times a day.
-She scoots around on her head (with her bottom in the air) ALL the time...she is going to give herself rug burn!!! (Video below)
-She's been waving since this summer, but does it much more consistently in the past month. It is a serious Miss America wave too!
-She is very impatient and can be pretty demanding...she is definitely my little DIVA!
-She is such a blessing and we can't imagine life without her! We love you Ali Jo!

Time out

Not sure if time outs are really working these days...what do you think? (This is what happens if I don't occupy her when he gets sent to his room).

Aunt Ashleigh and Braxton came to see us!

We were really lucky to get a visit from Aunt Ashleigh and baby Braxton the week of Halloween! We all had a lot of fun, although we didn't get to do too much. All the kids ended up sick and poor Braxton ended up with a touch of pneumonia and had to spend the night in the hospital! Despite that, though, we had fun just hanging out and visiting. Did I mention that Mimi got to come see us while they were here??? She did and she even got to see everyone dressed up for Halloween! Thanks Aunt Ashleigh, baby Braxton, and Mimi for coming to see us! We love you and hope we can do it again sometime soon. :)

Pumpkin Patch

We trekked out to Liberty, MO to visit Carolyn's Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch (http://carolynscountrycousins.com/) and had a really fun time! By fun time, I mean we had two young children to try to keep up with and make happy, so it was a LONG day! But still fun! Zachary LOVED getting a ride on the choo choo and riding the tractor out to the actual patch to find pumpkins. We had a great time searching for the "perfect" pumpkin but didn't end up finding "it". I think we may have been a little late in the season to find that "perfect" pumpkin, so next year we will have to go a little earlier! Here are some of the best pictures! Alison is a little "ham" these days, but Zachary will hardly look at the camera so there are a lot more of her. :)

UCM Homecoming Parade

University of Central Missouri is right down the street from us and they had their annual homecoming parade in October, so we decided to go! It was a really cold morning (as you will see), but it was a fun family outing and we all enjoyed it! We got to see fire trucks, police cars, lots of motorcycles, and lots of marching bands! Mommy had lots of fun dancing around and we all had fun watching her! :) Can't wait to do it again next year!