Christmas 2015

We had the most wonderful Christmas!!  Here it is... In pictures:

1st stop, G & G Kalal's.

Carson was loving his first try at paper, ribbons, boxes, and bows!

Izzy loved all her 'girl' presents.

Cooper was thrilled about his garbage truck!

Lots of laughs, plenty of special presents, and a great way to start the celebrations!

Christmas Eve... We spent the day together, just the five of us.  And after naps it was off to Cooper's first Christmas Eve children's program.

 Although we don't have photos from the program itself, Cooper did a great job with his lines and songs (especially Go Tell It on the Mountain!)!  And for a four-year-old, he sat really well in front of the entire congregation for a whole hour!

Once we got home, Cooper insisted we could not watch a movie (our tradition) because we all needed to go to bed so Santa could come :)

But the kids had enough time to go out and sprinkle the reindeer food.  Look at those excited faces!

Christmas morning... The big kids got just what they asked for!  Cooper got a Hulk car and Izzy got a Barbie horse.  As well as stockings full of fun goodies!

Carson received his one love... Music and noise and crazy spinning all in one!

One last quick pic before we head to church!

That evening, we went to G & G Jabs's house for another fun celebration.

Izzy and Grandpa shared some giggles.

Cooper gave lots of love.

Izzy played beauty shop...

And Carson shared lots of snuggles!

Baby's First Christmas

Grandma Dawn and Kevin's house was a crazy and smiley night of fun!  

Our little munchkins... Christmas 2015

Izzy decided Santa wasn't so bad after all!

Carson loved the big guy!

And even Cooper let his guard down long enough to hang out with Mr. Claus!

A room full of presents!

Happy guy!

Christmas is just so awesome with little ones.  We had so much fun watching their smiles and hearing their giggles over the entire week.  I hope the kids always have fun memories of our Christmases!!

And because it wouldn't fit up with the rest of the pics, Izzy got to her delerius stage and had us all laughing after present time at Grandma Dawn's house!

First time for Everything...

Stitches.

Like all parents, we were hoping to avoid any of our kids ever needing stitches...  But you just can't prevent every accident :/  

We had a really fun big-kid night planned--the Holiday Lights at Sibley Park and Pizza Ranch--while Carson stayed at home with a sitter.  

The lights were cool, and Pizza Ranch was great.  Until Cooper fell with his chair to the ground and cracked his head on the back of the chair.  It bled like crazy, he freaked out, and the restaurant went silent.  We got him to the ER right away, where they eventually put in 7 stitches.  

This is him waiting for the numbing gel to take full effect.  A rare calm moment of the night.

Jeremy said the worst part was holding him down as he freaked out for the Novocain and then the stitches themselves.  I was in the waiting room with Izzy.

And we couldn't believe the surprise visitor to the ER... The manager of Pizza Ranch came and brought us a pizza and some coupons to come back to the buffet in the future.  That was an act of kindness that was unexpected!!  Too bad Cooper didn't feel like eating after the spazzing he did in his room, and Jeremy was too worked up to think about food.  I was too queasy, but Izzy sure enjoyed it :). We passed the rest along to the great staff at the Mankato ER!

  I'm so thankful Jeremy was along--I honestly don't know what I'd have done if I was alone with the kids and this happened.  I got queasy just thinking about it!

By the time we got home, our little patient was feeling better :)

Now he tells anyone who will listen about his seven stitches.  And I found this selfie on my phone as I was looking through pics the other day... Apparently he wanted a closer look...  This pic looks to be about a week post-injury.  Healing nicely :)

Here's the story, from Cooper :)

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Christmas didn't used to be my favorite holiday... But that was pre-kids!!!  I love the entire month of December, and below are a few of the reasons why.

All the fun that goes into preparing for Christmas is so much more fun with little people!!!  They are so eager to experience the special things the season brings.  And they're easy to please... Hopefully it stays that way!!

Here's a glimpse back at the month of December (well, at least before the week of Christmas)... 

Carson and I watching fireworks from inside the Tahoe while dad and the big kids play in the snow under the fireworks after the New Prague Parade of Lights.

Carson didn't mind sitting on Santa's lap one bit.  Izzy was all talk... And then once it was our turn, she wouldn't go to him.  And then there's Cooper, who has known since July that he didn't want anything to do with Santa.  I may never get my three together on the Big Guy's lap!  One out of three this year!!

Dad's favorite--Spritz!  Can you guess which one of  these got eaten first??

Santa Baby :)

A big-kid outing.  We met up with Jack and Hannah to do some painting.  It was really fun!

Cooper's preschool holiday party was a blast.  Seeing him get so excited to have me come to his classroom was so cute!  His gingerbread boy hat stayed on for the whole party.  I think it helped his creativity flow... Check out that gingerbread house ;)

With his teacher, Ms. Julie

Happy Thanksgiving

I suppose since it is almost Christmas, I should catch up with the Thankgiving post :)

Happy Thanksgiving from our little turkeys!!

We spent Thanksgiving Day with Grandpa Randy, Missy, Phil, and Drake.  We got our first snow, so we HAD to go out and play! 

Carson's first experience in the snow

Drake's first time 'playing' in the snow

The little Izzy Angel

The speed demon,  Cooper

Our weekend also included lots of Black Friday online shopping, a Maverick hockey game with the Kalals, and news that we are getting a NEPHEW in April!  Dana and Jeremy found out it's a baby boy :)

Carson's first hockey game!

Ole! Ole! Ole!  Mavericks win 6-2!!

I am thankful for our healthy kids, our daily laughs, and our family & friends.  We are so blessed!