It's Christmas time here at the Kerl household, and we've been busy preparing for the holiday. First, while mom was here we posed for a Christmas card picture in our Sabres jerseys! Not an easy task to get everyone smiling and looking at the camera at the same time, so we settled on this one...the best out of about 20 pictures.
We've had plenty of outings, mostly for shopping purposes. We've been to the mall a few times, back and forth to Target and Wegmans too. I'm slowly starting to get my bearings in the area, and can even go places without the GPS. A few weeks ago, Cheri and I had a mommy's day out and went to the movies to go see "Breaking Dawn". While we were gone, the boys watched the kids, and made dinner for us when we got back! (Mark made dinner, Kevin babysat).
The cats are getting adjusted to the new surroundings too... Phoebe became a dare devil the other day when she jumped onto the decorative window above the front door, to chase a moth. We weren't sure how she was going to get down, but in the end she just jumped allllllllll the way down. She's continued to jump up there from the railing a few times.
The weather has been so nice here! It's been about above average for the area every day we've been here, with the exception of three days, and it's hardly rained at all. So basically sunny and warmish. I still decided that Rian needed an ear-flap hat like the one I made for his sister.
The only yarn I had to match the multi colored stuff was this fuzzy blue one, and I think it looks really cute. Kevin thinks he looks like a Muppet.
Regan is having much more fun playing around and with Rian, now that he can sit up and interact with her. They play side by side with one another, and Rian finds her an unending source of entertainment.
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| "Who turned out the lights?" |
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| Phoebe keeping my laptop warm...or vice versa. |
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| Regan's self portrait - pretty good for two |
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| Phoebe's favorite spot for nap |
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| Rian learned how to hold a sippy cup! |
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| Playing upstairs with Mater and Lightning McQueen |
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| Regan wanted me to take a picture of her and her "friends"; Manuelo the praying mantis, Lizardy the Lizard, and Clifford. |
This past Wednesday we had Kevin's office party to go to. I actually drove downtown (well, Cambridge) by myself with the two kids, and didn't need the GPS! Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so we only have one photo of the night. Cassandra asked me if she could hold Rian, and she sat like this for the longest time! She loved it, but she finally said "this baby's heavy" and she was done. She and Rian really enjoy each other, it's really cute. Also, we discovered that Rian's first tooth had emerged!
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| No Christmas in complete without Aunt Kay & Aunt Lu cookies! - we made a batch last weekend |
So since we are going home to Buffalo for Christmas, we decided that Santa would come to our house this weekend to give the kids their gifts, so we don't have to lug them to Buffalo and back. We just pretended that it was Christmas Eve night, and told Regan that when she got up in the morning Santa will have her presents under the tree.
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| Our tree after Santa came to visit |
We took video of the kids waking up and opening presents, but I didn't take any pictures until after breakfast, when the playing of the toys commenced. Regan and Rian got the perfect amount of stuff this year, and very few things involved batteries, which made everyone happy.
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| Regan's favorite gift - a digital camera |
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| The Loot |
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| Handsome Man |
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| Busy Girl |
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| Spritz cookies - made with my cookie press |
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| Gingerbread Playdough, for the neighbor kids - they brought us baked goods when we moved in |
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| Homemade Cinnamon Rolls - for "Christmas" morning |
That night we had Cheri, Mark, Cassandra & Baby Mark over for a big "Christmas" dinner. Ham, and all the fixings, plus plenty of wine for the mommies. We all had a great time, and exchanged gifts with them. We are so lucky to have great friends nearby!
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| look ma, i can cook! |
Yesterday Rian got his second tooth! They are still too small to clearly take a picture of, but I think by the end of this week they should be erupted enough to see. Now we are all getting ready to shuffle off to Buffalo for Christmas number two!
