We - are - FAMILY

The other day, I asked Hunter to entertain Kinz while I ran downstairs to change the laundry (this is the plus side to having such a huge age gap...built-in 'babysitter'). When I returned, this is the scene I walked into....

'First we stack the blocks.....'

'Then we knock them down....'

'Wow, what a neat concept...'

'Yeay for us...'

Paul and I have always wanted more than one child, but when we finally got pregnant with Miss Kinz, I spent a lot of time worrying that the age gap would prevent a strong bond like one we both have with our siblings. Well, I was WRONG. The bond between siblings is undeniable, no matter what stands in the way.

It is truly an honor to be the mother to these two beautiful children, and to help guide and foster one of the most important relationships in both of their lives

Our own Christmas

This past weekend I had what turned out to be 'the good fortune' of working on Christmas day (more on that later). Yes, it is not ideal, but we made it work. Kinley, of coarse, has no idea about the magic of Christmas and Santa so she made it easy and Hunter didn't care when Santa came just as long as he did come. Well, Santa must have received our letter because the morning of Christmas Eve we woke up to a very pleasant surprise.

(Hunter's pile is to the left and Kinley's one measly present is to the right.....Don't worry, she still got very spoiled)

Hunter grabbed his stocking from his bed (Santa always pops in to lay the stocking on our bed and whisper a Merry Christmas to us as we sleep....I know kind of creepy, but it is a tradition my parents started when I was a kid). Anyway he woke up at 6, and then of coarse his excitement just spread quickly through the house because shortly after Kinley decided to wake up....and so our own Christmas morning began.

First, we sat on the stairs and sang 'Happy Birthday to Jesus' and then the kids attacked the gifts...And in no time all the gifts were opened, so we all enjoyed a home cooked breakfast, and spent the day playing with our gifts and enjoying the snow!

We hope your holiday was as blessed and filled with love and laughter!

Christmas Card 2010

A Christmas card posted on my blog....I know, this is semi lame, but hear me out. Over Thanksgiving, my kids and hubby dressed up (against their will) and put on their best smile for our annual Christmas photo. It turned out beautiful, and I had real intentions of mailing it out to our family and closest friends, but I have a whole book full of excuses for why that never happened. And then I had this brilliant idea to make a christmas card and send it out through email and facebook. It is a long story, but let's just say me and my mac computer are not on good terms......and so alas.....here is out Christmas card for 2010.

This year has brought many wonderful blessings to our little family. The biggest blessing was by far the birth of our little girl this past April

WOW....how the time flies by. Kinley is now 8 1/2 months old and she is such a wonderful addition to our household....and she fits right it. She is sitting up, army crawling EVERYWHERE, eating solids, sleeping through the night, enjoying every second laughing at her hilarious brother, spending the days with mommy, and cuddling with daddy. She loves to laugh, eat, explore, be held, read books, play with cell phones and remotes, oh yeah and did I mention eat:)

And then there is this guy.....

Hunter is 5 1/2, and is growing up even faster before our eyes. He is loving Kindergarten and learning how to read, and Hunter bear continues to be such a social butterfly. He started Tae Kwando this fall, and will test for his orange belt this weekend. It is a big commitment, but he really loves it. He will also start playing basketball this winter, which give him and his daddy something to practice during the cold winter days. But his most favorite thing to do besides playing sports and hanging out with his friends is making his sister laugh.....(at least I like to think so)....He has become mommy's little helper and loves to entertain 'missy' while I get dinner ready. It is so precious.

And as for Paul and I, well, we are basically enjoying ever second we get to spend with our kiddos. They sure keep us busy, and we are loving every minute of it. Paul just finished his last semester at our local community college and he will start his Bachelor's degree in Business this coming March at a local school that supports working adults. That's right, he will still be working full time and going to school. I feel so blessed that he is willing to still work full time because this allows me to continue to be home during the week with my kids. It has been a HUGE change and wonderful blessing to be able to call myself a stay at home mom....at least during the week. I still work 'weekend package' at our local Children's hospital, which I LOVE! I work with amazing women that have become great friends and I get to take care of such inspiring kids. Because of our crazy work schedules, we both try to spend every evening home together and thanks to Paul's mom, we still get to enjoy a date night out at least once a month.

We feel so blessed to have two beautiful, happy, and healthy kids. We feel even more blessed that we have all of YOU in our lives. We hope this holiday season and upcoming year bring as many blessings to your lives as we have been privileged to experience.

TAKE ONE

TAKE TWO

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!