Merry Christmas!

We had a fantastic Christmas this year! It was so much fun having two kids to celebrate with this year. Simon was pretty excited about it this year. It was the first year where I really felt like he got into the fun of the holiday. We did make a trip to see Santa this year with the boys. You will notice in the picture that there is no Simon. He was terrified! He was crying and clinging to Chris, so there was not a chance he was going to get near Santa. You can tell by Luke's expression that he was not that thrilled with Santa either!


Christmas Eve was wonderful. My dad graciously came over to stay with the boys so Chris and I could go to church. What a blessing it was to go to church and celebrate the birth of our Savior! That night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Chris' parents, grandparents, and his uncle Bob from Indiana. The boys were so well behaved! Simon was incredibly patient while Poppi (Chris' dad) chatted with the adults and did not play with him. After the boys were down that night Chris and I cozied up on the couch together to watch our favorite Christmas movie "A Christmas Story".


Christmas Day started bright and early at 7:30. Simon was a little overwhelmed at first, but once he started opening his gifts he warmed up!




After some family time at home we went to my parents for a great brunch with my parents, grandparents, and Kirk and Kathy and the boys (my brother and his family). Simon got his first bike from parents! He was super excited!



Next, we headed over to Chris' parents for a very relaxed and enjoyable time of exchanging gifts.


Christmas night we had an awesome time with my extended family! It was a wonderful time of fun and laughter!
We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. It is such a blessing to be able to spend Christmas with all of our loved ones!

6 Months Old!

Lukie turned 6 months on Dec. 3. It is amazing how time flies! Today he had his 6 month appointment with Dr. Schrotenboer. Luke continues to be a very healthy boy! He weighed in at 19lbs 3.5ozs., which puts him in the 80th percentile. He is 28 1/2inches long which puts him in the 97th percentile and his head circumference is off the curve. That does not surprise me at all because Simon was exactly the same way. He is meeting all of his milestones on time, if not a little ahead!
Luke continues to be such an easygoing and happy baby! We are truly very blessed. His sleeping is improving. After a few nights of crying for two hours and one night of crying for 4 hours (yes, you read correctly. He is one stubborn dude!) we are down to once or twice a night. I just figure he loves me so much that he needs to see every few hours.
Here are some new things Luke is doing this month:
- He sits up very well with no support and for long periods of time!






- He rolls all over the place. I caught him the other day tugging on the lights of the Christmas tree.
- He is very good at blowing bubbles and he mimics actions and sounds. It is the darn cutest thing!
- He loves taking baths in the big bathtub now!


- As of this past Sunday he cut his first tooth, his next one is not far behind!
His favorite things remain the same:
- his blankie
- his jump-a-roo
- his brother and his all time favorite obsession is still me!
I know I say this every month but we are so truly blessed to have Luke as our son. He is such a wonderful addition to our family!

Winter and Christmas Fun!

Last week we had such a fun week. The fun began on Tuesday with a trip to downtown Holland for the Christmas Parade of Lights. We had the extra pleasure of having my two nephews with us. Thankfully the weather was still pretty mild that day so we were able to enjoy the parade without freezing. Andrew and Matthew enjoyed the lights and the candy. Luke enjoyed being bundled up and held by his dad.
Simon, well, I don't think he enjoyed anything about the parade. He was unusually quiet and only wanted to stay in the stroller. Hopefully next year he will enjoy it a bit more.
Thursday we finally had our first significant snowfall (quite a bit later than normal). Simon was so excited when he saw the huge white flakes. He stood at the top of the basement steps and yelled down to Chris "Daddy, it's snowing!". We even went out in the snow to feel what it was like to have the huge flakes land on our heads! He loved it so much!
Saturday the four of us ventured out in the morning to get our Christmas tree. Every year Coldwell Bankers (formerly Woodland Realty) gives out free trees to past and present customers. They hold the event at a local farm where they have a hayride, hot chocolate and donuts, and farm animals to feed and pet. It was the first time this year that Simon had on all of his winter gear. He said to us once he had everything on "I'm big!". After we picked out our tree we went to go see the animals. Simon was very excited to see the horses and other animals, but he did not want to touch or feed them (silly boy!).




After spending some time in the snow and checking out the animals we headed home with our cute little Christmas tree. We decided that this year we would put the tree up in our living room rather than on the front porch. Simon is so into Christmas this year that we thought it would be fun to have the tree where we can see it all the time. We put the tree up in the afternoon and Simon loved seeing all the different ornaments and lights. That night while Simon was in the bathtub I turned off all the lights and left only the tree on. When he came tearing out of the bathroom into the living his eyes got real wide and he said "OOOOOH". It was exactly the reaction we were hoping for.

So far our holiday season is off to a great start and I am so looking forward to the next few weeks! The joy and excitement on my little boys face is priceless!