Katie & Anna

Katie got tired of Santa real quick but Anna's an old pro. She brought her catalog page and everything! Thanks Carrie!

Santa

So we took Elias to see Santa and he sure didn't like it. If you think about Santa is a very scary dude. You put your small child on the lap of a man who yells "HO HO HO", is wearing a bright red suit and has a big beard. Elias thought he was SATAN not SANTA.

However as a parent you have to take the obligatory crying on Santa's lap picture. My parents have one, Brad's parents have one and it goes on. So now Elias has one. We didn't get any of our own pictures since he was crying so hard I couldn't leave him on Santa's lap any longer but the one the "elf" got (the elf was wearing pink Victoria's Secret sweatpants) is priceless.

So I want to see your Santa pictures. Crying, laughing, stunned, send them here!

Christmas morning...

Holiday Magic

So Mom, Dad and I went to see Santa on Sunday. We drove all the way out to Woodfield Mall only to find out Santa had a wait. A wait, since when do people have to wait for Santa. Anyway, the wait was 2 hours and I wasn't having that. I can barely wait 2 minutes let alone 2 hours. Mom and Dad said that we can go see him next week when Gramma Bette comes to town and Daddy is off work. That way I can tell him what I want right before he comes.

In other news Mom and Dad put up the tree. I really don't care about it one way or the other but they keep telling me that this Santa guy will make it worth my while pretty soon. They also dressed me up and sat me in front of it to take pictures for our holiday cards. I think they turned out pretty good, but I know I'm handsome.

I'm starting to talk a lot more. Well, what I call talking anyway. It's mostly a bunch of syllables but I know what I'm saying and that's all that matters. Today though I thought I'd throw them a bone and I pointed at a yellow chicken and said, "DUCK". Daddy said that was close enough. Hey it was yellow and if it walks like a duck....

We're having a big snow storm right now so Mommy's going to try and hurry home. Peace out...Elias

St. Nick's Day

In my family we always had a bonus present day on December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. We celebrated St. Nick's Day since we are predominantly Dutch (Grandma's and Great-Grandma's). As Wikipedia explains...The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on December 5th, St. Nicholas Eve, with festive family parties when gifts and surprises are exchanged. In the Netherlands, unlike other places, adults as well as children join in the fun. As the Dutch like an element of surprise, a small gift may be wrapped in a huge box, or it may be hidden and require following clues to discover where it is. Where St. Nicholas is prominent, his day, not Christmas, is the primary gift giving day. Parties may be held on the eve, December 5th, and shoes or stockings left for St. Nicholas to fill during the night. Children will find treats of small gifts, fruit or nuts, and special Nicholas candies and cookies. St. Nicholas gifts are meant to be shared, not hoarded for oneself.

We mainly did small gifts left in one's stockings and/or candy treats. As a kid it meant bonus presents. This weekend we continued the tradition with Elias. St. Nick brought Elias books, a teddy bear and some ornaments.

And for all you kids out there reading this blog, psst don't forget to tell your parents about St. Nick's Day ;)

Oh and thanks to Grandpa Bill for helping to get our Christmas tree. It was a very cold and snowy day!

Excuse me...

Sorry, I just brain-farted. Yes, that's what I said brain-farted. I deleted ALL my Turkey day photos from my camera thinking they had already been downloaded. So...I'm going to email my sister-in-law so she can send me hers. In the meantime I would love to see your photos. Email them to me and I'll post them on the blog! I'll leave you with the cuteness that is my Little Lumberjack!

Asher Clyde

Asher Clyde is getting SO BIG! He's grown a foot (well maybe not quite that much) since we've seen him. Elias misses you!


Also, don't worry people, I have plenty of pictures from our feast, as my niece Sophie called it. Oh and by the way, my turkey rocked.

Pictures of Gabe Michael

Rachel and Oren's little sweetheart!

Buds

Erin and her big man Alex on Halloween. The clan misses you!

If you're happy and you know it...

Okay so Mom hasn't let me at the computer in a long, long time. She says I don't sit still long enough anymore to actually type a post, but I'll show her.

For all my peops, I'm crawling, creeping and almost standing alone. Because of all those things I bang my head a lot and I mean a lot. Mom, Dad and Gramma Sonny have a penguin ice pack on hand for my bruises and bumps. I think it makes me look tough Mom worries about someone called "DCFS". I can say dadda, hi and hey. They keep harassing me about momma so I keep stringing them along.

Also, I recently acquired the skill of clapping and man do I love it. My toys and Mom and Dad like to sing this song, "If you happy and you know it clap your hands" and darned if I don't clap my hands. I just can't help myself. Today I picked up the phone and said, hi. Hey they do it, why not me.

Oh and I got another tooth. Mom and Dad think it's funny because I didn't get the top front upper, I got the one on the side called the lateral incisor not the central so I may be chewing on the side of my mouth.


Like Dad I love cheese. I've been eating it a lot lately. I also like crackers, raisins, bananas (always have but know they're chunky) and bread. This food thing is pretty cool. Mom said that I can have some turkey and mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. I can't wait.

Speaking of Thanksgiving I get to see my cousins Sophie and Shelby again. We had so much fun the last time I can't wait till they get to see my pad.

Well I showed Mom and updated y'all so hopefully I'll be back sooner than later. Peace out...Elias.

Packers win and Elias claps!

Shout out!

Rachel and Oren are pleased to announce the birth of their bouncing baby boy Gabe (Gabriel) Michael, 7 lbs. 6 oz. 20 inches long. We can't wait to meet him and

Elias is so happy to have a new friend!

Pictures to follow...

Creative Mommy

Okay, I actually can't take credit for the wonderful idea of Babysitter Notes but I did copy the idea. I saw these notes on Cool Mom Picks but of course didn't want to shell out the $8.00 plus shipping and handling so I got to work. Here's what I came up with.

It looks a little weird since I couldn't get the formatting correct but you get the gist of it. If anyone would like my ingenious document I would be more than happy to email it to you! Of course I would actually have to leave Elias to use this note but Brad is bound and determined to go see the new Bond film so I may be using it sooner than later.

I voted!

Elias and I just got back from voting. He had me up at 4:45 a.m. so why not hit the polls at 6:00. Guess what, there still was a line! Instead of being upset I was happy. Of course we live in Illinois which isn't a battleground state but it is so nice to see people voting. In Cook County they're expecting an 85% turn out. It's my opinion that you have absolutely no right to opine on politics if you don't vote. Thankfully we don't know many people who don't vote but if you do not vote, don't speak.

We're back

So it's been a long time since I posted pics and updated everyone. Couple of things prevented my blogging. One of course Marbs. It was very painful (and still is) to sit down and try and be clever, witty, funny, you know all the things I usually am. The loss was very hard on our family. I still cry when I think about him. The worst is going in the back yard. I spent 13 years worrying about stepping in poop. I never thought I'd miss it. Brad and I did plant an oak tree for Marbie right along the fence line that he loved to walk by. Elias and I are going to go and get a garden stone and put Marbie's name on it so it can go under the tree. It's next to the other tree Marbs used to eat all the time. So Marbie's got his own little grove in the back yard.

I thought I'd want another dog right away but I don't. I miss Marbie too much and I think I'm not ready to move on. Brad and I joke that when we do get a dog that poor dog will constantly be saying to itself, "who the hell is this Marbie guy and why do they keep saying, Marbie would never do that! Jeez!" Like licking. Marbie never gave kisses. Well if you had some meat on your face maybe, but otherwise no kisses. In a way we always wished for kisses but it really wasn't too bad. He didn't lick people. I think he didn't want to lower himself to that ;

Also our laptop died. We lost everything on it and it took a couple of weeks to get up and running. It's not too easy to tie yourself to a desktop long enough to post.

Anyway, I didn't post any pics from Vermont, Halloween or anything so here's a quick recap. Vermont was fabulous. Beautiful, relaxing, and all around fun. It was so great to see our nieces Shelby and Sophie. Shelby is a pre-teen, or as the kids say tweener. Ah it brings back the memories of me at that age. Reading, sulking, sleeping, and making fun of people. Well, I still kind of do that. Sophie is your typically two-year-old, full of energy, smart and too cute. We loved visiting.

Then this weekend was Halloween. Of course we really didn't trick or treat but had to put Elias in the obligatory laugh-at-your-baby-costume. He was a skunk and surprisingly he didn't mind the costume too much. He kind of melted down at the Great Grandparent's house but he had just spent three hours in the car (most of it not sleeping) so it was warranted.

We also went to my cousin Cory's wedding this weekend. He married a wonderful girl, Hannah, and the wedding was beautiful. Elias was very talkative during the ceremony but was very good at dinner. Our friend Katie came over and watched Elias sleep while Brad and I enjoyed ourselves at the festivities.

Finally, daylight savings time is a bitch. Trying to push back a nine month old's bedtime is hard. Elias is now waking up at quarter to five, yes that's right 4:45 a.m.! Not cool. Tonight I actually got him back to 7 p.m. It was a little dicey at time's but we prevailed. On that note, Elias is crawling, commando and now regular, he pulls himself up on everything, he eats everything, he has two teeth and smiles all the time. He is just the greatest and this pictures proves it!

Go vote, or you'll be left with your pants down!

Vote, Tom Cruise says so!

Update

As you all know our beloved dog Marbie was laid to rest on Saturday. It's taken a while for me to able to talk/write about it without crying (still not successful). Marbie had been having a lot of trouble walking. We know he had been in a lot pain. This was the hardest decision Brad and I ever mad. We agonized over it. In the end we know it was the right decision to make. It was all very peaceful and Marbie fell asleep in my arms (here's where the waterworks start again).

Our house is very quiet without him, except for our now crawling, cruising, yelling nine-month-old. But there is no barking when we get home or when the pizza guy comes. No clicking on the hardwood of his nails and no shaking of his ears.

Marbie touched our lives in a way that we know no other dog will. The next dog will be a family dog, Elias' play-mate. Marbie was our first baby. Brad and I raised him from 7 weeks old in a small apartment in Madison. He moved with us four times, two states. We called him Fuzzball, Stinky, Buba, Mr. Pants, Louis Leekey, and Monkey.

Marbie will be missed every minute of every day. I miss his bed, food, and crazily enough his smell. I just finished a book The Art of Racing in the Rain where the dog believes when he dies he'll be reincarnated as a human but first his soul gets to play. I hope that Marbie's now running through fields, swimming and eating everything in sight. Hopefully he'll come to me in my dreams to let me know he's okay and I hope I'll get to see him again one day.

Marbie Mufasa

We'll always love and miss you Fuzzball.