Happy Eighth Birthday Lydia!

Lydia turned eight years old today! She will have her party with friends next week, but she enjoyed her birthday with family today. She received an American Girl doll. If you can't tell from the pictures, she was happy about it :-) She enjoyed dinner at Red Lobster with Grandma, Grandpa, Dad, and Morgan. (Seth wasn't feeling well.)

Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year! The kids had lots of fun. They enjoyed opening their gifts Christmas morning from Santa and Mom and Dad. Lydia and Seth got DS's which they've enjoyed. Lydia's other favorite was her cake baking set. Seth received the dry erase board he's wanted. Morgan loved her pet shop tent and princess things. Sydney enjoyed her exersaucer. The kids also enjoyed going to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas evening.

Making (and Eating) Chocolate Chip Cookies

We made yummy chocolate chip cookies this afternoon!

Sydney Four Months Old/ Lights at the Toledo Zoo

Sydney turned four months old today. If you look closely, you can see her head sticking out of Mom's coat :-) We went to the Toledo Zoo to check out the lights this evening. We had a great time.

Updated to add: Sydney went to the doctor for her 4 month checkup. She's 24.5 inches long and 14 pounds 6 ounces. She's doing well.

First Snowman of the Season

We've had a very mild winter so far with no measurable snow. We finally received a couple inches of snow last night. Seth and Lydia were excited to make a snowman this afternoon.

My Big Sister Threw Up On Me...

Last night Mom was feeding Sydney at 3 am, and Morgan was also in Mom and Dad's bed. Lydia and Seth have had stomach viruses this week, and the virus hit Morgan. She threw up all over the middle of the bed including Sydney.

Poor Morgan has thrown up over and over since then. Mom and Dad made her a bed in their floor which she liked. She's a very pleasant sick person.

Sisters

Seth Names the States

We bought a kids' book of states around Thanksgiving, and Seth decided to learn them. He learned his last one yesterday. He does a great job for a four-year-old. Mom and Dad's favorite states are "Nabottom"= "Nevada," and "Guntucky"="Kentucky."

Visiting With Santa And His Reindeer

We went to Dad's work to see Santa and his reindeer. They drop by every year. Seth and Sydney sat in Santa's lap. Lydia had to leave early to go Christmas caroling with friends. Morgan LOVES seeing Santa but is terrified to get within ten feet of him. Similarly, Morgan loved seeing the reindeer from outside the cage, but she wasn't fond of being in the cage with the reindeer.

Our Gingerbread House Building Party

We had some kids over this morning to build gingerbread houses.

Lydia's New Room

As part of our room changes since Sydney was born, we moved Lydia into Morgan's old room.

Congratulations Bryan and Sasha!

Bryan and Sasha got married today! We are all excited for them!

Dad's Work Christmas Party Attire...

Last weekend Dad mentioned that his work Christmas party was coming up soon. Mom asked if he needed to buy anything new to wear for the party since his work parties in the past have usually involved dressing up. He assured her that he had something he could wear under the sombrero and tree skirt that he was supposed to wear for the party. Dad brought home his party outfit last night, but he was unwilling to pose for pictures. However, Morgan was happy to model it.

Weekend in Pittsburgh

We went to Pittsburgh this weekend to visit Uncle Bryan, Sasha, Grandpa, and Grandma. We had a lot of fun.

We went to a bird aviary for the morning on Saturday.

The kids had their picture taken with Santa and a live Penguin. We decided to let Sydney sleep instead of waking her from her nap for the picture.

Seth enjoyed checking out Uncle Bryan's phone.

Sydney met Uncle Bryan for the first time.

The kids enjoyed the fish at at hotel.

Only a little boy...

would take off his dirty, stinky socks at the end of the day and put them on the baby's play mat. Poor Sydney :-)

Our Tennessee Trip Day 3

The last day of our trip we had Thanksgiving at Mema's house. It was great to see everyone!

Our Tennessee Trip Day 2

We went to Uncle Michael's house for the second day of our trip. The kids enjoyed seeing the dogs and building a teepee. Nana had fun in her spot in the back row of the van. With four kids in carseats, there isn't a lot of room for extra people.