Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Wow! The last week has been very busy, festive and fun! I took the entire two weeks the kids are off school and the day care is closed off work this year for the first time ever! The extra time with the kids has been great. I may have to do this every year!

Last week began with going to Tangled with my girl. Kyle went to another movie with a friend and Danny took a nap with the babysitter while we were gone.

Tuesday began with friends over for Kyle (and P following along) then ice skating with friends and more time playing with friends.

Wednesday was our day in the city with Aunt D. It started with seeing her apartment then a great lunch in a "borderline" neighborhood. The food was amazing but the broken window in our min-van sidetracked our plans some. I have been told this was a "smash & grab". My not so fancy t@rget tote bag which held only diapers, wipes, gloves and hats must have looked like a purse someone wanted. Luckily there was nothing valuable in the bag and they did not see the i-pad under a newspaper in the van in their rush. The nice people at the restaurant directed Ed to a glass repair shop nearly and it was in stock and fixed in less than an hour. The kids and I spend the hour at Aunt D's apartment visiting. Our revised plans includes the new "Ledge" at the SE@rs Tower. WOW! Pictures later... No we did not pay $28 for the professional photo. Then we had a great pasta dinner and took Aunt D home.

Thursday the kids had cousins over to play for the morning, I made Monkey Bread and then they made a ton of Christmas cookies at Aunt Alex's house (while Danny & I finished my shopping). This is the second year Alex has invited all the cousins for this and Paige loves it. Kyle just eats!

On Christmas Eve morning the kids constructed and decorated their gingerbread houses (it's hard to get the roof to stay on!). Danny participated by sneaking and eating candy. The kids loved hanging out in PJ's all morning, something we have not done all week! We made fudge and Reindeer Feed too! Before long it was time for mass and then to dinner with my family. The mass was crazy crowded but wonderful. I love going to mass on Christmas Eve, seeing everyone with their entire family, dressed up, the church looking beautiful and singing the Christmas carols. (It brings back memories of going with my family and checking out all the older boys with my sister.) I want to thank my mom and sister in law for cooking Christmas Eve dinner. It was terrific! and it was great having the extra room- thanks Alex.

Christmas morning was early (7 am) but so much fun. Santa was very lazy this year and nothing was put together or charged so it made for a busy few hours. Santa did not bring everything on their lists but they seemed happy. Then off to my cousins for dinner with the family. Again, I ate too much and thank Tricia for hosting and Mo for handeling the choking incident.

At this point, I needed a nap!

Since Danny developed a fever Christmas night, he and I skipped the Ohio portion of the celebration and are laying low at home. He loves Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse and I am thankful for on-demand!

Hopefully in the next week I can upload and post some Christmas photos. I am planning this week to be quieter with more PJ and reading time.

I hope your family had a wonderful Christmas. We feel very blessed to have three wonderful kids who make us smile everyday (Yes and try our patience too but less of that than the smiling).

For 2011 I wish for referrals for all my friends that have been waiting so patiently! I have enjoyed watching the kiddos grow on all my friends blogs and can't wait to see more babies!
I was going to say I will be a better blogger in 2011, but that may not be realistic.

Happy 2nd Birthday Danny!

My baby boy is two today! Happy birthday cutie! Look at that dimple and smile- it makes you melt!

Below are a few photos from his daycare Christmas program last week. As you can see, he is officially in the "scared of Santa" years.

Danny is doing great and is very active and SO smart. He is especially good at following instructions, climbing on things (standing on the kitchen stools), taking off his shoes and socks (during church, in the cold car.. you get the idea) and jumping on his brothers bed. He also enjoys coloring on the floor and countertops, eating with his fingers even though he can eat with a fork or spoon just fine, generally making a mess and doing whatever his brother and sister are doing.

He is not very interested in talking so he will start speech therapy after the new year. I have a feeling by summer we will be missing his silence.

I can't wait until tonight to see his face when playing on the slide he is getting for his birthday!

Girls Shopping Day

Yesterday I had some shoes to return and shopping to do. To keep Paige happy on our "girls shopping trip" I told her I would try on any shoes she picked for me. Well, apparently she loves pointy high heals. Then she took photos of each pair as I tried them on. They all looked terrific(?) with my gray socks and jeans. Below are the highest ones that I almost broke my neck on. Needless to say, while I actually liked one pair she picked out none them were purchased.

Also to keep her happy, I promised her an outfit (one for her, one for me.. you get it). So a Christmas dress for Paige was on the agenda. Note: she really wanted to go to a toy store but was pretty easily sidetracked! She loved trying on five dresses all by herself. I may have unintentionally started a trend here but it was probably time since (at 6) she is very opinionated about clothes (and well everything). It was so much fun, I have a feeling we will be doing it again soon!

Then when it was time for my outfit, she took photos of the mannequins and me in each outfit. Oh and I tried on the clothes she picked out for me (she has good taste in clothes if you like colorful). I am not posting those of me but it was helpful to see how bad (or good) the stuff I did not buy looked on the phone after.

My big girl! How did that happen?

Hiking in the woods

One day before Halloween the kids and had a nutritious picnic from Mc@onalds then took a hike in the woods. After almost being attacked by bees during our lunch, Kyle took us to a great spot by a creek that was hard to find and totally off the path (and possibly not on park district land? oh well..)

Paige was not thrilled with the sticker bushes since she was wearing flip flops(?) but made it. Danny tripped a few times since the leaves hid all the holes and sticks. Luckily I took these photos before all the falls and the giant bruise on his forehead. Oh and here is also the results of the family pumpkin carving contest. Everyone won a prize!

Some good shots!

Since the clock changed last night and Paige was up at her usual 7 am (6 am), I have an extra hour this morning was determined to post something! so photos win! We had these taken by a local photographer in August (yes, I am slow!). I love that she gives me a CD with all the photos and I can do what I want with them.

The kiddo's are getting so big. Danny has no baby left and will be two (wow!) in a month.

First day of school

Just as a reminder, here are the photos from the first day of school one year ago!

And now this year! Wow they look so big!

Paige & her cousin Abby

A very happy Danny!

Not the best photo but Kyle was not into it...and Danny wanted to run..

Again, Kyle not into it...

Monday was an exciting day at our house! The first day of school, Kyle starting 3rd grade (wow!) and Paige starting Kindergarten (amazing) and Paige's 6th birthday!

It is hard to believe my baby girl started Kindergarten but she was soooo ready! From past experience, we were one of the the first families in the parking lot and were able to take a ton of photos with her cousin who also started Kindergarten and is in her class. (Kyle is apparently too old for photos but I snuck a few of him with his buddies also.)

Back to the girl's big day. I thought they would be nervous but having buddy to stand by seemed to make a difference and they both just smiles and waited while their class gathered. No crying, no hanging on us, no looking back at all! I am very proud of both kindergartners!

We celebrated the birthday that night and they both had a good first week at school and Kyle seemed thrilled that there has not been homework yet. It is so different having a girl in school as Paige tells me about her day and I was never able (and still am not able to) get much info out of Kyle about his day.

As you can tell from the the photos Danny is happy and active! He is a climber. Since he's the third kid I am not as watchful as I was with the others, yesterday I found him on the kitchen table with a can of pepsi, then again on the kitchen table taking apart Kyle's lego car, and climbing on the kitchen stool to get a grape pop he then spilled all over the floor. If he is not doing that there is a good chance he is taking all the DVD's and CD's out of the cabinet (again). It's a good thing he is so cute and charming!

One Year Ago Today

The absent blogger is back. Probably just temporarily...

Above and below are some recent photos of our boy (Danny/Bob) at 19 months.

and one year ago in Taiwan! Wow- What a change!

One year ago today we held the most amazing 7 month old baby, our son, for the first time in Taichung Taiwan! It was an amazing, long awaited day.

Adopting Danny was the best decision we have ever made and he completed our family. (How quickly I have forgotten the nights of little sleep in those first few months! ) Besides the sleep issue Danny has been a joy!

Danny at 18 months--

He has an amazing smile and two dimples.

He loves to be tickled, chased, and held upside down.

He loves remote controls, I-pods, cordless phones and cell phones. He has already made a few phone calls on my iphone when I was not looking!

He loves music too!

He loves fruit and is a really messy eater (eating yogurt with fingers is common)

He has recently started giving kisses (opened mouth)

He says Mama and Dad but not much else

He is always on the go!

We feel very blessed to have Danny as our son !

The older kids dot on him most of the time. They still call him "Bob" and have their friends calling him that also.

We have plans for a fun outing for "family day" and I will try to post photos this weekend.