A Very Mickey Christmas

We had a great Christmas with the Ahlstrand family. Lexi insisted on wearing her new dress up outfit during the celebration. She also insisted on trying to open up everyone else's gifts, but so did the other two little ones, so she had company.

Lexi got the hot toy this year from Grandma...the dancing Mickey Mouse. She absolutely loves it, and claps every time she turns him on. She's going to be excited to see him in person next fall, when Grandma takes us to Disney World, which was our big Christmas gift.

14 kids and one laugh

We had our annual Christmas gathering with Laura's mom's side. This included 14 kids under the age of 9 in one house. Although it is chaos, it is great to see the cousins interact. Lexi has had a great time being around so many kids. She has jumped right in and tried to keep up, which is great to see. Conner hasn't seemed to mind either, and he even laughed for the first time tonight. Brian and I were in the kitchen talking with Cori, and we all started laughing about something, and he just joined it. He's figuring out the social graces of laughing at mom's and dad's jokes early.

Christmas Traditions

We started Christmas this year by opening presents as a family. We decided it was time to start our family traditions, so Santa came to Grandma's house. Lexi was very interested in opening not only her gifts, but everyone else's as well. She was very good at tearing the paper, but also equally interested in throwing it in the garbage. Times like these, we like our OCD girl!

We then headed out to the Bunch's for the remainder of the day. The kids were spoiled, and they thoroughly enjoyed opening the gifts. Grandma Deb had bought out Disney World when she was there a few weeks ago, since Lexi loves Mickey Mouse these days.

It was a great Christmas with lots of family time, for which we are always grateful.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve Trouble

We had a fun Christmas Eve. Lexi's cousins came over to play for most of the day, and Lexi and her cousin Jack were loving each other. They thought it was hilarious to trip and fall. They just laughed and laughed. Jack also thought Lexi was pretty cool, since she could open doors, so they managed to walk in on people going to the bathroom. The two of them were trouble.

We then headed to church as a family. Lexi did okay during the service, since we stuffed food in her mouth the whole time, so she couldn't use it for anything else. Conner was fairly happy, but Brian did have to leave the service with him briefly. I guess that's the best you can expect for two kids!

Before the kids went to bed, they put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. As most kids are tempted to eat the treats themselves, Lexi was as well. However, it wasn't the cookies she wanted to eat...it was the carrots! She kept taking bites from the reindeer treats, which the "reindeer" were just fine with...they preferred the cookies.

Ahlstrand Christmas

Each year we get together with the extended Ahlstrand crew. We were fortunate to do it again this year, and enjoyed the night hanging out and introducing Conner. Natalie, Alisa's oldest, even tried to instruct on a puzzle that no one could figure out.

Grandma enjoyed showing off Conner. At first, when I saw him on the table in this position, I thought, "hmmm, Grandma thinks our kids are so special that having them in prime position to start CPR is a good idea." Then, I was quickly informed that Conner was actually loving Big Dave and smiling like crazy. I guess those Ahlstrand guys stick together!

Santa Meeting

We went to the mall to see Santa. Neither kid was particularly impressed, but neither screamed, either, so we considered it a success.

Christmas Cookies

We got together with some fellow preschool moms and kids today to make cookies and Christmas tree ornaments. As soon as Laura put a cookie on Lexi's napkin, she picked it up and ate it. Lexi could not wait long enough to put the frosting and sprinkles on. Laura was nice enough to give her a second that we managed to get frosting and a few sprinkles on before she shoved that one in her mouth as well. Apparently that wasn't enough, as when she was done with her second cookie, she turned to the kid next to her, grabbed his cookie, and tried to promptly eat that as well. Luckily, I was able to stop her before she took a bit. Lexi has finally discovered the joys of sugar!

One funny picture from Conner's baptism. Lexi was so tired from all the excitement that she fell asleep during the service. When we tried to stand her up in an attempt to wake her for picture taking, she continued to sleep standing up!

Conner's Baptism

We celebrated Conner's baptism today. It started out a little exciting with all the snow and troubles with the cars making it down our big hill. In the end, we all made it and he got baptized, which is the important thing.

Conn

er was honored to wear Beckett's baptism outfit, which was especially special since Dave and Cori

were his sponsors and godparen

ts. I even managed not to cry

in front of the church when they kept saying Steven, since I know how much this day would have meant to my dad.

Santa Lucia

We celebrated Santa Lucia again this year with all the kids. Grandma Phyllis was in her glory organizing all the kids. The kids were a little excited and up at 5:00am ready to wake up all the adults. We were more intelligent this year to get plain donuts, instead of chocolate ones.

Giving Conner Up

We had the entire Ahlstrand and Bunch family come into town this weekend for Conner's Baptism. So, Great Grandma Betty and the Ahlstrand cousins got to meet Conner for the first time.

Avery, Dave and Cori's oldest, was so excited to h

old Conner. When she did, he got a little fussy. Cori told Avery to ask him if he wanted his pacifier and told her to put it in his mouth. Avery showed her intellect and problem solving skills, and said instead, "Do you want Laura?" Smart kid...

All in a Day

Brian has been working a lot of long hours the last couple weeks, so I have been doing a lot of parenting on my own. He normally doesn't have this bad of work hours, but is in the middle of a big project. So, I wasn't surprised when he called and said he couldn't make it to Lexi's holiday program for preschool. I quickly kicked into gear.

I got Lexi dressed in her outfit early, did her hair, and got her completely ready. Then, I fed Conner quickly, so he was hungry and happy, as I thought if I had a screaming child at the front, I would have to go up there. Just as I thought I had everything together and was going to pull it off, I realized that while feeding Conner, Lexi decided to take off her shoes and hide one of them. After searching for it, I couldn't find it anywhere. So, I debated...do I let her go barefoot? Do I put on her tennis shoes? Do I go with one shoe so we get there in time and act like I lost it in the car so I didn't look like a totally pathetic mother? Luckly, right before I had to make the final decision, I found the shoe.

In the end, Lexi did everything she was supposed to and did a great job. Conner sat and smiled at me the whole time. All in all, I did pretty well hauling both kids to the concert as a single mom. Not something I want to do all the time, but glad that I could accomplish it.

Bad Influence

Our good friends, Leah and Gary, have a daughter a few months older than Conner. We get together about once a week, and let the kids play (well, lay on the floor or eat or get pushed in strollers), but Leah and I get much needed socialization at least. We decided to get some pictures of them together.

They were looking pretty cute at first, but apparently Conner is a bad influence on Jane already by showing her naughty behavior. If you remember when we first gave Conner his bottle and his corresponding sign language...well, Jane clearly has picked this up from Conner. We'll have to work on him being a good influence, instead of a negative one.

Toys Galore

After visiting Brian's family, we ventured to Minneapolis, so Brian could meet up with college buddies and go to the Iowa-Minn game and Laura could see some of her good college friends.

Lexi was in her glory at Suzanne and Reese's house, where we spent most of the day besides a shopping trip. They have more toys that any kid could find in a Toys R Us, and Lexi played with them all. One of her favorites was the indoor slide, which she spent a lot of time going down. She even figured out how to climb up by herself, which was amazing and a great PT workout!

That evening Kirstin and Jessie and crew came over. Maya, Jessie's oldest, wasn't happy when mom came to STL for a visit a few weeks back without her, so she was excited to see Lexi and hold Conner. She is going to be a great big sis for her little sister on the way in a few weeks!

Kirstin was a great sport, jumping into the bounce house with all the crazy kids. Lexi spent a lot of time in the giant bounce house. She thought it was hilarious to slide down the slide head first. We just hope she doesn't take that behavior to the playground!

Thanksgiving

We ventured up to Minnesota for Thanksgiving this year. It had been a year since we had been up there to see Brian's extended family. The 9 hour car drive went okay on both ends, and we were happy we braved it, as Conner got to meet everyone, including Brian's grandma and brother, for the first time. It was truly a day to be thankful for our kids' health, our wonderful families, and all the blessings we have received in the last year.

Tree Decorating

We decided to decorate for Christmas a little early this year to have ample time to enjoy it. We thought Lexi would have fun helping, so tried to integrate her into the process as much as possible. We put a tree in her room that she got to help decorate, which she thought was great.

Then, it came to the big tree. She did okay with putting ornaments on the tree (didn't really stay, but she got the conc

ept). However, then we thought it would be fun to let her be the special one to put the angel on top of the tree. Yeah, probably not a good decision on

our par

t, as at first it looked like Lexi was going to fall, then the angel did take a tumble, and then Brian almost fell off the chair. We might wait until she is a little older to attempt that again. Bottom line, we had a great time as a family getting ready for the holidays.

Early Sign Language

Conner is a great eater, for the most part. I have been exclusively breast feeding him except for introducing the bottle once a day. He has done okay with the bottle, but not spectacular. As you can see in the picture, he recently showed us how he felt about the bottle with finger sign language. We're hoping it is just a learning process and not that he truly hates the bottle this much.

Lexi's Kisses

Lexi loves her little brother, for which we are very grateful. If he cries, she instantly runs to him or if we don't respond quick enough, stands next to him and screams herself to get our attention. In the car, she refuses for me to get her out first, always pointing to her brother to make certain I don't forget him. She also constantly wants to hold him and give kisses. She's pretty gentle with him, except she doesn't understand the concept that she can't put weight on him when she is trying to get close. That we can work on...we are just grateful that we don't have to work on her liking her brother. She's picked up on that on her own, and we're excited for them to continue to bond.

Carslake Cousin Meeting

The Carslake cousins came to meet Conner this weekend. Each of them was excited to hold Conner, except maybe Jack who wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He was more interested in playing with Lexi and her toys than the new baby. The girls...really interested in Conner and how small he was. Mallory even said she wanted one for their house...Alisa didn't look like she was a fan of having a 5th!

Lexi also got to have her first slumber party...or at least her first taste. There was a lot of giggling, especially at Lexi who refused to stay in her bed. She wandered around the room, which made the Carslake girls giggle. So, after an hour and a half, we finally moved Lexi out of the room. So, she got to start with a slumber party with her cousins, but ended up with a slumber party with her mom. Hopefully she gets better before she really hits the slumber party age!

Fall Fun

It was a fun fall weekend here in St Louis. Thankfully we were able to get outside a bit with the kids and enjoy the beautiful weather. Dad mowed the lawn for the final time this season, and took the opportunity to rake up some leaves for Lexi play in when he was done. She wasn't too interested at first, and even when she warmed up to the idea, she didn't really dive in with reckless abandon. However, she still seemed to enjoy running around and tossing a few leaves on Dad here and there.

Eventually, she refused to get back in the pile of leaves, instead leaning over Dad and clearly instructing him that swinging on the swing was what she wanted to do next. Dad complied with her wishes, and after spending some time on the swing, a second attempt at playing in the leaves brought more lukewarm reactions. After giving up, Dad started to rake the leaves into the woods and call it a day, only to find Lexi laughing and loving every minute of Dad raking the leaves downhill and into the woods. Guess playing in the leaves wasn't too fun, but watching Dad labor in the afternoon sun was an absolute blast for her!

Jessie Pic

Our good friend from college, Jessie, came into town to meet Conner. Conner has been smiling lately, which has been so much fun. He passes out smiles quite a bit these days, and as you can see from the picture, Jessie benefited from this new ability.

Jessie was a great help, even watching Lexi while I had my 6 week post-csection check up. All checked out fine with me, and it was nice to go to the doctor without trying to entertain a bored 2-year-old. I decided I could have Jessie live with us full time, but she sadly needed to get back to her own kids. My kids are missing all the books she read, games she played, and smiles they shared.

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween with our skunk and pepper! Lexi loved her costume and was excited to put it on again. Conner didn't like his so much, but he quickly fell asleep and then was fine with it. Plus, it kept him warm.

We took Lexi to a couple houses in the neighbor-hood. She loved the attention she got as well as the candy she received. She has really gotten the hang of taking the candy and getting it into her bag.

Then, we went back to our house to hand out candy. We started a fire and had some snacks on the driveway. We didn't all last long, but Lexi enjoyed seeing all the kids come by in their costumes. Good thing there weren't any scary ones!