Cheers!

We went to Shelby & Bob's house to celebrate Christmas on Sunday. Shelby made a special dinner for everyone and we exchanged gifts. The kids had their own table with wine glasses filled with apple juice. David LOVED it. He toasted Kelsey and Kaitlyn several times.

As Usual - Monkeys Were on the Bed

We seem to end every get together with the kids jumping on the bed in their pajamas. I wonder how long these mattresses will allow this to continue! Ryan was very pleased to be allowed to join in the fun for a little bit. Silly Monkeys!

Warning Warning Warning

Ryan does chose not to follow the Do Not Ride warning on his blocks wagon this morning. He thought he was very mischevious when he climbing inside and demanded he be pushed around his room. David was only happy to assist in this rule breaking activity.

Preschool Holiday Program

Tonight was the Holiday Program at David's preschool. They have been practicing all month and we've heard David singing Christmas songs all month. He loves to sing at home . . . only at home. When we asked him if he would sing tonight he told us "no mommy, I'm shy at school." Here's David and many of the other children in his class no singing. It was a wonderful night and we loved listening and watching all of the children. David mostly stood and looked around and then he started swaying and pushing his friend AJ back and forth until he fell down. He got up again and was laughing. He had a fun night.

Game Night

It was game night at our house tonight. David and Paul played Memory at the table. Ryan sat in David's booster seat and played with his Noah's Ark and watched the fun. David is still learning this game so we only play with a dozen or so cards. (And we let him cheat and turn all the cards over to match them.)

Is Twix a Dog or a Chair?

Ryan and Twix had to keep an eye on Paul while he was outside this evening. They sat at the door like this for at least 5 minutes. It was enough time for me to notice it, get the camera, take pictures and then stand and laugh at the two of them for a while. Twix is so tolerant of these boys. She lets them crawl all over her. Here's Ryan really leaning in to get a good look at Paul. It looks like Twix is doing the same.

Busy Guy That Santa

We went to the Santa breakfast at Wegmans this morning. This was the 4th time this week that we've gone to see Santa! David told me after breakfast "Santa is having a very busy week!" Ryan does not want anything to do with Santa. Here are the Brown boys with Santa at Wegmans this morning. David loves eating at Wegmans. He really enjoyed the bacon this morning.

Christmast Party

We went to a part with our Mother's and More group on Friday afternoon. They had it at a local preschool in their all purpose room. It was perfect for running around and playing. Santa came to visit and brought all of the kids books. David also picked out two books to donate to the One Book For Every Child fundraiser.

Doctor's Visit

David's 3 yr appt and Ryan's 1 yr appt was this past week. Ryan had to have 3 shots plus his flu shot! We saved those for last. David is still very tall (85%) and very skinny (12%) and Ryan is still very tall (96%) and average weight (53%). Both boys were great and David sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star the whole time the nurse was giving Ryan the shots and the whole way home. It really does stop Ryan from crying and it's super cute.

Videon Open House

Videon hosted it 11th Annual Holiday Open House last night. We all enjoyed a night of touring the new facility, seeing the families of Paul's coworkers and great food. There was even a special guest there for the kids with presents! David and Kelsey delivered and early birthday present to Nana Sharon for her to enjoy in NYC next week. They were very excited to give her the card.

David and Kelsey love being to gether. They were holding hands and hugging all night long. It's so much fun to get them together.

They enjoyed watching Alvin and the Chipmunks in the theatre room.

Potato Heads

It was a potato head morning at our house. David worked on his potato head while I was putting Ryan down for his nap and then we worked on another one for me after I was done. The potato heads had a very busy morning as well - grocery shopping for mac and cheese and grapes! David kept them busy with his imagination.

Making it Merry

Paul and David went out this morning in the frigid temperatures to cut down our Christmas Tree. It's beautiful! We spent the evening decorating the tree and watching football. David was so excited to decorate this year. He really got it and was eager to get every ornament on the tree. We had to move him around a bit though so that all the ornaments didn't end up on the same branch.

Ryan sat by the tree for a long time before he was brave enough to touch it. He has been pretty good about staying away from it, but we don't have any ornaments on the bottom for him to grab.

Indoor Playground

We went to the indoor playground this morning to meet up with some of our playground friends and let the boys run around and blow off some energy. They loved the wagon - I think I circled the gym at least a dozen times (I burned off quite a bit of energy too!).

Ryan liked testing out all of the riding toys. This horse was his favorite. He was in and out of it several times over the two hours that we were at the park.

Turkeys

David, Kelsey and Kaitlyn made Turkey hats to wear at dinner for Thanksgiving. They were adorable at the table with their little hats. Too Cute!

Monkeys

David and Kelsey pretended to be monkeys jumping onto the air mattress back in our spare bedroom on Thursday night. This helped burn the birthday cake sugar off. They were so full of energy. Each time they jumped from the bed to the mattress they held hands. David was really into jumping onto the mattress. He was having a blast.

I LOVE Kelsey's hair in this picture - what a Wild Woman!

Ryan Likes . . . no LOVES CAKE!

We celebrated Ryan's 1st birthday tonight after Thanksgiving dinner. After some quick instruction from David, Ryan was ready to dig into his very own little birthday cake.

Ryan had no problem eating his cake all by himself. He loved it!!!

After using just one hand to eat, Ryan realized he could get more cake in his mouth with both hands. He was loving it.

Happy Birthday Ryan!!! I think he had a happy birthday cake experience. We had to pull him out of his chair and drop him right into the tub. He was covered in icing.