Christmas

We had a wonderful holiday. Lucas was alot more interested in his gifts than we thought he would be. He got excited about everything he opened and had to check them all out before going to the next one. He couldn't even wait for Daddy to get them out of the box which in some cases is a great task in itself.

On Christmas Eve we exchanged our family gifts in the morning. Andy got me a new camera which we have used a bunch over the holidays. We got Lucas a baby doll, tent, and a tub of food which he loves to dump everywhere. We then headed over to the Will Family Christmas for lunch at the Blankenbergers. Lucas had a great time showing off for all Mommy's cousins. Then we headed home for a nap before Grandma Kay, Grandpa Tony, Aunt Carrie and Brandon came over for supper and the Rudolph Family celebration. Lucas received so many gifts and loved them all. Aunt Carrie's gifts of a wagon and Elmo chair were big hits.

Lucas gave his Grandpa Tony a reprint of the book Half Chick which was a book Grandpa read when he was a boy. Aunt Carrie and Grandma Kay got earrings that were almost alike :) We got our family picture taken in front of the live Christmas tree so that we have a good pic to compare it to many years from now when it's growing big in the backyard.

Santa came Christmas morning and brought Lucas a shopping cart, sports toy and ball bopper. He also got lots of goodies in his stocking including a big boy tooth brush. We went to mass at St. Wendel and then came home and we all 3 took a nap. We played with all the new toys. In the eveningwe went to Grandma Eileen's and Grandpa Jim's to celebrate with the Embrey's. We had a wonderful meal and then we got to open gifts. Lucas did a great job opening his presents. Uncle Nathan and Aunt Amber got him an activity walker and he took off across the floor proudly on his first try. Hopefully this will give him the courage to take off on his own.

I've added a slide show of all of our holiday photos. It's a big one. We had a great Christmas enjoying time with family, friends, wonderful food, and great holiday celebrations.

Baking Day

We held our annual holiday baking day this weekend. Carrie Elizabeth, Dena, and Amber came over and we made tea rings, buckeyes, sugar cookies, chocolate dip pretzels, baklava, and divinity. Lucas got to help with the sugar cookies. As you can tell he had a really good time getting to play in the flour and dough.

St. Nicks Breakfast

We went to the St. Nicks Breakfast at Church this weekend for pancakes and homemade St. Wendel sausage. Our friends Sean and Amy showed up too and we got Lucas and Audrey to sit with St. Nick for a picture. Here they are sharing their candy canes with each other. Lucas got a little frisky later. God Job Audrey. Defend that candy cane.

Rudolph Family Update

Lucas is getting very close to walking. He is now pushing things around the house. The video shows him pushing is high chair which is kinda heavy and not on wheels. When he pushes things on wheels he is nearly running. He is into everything, opening all the cabinets and drawers and letting us know where he wants to play whether upstairs, in the living room, kitchen, or basement. He has turned into quite the hugger. He says "hug" and then will give me about 5 in a row. This morning he even hugged Daddy good bye. He cut 2 more teeth this week so now he has 4 on top.



Over Thanksgiving we started working on Lucas's sleeping pattern and he now goes to bed awake and falls asleep on his own. He is waking up at most once a night wanting a pacifier, which only takes me 30 secs and then I can go back to sleep. So I'm feeling much more rested.

Adam is growing and getting stronger every day. I sit in meetings and get distracted because it feels like he is throwing a party in there :) In the last week I had several kidney stones, so I had to get a renal ultrasound done and Adam peaked his little head in front of my bladder and waved, it was just like he was saying Hi Mommy! I'm feeling much better now.

Andy is in his element this weekend, helping the St. Wendel Men's Club butcher around 30 hogs and making sausage. He's also finished up his Dart league for the season, so no more Wednesday nights out :) This week Andy picked out our first real Christmas tree. He got one with a ball so we can plant it and save Lucas's first Christmas tree :) We are ready for Christmas and enjoying watching Lucas grow up so fast.