Wonderful Weekend at Home

Although staying home with the boys for the extended weekend wore Andy & me out, we had a great time and did a lot. On Friday we put up the tree. Lucas helped and had a great time. He said, "Mommy, the tree looks good", when I was all done. Neither he nor Adam have shown much interest in playing with the tree since we put it up. Friday evening we enjoyed dinner with friends. Jamie, Justin & Alayna came over to visit. Adam and Alayna played very well together. They rolled on the floor next to each other and shared some toys (and slobber).



Saturday we took pictures for our Christmas card and put up the outside decorations since it was such a beautiful day. Adam & Lucas both helped Andy put up the reindeer and flood lights. That afternoon, Andy butchered sheep with the guys so that I can have my favorite lamb chops for Christmas Eve.

Sunday the boys and I went to visit Grandma Eileen and Grandpa Jim, while Andy when rabbit hunting with Sean. Then we enjoyed family movie night and watched "A Monkey Christmas" (Curious George). Andy & I have can't get the catchy tunes out of our heads. What a wonderful way to spend a weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Adam's first Thanksgiving

We are so thankful this year for our two happy healthy boys! They fill are hearts with joy and keep us exhausted at the same time. I am thankful for their smiles, giggles, hugs & kisses. I am thankful for the times when they show love for one another. I am thankful they are both such good eaters (not picky like me) and both love their bath time. I am thankful that Adam has slept very well, waking for only very short periods of time this week. I am thankful that Lucas is well, Lucas. I am thankful that Andy & I have such an equal partnership and work so well as a team when tackling the day to day tasks. I am thankful he is such a wonderful father and husband. I am thankful for all our wonderful friends and family that we have to share our lives with and I am thankful I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Here's a video of Lucas talking about Thanksgiving. (Note he never sits still)

8 months old

Adam turned 8 months old last week. He is getting so big. He is crawling with a combination of up on all fours and pulling himself along on his belly. This video is about a week old, so he is better now. But it was a cute representation of him trying to figure it all out. Adam is moving from room to room and loves to for you to hold his hands so he can walk around.

He is eating 3 servings of solids a day and is starting to share yogurts with Lucas. Adam loves to feed himself, so puffs and mum-mums are his favorites. Adam jabbers all the time and is saying MaMa and DaDa occasionally. He loves his bath time and play time with Lucas. Adam is just always so happy and smiling. We can't believe he is already 8 months old.






This weekend Andy & I celebrated our 6th anniversary with our annual trip to St. Louis. We finished 90% of our Christmas shopping, ate at our favorite restaurant, Niche, and found a great Chocolate Bar. We slept in until almost 7 both days (yes, that's sleeping in for us), and enjoyed leisurely getting ready in the morning and uninterrupted showers. Although we were very busy on our time away, we enjoyed the change of pace for a few days. It's the little things in life that mean so much :)

Nice Weekend

We had a great weekend. On Friday we went to the zoo with Grandma Eileen. We saw the Jaguar, Donna the Hippo, and all the animals. Then the boys and I shared an apple. It was the first time Lucas got to eat one like a big boy and Adam sucked on it too. On Saturday, Lucas got to make his first trip to Rural King and came home with his first Tractor. He picked out a green one and has been driving it in his cornfields all weekend. We watched Purdue win their game against Michigan which was a big upset. And then on Saturday evening the boys stayed with Grandma Kay and Grandpa Tony while Andy & I went shopping and out to eat. We had a nice "date night".

On Sunday both boys slept in past 6 which is a rarity in our house. We went outside and trimmed up the landscaping and the boys were great. We are watching football and the race Sunday afternoon/evening and we're going to have a great dinner that Andy has been working on throughout the day. (Chicken Marsala ravioli, spinach salad, roasted asparagus, and bread)

Adam is now rolling around all over the place and is up on all fours rocking, but no officially crawling yet. He is getting frustrated and is going up on his feet and straightening his legs, so I think he is trying to stand up. Adam is also saying Mama and Dada now when one of us leaves the room. Lucas started reciting about 50% of his ABC's this week to our surprise. No one is working on these with him, so I guess Dora is going to get all the credit for this one.

Happy Halloween!

Head Chef Lucas and Sous Chef Daddy

Rudolph Family ready for trick or treating.



Alayna, Adam, & Eli on their first Halloween

Chef Lucas

Lobster Adam

We had a great Halloween. We started the day off at Great Granny's. The boys enjoyed getting to see her and the yummy treats she gave them. Then we headed to Grandma Eileen's and Grandpa Jim's. The boys again had a great time playing with them and eating some puffs and animal crackers. In the afternoon we met up with the Pugh's, Bretz's, Hill's, Hopp's, and Vieke's. We went around Oakfield. Lucas did great walking up to the door's and saying trick-or-treat and thank you. A couple of times he said "Want Candy", but then followed up with trick-or-treat. Adam enjoyed sitting in the stroller and watching all the kids. We all finished up at Grandma Kay's and Grandpa Tony's and Lucas was sad to see all his friends go home.

We ate dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's and Lucas got to help pass out candy to the trick or treaters that came by. I think he enjoyed that just as much as receiving candy. We let him eat as much as he wanted after supper and he did some real damage on his "pot". We had a great time with all our friends and family.

I added a slide show of all of our adventures in October including our trip to the pumpkin patch, the soup cook at the Fisher's, carving jack-o-laterns, and trick or treating. Enjoy!