Pictures from the holidays

This year the holiday season was so much fun.  Samuel was really into putting up the Christmas Tree/Hanukkah Bush.  He loved looking at all the ornaments and figuring out which ones were his.  He was really excited about lighting the Hanukkah candles too.  By the end of the 8 days, he pretty much had the prayer memorized.  Joseph also picked up on the prayer too and tried to say it along with us as well.  

On Christmas Eve, Samuel was so excited to make cookies for Santa (he requested snowball looking cookies) and he wanted to leave carrots for the reindeer and chocolate milk for Santa because that was his favorite.  You can see pictures below of all the excitement.  

The boys did really well this year with gifts.  Their grandparents and Jonathan and Laura spoiled them.  They got most of their gifts from them.  We gave them one gift on the first night of Hanukkah and then a dollar each additional day.  Then on Christmas, we put stuff in their stockings and they had a few really small gifts.  

Although I really love Christmas and Hanukkah and know how excited the kids are for those holidays, I decided after this year that we are only going to give them a few gifts for each Hanukkah and Christmas.  Their birthdays are in February and March and I think birthdays are much more important then Hanukkah and Christmas.  I would rather give them more gifts on their birthday.  I think that holiday is much more important.  

My parents came in town for the last night of Hanukkah and we had a big feast.  Jonathan, Laura and Haidyn came over and we celebrated by eating, lighting candles and opening more gifts.  It was a great way to end all the celebration.  

Then several days later, we celebrated New Years.  Justin, Charisa, Vance and Vaughn came over.  The kids played so hard.  Joseph was worn out by 8:30 and then Samuel couldn't make it past 10:15.  They played and the adults were able to relax and have some adult time, which we don't get very often.  It was a wonderful way to bring in the new year.  I feel like 2012 is going to be a great year for us.

I have signed up for two half-marathons already.  I am doing one in April in St. Louis with my mom.  Then I am doing a second one in October in Detroit with my mom and Dave's mom.  I am so excited that we can do it all together. 

Here are some pictures:

The kids on Christmas Eve.

Samuel sitting with the chocolate milk, cookies and carrots.  He was SOOO excited.

As you can tell, he was going crazy.  Joseph was trying to steal the food.

So nice to have a little family time!

It snowed while my parents were here and my mom made the fist snowman of the season with the boys.  They loved it and so did George.  She ate the carrots off of the snowman's face.

Another picture with the snowman and Samuel

Last night of Hanukkah

Another attempt at a family picture

All the kids freaking out about opening gifts.

Samuel and Joseph sitting on their new big pull out chair from Savta and Papa.  This has been a wonderful gift.  Samuel has even had one sleep over on it already.  

Samuel got a drum set from my parents.  The kids are actually really good at playing.  I'm impressed.

The kids with Savta on her birthday.  

My parents with the kids.  

All the kids on New Years Eve

Updates

Wow.  The days just fly by.  This is the first time I have had a moment to myself all week.  I am writing this blog and watching the finale of X-Factor, which by the way has turned out to be a great show.  

We have been so busy the past few weeks. We had Oma and Opa in town this past weekend and celebrated an early Christmas.  The boys got lots of wonderful gifts, which I have tons of pictures below.  We also went to breakfast with Santa at the Missouri Athletic Club.  It was our first experience and it was clear that this is a big traditional breakfast with a lot of families.  I know we will go back for many years because it was a lot of fun, but  I was a little stressed out because I never know how long the boys will behave themselves.  This year Samuel was so excited to see Santa and tell him what he wanted.  Joseph on the other hand, freak the f-out.  He screamed so much and would not let go of me.  We weren't planning on having a family picture, but that is what we got.  There was no way Joseph was letting me put him down, plus Simone was fast asleep.  Oh well, maybe next year.  

Not only did we have a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with Oma and Opa, but they were also so amazingly helpful in watching the kids that I got to go to Bikrum Yoga twice and Dave went with me one time.  I think I am obsessed.  I love the way it makes me feel.  I sweat like crazy and I smell so absolutely disgusting afterwards, but it is such an awesome workout.  Since I started last Wednesday night, I have lost 3 pounds.  I thought at first it was water weight, but it hasn't come back.  I am just feeling great and Dave loves it too.  

Simone is getting so big.  She is smiling all the time and is such a happy baby.  Today when we went over to Justin and Charisa's new house we were walking down into their basement and Simone laughed out loud for the first time.  I have no idea what she found funny, but it was so cute to hear.  Then I put her down on the floor to change her diaper and she started to roll over from her back to her stomach.  She almost made it completely over, but her left arm got stuck underneath her and she couldn't figure out how to kick herself over.  Anyway, I could not believe it.  She must love the McFarland's new house because she had two huge milestones over there.  

On Tuesday morning Samuel woke up and his eyes were super red and crusty.  I thought for sure he had pink eye in both of his eyes, so I put drops in them and kept him home from school.  In the afternoon, I put Joseph in the tub and Samuel in the shower.  After Samuel got out of the shower he started complaining that his ear was killing him.  He got a really high fever and was grabbing his right ear.  I called the doctor and luckily they had late office hours that night, so Dave was able to take him in.  It turns out, he had a double ear infection and his right ear was super infected.  The infection caused his red blood shot eyes.  As soon as he had one dose of the medicine his eyes completely cleared up.  I have never heard of such a thing, but thank goodness he didn't have pink eye.  I hate having to hold him down to put the drops in.  

This morning Samuel woke up and had splotches all over his body.  I thought for sure he had an allergic reaction to the medicine, but within 30 minutes the spots went away, so then I thought it was just a heat rash or something.  It was gone all day until about 2:30 in the afternoon and then all of the sudden it came back again.  I called the doctor and he wanted to see us right away to see what was going one.  Turns out he really is allergic to the medication.  His ears had completely cleared up, so the doctor said to not give him anymore medicine and see what happens.  Samuel has never had a reaction to any medicine so this was a whole new experience for me.  He is feeling fine now and hopefully our house is done with sickness.

Tuesday night was the beginning of Hanukkah.  Since Samuel felt terrible he wasn't in a great mood.  We lit the candles and didn't do much else.  On Wednesday night we lit the candles and the boys got rain boots.  Samuel was so excited about his Batman boots, but Joseph was freaking out about putting on his Thomas the Train boots.  He wants nothing to do with them and screams anytime we try to put them on his feet.  I hope he gets over that soon, but that will be a waste of money if he won't wear them.  Tonight I made a nice dinner and the boys each got a dollar.  It has been such a nice holiday season so far.  I am looking forward to having a nice family weekend with all the kids and Dave.  

More pictures to come, but for now here you go:

Making the gingerbread house.  Joseph wasn't too happy that he wasn't able to help out with the frosting.

Simone starting to smile

Another smiling picture

The other night the boys put their shirts over their heads and ran around, they were having so much fun.  I love to hear their laughter together.

Just look at the Samuel's face, pure joy.  I love it!

Another funny picture

Oma holding Simone in the back in her cute dress.  She is looking at her big brother.  

My handsome Joseph.  Such a cutie pie.

This is such a great picture of Oma and Opa with the kids.  The kids did such a great job of sitting for the picture.  

Here we are with Santa.  You can see how absolutely crazy it was.  Simone sleeping, Samuel smiling and so happy and Joseph screaming.  It was quite a scene. 

Samuel enjoying the cool airplane that Opa made for him.  That plane is made completely by hand out of wood.  It is really cool.  Obviously you can tell, Samuel loved it.  

Whatever Samuel has, Joseph has to have too.  Luckily Oma and Opa were smart enough to get Joseph a plane too.  

The boys got flashlights to play in their new tents.  Joseph is imitating the Statue of Liberty here.

Opa made Joseph handmade block to build with.  

Here is Samuel playing in his new tent. 

A rare photo of me with Oma and Simone.  

Simone in her holiday dress with Opa.

I just love this picture because every time I look at it I laugh because Simone's face just cracks me up.  Hilarious.

This is a much better picture of them all.  Love it.

Fist night of Hanukkah.  

Although Samuel felt terrible, he still smiled for the camera.

Long Time

This is the longest I have ever gone without posting.  Thanksgiving kind of snuck up on me and I can't believe that it is already December.  We have been super busy.  So many things have been happening so it gets a little overwhelming at times to just sit down and write stuff down.  

I am going to try to catch up a little bit now.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  All the family came in town, Savta and Papa, Oma and Opa and Jonathan and Laura came over too.  We ate tons of food and Joseph ate pretty much every single thing we put on his plate.  I think he is a fan of Thanksgiving food.  He did have a little bit of a tummy ache at the end of the evening from all the rich food, but he enjoyed every minute of eating it all.  

We are expecting our first niece any day now.  She has acted like she was going to make an appearance several times already, but nothing yet.  We know for sure that little Haidyn will be here by next Tuesday, unless she comes earlier.  

Joseph started military crawling around Thanksgiving.  He is super mobile now.  Still military crawling, but nothing else.  He is trying to pull up on things, but overall gets frustrated and screams for us to pick him up.  He is an eating machine.  Just this week he finally started picking up food and feeding himself.  He has been able to pick food up for a while, but he would always miss his mouth when he tried to feed himself.  He has now become successful, which is good for me because I can put Cheerios or puffs on his high chair and he can entertain and feed himself at least for a little bit.  He is becoming very verbal.  He says "Dada" a lot and "Mama" when he wants me to pick him up.  I feel like he is trying to say other words as well.  He repeats a lot of things we say, which I find amazing because Samuel was not this verbal at all at this age.  Joseph is 10 months old today and is growing like crazy.  I can't believe how big and wonderful he is.

Samuel is such a character.  He is really picking up Spanish.  He can count 1-10 (with a little assistance, but he knows the numbers).  He calls his teachers by name and knows very basic commands and words. It is pretty exciting.  We are starting to have some serious difficulty with bedtime.  We have had the same routine for a long time now, but he just fights going to bed.  We have experienced the most amazing meltdowns at bedtime lately.  I could actually applaud him for the excellent show we receive every night at bedtime.  He is testing him limits like crazy and really becoming quite a negotiator.  He doesn't really care too much about time outs, so we are figuring out new ways to discipline him.  We are always learning thanks to Samuel.  

Samuel is a very emotional sympathetic and sensitive kid.  He is very aware of other peoples emotions and feelings and is very caring.  I have learned that about him and I will have to keep that in mind as he gets older.  I have a funny story about him that occurred yesterday.  I went to pick the boys up from Mother's Day Out and Samuel was wearing a different shirt then what I dropped him off in.  Now I am used to picking him up and seeing a different pair of pants because every though he is potty trained he is still have random accidents.  So, I asked his teachers what happened.  They said that Samuel was sitting next to his friend at lunch time and his friend (Aiden) sometime has an issue with eating his food too fast and he will start gagging.  Well, yesterday Aiden ate his food way too fast and gagged and then threw up at the table.  They said it wasn't very much, but Samuel looked over and saw that Aiden had puked and he started gagging and then threw up all over himself.  I was not surprised at all because Samuel has this strange thing with throw up.  If he sees Joseph spit up at all he starts gagging and acts like he is going to throw up too.  Like I said, I have a very sensitive little boy.  FYI, if you have to throw up and you are around my son, please try to make it to another room or else we will have two people throwing up all over the place.  

Okay, here are a few pictures from the last few days.  I am off to clean up the house a little bit and try to exercise before I have to pick Samuel back up from school.  

First night of Hanukkah and Joseph first time lighting the candles

Not the best picture but they were happy

Samuel modeling his first night Hanukkah gift, alligator slippers

You might see some of these pictures on our holiday card.  I just love this one.

The boys!

Joseph's 10 month pictures

Samuel was modeling again today.  He won't sit still for pictures unless I tell him to try to strike a pose.

Last Day of Hanukkah

Tonight is the last night of Hanukkah and we will be celebrating by going to another birthing class. Hip Hip Hooray! Dave and I celebrated this year by lighting the candles and eating lots of cookies. I also gave him an early holiday present. I couldn't keep the present hidden, so I gave it to him. I got him a really nice watch. He really needed one and since he surprised me for our anniversary, I wanted to surprise him. He thought I was going to be giving him a CD, so that made it even better.

Charisa asked me to post a little somethign about Hanukkah, so I have put the history below for everyone to read. The best part of Hanukkah is the 8 days of presents when you are a kid, hanukkah gelt (money and playing with the dreidel. enjoy the history.

The History of Hanukkah

Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (which is November-December on the Gregorian calendar). In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" means "dedication."

The holiday commemorates the rededication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Jews' 165 B.C.E. victory over the Hellenist Syrians. Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods.

In 168 B.C.E. the Jews' holy Temple was seized and dedicated to the worship of Zeus.

Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed them, but most were angry and decided to fight back.

The fighting began in Modiin, a village not far from Jerusalem. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias' family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.

Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the holy Temple, and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. This gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle.

Happy Hanukkah!

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, so I hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful evening. It is so early this year, I haven't even had time to think about gifts. Oh well. At least I have 8 days to think of something.

I am not very motivated lately. Very difficult to get anything done.

Tomorrow I have my doctor's appointment. Not really looking forward to the blood drawing and drinking some nasty drink. I will let you know how it goes. I am also not looking forward to getting on the scale. I already know I have gained a ton, so why do they need to know the actual amount? Thanksgiving and holiday cookie making hasn't really helped with the weight gain either.

15 work days left, thank goodness. It is getting more and more difficult to get up in the morning. Have to continue to think positive!