Michael is TWO!!

Our little man is growing up!  He turned 2 years old the week before Christmas.  He is now 33 inches tall, a whopping 25 pounds light, and starting to talk up a storm.  His vocabulary is getting bigger every day - his favorite words seem to be NO (of course), Santa - ho ho!, and choo choo.  He also loves all things "gucky"  :)  That's our boy!!  Michael is enamored with trucks and cars and trains, and received a bounty of them for his birthday (much to his delight!).  He also loves doing whatever his big sister Hannah is doing, including dressing up in tutus and superhero capes, and stealing her babies when she's not looking to "take care" of them (wrapping them up in blankies and running in circles).  He loves to be read to before naps and bed, but doesn't have the patience to sit still for a story any other time.  Our super snuggler LOVES to climb under blankets with Mommy and Daddy on the couch though!!  Here are a few pictures from his big day - we celebrated with presents at home and a special dinner out (his party is coming in January):

Hannah felt it was her job to help Michael open his presents AND be excited about them  :)

Modeling some new clothes

 

Checking out the new truck book

Using his new cars to make a train. . . .

Modeling his new "McQueen" slippers

They're a hit!!

Ogling all of the new trucks and cars - where to even start??!

Enjoying a birthday sundae

Big bite!!

Hannah didn't think she needed a spoon. . .

A Few Early Christmas Festivities

The month of December has been full of Christmas festivities - we have decorated our tree, been to the lighted parade in Lynden, had a couple of Christmas programs, and been to a couple of Christmas parties  :)

Ballerina Hannah decides where to put the ornament

Michael did a great job of helping this year!!

Michael loves to listen to the nativity scene play music

Lynden's lighted parade

It was chilly out, but we all enjoyed staying warm with our hot cocoa and watching the floats go by

Hannah waving to the people on the floats

Hannah's preschool class took a fieldtrip to an elementary school and got some "big kid" help decorating gingerbread houses  :)  This is her finished product

Angel Hannah getting ready for the Sunday School Christmas Program

Hannah's class singing at the start of the program

Christmas Program #2 - Hannah's preschool class did a great job!!

Daddy said that Mommy was ruining perfectly good chocolate  :)  But Hannah thought making peppermint bark was great - especially the "cleaning up"!!!

We tried to get a picture of all the kids at this Christmas party. . . . . we tried  :)

Our next party was a Christmas Dinner playdate - here was some of the spread, mostly courtesy of our gracious hosts - yummy!!!

 

The kids were a LITTLE more cooperative at this party - they all sat still, but some had undressed themselves, and most refused to smile for the camera in a protest to having to sit still rather than run around  :)

Silly Kids

Some days, Hannah is sure that she is a princess ballerina - and Michael usually joins her  :)  Other days she is a super hero out to save the world - and again, Michael joins her.  And of course, Michael REALLY loves the days when Hannah is a chef and "cooks" for him. . . . .

Introducing Baby Button

Baby #3, due to arrive in early April, has been lovingly dubbed Baby Button by big sis Hannah, who explained to us that "the baby lives under Mommy's belly button!"  Michael loves to pat my tummy and give the baby kisses.  Hannah can't wait to have a new baby in the house (I'm guessing she doesn't remember when we brought Michael home - the wriggling, screaming bundle of joy that is a newborn can NOT be what she has in mind!!)  :)  Hannah has been pretty insistent that Baby Button is a girl ("I just NEED a baby sister - another brother?  another Michael?  No - I NEED a sister!!") , so today we brought both kids along to see pictures of the baby and find out if Hannah would get her wish.  Hannah's comment about the baby on the ultrasound monitor - "it looks like a whale!"  Hmmm. . . . . .   Nope, pretty sure that's not what's in there!!  But to our joy, it IS a baby girl!  And so, our first picture of Meghan Grace:

Let it snow!!!

This past weekend we got an early Christmas present here in WA - SNOW!!  It started falling on Friday, and we woke up on Saturday morning to a winter wonderland  :)  Hero was ecstatic to be able to chase snowballs around the yard, Hannah couldn't wait to get her snow gear on and try her hand at making snow angels, Daddy got right to work shoveling the driveway. . . . but Mommy needed to do some fast talking to get Michael interested in going out in the cold, wet stuff that had taken over the backyard!!  He liked watching it fall (called it bubbles and giggled a lot), and once he got over the shock of how chilly it was outside he "warmed up" to the idea of playing with some snowballs, but he was eager to get inside and drink some hot cocoa!!  Hannah, on the other hand, took her mug to go  :)  She spent much of the weekend outside playing in the snow, and was very sad when the windchill took a major dive (it was -7 on Tuesday!!) and Mommy said we were all staying in!  If we are all lucky, we'll get some more fluffy white snow for Christmas, preferably without the below zero temperatures!!  :)

Picture Time

We took the kids to the park to meet up with photographer Kerri Holleman for some fall pictures of the kids.  Last year, Michael couldn't stop smiling for the camera, while Hannah literally had Kerri chasing her in circles to get a decent shot.  This year, Hannah was ready to strike a pose, but Michael gave us his oh-so-serious look no matter what we tried. 

Forts are fun!

Daddy helped Hannah and Michael turn our living room into a fort, and the kids quickly made themselves comfortable in it  :)

 All that construction (and clean-up after) left Hannah and Daddy in need of a nap!!