Breakfast time!

This is how Patrick decided to eat his breakfast...

So this is how the dogs decided to spend their morning...

25 Days till Christmas Countdown

This year I am starting a new tradition with my family, through the month of December we will have a family activity every day as we count down the 25 days till Christmas.  I made a countdown that will hang on the fridge, behind each numbered day will be the activity for that day.  The kids are very excited to start this, well at least Lillie is, the boys know no different.  Below is the list of activities we will take part in throughout the month.  A lot of these are things we do anyway but this is a more festive way of doing it.

Visit Santa

Mail Letters to Santa

Holiday Festival at our local park district

Read Christmas books

Make Christmas cookies

Walk down Christmas Lane in Kenosha

Make a Christmas Craft

Go Christmas PJ Shopping

Watch a Christmas movie with Hot Chocolate & Popcorn

Horse Drawn Carriage Ride through Antioch

Coloring Night (each year color in the same book & date it)

Make Christmas doggie treats

Go shopping for Grandparent gifts

Drive thru Winter Wonderland in Vernon Hills

Go Ice Skating

Make a gingerbread house

Take Christmas Family photo

Donate to Toys for Tots

Take a trip into Chicago

Bake Cookie for Santas

Go ornament shopping

Dance party to Christmas music

Take a drive to look at neighborhood lights

Open one gift on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the countdown I made... it has magnets so it can hang on the fridge

Lillie and her girl!

Lillie and Zoey, they are inseparable.  Lillie refers to Zoey as her girl, it is cute until she wants to walk her all by herself and gets upset if you yell at the dog or punish the dog, or let her outside in the rain, or don't give her table scraps, or don't let the dog sit right next to the table and beg.  Nonetheless, they sure are cute together.

Face painting!

One day while the boys were napping Lillie and I got her make-up out and painted each other's face. Here is the final products.

A rainbow

It's a butterfly

Please don't ask why the baby is in the picture, Lillie insisted we both hold it.

JEANS!

I just love these diapers on the boys and finally got around to taking pictures of both of them with them on.  Hope you enjoy them as much I as do!

Josh standing just like his big brother Patrick

So CUTE!

Baby butt cracks!

Patrick hugging his favorite doll

Whatcha boys looking at?

Patrick: 18 months old

My sweet boy Patrick is now 18 months old.  Time has flown by with him, it feels like just yesterday I was going to the hospital to visit him in NICU.  He is becoming all boy.  Everything he picks up is either a ball or a bat or a truck.  He is running like a pro now and is learning very quickly what annoys his big sister.  He still does not do much talking but Lillie didn't either until she was 2.  This Christmas will be exciting with him as he finally understand the idea of a present and how to open it.  Enjoy some pictures from his 18 month photo shoot.

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treating

Please don't mind Lillie ripping Patrick's hood off and Josh's way to small costume.  I insisted he wear it because both Lillie and Patrick wore it for their first Halloween.  Hope everyone else had a safe and Happy Halloween.

Let's bring on the next holiday.  Tomorrow the Halloween decor comes down and the Thanksgiving decor goes up... just counting down the days till I can put up my Christmas tree!!!!