Christmas Cards

Yes, I'll admit I am selling my soul a bit. But it's for a GOOD CAUSE! Shutterfly is going to help our family, with 50 free holiday cards: Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly http://bit.ly/sfly2010 (and you can't beat that!), just for writing a blog about them. So, I will start our by saying that we used Shutterfly for Miss K's birth announcements (and they were beautiful), and I've used them in the past to create collages of BMan, which I've given as presents. And, I've also ordered a hardback photo book from them.

As far as their Christmas offerings go, you can order holiday cards:
photo holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
And they are good quality..I am looking forward to picking mine out :).

Quality wall calendars:
Wall calendar to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars
A great way to share pics of your family.

Photo Mugs:
photo mugs to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs
I got a cute one for Steve last year of Bman for him to have at his office.

Anyway, I can't wait to take some adorable pics of Bman and Miss K and create a fun holiday card. I'm sure it will be a bit more challenging to get 2 kiddos to pose for the camera this year, but I'm up for the challenge :).

2 months old and 2 1/2 years old!!!

On Monday (yes, the day after baptism and trick or treating), Kaia had her 2 month and Brett had his 2 1/2 year well child visit.

It's so interesting to see how my children are growing...especially how they are growing so DIFFERENTLY.

Every day, I'm more and more convinced that Brett is a mini Steve and Kaia is a mini me.

First, B man:
26 lbs. (9% - however he'd been sick, so I wonder if his weight was down)

38 inches (86%)

And. now, Kaia:
10 lbs. 13.6 oz (53%)

22 1/2 inches (56%)

And her head was in the 38%

So, Brett is still on the path to long and skinny, and Kaia is on the path to average...sounds like they are taking after dad and mom, respectively :).

Of course, teddy bear chair pic...and cheetahs even made their debut this time! Made for quite a crowded picture! :)

Trick Or Treat!

So, finally, Sunday night after Kaia's baptism, and the party and all, it was time to Trick or Treat.

Remember, Brett is still not 100%, after being in the ER Friday night. But, still I couldn't deny him trick or treating. Last year he wanted nothing to do with it, and this year he was finally interested and excited.

We went through the neighborhood adjoining ours, since the houses are a bit bigger and are more full of families (our neighborhood is quiet by contrast as the houses are smaller and full of empty nesters). Good choice, as it was HOPPING. Brett was a super trooper and about halfway through got the whole "Trick or Treat" and "thank you" thing down at each house. He loved it and now has a ridiculous amount of candy.

Kaia, meanwhile, was content to be held or chill in her pumpkin seat in the stroller. She didn't trick or treat this year, but she sure made an adorable pea pod!

Cuteness to follow...

Kaia's Baptism

Kaia had her baptism on Sunday. It was the third weekend we had tried for to get it scheduled. Nothing seemed to go right on getting this date on the books. But somehow we pulled it off! The ceremony went well (after Kaia got her pacifier while we were up at the baptismal font), and the party at my parent's house after it was all over was really nice. In retrospect, it was probably a good date for her to get baptized, even though it was Halloween (which was not the ideal date I had wanted), because for Lutherans, that is Reformation Day, and this year Reformation Sunday fell on the actual Reformation Day (which just happens to be Halloween, go figure!).

And, yes, Brett was sick, and a trooper through it all... and I had managed to get Brett's illness too, but I made it through the day as well!

Note: Kaia's gown is made from my mother's wedding gown...kind of cool...before Kaia wore it, my niece Paige wore it for her baptism. Brett's gown that he wore for his baptism is a gown that's been in Steve's family for ages, so I was glad that since we have 2 kiddos, we were able to incorporate both traditions. Also, Kaia was able to wear my own baptismal shoes and ring...it was so neat to be able to incorporate MY old things this time too :).

Zoo Boo

We had a very adventurous Friday night!

After work I picked the kids up from my parents house to go to Zoo Boo. Brett was feeling not so great, but we went anyway. After all, I'd promised him that he'd get to be a puppy and go to the zoo... and he'd been looking forward to wearing his costume for a week, so we went.

The kiddos had a good time. We got there about an hour before they closed, as we picked Steve up from work and just spent a little time there...they were out of trick or treat bags, but Brett still was able to pick up some candy from the stations and got the gist of it all.

Then when we got home, I could def. tell Brett was feeling BAD. In fact, he climbed 3 stairs and was out of breath. We scooped him up and took him to the emergency room. We finally made our way home after midnight with a nebulizer and Brett spent the weekend using it. More posts to come on our super busy weekend, and Brett was a super trooper through it all!

But here are pics of the kids enjoying Zoo Boo... Brett was a puppydog and Kaia was a peapod (or sweet pea!).

Brett Loves His Little Sister

I am so thankful that Brett is such a great big brother to Kaia. He is always asking about her and wanting to play with her and saying that he loves her. The only problem I have is that he is not aware of himself in space right now, so he often comes close to kicking her or whacking her with his arm without even realizing what he's doing (and that's while I'm holding her!). But, as long as I can watch them together like a hawk, they really do get on very well together.

Here are a few pics of Brett loving Kaia as she plays in her play gym.

Fall Fun

Brett and his cousin Derek had fun at my parents house last week or so jumping in the leaf piles. I tried to capture the good times with my camera. It really was much cuter to watch in person :).

Yo Gabba Gabba Live!

About a week and a half ago, we took the kiddos to go see Yo Gabba Gabba Live! My awesome friend, Nicole, who works for Live Nation hooked us up with some pretty killer tickets...so we didn't have to pay, and Brett (and Kaia) got to see their first show.

I don't think Brett "got it" until they took the stage...he was thinking we were going to watch the t.v. show. But when they took the stage, it was another "mind blowing" moment for Brett, and it was so cute to see the wheels turning in his head as he process what was going on.

Best part of the show was that they actually brought Biz Markie on tour with them! (For watchers of Yo Gabba Gabba, you will know that he does "Biz's beat of the day" each show). But for our generation, you may remember Biz Markie as the hilarious singer of "Oh baby, you, you got what I need....but you say he's just a friend".

Anyway, the kiddos had fun, and we still have the balloon from the show.

(Kaia's first smile caught on camera!)

A Trip To The Pumpkin Patch

A couple of weekends ago (yes, I know very well that I am behind on blogging), we went to the same apple orchard/pumpkin patch that we go to every year.

This year Brett took interest in picking his pumpkin after we took the wagon out to the pumpkin patch. Meanwhile, Kaia enjoyed the trip in the baby sling.

However, it did take Brett a minute to compose himself after the tractor left us in the pumpkin patch. He enjoyed riding the tractor so much I had to convince him it was coming back. Then, he was okay.

Cuteness to follow:

My Sleeping Beauty