Jamie and Beth's baby shower

Yesterday Anna and I went to Beth and Jamie's baby shower.  We had a lot of fun.  Anna was very silly there but also very happy and pleasant.  A lot of people made comments on how good she was.  I really want to have well behaved kids.  Of course I think my kids are smart and exceptionally good looking, but there really is nothing that makes me more proud than when my kids are happy and have fun while also being respectful to adults and other kids and pleasant to be around.

Anna with Gramps

Anna and Nana

Jacob and Debbie

Jacob looking pretty handsome.  Jacob is a very agreeable baby.

Jamie and the mommy to be.  (sorry the pictures weren't clearer guys..at least you look happy in them!)

Buzi and her girls. 

Grammy and Anna and a cookie.  

Mamas and the Mama to be.

Anna got an early birthday gift at the shower.  When she opened it she said she loved it and when we got home, she wanted to put it on right away.  It's so much fun having a little girl that loves to dress up.  (she's right now looking at this and saying she wants to wear this right now).

Lukey was pretty thrilled with a few gifts that he got from the shower too.   He didn't go to the shower, he stayed at home all day in his Batman pajamas and went grocery shopping with Da.  Today when I dropped him off at school, one of his high school friends asked if he got a new haircut.  Lukey said that he did and that he liked it because it was cute.  Then he kept rambling on and on to the girls about Batman and how Anna likes to drink chocolate milk, etc.  He was being so charming with the high school girls.  They looked very happy to chat with him.  

Paczki on the potty

Nana brought over some Paczki from Hamtramck for the kids. They were a hit!  Anna still has all her meals right now on the potty.  That's how she watches movies too.

Anna and the Potty

We decided that it is time for Anna to start using the potty!  She's used it a few times before but not on a regular basis at all.  Today is her first day that diapers are allowed only at sleeping time.  She's doing pretty well.  She uses the real potty and the pink potty and seems to want to either be sitting on a potty or wee wee pad at all times.  And she's been happy, so all is good so far.

Lukey has been an amazing and very supportive big brother during the potty training so far.  He wants to do everything with his sister.

She decided that she wanted to eat her snack on the potty and Lukey wanted to eat by his sister.  They're being really good.  So far..

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, we took the kids to see Spongebob at the theater.  It was Anna's first time seeing a movie at the theater.  They had a lot of fun!  For dinner, we made a feast of filet mignon and mashed potatoes and corn and pink cheese (port cheddar).  Lukey's favorite was the meat.  He ate a lot!  Anna liked the pink cheese.  For dessert, the kids and I made some chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels and marshmallows.  Everything was really good.

Tim's Valentine's mustache.  It makes him look even more like Joaquim Pheonix in his role in "Her".  (We watched the movie after the kids went to sleep on Friday and you were right, Nana-looks like Tim...) 

Dress up day

This week, Lukey's class had a day where they had to dress up like something they want to be when they grow up.  Lukey refused to be anything but a builder.  I made him a tool belt out of a string from his old booster-high chair seat and a Meijer wine bag.  He looked so professional!

Tim took my camera in and there isn't anything wrong with it.  I think some of the settings got off and pictures were looking wrong.  Probably all my fault.  So, I was trying to learn how to take pictures and Anna kept wanting to pose like this.  She did not like me taking pictures of cats.

Lukey eating a burger after a hard day of "work".

Playing in the snow

 After obsessing over it, I really do think something is wrong with my camera and I need to take it somewhere to get it fixed, but for now, the pictures will just be slightly blurry and not focused right.  

It was really snowy on Sunday, so we went out to play and walked down to the golf course to sled.  It was really cold, but really fun.  Anna and Lukey liked going down on a sled together.  

Lukey singing "Frozen Heart" as he chops the snow.

Worst photo shoot ever

Paige and Jacob came over to play today.  We tried to get a picture of the cousins together.  I don't know if it was the closeness to the window and blending into the light or if it was just because she was not looking at the camera or that I really don't know how to take pictures, but Paige is blurred in every picture.  At least they were all good about sitting in the same area for a few minutes.  Lukey even tried to hold Jacob.  That didn't work out too well, but he did try.

A new cousin!

Baby Jacob was born yesterday.  We got lucky with having school cancelled today so we could all go and meet him this morning.  He was very handsome.  Anna was very excited to meet him and wanted to get dressed up in her pink dress (as always).  The kids kind of liked seeing him but had more fun looking out the window in the hospital room and playing some form of Batman.  

He's a big boy.  8 1/2 pounds.  He has some big lips too.

These pictures seem to have at least one of the kids looking blurry, but they're still kind of cute.

Happy New Years!

Rob, Steph and Paige came over to celebrate New Years Eve with us.  We had a champagne toast that the kids got to join in with by having sparkling grape juice.   

Paige and Anna

Christmas Party at Jamie and Beth's house

This picture was at our house. Lukey and Anna like wearing their new robes and slippers from Santa.  It keeps them warmer in the morning.

Jamie and Beth had a party for the extended family.  The kids had a lot of fun playing with everyone. 

The girls all got fancy new dresses and insisted on changing immediately.  Anna wants to wear this dress pretty much every day now.  We tried to get a picture of all the little kids but it didn't really work out.  These three were being pretty accommodating but Paige and Hailey weren't really in the mood for a photo shoot.

We tried to get them all on the couch but still couldn't get Paige in the picture.  You can see Richie in the background though trying to keep his girls happy!

The biggest hit of the night was the indoor snowball fight. This went on for a long time and was fun for all.