Snow Day!

We got snow! This is a rare treat (as in, maybe once every 7-8 years), so we took full advantage. The guys had me up at 6:30 to start outside! It was so much fun, especially with Matthew. He kept saying "it snowed a whole, whole bunch. Big time, mom". I'm sure our Chicago friends would disagree with the "whole bunch" part, but it was still fun.

My favorite picture - he is such a sweetie.

Dad and Matthew
I'm not sure how he feels about sledding...

Snow is clean, right?

Mom and Matthew

Ready...

Aim...

Fire!

Snow storm

Our favorite snowman

Family picture - you get a real sense of

Matthew's joy at being asked to take

this photo. I will use this against him in

later years....

A cold kiss

Lots of outside pictures...

Fieldtrip!

One of our best fieldtrips is to see our local Mazzio's Pizza. They invite the kids to tour the kitchen and help create a class pizza. The kids love it! It had just started to snow that morning, and everyone was so excited.

Preschoolers, a crowded parking lot and snow....

not my favorite combination!

In the restaurant kitchen

Matthew and Dad

We LOVE the flexibility of Alan's job. He

gets to visit nearly every fieldtrip.

Matthew and his friend. This was the first

time Matthew caught a snowflake on his tongue.

He was super excited!

Big Boy Room!

Matthew has officially moved out of the nursery and into his big boy room! This was all Alan's idea, and I have to admit I did not think it was a good one. There were a hosts of reasons, but one of the greatest being that managing this pregnancy doesn't leave room for much of anything else! But we forged on, and Alan did most (OK, almost all) of the work. The end result was one organized room and, much more importantly, one very happy little boy.

I found this plague and had to have it. This is the cry

of my little boy's heart! Whether he's conquering giants,

rebuilding a Lego space station or sailing the seven seas

as a Pirate captain, he has his adventures just for the sake of

having them. It's a reminder that sometimes just

enjoying life is more than enough.....

My favorite part of the room - Alan built

this to display his art work and pictures of his

grand and great-grand parents.

(MAN - his initials)

Here's one half......



Here's the other! Matthew has been
in charge of making his own bed - he's
very proud!

Baby!

We went for our first sonogram and found out we were farther along than we thought! Instead of the "blob with a heartbeat" we hoped to see, we saw little arms waving and tiny feet kicking. I can't even tell you how amazing it felt to see our already much-loved baby moving. Thank you, thank you, for your continued prayers. So many of you prayed Matthew to us and we are so thankful.

We can't wait until July to bring you home...

The round blurry blob to the right is the head.

This one definitely looks like me.

The baby's heartbeat...hearing that was unreal!

Matthew's reaction? "Hmm..that's cool, mom" and he
handed the picture back and walked off. He is such a boy!

I'm surrounded....

...by men, that is. Even our cat is a boy. I actually don't mind this at all. In fact, I wouldn't be a bit disappointed if our newest member is another one. However, they do tend to gang up on me. This is especially true if I dare try to do anything that even borders on "girly". This became evident when we bought pajamas for Matthew. He was having a PJ Day at school and needed something warm. Perfect. I'll buy new PJ's for school and he can wear them Christmas morning. I'm picturing a collared plaid ensemble, perhaps a pocket on the chest for monogramming his initials...As usual, I was vetoed. The result? See for yourself:

That's right - camo. My child will be wearing camo on

Christmas morning. Sigh. (And, yes, Daddy has

been banned from future clothing shopping trips).

More Holiday Pictures:

Our finished tree

Matthew hanging the first ornament.

This was the first year he was really excited about the tree.



Of, course, the Gingerbread house was even more exciting.

Snow!! OK, snow flurries. But, we'll take it.

Matthew at his Thanksgiving Feast for school.

Happy Thanksgiving - Part one

We spent the first half of Thanksgiving week at my mom and dad's. I love, love to go "home" and we had a lot of fun. As always, Matthew had a blast playing with his cousins.

Katherine loving on mom...she loves her Nana.

Mr. Jacob - about to turn one!

Amie got an early Christmas gift - the TV. I don't know,

do you think she likes it?!

All the cousins -

Caleb, Matthew, Mason, Katherine, Jocelynn and Jacob

Happy Thanksgiving - Alan's family

We spent Thanksgiving with each of our parents - and loved it! These are the pictures from our visit with Alan's family.

Caught on camera - stealing icing! Alan's parents

hosted a birthday party for Matthew.

Matthew and Aunt Addie at her house.

(It's a little blurry - 4-year-old boys do not stay

still for long...)

Great Aunt Kaye and Uncle Robin

Nauman boys - PapaBear (Alan's dad),

Matthew and Daddy

Grandma with all the great-grandbabies!

Luke, Emma, Matthew and Ava