Crisp Autumn Eve 3 Column from TCBOTB

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.....

... but please stop sometime soon - considering weather has already cancelled TWO holiday celebrations for us already this year. Today we were supposed to go down to Grandma Diane's (Chris's mom - in Monticello) but with this weather warning we figured it wasn't worth the risk of getting down there and not being able to get back. But it has been rescheduled .... so now our holiday celebrations are lumped together: Xmas Eve (Wed) we head to Gma Bonnie and Gpa Dean's (Hoglund). Then Xmas Day we will spend with my side of the family (Gma Chris, Gpa Gary, Terri, Uncle Dennis.... AND, I am excited to say that MY Uncle Denny and Aunt Sandy and cousin Chris MacKay will be joining us this year (Shannon's family). YAY.... Christmas just isn't the same without those guys there. Then Friday we will head to Monticello for the day to celebrate our rescheduled Xmas with Gma Diane and family. Saturday we will have a day off - to which I have already asked Gma Chris to watch the boys for us so Chris and I can get out for either some sushi (I'll only eat the cooked stuff everyone - see later for explanation) or a movie. Then Sunday we will head back up to Brainerd but stop in Monticello again for the rescheduled extended Hoglund Family Xmas at Great Gma Hoglund's place. Should be a busy, but fun filled few days there.
And though this snow is prohibiting our travel, we didn't let it get the best of us..... we decided to take advantage of it and get the boys all dudded up in their snow gear and play in the snow for their first time. MacKay immediately took to it and started crawling all around and playing it in. Oscar did not know what to think and just stood there. He fell down a couple of times and got pretty upset about it... but he was a trooper and cooperated for a few good "First Romp in the Snow" pictures for us. We'll have to get them out there again so they get more used to it - tho I don't know that I will EVER be able to talk Daddy into it considering the "dressing" part of it pretty much wiped him out. :)
Some other news..... I did my (our) first Xmas cards this year. I spent forever trying to get the "perfect" picture to put on it, but then ended up accepting that I was never going to get that perfect picture. We have MORE than enough to choose from so we ordered those up and most of them are already shipped out. For those of you we weren't able to send to - I pasted an image of our xmas card below.
The boys are still doing really well. It is hard to believe that it took MacKay 2 extra months to start walking at this point... he has gotten so good at it so fast. Oscar still is more sure on his feet, but MacKay is a fast learner. Grandpa Gary and Terri stopped by this last Tuesday to see the boys now that they are back from AZ for a month... and Gpa Gary was AMAZED at how big the boys had gotten and all the new things they have learned since last he saw them 2+ months ago. They love to play with our big bouncy ball too.... I catch them laughing and giggling and throwing that thing all over the place and chasing it down. They also were playing their own version of hide and seek or peek-a-boo behind furniture the other day. They play SO well together - which will help in the months to come (again, must continue to read for an explanation of this). MacKay LOVES to play with their cell phone that they got from the Hehir's for their birthday too. He does a REAL good impression of Mommy on the phone with that and just yammers into the thing. They both love that toy and even love talking to Gma Chris on the REAL phone when they can sit still long enough for that. And just this morning Oscar apparently figured out how to use the water dispenser on our fridge. Chris did the breakfast shift with them this morning and had given them some Kix cereal to eat and was talking with family on the phone (about the weather and having to cancel our celebration today)... and all of a sudden heard thunderous giggling from the boys and looked over to find Oscar pressing the lever much to his and MacKay's delight. By the time Chris had realized this, Oscar already had a 3ft puddle of water on the floor. Nice. Must remember NOT to have their high chairs right next to the fridge. They get into everything lately.
Well.... I'll finally get to the news I keep hinting about. Many of you already know this as we have shared this information with close family and friends.... but over a week ago Chris and I found out that we will be adding another to our little clan. Needless to say, we were shocked. I'm not shy and can admit it..... I was sort of banking on the fact that I was SUPPOSED to be infertile and couldn't get pregnant. BUT... I also have to admit, the doctors (fertility and OB) both told me that pregnancy alone, let alone the hormone treatments I did for IVF, could easilly alter my body chemistry enough to "fix" the issue we had before. I just didn't believe them. It was a shock and hard to take at first.... but we're getting excited about the notion of adding another to the ranks. I should say I am getting excited - Chris jumped on that bandwagon pretty quickly, it took me longer to come around - then again, this IS happening to ME and MY body again :) No really though, it is a blessing. Guess someone in control up there wanted us to have another one whether we were ready or not... so we'll take it as a sign that this is the right course for us. We have an appt with the OB on Monday Dec 29th so we'll know more then - due date, validate there is just ONE in there this time - hee hee. I must say I am excited to get to see my OB again. He's just adorable, funny and SO wonderful - couldn't ask for a better person to get me through this again.
Well as always the pictures..... Enjoy.
Pictures of the boys with one of their best buds..... Angus. Angus is SO good and patient with these boys. They crawl all over him, poke him, invade his space... and Angus just tollerates it.

MacKay and Oscar got dressed up in the Henley shirts that Gpa Gary and Terri got for them for their birthday this year. They came with matching pants too, but the pants don't quite fit them yet. When are the kids clothes companies going to get this right anyway? :) But they were very playful and enjoyed their visit. They also brought gifts for the boys from my cousin Sarah (Greg and Claudia's daughter) - a snowman and reindeer Ty plush toy and snowman and reindeer books to go with them. They LOVED them (especially the Ty tags).... thanks Sarah. Great gift. And Grandpa amazingly (cuz this rarely ever happens for us as well) got both the boys to sit still while he read "The Roly Poly Spider" to them - what a cute classic picture of the boys with their Buppa.


MacKay and Oscar's First Romp in the Snow (12/20/2008)
Just a couple of up close pictures. Susie Commers (susieknits.blogspot.com) made adorable hats to go with their winter coats this year... but we also go these hilarious hats for the longer periods outside (ear flaps and chin latch).


MacKay loved crawling around in the snow and pushing it around and even ventured to try climb the little mound we had off of our patio. He dove right in and got white washed quite a few times.

Oscar was much more cautious and just stood there taking it all in. Eventually he would lose his balance (I'm reminded of the classic image of the child that falls down in their snow suit and can't get up and can't help but chuckle) and fall down or back... and as you can see didn't enjoy that too much

We finally just plopped them on a snow mound and got some pretty cute pictures. I think MacKay was actually trying to eat the snow off of his mittens.



And lastly just an image we would like to share of our 2008 Christmas card. If you didn't get one, it's more than likely cuz we didn't have an address for you.... so get us that and we'll put you on the list for next year :)

Will post more after the holiday celebrations and after our doctor appt to fill you all in. Have a WONDERFUL Christmas everyone. Miss you.
BTW for those of you on Facebook.com - come find me as Jill Kamp Hoglund

No comments: