Cincinnati ... Continued

While in Cincinnati, we got to hang out with some of Mommy and Daddy's friends. We didn't take many pictures, but here are a few ... Chris, Roman, Karen, Lucas, Jim, Megan, Shell, Josh and Val gather for a group shot ... Lucas enjoying his popsicle at Skyline ... Megan meeting Maeve (assisted by ChrisB & MK) ... and Mike playing trains with Lucas and Jack.

Another visit with the Krollmann family ... with activities from Bingo to napping to coloring with crayons that used to belong to Mommy.


And in one last attempt to see everyone before heading back home, we hung out with the Suttmann family one more time. Lots of holding the babies and just hanging out ... and a little evidence of why Grandma's bench works so well now (those grandsons sure are good with their tools!).

Christmas in CIncinnati

Our Christmas celebrations started Christmas Eve at Aunt Barb's house. Uncle Mike and Aunt Dawn as well as Grandma and Grandpa Suttmann joined us for the festivities. After an tasty dinner, Lucas (and everyone else) had lots of fun opening presents.


Christmas day started at Grandma Krollmann's house. Lucas and Megan had fun hanging out with their cousin Kayla as well as all of their aunts, uncles and other relatives.


The craziness continued at Grandma and Grandpa Suttmann's house. Nothing like trying to watch 3 2-3 year olds rip through all the presents. All those under a year old were content to just observe the activities and occasionally play with a newly opened toy.

Our Christmas Drive

Our Christmas vacation started off with a horrendous drive 1/2 way to our destination. Instead of taking 6-7 hours to make it to Cincinnati, it took us 8 hours to make it to Lafayette. Less than 20 miles to Lafayette, we called and made a hotel reservation. Two hours later, we arrived at the hotel. We told Lucas that we would be sleeping there for the night, but when Mommy asked him to take his coat off, he responded with "No, coat on". He finally warmed up to the place after a bit and took his coat off. After a dinner of mostly french fries, Lucas and Daddy laid down on the King-size bed. Unfortunately, Lucas didn't want to go to sleep until Mommy joined him and Megan wasn't ready yet. After Megan finally fell asleep and Mommy got Megan in her carrier (no baby beds left at the hotel), Mommy and Lucas joined Daddy to sleep. Lucas must have had plenty of room in the bed as Mommy and Daddy woke up in the morning with Lucas upside down. After breakfast at IHOP, we continued our drive to Cincinnati with a much better outcome ... only taking the expected 3 hours to make it the rest of the way. Mommy and Daddy were very proud of how well Lucas and Megan did for being stuck in the car for 8 hours straight! Our kids are awesome!

Christmas at Home

We picked a great day to stay inside and celebrate Christmas since it is currently -4 degrees outside (-28 if you count the wind chill factor).

Lucas was very excited to walk into the living room this morning and see all the presents by the tree. After breakfast, we headed downstairs to see what Santa left in our stockings. Mommy and Daddy's gifts weren't all that exciting, but Lucas and Megan got some cool stuff ... books, a Sesame Street Sing Along DVD, an ornament, and some small toys. Then back upstairs to see what the big stuff was under the tree. Lucas got some more tools, some food for his kitchen, an interactive mat he can drive his cars on, a bubble blower for the bathtub (as if we need bathtime to last longer), a puzzle and a cool wooden train set with Edward the Great and Spencer! Somehow, Grandma Krollmann also managed to get a gift under the tree ... a cool new table and chair set for Lucas and Megan! Megan also got some new clothes and toys, but she decided to sleep through most of the festivities.

Lucas was still so excited about all his new toys, that he kept pausing to give Mommy and Daddy huge smiles during lunch.

Lucas and Megan will receive gifts at so many houses this week, hopefully Lucas doesn't start to think he'll get a present every time he goes somewhere! :)

Megan's First Days of School

Megan started her first day of school yesterday. Mommy had a good time getting both kiddies ready for school (Daddy was out of town) and there on time for Lucas to have breakfast. Megan was visited by all of Lucas's current and past teachers, some of which are "fighting" to make sure she ends up in their classroom when she is old enough. As for her own thoughts, Megan seemed to enjoy her first couple of days and smiled at anyone who said "Hi" to her.

Happy St. Nick's Day

Not that Lucas really cares why he got the present, but he was happy he got it. It didn't technically fit in his shoe, but he didn't seem to care. Lucas loves his new Mr. Potato Head (and the nifty compartment he has to store all his parts in). Megan also enjoys her new toy, but it still can't beat her thumb.

This is a slightly older video (last week) of Megan talking ...

Peeing on the Potty

Every time Lucas gets a bath, he now thinks it's cool to pee in the water when he gets in. So, Wednesday night, Mommy had him sit on his potty longer and try to pee there. And, viola! ... he peed! Lucas was very proud of himself (probably stemming from the loud cheering and clapping Mommy and Daddy were doing). That said, he still thinks it's cool to pee in the bathtub and proceeded to do it again once he hit the water. I guess we should have made him sit on his potty longer ...

Then we get to tonight ... Lucas must have been happy enough with all the cheering, that he peed on the potty again! And this time, enough that there was no need to pee in the bathtub ... Yea! Progress! And in only two days ... not bad. :)

Megan's 4-Month Stats

No wonder Megan is already heading towards the next size clothing ... she's growing like crazy! And for those who haven't seen it yet, this is the pout Megan has perfected. She's got quite the bottom lip!


Height:
24 7/8 inches

Weight:
16 lbs 5 oz

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We spent the weekend working on some things around the house. Lucas helped Daddy cut up leaves one more time before putting away the lawn mower for the year while Mommy and Megan supervised.

We also decorated our new tree that Barb helped us put up. Lucas loved hanging ornaments on the tree ... specifically on two or three branches (we had to convince him to spread them out a bit more).

More from Aunt Barb's Visit

Here are some more pictures from Aunt Barb's visit. We had a great time with her and are very glad she came for the week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving and we hope that everyone else did, too! Great Aunt Barb came to town to visit for the week ... she made a great Thanksgiving dinner! Thanks Barb! Lucas tried to convince us that he could eat everything, but we persuaded him to let us join him. We also had a bunch of fun just hanging out.

Going to Their "Happy Place"

It looks like Megan is already learning from Lucas ... she has discovered his "Happy Place".

Some random cute pictures ...

Visiting Lucas at School

Today, Daddy, Mommy and Megan visited Lucas at school to see what he does during the day. Of course, he was quite the ham and didn't behave quite the same as when Mommy and Daddy aren't there, but at least we were able to get an idea of how things go.

After breakfast and some free play, they started off with 1st group and sang the Days of the Week song.

After singing the Days of the Week and determining the weather, they did some letter matching and free play, then got their coats on and headed outside.

Later in the day, Megan told me what she thought of Lucas's class (note that we did have her in a more girly outfit to visit school, but she decided to christen one of the changing tables and needed to use the spare outfit we had with us):

Raking Leaves

Over the weekend, Lucas helped Daddy rake leaves. It was cold outside, and he was ready to go back inside with Mommy & Megan after about 15 minutes, but he had fun while he was out there.

Once back inside, Lucas and Megan chilled on the couch for a bit.

More from Megan's Baptism Weekend

It was a whirlwind weekend with lots of people wandering through the house. We had three air beds distributed through the house at one point ... but all went well. It was chaotic but fun with several family members in from out of town. Below are a few more pictures from the weekend.


And in case there was any doubt as to the musical abilities of the Suttmann/Krollmann families (please be prepared for loud, uh, "Music") ...

Megan's Baptism

Megan's Baptism went great ... she was a happy little girl except for a few brief moments which her pacifier fixed. She either slept or quietly observed during the ceremony. Megan's Fairy Godmother (Aunt Stephanie) and Godfather (Uncle Mike) as well as many other family and friends were on hand to witness the special event. After the ceremony at St. Francis de Sales, we went back home for a celebration. As suggested by the celebrant, Megan now has two birthdays that she can utilize to ask her Godparents for money.

Since Mommy couldn't decide which picture Megan looked cutest in, she just created a collage so you can decide for yourself.

Below is a photo summary of the ceremony.

And, of course, the party after ...