One Week Until Christmas!

This week's Christmas activities included making a gingerbread house, putting up the outdoor lights, and watching Christmas specials on TV.  We made a gingerbread house last year and it was one of the kids favorite activities so it has become a tradition.  I outsmarted myself by buying this years kit last December at the after Christmas sales for 75% off.  When we opened it up the icing was the consistency of play doh so it took a lot of work to make it come out right.  Of course, their favorite part is decorating it with the candy.    Kyle and I weren't too smart when we decided to display the finished product within chomping distance of Toby on the kitchen cart.  So, now the house has found a new place on the mantle and it is missing a piece of a wall and a gingerbread tree.  When Kyle picked up the house to move it, Toby went running to hide!  He knew he was in trouble.

Tuesday night we had the annual traditional Mark's Feed Store Christmas party.  I think we've been going to that for 6 years now...I might have to have Kyle verify that.  The past two years Drea and Sydney have joined us.  Kids eat free.  Santa appears and they have children's activities.  This year the kids made paper stockings and colored Christmas trees.  They also had ice cream and milk and cookies!  

Zachary's school Christmas program was also this week.  He looked super cute dressed as a donkey in the nativity scene.  They sang songs and had a short nativity play.  The kids made all the parents adorable sweatshirts with their handprints on them as gifts.

Thursday were Zachary's and Isabella's Christmas parties at school.  Zachary's party was actually a birthday party for Jesus.  The kids brought in baby items for Home of the Innocents.  I was able to go to that and help.  They had cake and cookies and watched a short movie about the birth of Jesus.  Isabella had a party at preschool.  Each kid brought in a gift and they randomly exchanged presents.  The teachers also gave them a nice goody bag full of toys and treats.  

Vincent Update:  Vincent is starting to outgrow all his 0-3 month old clothes, which makes sense because he is almost 3 months old!  Time goes by so quickly!  He is starting to grab toys and pull them to his mouth.  He has been working on bringing both hands together.  You can tell it takes lots of concentration!  He loves bright colors.  He is also starting to get some chunky legs and chubby cheeks.  He is super cute and a great baby!!

This week the Christmas festivities continue through Saturday.  Christmas break starts and we have lots of family to visit.  Kyle will be busy making all of his Christmas cookies/treats.  The kids are already super excited!  We can't wait to see what joy this week brings!!

Is Christmas Coming?

That title is a joke because we have been talking Christmas since October.  I believe there are exactly 16 more days and if the kids keep up this level of excitement they may just explode.  I'm predicting a pre-5 a.m. wake up and a Christmas day crash by 4 o'clock.  I really can't wait.  I'm not being sarcastic though.  Having Vincent just adds another element of fun, because Zachary and Isabella are going to get to help him open his presents.  They will be such cute helpers.  Also this week we put up most of the Christmas decorations and the tree.  The kids discovered that their favorite Christmas song is the 12 days of Christmas/Chipmunk version and they want to listen to that on repeat...which is a delight for everyone! 

This week was a little rough.  Vincent had a terrible cold and struggled to breathe all week.  He was very congested with a wet cough.  Finally he is starting to clear it all out, but he had to sleep in his swing for several nights so we could keep him upright and draining.  He's been taking all his daytime naps in his swing because he just won't nap in his bed for some reason.  However, he has been sleeping pretty well at night.  He usually only wakes up once around 3 am and then again around 5. I took him to the doctor on Monday and he weighed 12 lbs. 13 oz.  He's getting big!  This week he played with his first toy.  He grabbed his toy bear rattle by the arm, shook it, and chewed on its head!  Also yesterday he responded to his name when I called him.   He turned his head 90 degrees and looked at me!  Kyle said he may have just been responding to my voice, but either way he turned to look at Mommy!

Isabella was a bit sick too this week.  She had a cough and a belly ache and had to stay home from school on Friday.  I picked her up on Thursday from school and she was a mess!  She had gotten sick.  She is feeling better now. 

We went to a holiday party on Saturday which was our first night out since Vincent was born.  We didn't stay long but I was very impressed with my mom because she did get all the kids to bed.  However, Isabella was awake when we got home because "the dogs were bothering her"...note that they were sound asleep on the living room floor.

The "No Shouting Today" sign was made by Zachary yesterday.  Kyle and I got a kick out of it.  I don't know how many times we have had to tell him to stop shouting..it's his standard voice level.

I figured he has to talk over all the noise at after school care and when he comes home he doesn't realize he can turn down the volume.  Anyway, we thought it was super cute.  He loves his little brother so much.  The little guy on the right is holding a sign that says "baby sleeping".  Too funny!!!

Toby had a strange week.  The poor guy cut his foot really bad on a piece of broken glass.  I'm pretty sure he tried to eat the glass first because I saw him carrying it around the backyard in his mouth and I stupidly thought it was a chunk of ice.  When he came in the house limping I realized that there was no ice storm outside and he was actually carrying my broken glass oil lamp which I believe Toby had knocked off the patio table probably thinking it was a ball or toy to play with.  He has been limping for 3 days now.  I may make a list of all the weird stuff he has tried to consume.

It has been fun times for everyone!

Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week was a blast!  It just went by quickly and we had lots of fun as a family.  The week started with a visit from Keri!  We were really excited that she was in town!  We had dinner on Tuesday night with Keri, Sarah's family (Keri's sister), and Drea's family.  Keri's sister just had a new baby and she is so adorable.  It was amazing to see how small she is compared to Vincent and they are only 2 months apart.  He has grown so quickly!

On Thursday, we enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving turkey prepared by Kyle!  He always does an awesome job.  The kids were super excited about Thanksgiving.  (As excited as any kids could be for a Thanksgiving holiday!)  Zachary made the cutest nameplates for everyone with puzzles on the inside.  Everyone had a different puzzle, such as connect the dots, riddles, or codes to figure out.  It was really funny!  He is so creative.  We watched the Thanksgiving parade and then we started a new tradition of watching Snoopy's Christmas before going to bed.

 

On Friday, we did some Black Friday shopping at Target.  It really wasn't very crowded so we got a lot of our shopping finished.  We have ideas for everyone this year and pretty much know exactly what we are going to get those we haven't bought for, so I am pretty relieved.  The kids are going to have a great Christmas!

Finally, on Sunday we had a great time going to see the Cats practice at Freedom Hall.  All three kids were dressed in their UK gear.  We got to meet two of the new freshmen players, Cousins and Bledsoe.  I think Kyle and I were more excited than the kids!  Then we stayed to see them shoot around and have a 3-point contest (white versus blue).  The kids got into that because we were on the blue side of the arena and the blue team won!  Tonight is their next game so it will be fun to see if the kids will get into the games more, now that they have seen the players in person.

   

 Overall, it was a great week.  It's 3 more weeks until Christmas break, but a lot will be happening between now and then!

Vincent's Baptism

This past Sunday Vincent was baptized at St. Stephen Martyr Catholic Church. I was so excited when I found out that they just happened to have a baptism scheduled for the weekend Keri was in town. Keri is the godmother of Zachary and Isabella also. However, the joy turned to disappointment when I learned that Jed (the kids godfather) was going to be out of town! Luckily his Dad, Eddie, was able to stand in for Jed and it all worked out. All the grandparents were able to come, except for PaPa who was at his own church that Sunday morning. Keri, Toots and Eddie (Jed parents), and Adam and Sarah were also there to celebrate with us. It was very special for us as parents because we have seen the impact that SSM has had on Zachary and Isabella. They love their church and school community. Everyone there truly seems to care for our family. It is a wonderful place to be.

Vincent was very good for his baptism. He got quite a bit of water up his nose and I think he stopped breathing for about 30 seconds. He had been peacefully asleep until the moment father poured water on his head and then rubbed in all in his face...I'm pretty sure he was in shock and had no idea what was going on. He looked totally stunned. However, he didn't cry until the end of the ceremony. Even though it has been two days he still smells like chrism.

Afterwards, we grilled steaks at our house and then had a relaxing evening. We are so blessed to have a wonderful family. Aunt Keri and Uncle Jed are the best godparents one could ask for! We are so grateful for all the love they have shown our kids!

The First Post

I started this blog so I would have an easier way to record stories/memories for my family. This was a busy weekend! Kyle ended his cross country season at St. X with a state championship! We traveled to Lexington yesterday to see the race. It is always really exciting when they win, of course! It was a beautiful day. Perfect weather! Zachary was excited to ride the "yellow bus" with the boys. Isabella followed her daddy around everywhere. Vincent napped the entire time in his moby wrap. Now that the season is finally over we can relax a bit and we should have more family time. I am also excited because I am planning on starting my training for the mini this week. I'm going to try to get the most out of this warm November weather while it lasts!