BFFs!

Seriously, if you only knew how much these two love each other...you'd throw up! Just kidding! :) But you get the point! Oscar Is mopey all day long and pretty much just sleeps. But just like clock work, he starts waiting at the top of the stairs about an hour before Phil is due to come home everyday. It's the saddest thing! On nights that Phil gets home late, I feel so bad for the little dog. I sometimes think what if something happened and Phil never did come home, Oscar would just die! He basically goes ballistic when he hears Phil open the garage door. The two of them cuddle nearly all evening. I must have 50 pictures of the two of them snoozin' together. So cute! Oscar will literally lay his head on Phil's chest and just stare at him. I don't get it! But it's apparent they have quite the bond! :) I will admit, it's very cute how much Oscar loves his dad.

Parker turned 5 January 10th! Happy Birthday Park!

I seriously cannot believe that our little baby boy is 5! Parker is really growing up to be such a good kid. He really tries so hard to make good choices and he prays every night for help to choose the right. We have seen Parker come a long way in the last year and make leaps and bounds with his coping skills. He is always saying the funniest things! We love this kid!

Some things we love about Parker: He says the BEST prayers! He is so cuddly. He is so fun to play with. He has the best superhero / flying spaceships / light saber / car /you name it sounds! He tells me he loves me a million times a day. He kisses me a million times a day. He loves wrestling with his dad...and his dog. But he's so gentle with his mom. He loves the outdoors. He loves his sister and brother. He is a big help with Chase. He is determined. He is passionate about things. He has a huge personality and a huge heart. He makes us smile and laugh. Happy Birthday Parky! We love you and are so proud of what a big boy you are!

Gracie made Parker a birthday hat (the thing on his head in the first picture), binoculars, and an octopus all out of paper. So cute! Thing is, Parker totally loved them! In his words exactly (with much excitement), "Gracie I LOVE them! Thank you!" If I'd known it was that easy, I would have done the same! :) I love birthday's with Parker because he is so easy to please. He doesn't care for a big fancy party or a big fancy cake. He's fine with simple, and boy am I grateful for that! We went bowling for his birthday and had a blast!

Jingle's Elfcapades!

This year we heard that if you write a letter to Santa, there's a chance that he'll send one of his elves to visit with you over the holidays. So Gracie wrote a letter to Santa and sure enough, we had a fun and mischievous little elf come and play with us for a week before Christmas. We'd sprinkle magic snow on Jingle each night before we went to bed and each night he'd magically come to life and have different adventures. The kids put him to sleep each night in Gracie's little doll bed and gave him some water and crackers (because that's what he likes to eat) and each morning we'd wake up and find him somewhere in the house doing something silly--or naughty! I think he had been here 2 days and still had 5 more days with us until he had to go back to the North Pole with Santa when Gracie started crying about him leaving already. She cried for a few days because she didn't want him to leave. She's our sweet little tender-hearted girl. Here are the things we caught him doing:
He showed up with some oreo's for the kids, but had gotten some milk from the fridge and eaten some himself. He left crumbs all over the counter and his face! The next night he got Gracie's tea set out and had a tea party with some of her animals and Parker's superheroes. He even got some food from the kitchen for his party. He also read some of their books and colored them a picture. The next night he got some of the kids' dinosaurs and had set up there blocks for barriers and had a snowball fight with cotton balls! The next night he moved the couch right in front of the TV, popped himself some popcorn, and watched Polar Express! The next night he got nearly all of the kids' games out and played them all with the kids' stuffed animals! The next night he toilet papered our Christmas tree and helped wrap some presents, but got tangled up in the wrapping paper! Then he heard Chase crying so he went in to comfort him and slept in his crib with him! The next night he brought all of the kids' stuffed animals up and read them 'Twas The Night Before Christmas'. The last night he made a cake for us to celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas day. He left a touching poem to help us remember the true meaning of Christmas. We had so much fun taking him everywhere with us for the whole week and I know the kids cannot wait for him to come back next year!

Gasp!

A HUGE gasp is what I did when I turned around in both of these instances (pictures) and saw Chase nearly falling out of his Bumbo and bouncer. We now officially have to buckle him in his bouncer and make sure his Bumbo is on the floor and he is being watched. He loves arching his back in his Bumbo. What a little pill! I cannot believe all of the new "grown up" things he has started doing in the last couple of weeks. He is our little noise machine. He is constantly talking and talking LOUD! So cute though! He has the biggest belly laugh that we all just love to hear.

All About Chase

Getting ready to take Gracie to school.


Getting ready to get in the bath.


Chase's first time eating rice cereal. Didn't really like it. (12-20-09)


Sleeping while I blow dry my hair.


Gettin' tired in his Bumbo (aka Chase's perch while I cook dinner).

Christmas Day 2009

As much as we love seeing and being with extended family on Christmas day, we really enjoyed relaxing and being comfortable in our own home this year. We just hung out all day and enjoyed the kids and watching them open their presents and play with them. We were able to Skype both of our parents and so that made it a lot easier being away from them.

I don't know what Santa was thinking, but he brought Parker his DS. I guess he felt bad that Parker kept making pretend DS's out of paper and carrying them around for the last year. And thank goodness he brought Gracie her Zhu Zhu Pets because those were the hot item of the year and next to impossible to find in stores. I heard, people were calling Walmart, Toysrus, Target, and Shopko every morning and night for weeks just hoping they'd get some in. And also searching the Internet, only to find ridiculously over-priced Zhu Zhu Pets. Thank heavens I didn't have to do that (wink, wink) because I knew Santa would bring them.