New Year's Eve

The Kluesners came over to celebrate, and we got a little more Christmas music in. Alicia, Lucas & Megan loved dancing to BNL's Jingle Bells. For those that don't know the version, it starts very slow, then gets a little crazy ... and the kids happily join in the craziness. :)

More from Cincinnati

While hanging out at Grandma Krollmann's some more, we also got to see cousin Julie and her son Ryan. There also seemed to be some unspoken tower-building contest.



While hanging out with the Suttmann side, a cousin came over and took lots of pictures, so we didn't take very many (hopefully she got lots of good ones!). We did, however, get a good one of Megan with Grandpa Suttmann.

Christmas in Cincinnati

Megan & Lucas did pretty well on the trip to Cincinnati, especially during their nap. :)

The morning of Christmas Eve started with a visit to Grandma Krollmann's house where we met up with Uncle Mike and Kayla. Lucas and Megan enjoyed showing off their piano "skills" (Lucas even played a rousing version of Jingle Bells). After a little wrestling around and some nap time, we headed to Aunt Barb's for Christmas Eve dinner where we met up with Aunt Dawn and Grandma and Grandpa Suttmann.


The Christmas Day festivities began at Grandma Krollmann's house. After tearing through the presents, we got a surprise visit from J.R. and Tina and crew.


After festivities at Grandma Krollmann's, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa Suttmann's house. Unfortunately, due to the chaos, we didn't do very well at getting photos ... but there was lots of wrapping paper and toys and clothes and chaos. Oh, and we got to eat again. :)

Christmas at Home

Santa knew we wouldn't be home for Christmas, so he stopped by a little early. I think he knew no more would fit in the car on the way back from Cincy. :)

Megan's favorite present was her stroller ... once built, Megan played with it all day (whenever Lucas didn't swipe it from her). Lucas's favorite present was probably his Shake 'n Go Lightening McQueen ... it was the only thing he had actually asked Santa for (specifically, "A Big Lightening"). Both liked the medical kit and they made sure everyone was healthy enough to keep playing. Unfortunately, we did have a few dinosaurs run wild and start attacking us, but we were able to contain them before anyone actually got hurt.



Jasmine, however, was less than impressed with the interruptions (we bothered her while we were opening our stocking stuffers) and just wanted to go back to sleep.

Snowy Days

We all decided to head out to the back yard to make use of the great packing snow we had. Lucas got into it more than last year and Megan had some fun, too. And, of course, we made a snowman!

Family Pictures

Today we went and got our family pictures. I may be a bit biased, but we have the cutest kids. :) And I love the fact that we can usually get them to smile great for their pictures. The pic above is my favorite of the day.

St. Nick's Day

Apparently 3 is when things really stick in a child's head. Especially when related to presents. We informed Lucas about how St. Nicholas would visit while he was sleeping last night and put a present in his shoe. We put out a shoe for each person and Lucas and Megan went to bed. Lucas awoke at his usual time and called "Mommy, is there a present in our shoes?". So much for convincing him to go back to bed for a while. Lucas did manage to wait until everyone was up to actually open his present. Definitely a favorite day of Lucas's, but then what day isn't when you receive a present?

To get in the mood for St. Nick's day, we visited Santa Claus last night. Lucas's friends Carl and Alicia joined us, so it was definitely a fun evening. Fortunately, the line to see Santa was fairly quick. Once Mommy convinced Lucas to sit next to Santa, Megan joined them for a photo opportunity (thanks to the Bormets and Kluesners, as we had sadly forgotten our camera ... duh). Lucas then told Santa what he wanted for Christmas and happily accepted the candy cane. In addition to Santa, there were cookies and some crafts. Lucas covered a paper stocking with stickers while Megan ran around expending the energy she gained by eating a cookie. I believe all the kids had fun.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aunt Barb came up to visit us for the weekend and break in our new kitchen. We had a blast with her and were very glad she came! Megan loved the tea cart Barb brought with her and Lucas has been thoroughly enjoying his new McD's backpack of play food. We also found out that both Lucas and Megan love pumpkin pie.

Four New Teeth

... in the last four weeks. Megan is on a teething rampage. Fortunately, they don't seem to be bothering her overly much.

We also tried some pigtails on Megan for the first time ... they didn't last very long. :)

Some more fun with leaves ...

The Zoo With Friends

Today we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to the zoo, where we met up with the Bormets and Kluesners. Lucas had a blast touring the zoo with his friends. Today was the first time Megan really showed interest in the animals on the other side of the fence, so she had a blast, too. I believe that Lucas's favorite part might have been the hippo that got up from his nap and took a swim. :)

Megan's 15-Month Stats

Megan is doing great!


Height: 31 inches

Weight: 25 lbs 7 oz

Happy Halloween

We spent a couple of days working on pumpkins ... and I think Lucas and Megan had a lot of fun doing it. The second day of pumpkins were definitely gooey! Per Lucas's request, we made a happy face and a sad face. We also made a "gasp" face ... which was really funny to hear Lucas describe (sorry, that doesn't translate well in writing).



Trick-or-Treat in our village was from noon-6pm, which seems a little early and a little long in our opinion ... so we headed out around 4pm to 10-15 houses before we decided it was too cold to continue. Megan discovered her love of chocolate (3 Musketeers, to be specific) and Lucas loved all of his treats, too (though Mommy and Daddy stole some, of course).

Lucas's First Field Trip

I must give credit to the teachers at Lucas's school ... 4 teachers and a couple of parents took approximately 30 preschoolers on their first field trip ... to a farm after several days of near-constant rain. I was very disappointed that I couldn't go (crazy work load), but Alicia's mommy went and kept an extra eye on Alicia, Lucas and Carl (Thanks, Heather!).

The trip was to Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm, where the kids got to find pumpkins and feed some animals. Lucas tells me he had fun on his first bus ride and really liked the giraffe. He was also happy with all the stuff he got to bring home ... a small pumpkin (he tells me he picked the dirty one), a gourd, a small ear of Indian corn, a cup and a small bag of pretzels. The trip was a success, but it threw all the kids off their schedules and, with no nap, Lucas's evening was a roller coaster of emotions.

Raking Leaves

Lucas and Megan love helping rake the leaves. Megan more enjoyed playing in them while Lucas was actually a pretty good helper getting all the leaves to the curb.

Happy 3rd Birthday Kaylee!

We helped Kaylee celebrate her 3rd birthday today. Lots of fun playing, breaking open the piñata and eating cake!

Fall Festival

Lucas and Megan's school has a Fall Festival a little before Halloween that allows the kids to show off their costumes. They also have some random events for the kids to enjoy such as finding a prize in the bin of straw and pumpkin bowling. The morning is topped off by a parade of costumes.

Amongst their friends at school are, of course, Bumble Bee Alicia, Tigger Carl, Pirate Ben and Megan's new classmates. Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pictures of Megan with her friends because, once she saw me, she just wanted to be held.

No Longer an Infant

Today was Megan's last day in the infant room with Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Amy. Megan will miss her teachers and friends in the infant room, but I think she is going to like all the new things she will get to do in the toddler room.




Megan has been visiting her new toddler room for a little longer each day this week and spent most of today in her new room with Ms. Katrina and Ms. Grace. She even slept on her new cot for the first time today. Her transition has been going really well, so let's hope she does just as well when she gets dropped off in the toddler room for the first time tomorrow.

The picture of her eating shows why Megan won't be wearing her good clothes to school (this was her first meal in the toddler room).

Meeting in the Middle

We hadn't gotten to see our families in a while, so we invited all of them to "Meet us in the Middle" ... halfway between Chicagoland and Cincinnati. That landed us in Lafayette, Indiana. Only the Herros (Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Brian, Nicholas and Jonah) could make it, but we had a blast.

We enjoyed a nice dinner on Friday followed by some fun in the pool. Saturday we spent most of the day at Exploration Acres. Lucas, Nicholas, Stephanie and Mommy started with a trip through the Straw Bale Maze. Lucas and Nicholas then discovered the see-saw (though, Nicholas had to do most of the work). Everyone took a pass at the Ducky Races, where we each pumped water as fast as possible to make our ducks "swim" to the other end of the track. After that, it was on to the Straw Mound, where everyone tested their climbing abilities. A short hay ride took us out to the pumpkin patch, where we got to look at lots of pumpkins and even pick out some to take home. After a break for lunch and naps, we returned to try out the corn maze. As that didn't go as well as the morning activities, we headed back to the kids area and did some pedal carts and tricycles. After dinner, the Herros headed back to Cincinnati while we waited until the following morning to head back.

It was cute how, every time we got in our cars, Lucas would ask where his friends went. :) It was a short, but great trip!