The Lake

Dan is very busy with school and studying, and on days-off, we generally end up playing games at the home or going to my parents However, we do occasionally get out and do fun things with just the 4 of us. Don't believe me? I have proof!
Dan got a child bike seat for Christmas, so we went on a run/bike ride around a nearby lake. We didn't do the whole 7 miles (hah!), but we had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day. We even switched for a while I got to ride with Elena while he ran with Kevin. Elena insisted that we switch back though because "Daddy goes faster."

When we asked her what her favorite part of the morning was, she said, "Throwing rocks at the lake." I wasn't surprised since she asked us to stop and let her throw rocks a dozen times. How beautiful is my sweet boy?!

Christmas in California

I finally got all my Christmas pictures downloaded. It's been a busy month with sick kids, sick me and Dan, Elena's birthday (there will be a post about that soon), and reorganizing/rebounding after being out of town. These pics are not in order and only represent a few of the fun things we did while we were there. In fact - most of them are just of us hanging out because that is when I remembered to pull out the camera.
We had a BLAST and loved seeing everyone: Dan's parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews were all there for a grand total of 35 people (plus the Martinezes and the Kuntzmanns on the 26th). I'll try to give everyone a title (ie: niece, brother, etc.) so that those who don't know us won't be totally lost, but frankly: if you don't know us, this post will be pretty boring. :)

Bowling with the Andersons (Dan's sister Barbie's family).

Bowling with the other Disons (Dan's brother's family). Dang! I never got a group picture.

Elena and Jaxon (he is Dan's niece Jenise's son). So cute!

Beckett and Kevin are 8 weeks apart. Beckett is Dan's niece Felisha's son. (My boy can drool!)
Felisha with a very chill Beckett - I love the reindeer outfit!

Aunt Connie and Uncle Joe with Elena.

Dan and niece Emily.

Dan's parents in the middle siblings on the sides. I love this picture except Kathie's eyes are closed. The fancier camera that someone brought took a great picture of them though. Nephew Samuel put the pictures on my computer memory card and as soon as I figure out how to access them, I'll be all set. Someday I'll be tech savvy, right?

Nephews Nathan and Ryan:

Niece Christina with Kevin. I wish I had taken a picture of her with her kids. They are cuties and very sweet.

Sister Barbie, sister-in-law Amy, nephew Jesse, and Mom.

Sister Kathie put Kevin to sleep for me.

Niece Ally and Great nephew Jaxon. How cute is he? Ally was the best "mommy" the whole trip. If any little kid needed anything, she would be right there. I need her to move in with me (you too, Kylie!).

This is the best game! SingStar. It's a karaoke game for Playstation 2. It was so much fun and it had the original music videos in the background which was so fun to see. My favorite discs were the 80s and 90s. We all got very into it. Felisha and Brother-in-law Kevin are really feeling the music. :)

Merry Christmas, Kevin. This Santa hat came on top of Dan's new teeny umbrella.

My very first label maker! I've wanted one since elementary school. It is awesome!

Dan and Elena are working on her Christmas Eve gingerbread house.

Mom (Lydia), Dan, Nieces Rebecca and Caitlin. I guarantee you this picture is of them crowded on the couch during one of our karaoke marathons.

Kevin and Kevin. I love this picture!

Niece Jenise and Kevin. He really hit it off with her immediately.

Caroling with the Astles (Dan's sister Kathie's family).

Elena and our niece Kylie. Elena was saying, "Drag me! Drag me!"

Abuelo y Abuelita con los nietos.

There are so many more photos of the trip, but I've got to stop somewhere. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas too!

Early December

It only took 15 tries, but we got one pretty good picture of us this Christmas. (I LOVE Kevin's pants, and I'm sad that he can't wear them anymore. They were definitely Christmasy.)
This was a very cold night at Busch Gardens. We didn't want to miss out on B.G.'s first ever "Christmastown" though. The decorations and lights were beautiful (although this isn't the best picture to show that) and Elena had a great time. She and Kevin were both enthralled by the Sesame Street Christmas Show that we saw in one of the theaters.

We actually got the kids' picture taken with a mall Santa this year. In the past, I've been too chicken that things wouldn't work out and I would be the mean mommy making her screaming child sit with Santa.

What really happened: Elena wouldn't sit in his lap and was nervous at first, but an offer to sit in a chair in front of Santa instead of on his lap made all the difference. Kevin was very chill as usual.

SNOW DAY!
We got 6" two days before we flew to California. It was perfect timing and perfectly beautiful.

Elena helped me to decorate the tree and she was super careful. She did a great job, but at first she didn't realize that she could put ornaments higher on the tree. Check out all the ones on the bottom branches.

Friends

Over Thanksgiving, I was able to get together with some of my good friends from high school. In this picture is Mary, Justine, and Justine's cute little boy Emerson. It was so great to get caught up with these two! We were friends all 4 years of high school and played field hockey and JV soccer together.

Laurel and Elena were so excited to see each other. It was almost impossible to get a good picture of both of them because they were so hyper to get to play together. We'll have to arrange a longer playdate the next time we are in town.

Caleb and Elena decided to have a camp-out last Thursday. He grabbed toys and books and she ran to her room for "sleeping bags" and pillows. They had so much fun playing in the tent. I love watching their pretend play. They make each other meals, they play house, they play monster and monster-hunter, and lots of other games that they make up as they go along.
When Elena and Kevin got their pictures taken with Santa Claus (the pic is on my mom's camera), we received coupons to Build-a-Bear. Granny and Granddad decided that they couldn't pass up this chance, so Kevin and Elena got to make and bring home 2 new friends: Chocolate Bear and Sugar Plum Green (both were named by E). It is a very cute store; I can see how they stay in business. :)

Kevin: 5 Months

We love this kid!

Kevin now has a tooth. And I am happy to report that he drools much less and is sleeping better again now that tooth #1 is here.

He LOVES to eat cereal. He cries and coughs between bites.

This was his first time sitting in the high chair. He only sat straight for a couple of minutes, but it won't be too long before he gets to eat dinner with us in his very own chair!

Bethlehem Bus

I noticed this scene the other day after Elena went to bed:

Wouldn't sweet Mary have preferred this to riding on a donkey?

The Future Doctors Dison

Shelby made the scrubs for Elena a while ago and Dan happened to bring home a pair that was a similar color yesterday. So cute!

4 Months

Kevin had his 4 month checkup on Thursday.

He weighs 16 lbs. 7 oz (80th %) and is 27 1/4 inches long (97th %).

I checked Elena's stats from her past checkups and it turns out that a 4 month old Kevin is the same height and weight as a 12 month old Elena!