Winter Wonderland

Saturday was such bad weather, but my friend Heidi still decided to take the long trip from Aberdeen to the cities.  After a really long ride...and picking Carissa up along the way, we were glad she made it.  She lives in Idaho with her husband and two adorable babies, so she had to make the trip when she got the chance.

We always have so much fun together - thanks for another great night!

'Tis the season to be baking

Jack and I had been talking about doing some baking for quite a while, so we finally decided to get our acts together and do it.  I for one did not think it would take THREE days / nights to finish!!

We wanted to get banana bread baked before Darcy and Joel came over Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday night it was cookie making time.  He liked this much more than the banana bread.

Cutting out his own cookies.

I really tried to let him do everything on his own, which is why some of the dough was half-eaten, and I don't think ANY of the shapes are exactly how they should be!

A little fingerprint here or there never hurt anyone, right???  We washed his hands!

I thought we would get the cookies finished Tuesday night, but after I was checking the cookies, and there was an incident with our office and a Sharpie (compliments of Jacks) we quit for the night.

Thursday came and it was time to frost.

This time...I was well-prepared :)

And the finished product.  Don't they look like tasty blobs??  Ha.  They're so ugly, but so adorable in my mind, knowing the Jack really did do them to his own little perfection.

He was so wiped out when we were done, that he asked if I would make him a little bed in the living room while they dried...he didn't quite make it to taste one!

Peek-a-Boo!

Have a great weekend!

 

Oh Baby!!

So - as most of you know, I'm a little bit baby crazy right now (and so it Jacks, by the way...he keeps asking for a baby sister!) Well - to my delight, two of my best girlfriends had their babies this past week!

Ashley (my best friend from High School) had her little miracle baby last Thursday, December 11. After a bit of a scary pregnancy, and being on bed rest for FAR too long, Shay Lynn Barden came only six weeks early. She weighed a little over 4 lb (I'll update when I get the exact details...I didn't write them down since I was driving to work when they called!!).

OK - I just heard from Ash. 4 lb. 12 oz and 18 inches long!

I vowed to wait until they were finally home from the hospital to visit them, but after seeing these pictures, I e-mailed them right away to see when it would work to make a trip to Mankato :) They will be in the hospital a bit longer than they initially thought, but she's doing really well.

This past Sunday, December 14, we got the word from Gina, one of my best friends from college (well - it was actually her husband and a massive text message). She had her little baby boy, Donovan Scott Marco. He was a bit of a boy for such a little Mama, weighing 7 lb. 11 oz. and 19 3/4 long. Gina was a little bit different than Ashley, in hoping she would have the baby early, and her wish came true.

With almost 2 weeks to go, he made his debut a bit early - perfect for Christmas. He had a little bit of trouble breathing, and a tiny infection (the hand contraption is an IV for his antibiotics) but came home yesterday and is doing really well. Two other girlfriends and myself are going to take a trip to Milwaukee in early January to visit the newest addition to our "family".

We love you both, and can't wait to meet (and hold...and smell...and squeeze) your new little bundles of joy!! CONGRATULATIONS!

Fall Pictures

So - I've been waiting to post these until I got my Christmas Cards sent - and since most have been received, I thought I could finally share these. In September, our family went out for a day and had our pictures taken by a friend from High School....and here they are!

Note: An extremely windy day + a 2-year-old boy = an interesting picture taking day!

Here are some (ok - a TON) of the better ones. I won't say best since it seemed like we couldn't get a great one to save our lives! :)

"Friends"

Jack has recently been collecting "friends" as he calls them. Whenever he goes to the bathroom in the "big boy potty", he gets a new "friend".

To my defense, this was Brad's idea to start...and now I don't know what he's gotten us into. Kisses for Jasmine - his current favorite.

Just a random, but he was so giggly and happy this weekend, Brad snapped a picture.

And speaking of friends, we tried to get the rest of our Christmas shopping done this weekend, and when walking through the park, Jack insisted we stop and take a picture with everyone we saw. I, for one, have to admit that I'm still a little squeamish around big characters....just ask my Mom how much I loved the Easter Bunny!!

I'm not even kidding, when he saw Uniqua, he almost tackled her.  Santa is scary to him, but apparently Backyardigans are OK :)

Dashing through the snow

Jack was so excited when it snowed a lot yesterday - he begged Brad to take him sledding! Can you tell he's pumped?

He LOVES being outside!!

After taking a tumble down the hill and wouldn't even look at Brad :)

It is such tough work to get undressed!!

I've had the flu yesterday and today - so it was nice for the two of them to be able to get out and play.  Hopefully the pukies are gone by tomorrow!!