:: Game Day ::

So the day after Christmas, my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Heather had everyone that wanted to come over to their house for a game day! Buddy and I love to play games... were both a 'lil competitive... so we jumped right on the chance! We played the "new" Uno that took like 3 hours to get through one round... haha and some Euchre :)




My cousin Megan's son Caleb also came over and Brogan had a great time playing with him! Until Brogan got a little too excited and spit up on Caleb... then he wasn't so interested in playing anymore... It was funny though! We had a great time! Afterwords the adults went to Ucello's so that we could spend some more time together! What a fun day!

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts. ~Author Unknown

:: Baby's first Christmas ::

... well its hard to call him a baby when hes going to be 1 in 3 weeks!! I can't believe how fast this past year went! This Christmas was SOOOO much fun! Buddy Brogan and I, had our own personal Christmas downstairs just the three of us early in the morning... and when I say early.. I mean Brogan woke up at 5 o'clock. :) He's so funny, we tried to get him to sleep for a little bit longer, but I guess that he was just very into the Christmas Spirit! I hope this is not a view of years to come!



After we finished our little family Christmas, we went upstairs and had Christmas with the rest of my family. Chelsea had come home from Lansing Christmas Eve, so that she would be there in the morning too!





After we finished with my family, Buddy Brogan and I headed over to Buddy's Parent's House to do Christmas over there. Again we had a blast! Both of our families go all out for Christmas and since we both have big families, its really fun! Buddy is one of 4 and I am one of 5... with all the new additions with Brogan and boyfriends- it really turns into quite the big event! How fun! and FORTUNATE that we live so close and are able to travel 10 minutes down the road to the other side of the families house. Making it always easy to see everyone for the holidays. :)



We had such a blast! Brogan was undoubtedly spoiled from every angle! A few of his toys were a big red fire truck/ball pit that he had a BLAST in Here is a video:

He also got a ball popper that he LOVES to play with and run around collecting the balls with Grandpa. He got about 4 toothbrushes, bath toys (little Einsteins rocket and leo squirter that he LOVES), a puzzle, a couple different Fridge Phonics- alphabet and matching farm animals, bunches of new clothes, diapers :) and wipes, and more! We had a GREAT Christmas this year! He even got into opening the gifts after a while and just started screaming with excitment! What a grand time of year!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

:: Twas the night before Christmas...::

Since Brogan was such a good boy taking Christmas pictures with us, we took him to see Santa! (we were going to anyways) but we also let him play in the big tree house in the middle of the mall! He had such a good time!

Gramma showed up too!!

waiting...

still waiting...


SANTTTTTTTA

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

-excerpt from 'Twas the night before Christmas' Clement C Moore

:: Family Photo's ::

So since Buddy is home we decided to take advantage of this opportunity and get family photo's/ Christmas pictures done! We even got some individuals done of Buddy and I and some of just Brogan.

Enjoy!

:: Michelle is home from CO ::

If you faithful followers can remember, Brogan and I took a trip out to CO to visit my best friend Michelle at the Air Force Academy when he was just 5-6 weeks old! We always treasure the times that she is able to be back here at home with us (since its only 1-2 times a year)

This Christmas she was able to bring her fiance Jake! When they arrived(they drove since they are heading out to PA to be with Jakes family later tonight) we went to dinner with Michelle's family. We were so excited to see them, and of course just like her, she was bearing presents- Brogan's first Christmas present actually! All he really wanted to do was eat the paper though! He's so cute and loves his new basketball hoop from his Auntie Shell! Since he is really into putting things "In" lately it is very fitting! I even found his bottle in the basket the other day! Such a pumpkin!The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had. ~Author Unknown

:: Aunt Morgann's Christmas Concert ::

My younger sister Morgann plays Clarinet in the High School Symphonic Band, and since Brogan likes music so much (especially Christmas music) we thought we would bring him to the show!

Thats Morgann right there in the middle with the Blonde hair!

Needless to say he had a great time! They even had a surprise appearance of Santa during their renditon on "twas the night before Christmas" narrated by none other than our favorite HS principal Joe Beal!

Enjoy this video of part of the performance- it was quite long so I couldn't get the whole song!

Grinch: Blast this Christmas music! It's joyful and triumphant

:: Playdate with Morgan ::

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine needed a babysitter, she is a young mom like me, so I instantly jumped on the opportunity to help another out! I don't think I would want twins any time soon! The boys are about 6 months apart (Morgan is 5 months and Brogan is 11) It wasn't too bad though, the boys napped at the same time and woke up about 10 minutes apart. Just enough time to feed and change diapers :) Any who, I thought I would share some pictures of the boys playing together!

""Young boys should never be sent to bed, they always wake up another day older.""

Author: Johnnie Depp as JM Barrie, from the movie Finding Neverland

::Decking the Halls ::

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and now its time to get ready for Christmas! To get in the Christmas mood we decided to get into our Christmas Jammies to help Mom put up the tree!

"Now where does this piece go...."

We decided that we were going to help Nana put up her tree upstairs and then we would put up our tree downstairs since we are going to do our own little Christmas with Buddy Brogan and myself before doing it with the rest of the family.

"Even Elnah was helping out! "

It turned into quite the hassle, when we were missing one of the stands on one tree, and the other that we bought lights for had to be returned, and returned again for not working when we opened the box!But it turned out great and here is the finished Product! I LOVE LOVE LOVE CHRISTMAS! Only 20 more days.....

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.
~Roy L. Smith

:: Brogan 10 Months ::

:: Its snowing so hard today!! Brogan is ok with Fabio when he is on the other side of the glass !::


Brogan has been growing so fast! I can't believe he is already walking! I just wanted to post a couple videos of the newer things he has been doing and how good his fine motor skills are getting! He has been showing that he knows cause and effect or what happens when i... which helps him to learn when he is not supposed to be doing something! He has been doing very good by the Christmas tree, he knows that he can touch the flowers, and certain balls that are plastic. He's such a good boy!!

Brogan playing by himself:

A new video of how much he has progressed in the walking dept:

:: Andrew and Brogan's Playdate ::

Since Brogan hasn't been over at the babysitters, I think he's been missing his little friend Andrew a lot, so we got them together to have a playdate for a couple hours. Here are some pictures and a video for your enjoyment! the boys are so cute together!

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
-Christopher Robin to Pooh”