Tis the season

Last week, Jeannie and Callie joined us for some gingerbread house decorating! Given the kids ages, Jeannie and I were expecting to do most of the decorating ourselves, but we couldn't have been more wrong! Both Lucas and Callie sat quietly at the table decorating their houses, with only a small break in the middle to dance to some Christmas music. By the end of our afternoon, both kids were covered in frosting from head to toe and we had two of the best looking gingerbread houses I've ever seen!

Lucas and Callie hard at work!

Helping out his girl.

We love this sweetpea!!

Lucas is taking his decorating very seriously!

Two of the best looking gingerbread houses I've ever seen!

A little snuggle time before our friends go home.

A visit with Santa

Last night, Steve and I took Lucas to visit Santa Claus. We always say Lucas doesn't know a stranger, but after our visit last year, we didn't know how well Santa would be received. To our surprise, Lucas walked straight up to Santa, nearly cutting all the other kids in line, and climbed right up onto his lap. When Santa asked what Lucas would like for Christmas, he responded, "a firetruck!" No surprise there!

I love comparing this Santa picture to the previous two years. It amazes me how much he has grown!

This year's Santa visit

2 years and 2 months old

Last year

1 year and 2 months old

(One of my favorite pictures ever)

Luke's first Christmas

2 months old

Friendsgiving

One of the things that I am most thankful for in my life are my friends and their children. So to let everyone know how thankful we are for them, we hosted our first "Friendsgiving" last night. It was a blast. Lucas and I spent the day preparing a traditional Thanksgiving meal. We had pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing and a turkey (which Lucas described as looking like a "big bug"). After everyone ate dinner, we had turkey cupcakes for dessert, did a little craft with the kids and then it was bedtime for these kiddos!

Proof that I spend too much time on Pinterest.
Our turkey cupcakes!

Lucas tested and approved!

Holiday "poppers" are a family tradition of ours

Thankful for these 4 kiddos!

Lucas was so excited this morning to find this pilgrim hat left over from the poppers!

I love that he finds himself so funny. He laughed until he had tears in his eyes. #thankful

Wedding Bells

Lucas is two and two years olds are completely unpredictable. So, as soon as Steve's cousin expressed that she would like Lucas to be her ring bearer, all I could picture was Lucas jumping (since that's his favorite mode of transportation) down the isle most likely half nude or maybe even fully nude, depending on the day.

The day Lucas' suspenders and bow tie arrived in the mail, I was so excited. I had my camera ready so I could send out the adorable picture to all of our family and friends. Well, Lucas hated the suspenders and hated even more the bow tie. He ripped them off faster than I could snap a picture (this is where my vision of a naked toddler going down the idle comes in). This, I thought, is going to be interesting.

The night of the rehearsal, Lucas did significantly better than I had expected. He sprinted full speed down the isle- BUT he made it down the isle. We were very pleased! However, the morning of the wedding, things got interesting. Lucas knew we were up to something when he saw the bow tie and suspenders laying on the table. The mild tantrum began- Lucas refused to shower and wanted to be held at all times. I did my make up with Lucas sitting in my lap and blow dried my hair while holding him on my hip... it appeared walking down the isle was unlikely. Eventually, we managed to get him into his adorable bow tie, suspenders, dress pants and Converse shoes and we headed out the door.

We got to the brides house and she looked stunning. Lucas was mesmerized. That morning while pictures were taken, he sat quietly in the door and watched her. When it was time to head towards the pier, Lucas was not far behind as he chased the bride down the street. He loved everything about the morning, the balloons, the wedding gown, the bride's flowers, and was fascinated by the limo that came to pick her up.

We got to the church and Lucas was still in awe. He quietly stood with the wedding party at the back of the church until it was his turn to go. As he started down the isle, Lucas gently placed his ring bearer pillow in the first pew saying "Night night" and continued slowly down the isle holding the maid of honor's hand. He walked straight to the end of the isle, no jumping and left his bow tie perfectly in place. Proud does not even begin to describe my emotion, he did amazing.

The wedding was beautiful and was followed by an extremely fun reception. Lucas and his Dziadzi were the first ones on the dance floor and the last ones off. They danced their hearts out. It was a beautiful celebration with family and friends and we could not have been more proud of Lucas!

"Look mama!"

He could have sat here all day, watching the bride.

Such a ham. 

Steve and his mini-me

My heart.

Mission accomplished- nap time!

Great evening with family.

Uh oh- mom caught the bouquet and dad caught the garter!

Apparently the garter has to be removed by your teeth- Lucas cover your eyes!!

Dziadzi and Lucas dancing the night away 

Thanksgiving

Two of my favorite things in life are family and food, making Thanksgiving one of my favorite days of the year. This year we traveled to Chicago to celebrate with family and friends at my sister Allison's place. After nearly having our holiday plans ruined due to bad weather, we were so thankful to arrive in Chicago Thanksgiving morning, just in time to start cooking :) We spent the day catching up with family, eating too much food and finished off our night with a Raven's win! #mykindofholiday

First things first- blood mary's :)

You would never have known it was her first time hosting Thanksgiving!

Beyond thankful for this little boy.

The boys hard at work...

Our annual turker carver- my brother K.J.

Love these two! #siblings

Ravens vs Steelers game
We tried to turn Aunt Allison into a Ravens fan- didn't happen.

Hanging on Grandma!