New Year's Eve

Today, was Sarah's last day as a nanny for Avery and Ryan as she is starting nursing school in January. We will all miss her as she has been great! Avery and Ryan have been with her 5 days a week since they were 13 weeks old and less than 10 pounds each. Sarah has good friends in the neighborhood and hope she will stay in touch and best of luck to her in her new career. Our new nanny, Nan, starts on Monday and Sarah will spend 1/2 the day with her to show her the ropes!

Avery, Sarah, and Ryan
















Today is also Ben Carlson's 1st birthday! We headed over to the Carlson's at 4 for his birthday celebration. Ben did great with his cake and looked like a pro! Avery and Ryan had fun playing with the other kids and all the toys. And, we enjoyed hanging out and the birthday cake and taco bar. A fun way to spend New Year's Eve! We put Avery and Ryan in their jammies and did bottles before heading home and we were able to just take them right to their cribs. We enjoyed some fondue and Champagne to bring in the New Year (on the East Coast).


The Birthday Boy

















Giggling GG




















Avery



















Ryan checking out Ben's cool rocket

1st Christmas

Andy has been off all week and was able to go snowboarding, run errands, clean up his office at work as Sarah was able to come during the day, as I had to work Monday - Wednesday. We went to Thai Basil for dinner on Christmas Eve with Avery and Ryan. They did pretty well. We were actually there last Christmas Eve when Avery and Ryan were in my belly! How things have changed! We enjoyed Sour Cream Coffee Cake for breakfast which was a tradition at my parent's house growing up. They started on their stockings a few gifts, then it was time for breakfast, and then a morning nap, and then more presents. We had a nice Christmas day and got all their toys put together so they could play with those! I made Christmas dinner which included pecan crusted chicken, sweet potato casserole, and a green bean casserole. It was good!



Checking out their stockings

















Avery in her 1st Christmas bib






















Taking a break for some breakfast















Ryan checking out the presents















Mommy with Avery & Ryan
















Avery & Ryan in front of the tree
















After their nap and ready to open more presents (Ryan just posed with Avery as his crib is next to Avery's)
















Raleigh sniffing out the new present

















Ryan with his new elmo cell phone





















Avery showing off her teeth






















This present is almost as big as them
















Ryan enjoying the Busy Zoo from Aunt Shyloe and Uncle Greg and cousin Taiten



















Avery likes moving the beads





















All the presents from Hanukkah and Christmas
















Enjoying their new books and a laugh together

More Presents

Avery and Ryan got some more practice opening gifts. It is amazing how much has changed since Thanksgiving. They are now both crawling everywhere, pulling up, and cruising. Avery has pretty much been first at everything and Ryan is about a week behind her.

Avery and Ryan playing on their laptops from Uncle Josh and Aunt Brandy and cousins Bailey and Emma.
















Ryan and Avery opening their gifts from Sarah. The love the dump truck, balls, and snap beads.














Avery and Ryan in their jammies and Avery taking control over the remotes



















Ryan and his favorite ball















Avery in snowman jammies in front of the tree















Avery in her cute Christmas jumper from Grams (I think she looks a lot like me at that age)

Snow Football

Saturday, Andy played in the annual snow football game, but without the snow. Avery, Ryan, and I met up with them at a pub near Wash Park when they were done with the game to grab some lunch and catch up with everyone before the holidays as most of the wives and kids were able to join.

Austin, Ben, Kyle, Matt, Bill, and Andy

Mommy and Ryan

Checking out the menu














Checking out the pool table after a diaper change
















Saturday night, we went to Andy's boss's house for a holiday dinner. She invited all her direct reports and spouses over for appetizers and dinner. It was a great evening and the food was delicious.


Sunday morning, we went over to the Angelier's for brunch. Natalie, who just turned 2, did a great job of sharing her toys with Avery and Ryan. We enjoyed hanging out and the food was great. Sunday afternoon, we all took naps!

More Kiawah Pics

We forgot the charger to our camera, but luckily Shyloe had 2 cameras with her with plenty of battery power. Here are some of our favorites from her.

1st Hanukkah

The first night of Hanukkah was Friday night. I had made the comment to Andy that there is a lot of 1st Christmas stuff, but I hadn't seen any 1st Hanukkah stuff so I figured we would have to do without. On Saturday, we went to the pediatrician's office to get Avery & Ryan a H1N1 vaccine. We hadn't even thought about getting ourselves one, but since they had it, we figured we might as well go ahead and get it. The H1N1 cases have seemed to slow down and hopefully it stays that way. After getting shots, we grabbed lunch and then swung by Babies R Us to get a few supplies. On the way to the checkout, we came across Hanukkah onsies on clearance and just had to get them. We got one that said "My 1st Hanukkah" and one that said "Mommy lights up my life". We then went to a naming ceremony for Natalie Krumholz. She is 5 months old and is a cutie! It was a nice ceremony and we were able to enjoy it baby-free as Avery and Ryan were sound asleep in their car seats in the office. We haven't been carrying them in their car seats very often, but this time it came in handy, but they sure are heavy! Avery and Ryan got to open their Hanukkah gifts before they went to bed. They received a play kitchen and new shoes from Andy's parents. Andy's Uncle Jimmy sent them some cute stuffed animals that also can be used as a pillow and have a blanket inside. Our neighbor, Christine, also brought over cute teddy bears with star of david sweaters for them. Andy picked up some food at Tony's and we had a nice Hanukkah dinner after the kids went to bed.

Avery and Ryan playing in a box














Avery waking up from her nap














Avery and Ryan not sure if they are excited about the bags or what is in the bags














Checking out their new kitchen















Happy Ryan! (he looks so much like Andy at this age)



















Excited Avery!




















Ryan not sure what he is supposed to do















Avery loves her new multi-purpose tortoise



















Ryan taking control over the TV














Showing off their Hanukkah onsies