MERRY CHRISTMAS...

Lance is so excited for his first Christmas. He keeps hearing about Santa from his big brother, he loves to check out candy canes and can't keep his eyes off of Christmas lights.

On behalf of all the family, Lance wanted to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HAVING FUN...

It is awesome to see the boys grow up and learn from each other. This is the first thing that Lance learned from KJ. KJ started to splash in the tub and Lance decided to copy him, laughing the entire time.

And my baby is growing up. He started to actually wave the other day and it is too cute. He bends his little hand back for forth. I could eat him up!

8 MONTHS AND A TRIP TO VISIT SANTA...

Little man turned 8 months old yesterday. He celebrated the same way he spends every other day, relaxing, playing and being a fun-loving boy. In the past month, Lance has learned a lot of new things, starting to wave to people when they say bye-bye, eating lots of food directly from mama's plate, and the big one, crawling. Moving for just a couple of days independently and into everything. I think it is hilarious when he crawls over to me and grabs my leg to get my attention. So awesome to have two amazing little guys to spend my days with, laughing, playing and loving.

Crawling for a few days and already into...

This weekend, we took a trip to visit Santa with the boys. As expected, KJ was a bit shy at first, but came alive when Santa asked him about presents. He asked for a weed wacker, a blower, a trimmer and a jeep. The first three were things he had been talking about for months, but the jeep was a late add on. I think his daddy has been brainwashing him. Lance wasn't having anything to do with Santa. He pulled his beard for a few seconds and then broke down. A bit sadistic, but I think it is hilarious to see my babies cry fiercely during their first visit to Santa. All was well when the boys both got candy canes.

We ended a trip with a visit to the gift shop to get the boys their ornaments. As is tradition, Lance got a mini santa claus to commemorate his first visit and KJ picked out a green tractor. Good memories with the boys.

MOVIN' AND SHAKIN'...

Pull out the gates and start to re-babyproof the house, Lance is crawling! The little man hasn't been feeling well the past couple of days and, when he couldn't find his mama for some lovin', he crawled around until he found me.



It started out as a few shaky moves, but he is getting more confident with each day.

MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY...

We had an excellent Thanksgiving in Kalamazoo. The boys were surrounded by the ones they love and had all the attention they could handle.



It was a busy couple of days- prepping for dinner, a Turkey Trot, lots of food, Black Friday shopping and hanging out.

WHAT WE ARE THANKFUL FOR...

We are so lucky to have two beautiful boys and are incredibly thankful for them this season. They are getting bigger by the minute. I can't believe some of the things that come out of KJ's mouth and the things that Lance learns everyday.

DRESSING AND GROWING UP...

It is shocking how fast the fall is going by. Last week, we had an awesome Halloween. Jeremy and Katrina came over to the house to take place in the festivities, going trick-or-treating with the boys and handing out some candy. KJ was a duck and Lance was a tiger because he was too big to be a hot dog.



After a couple of hours of candy gathering, KJ enjoyed a ride home in his wagon to dump out his candy to sort and share with everyone. We had a blast last year, and this year was really fun too.



A few days later, Lance turned 7 months old. He is growing by leaps and bounds. He scoots around ALL the time. He is on all fours, rocking back and forth, but doesn't want to move his hands yet. I give him another couple of weeks and he will be crawling all around. He is starting to make coos that sound like words and we can't keep big people food out of his mouth. With all his moving about, he isn't putting on a ton of weight, but he is getting taller and taller.

ANNUAL FAMILY PICS...

They are a stressful activity for me, but I always love the results. We took our annual family pictures in mid-October, and just got the pics back yesterday. They were also Lance's 6 months pictures and he did great. I thought babies were hard to photograph- that is until we tried with a 2 1/2 year old. We LOVE Chuck! Here are a couple of my favorites.

READY TO MOVE...

Lance made a big stride today. He looked at Kurt and I, hoped up on his knees and started to rock back and forth. I caught it on tape. Look at my "little" guy go!

OUR GOBLINS...

The boys wish you all a very Happy Halloween!

6 MONTHS, FOOTBALL, APPLES & PUMPKINS...

I love the fall! We have been incredibly busy over the past few weeks, spending lots of time enjoying all that a Michigan fall can offer.

First of all, our little guy celebrated his half-year birthday. Lance is six months old! He is all about real food. Carrots and pears are his favorites so far, but I think the other kinds will grow on him. He is moving all around too. He can't crawl yet, but put him on the ground, and that little man will army crawl/face scoot himself across the floor. He also sits up like a big boy and can't get enough of his mama. He is such a sweet pea.



Football is too much fun. Although it can be hard to manage, we have been going to as many games as possible. We made it to MSU to watch the Spartans take on Wisconsin. It was a bit cold, but fun. The following weekend, we took a trip out to Michigan to watch UM vs. State. In true Michigan fashion, it was 80 degrees and hot. A super 30 degree swing from the weeknd prior.




Our most recent fall festivity was a trip to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. It was great to pick apples with the boys, Mimi and Papa, and on our way home, we stopped by a local farm stand to see the World's Largest Pumpkin, weighing in at 1,725 pounds. It was a beautiful day!