Happy New Years!

We didn't do anything special this New Years. Chuck had to work so we had some friends over for dinner and to hang out and party!

They say you can party hard. Well, these kids played hard! They were wiped! But they had fun! Hope 2012 brings everyone lots of wealth, good health, and happiness. Happines will be easy to come by with these kiddies. Happy 2012!

Sesame Street Live!

The other day Grandma surprised us with tickets to see Elmo Live at the Rialto. Gracie has seen this two times before and loved it. This was the first show for Evie and Presley. I wasn't sure how they would do because they are only 2 but the show was at 10:30 and I knew it would be over by lunch so we could eat and head home for naps. Evie and Presley are into Elmo right now and love him.

We got to the Rialto just in time. Evie and Presley wore their new Elmo shirts they got for their birthday from Uncle Frog and Aunt Christie. We were running late because someone had to put on some of her new makeup. Can you guess who? We found our seats and Evie and Presley wanted to sit in their own chairs.

They were so excited. Once they saw the Sesame Street gang come out, they opted to sit on our laps to watch the show. I wasn't sure how Gracie would like it but she loved it. She isn't too much into Elmo or Sesame Street lately and keeps talking about going to see Disney Princess on Ice again which is coming back in like a month. Presley just kept saying "Elmo, Elmo." Wheneve Elmo wasn't on stage, he was like "Where Elmo go?" This chick jsut sat back and relaxed with some Teddy Grahams and enjoyed the show.
This boy loved it the most! Everytime they were singing, which was most of the show, he was bopping along to the beat. He loves his music! He also clapped every song too. So cute. If you are ever wondering whether or not to take your kids, I highly recommed it. It is the perfect length and the song and dance routines keep the kids engaged and entertained. Sure their were kids there crying and some left early but it was worth it for us. You can bring snacks into the theater and that helped us too. We would totally go again.This makes me wonder.....Sesame Street was going strong when I was little. How much longer will it continue to last?

Zoo Lights!

The day after Christmas, we headed to one of our favorite places, Brookfield Zoo for the zoo lights!

Everyone else had the same idea that we did. oh well, that place really goes all out with the lights. It's really pretty to see! It wasn't too cold, not as cold as last year anyways and bundled everyone up.
We rode the merry-go-round a couple of times. Good thing too. The first time, Gracie got stuck riding a rhino in the back and she was not happy. So we rode again and this time she got her favorite panda bear! Bub rode the gorilla! He was waving at everyone as he rode by. We walked around for a little bit and then got some hot chocolate. Then it was time to head for home. The zoo is pretty with all those lights but I still prefer it in the summer when it's warmer and easier to walk around.

A Christmas Miracle!

Have you ever wondered if Christmas miracles happen? I can tell you that they do. It happened just a few days ago to my cousin Diane and her husband Bill. You see, they have been on the adoption waiting list since last winter. It was a long road for them to be able to get even there. I remember when she told me the news that she was offically on the waiting list and she had such gleam in her eyes. There was no doubt in my mind that she would get her baby someday. No one knew when or where but I knew it would happen for her. Fast forward to last Wednesday. Last Wednesday night, 3 days before Christmas, they got the call of a lifetime. Their adoption agent called and said "we have a baby for you!" But that's not the kicker, they told the to come to Springfield, Illinois the very next day! Now they live in St. Charles, Missouri so that's not far considering their baby could have been from anywhere in the country! They made a midnight trip to Target and headed home to pack. My cousin said she was just too excited to even sleep! The next day, they drove the few short hours to the hospital in Springfield where their baby boy had been born the day before. I guess the birth mom had chosen them earlier in her pregnancy but it wanted it to be a surprise. What a surprise that was! They briefly met with the birth mom and then met their little angel which they named Logan Robert. He is perfect. He weighed in at 6.9 pounds and is 20 inches long. He was discharged from the hospital on Friday. They stayed the night in Springfield in order to make sure the paperwork went through and then on Christmas Eve headed up here! Their families are up here and it works out that they have to stay here a couple of weeks because you have to stay in the state the baby was born until the adoption is finalized. They surprised everyone by showing up to midnight mass with a carrier containing their little bundle of joy! How exciting is that! When I talked to her on Christmas Day, she told me that they got the call that they had a baby and that the baby was with them! Talk about a Christmas miracle!

So here is the lastest addition to our growing family.....Logan Robert and the new Mommy and Daddy!

I was lucky enough to be able to mee him already. I quickly got some of Presley's newborn clothes and a bouncy seat and took it over to them. Talk about scrambling to get things together. Now they get to register and get everything they need! My mom got to meet little Logan too! So Diane and Bill, I know it's been a long road for you and I am so happy that you finally have a baby to hold in your arms. There is no other feeling in the world than to hold that precious bundle. I know you two will be the best parents and baby Logan is a lucky little guy because no 2 people will love him more. I believe he chose you to be his parents because he knows that you will provide the best environment to keep him safe, happy, and healthy and most of all, loved! Congrats to the new Mommy and Daddy Meyers!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! And it was a merry one indeed. We had so much fun and made lots of good memories. So much in fact that it took forever just to download the pictures. Santa did stop at our house and it was perfect.

Santa may have gone overboard but that's just the way it goes. They are only young once right?

Gracie got her princess castle and a fold-up school. Presley got a train table and a cleaning trolley. Evie got a baby nursery with a baby alive dolly. the yall got a puppet show theater with some puppets. Check otu the look on Bub's face when he saw his train table. He was so excited. (I found this back in the fall at a garage sale for $15!) Evie went right for her baby nursery and started playing mommy! Doesn't she make a cute little mama? Presley set off right for his trains. He also loved his cleaning trolley. In fact, he went for that first. If you don't know my son, he loves to clean. He takes after his Grandpa. He was busy sweeping, mopping, and vaccuuming all morning! He even took the mop and broom with him to Grandma and Grandpa's.

Evie took time off from being mommy to come drive some trains too. This girl was excited too. In fact, she woke me up saying "Mommy? Santa's been here. I got my princess castle and Bub got a train table. Come see!" Millie even hopped up on the train table to see.

The proud new mama of her baby. She makes sounds and talks as you feed her.
Gracie was so excited about her Tangled purse. She even had some princess jewelry in it!

Evie was happy to get an enormous Tinkerbell pen.

Presley and Evie helped Hazel and Millie get out the goodies from thier stockings.
Gracie set off right away to play school. Her name is Miss Gracie. She even got a new purple pointer!She found the North Pole on the map too!

Evie took her turn with the mop.
And then we started tearing into the presents. This year I learned a few things....not only did I assemble all Santa gifts before Christmas Eve, I also had 3 separate wrapper paper patterns for each kid. It worked good and there was no confusion of who's was who's.

Gracie got a couple of new games including Princess Yahtze!
This year was so fun because the little ones knew what to do. And before each new present was opened, Bub made sure to throw away the wrapping paper before getting a new present! I hope he loves cleaning this much when he gets older.
Gracie got giraffe limbo too!
Evie got some little people.
Preslye got some Thomas the Train Megablocks!


Santa even left Daddy and Presley semi-matching shirts. Daddys' says "Elvis" and Presley's says "Presley."
Bub got a Cars suitcase (which one of my favorite mom's at school gave me). It was filled with cars and a mat that has roads all over it!
Gracie also got a new panda bear! Her favorite!
Each of the kids got some new puzzles.
Gracie got a new cupcake maker and a Princess cookbook that has all kinds of good recipes that are geared towards each of the Princesses. One of her favorite gifts I think. She can't wait to bake!
She got a Wizard of Oz puzzle.












Evie got some new Tinkerbell coloring pagesGracie got a new Princess scrapbook set.Mama had to stopand check on her babies. What a fun morning we had at home.Gracie put on a quick puppet show before we headed over toe Grandma and Grandpa's. Gracie also tried Millie's new toy on. After we ate breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's, we watched the Disney Christmas Parade for a bit. The kids were so excited and when new characters came on, they would shout out thier names and dance around.
Then we got to dig into our stockings at Grandma's house. Santa goes way overboard over there to!Santa even leaves everyone a reuseable bag because all the goodies just don't fit inside the stockings.
Presley got some new cars. Evie got some great goods too!Grandpa even got Facebook for Dummies as a joke because he still doesn't even know how turn on the computer, let alone know what facebook is!We took our picture by my parent's tree before we opened presents there. Since Santa also visited there, Gracie got some new makeup! ANd a new Jessie outfit! Evie's turn was next. She got some new toys called "Pop-up Pals." She even got a Little People castle. Now the girls can't fight over their kingdoms.Bub got some Handy Manny sets. He loves it!Auntie Amy made Gracie some menus for when she plays restaurant. They are really cute and have all kinds of pictures of different foods inside. She needs them because.....you'll see why.Bub got another Handy Manny set.Evie and some new Pop-up Pals set.And then Gracie got a big present from Auntie Amy.... a talking Princess kitchen! The cookbook talks to you and tells you how to make yummy things!Auntie Amy made these (from Pinterst) for the kids. How cool are those? And Dad got this cool new jacket to promote his awesome buisness of Bill's Plumbing! Grace even designed some new handkerchiefs for Grandpa. He uses them all the time!Oh, and she made him a new coffee mug.
I made this for my mom from Pinterest...a calendar! It's paintchip samples, cut and glued behind the glass and wallah... a wipeoff calendar!We had fun opening more gifts.After gifts, it was time to play in the paper. Maybe next year Santa could just leave a pile of paper!
It was such a great Christmas! Everyone was way too generous as always and now I need to think about how to make all these things fit inside our house! Hope eveyone had a Merry Christmas! This was the best one yet with the kids!