Over the river and headed up North

to the grandmas and grandpas we go... We have checked the weather forecasts several times as last year's experience was not one I plan to repeat (ice and slippery roads, roach motel with a three week old baby, restaurant that closed for good a few days after we ate there...).

Tomorrow seems to be the most advisable time to travel to Iowa, and our families do not live in the northwest portions of the state so we are thinking all is a go. There is one very excited little boy in this house who will be highly disappointed if we are delayed.

Merry Christmas! We can't wait to get to the land of snow and do some SLEDDING!

I take it back...

Caleb just had to make a liar out of me. I wrote the post about him, commenting on his easy-going, lovely disposition. It needs to be amended.

Caleb is easy going when he's comfortable. When he is tired or teething he is very vocal about his displeasure. Jonathan fussed when teething, but NOTHING like this. Caleb has been irritable about his molars and the subsequent tiredness for about three weeks. There are better times: in the morning he is generally content although more clingy. From 3:00-7:00pm he is not nice. One day he cried almost straight for two hours. Not the screaming that he did as a baby, but he was crying/whining continually (even when being held).

I'm posting this because I want to read this in a few years and smile. I also want to see how Caleb's highly expressive personality is going to play out. I'm sure teething hurts him NO MORE than the average babe, but he is darn sure we're all going to know how poorly he feels. And, we're going to suffer with him.

Caleb, I imagine we're not often going to wonder how you're feeling about things. We're just hoping you learn to tone it down a bit.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

For my oldest, who thinks the very best part about birthdays is the cake, having cupcakes for Jesus' birthday left quite the impression. And, resulted in lots of questions. Good ones.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Digging in the Dirt

Why buy lots of gifts for the munchkins when they dig contentedly in the dirt for 45 minutes? After the gift opening fun was over and we had enjoyed a pancake breakfast, Jonathan and Jamie headed outside for a little fun. I joined them after Caleb went down for a nap.

"being outside is worth all of the clothes it requires!"

Unwrapping

Saturday morning was our family Christmas celebration and we started with the Christmas story and then we opened gifts...

Jamie did not get the kitchen done. Just a little bit too much time spent working, and then we decided to have fun together on Wednesday in lieu of working on it. So, it will likely be a late January gift. The boys got the food and the shopping cart that was going to go with the kitchen and were very content to "make dinner" with that stuff.

Trains and more trains

Our Wednesday started with a trip to an area train display that was spectacular. There were live plants throughout the display and both boys were delighted with the moving trains and intricate displays.

On the move

Jonathan didn't think that this photo was such a great idea.

Jamie got ahold of the camera... "cheese!"

Our day continued with Vietnamese food, naps for both boys and then dinner at a wood-fired pizza parlor. What a wonderful day!

The Excitement Builds

Aside from the highly unfortunate fact that Jamie has now worked six out of seven Friday nights (the night off since early November was the Friday after Thanksgiving), we have had a rather enjoyable week. Photos from Wednesday are coming, but we had a wonderful family day as Jamie took a spontaneous (and much needed) vacation day just to hang out with us.

Tomorrow we celebrate Christmas with our little family. Can't wait! I'm stealing an idea and putting food coloring in the pancake batter for breakfast. We'll read the Christmas story, open our gifts, relax, eat some take-out for dinner and then gourmet cupcakes for dessert (for Jesus' b'day). The promise of a wonderful day...