Christmastime Downtown

Mark took this past Friday off work so we could head as a family into downtown and catch a few of our favorite holiday traditions. It felt a little funny celebrating Christmastime in 50 degree weather, but that didn't stop us. We spent most of our time exploring at the Museum Center. We took in the train displays (and ride, too!) at Holiday Junction, and we made our second visit into see Clifford and his friends. We finished by having lunch on Fountain Square and wishing it was cold enough to try out ice skating (which Z has been asking to do ever since he saw it on Charlie Brown's Christmas) Maybe we'll add that to our day downtown next year!

Wishing you all a Merry & Blessed Christmas. Check back later for photos of Christmas morning!!!

The bottom picture is our youngest in an outfit his Nonna recently sent down from Minnesota. Thanks Nonna, he looks so cozy and cute in it!

NEW BABY!

Our third son arrived Sunday morning. Here are a few family photos. We'll send all his stats in his birth announcment. He is a handsome little guy just like his two big brothers and their daddy!

Our Little Trick or Treaters

The boys had a wonderful time dressing up this year to head out for the Halloween holiday.
Our little "Crocodile" and Penguin were very cute and brought home lots of candy!
Happy Halloween!!

Take me out to the ballgame!

We took a half day and took our boys to their first ever baseball game. The day included beautiful, mild, non-humid weather, a grand slam, home run fireworks, a win for the home team, and singing the famous baseball tune, non-stop the whole way home. Priceless.

My big brother did it

This was one of our oldest little guys first pieces of artwork after being given dry erase markers for his easel. Of course he had just been told to use the markers on the white part of the easel only. So much for a three year old listening to his mom!!

Birthday Party Fun

Well, this is actually our first of two birthday parties this month. Our next party will be celebrating both our boys birthdays with our families. This party was just for our older monkey who had a Curious George party with some of his friends and their families.
Grandma made the adorable Monkey under the Palm Tree Cupcakes, they turned out so cute!
Little people and big people alike had a good time.
Thanks to all who helped us celebrate.

Birthday Trip to the Zoo

Daddy took the day off and we headed for the Cincinnati Zoo, thanks to Zoo passes we recieved as a Christmas gift! We enjoyed the family time seeing animals, a little water play and even a family ride on the Merry-Go-Round, notice the baby in the back pack!

Lunch was maybe the craziest part of the day as the birthday boy was surrounded by peacocks who just wanted some of his sandwich. At one point there were 5 brightly colored birds trying to get a piece of our lunch. We finished the day with a train ride and some ice cream, had a great time!

Home Remodeling

It's been a busy month for our house and us. After pressure washing the deck and concrete our new back door finally arrived and was installed in a day. Then, came the big project, installing hardwood floors! It kept us busy for a whole weekend, of course the boys and I had to spend the whole weekend out of the house, which kept both grandmas busy, and the grandpas helped with the manual labor!!
Here's a little progression of what the project looked like, including breakfast on the floor.
The job is mostly complete now, save a few finishing details, and looks beautiful!
We thank everyone who helped us with both important parts of the job.

First Tumbling Class

Well, I think we'll work backwards, but I'm hoping to update you all on what our little family has been up to these last few months we've been out of contact.
These pictures are brand new, taken only this morning at our little guys very first tumbling class. With only two other classmates the teacher was able to give lots of attention and fun instruction. So much so that "we" wanted to stay for the next class.

Other Christmas outings included our trip to Zoo Lights, which started early enough in the evening that were able to see a few animal exhibits before it was dark and enjoy the grounds all lit up after dark.

And, we really enjoyed our family trip to the Museum center which included the train displays at Holiday Junction, and a ride on the kid-only train. Choo-choo!!

Pre-Christmas Activities!

Once both of our little one's (notice one critiquing from the floor, the other helping daddy decorate) agreed the tree was trimmed to perfection they both enjoyed their first trip to visit with Santa, and of course, put in their wish lists.

The last three photos show our annual Christmas trip to Krohn Conservatory and of course include at least one of us in front of a "Poinsettia Tree".

Hope you enjoy our look back at some classic Christmas moments.

Christmastime!

"Little" Holiday Fun!
The cooking festivities kick off the day after Thanksgiving, marking the beginning of the Christmas season. "Cookie Day" held a few surprises for those of us who have been participating from the very beginning. But, new comers like these handsome little chefs really enjoyed the time with family and sneaking a few pieces of candy while their gingerbread houses were under construction. After our little guys intro to gingerbread houses at the start of the holiday season, he was sure to point them out to us wherever we saw pictures or other houses. After the marshmallow snowman and the first candycane went missing from our humble little abode, we learned to keep our house up high, and out of the reach of little fingers!!

First Big Smiles

We were getting ready for a bath, hence the bare babe, and couldn't pass up the chance to get some footage of his first big smiles (almost 3 months old).

Well, we are sadly behind on our blogging, so I am still catching you up on our Fall activities. We enjoyed a tasty brunch and then a trip to the corn maze for our cousin's birthday celebration (in mid October) and had some great Fall photo ops in these first two photos.

The third photo is a picture of our little one, his mom, and his GREAT-Grandpa!! What a treat.

Our cowboy and indian enjoyed their first Halloween together.