It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

We had a fun weekend seeing Santa, getting the Christmas tree and decorating the house.

On Saturday, we went to breakfast with Santa at St. Tims. We ate some yummy breakfast and then visited with Santa. We stood in line for our pics and when we were two families deep, little Hugh decided it was time to go #2 - lovely:) After a diaper change and clearing some runny noses, we were able to get a good picture with both boys with Santa. Somehow they were both looking at the camera -- woo hoo!! The best part is when Hugh and I went to pick up the boys off Santa's lap, Collin had a death grip on Santa's beard and Santa's beard was also tucked under little hugh's arm. Whoops!! Sorry about your beard Santa:) Hope we didn't pull it too hard.

On Sunday, we picked up our tree at Fries brothers. A big thanks to Snake for a beautiful tree!! Little Hugh had a blast decorating the tree or should I say decorating the same branch with 4-5 ornaments!! Pop Pop also took little Hugh to see Santa for a second time at the Lions Club. This time Hugh wasn't so crazy about sitting on Santa's lap, but he did have fun!!

A funny moment during the weekend is that little Hugh decided to call me 'Dawg'. Wonder where he got that??? Daddy?? He would randomly say. "Mommy, can you turn up the music dawg" or "Mommy, let's decorate the tree dawg". He thinks he's quite the funny man and I'm sure it doesn't help that we laugh hysterically each time he says it.

Hope everyone had a great weekend too!!

Exciting signs for potty training:)

Okay, so we are super excited that Hugh showed some big boys signs of being interested about the potty last night. Before getting into his bath, I asked him if he wanted to sit on the potty. As usual, he said 'no Mommy no' - which is one of his favorite phrases these days. I reminded him that we do not go pee pee in the bathtub because that makes the water yucky and won't get us clean in the bath. He said, 'okay Mommy'. A few minutes later while we were playing, he stopped and said, "Mommy I need to go potty". I asked if he wanted to go on the toilet - which he has not wanted to do in months. He said "Yes". Soaking wet, I pulled him from the tub to sit on the potty. Of course, it was the big potty and he was slipping everywhere, but it didn't matter. Right? :) 10 seconds later, I hear the sound of pee hitting the toilet. The glow on both of our faces was priceless. I told him how proud Mommy was of him and told him he could get some jelly beans (his favorite) after his bath. About five minutes later in the tub again, he says "Mommy, I have to go potty". I asked him again about going on the toilet and he said "yes!". Again, he went potty in the toilet. Let's just say Momma was a happy gal and Hugh, Collin and Mommy celebrated with lots of dancing in our small hall bathroom:) Daddy was out running, so I told Hugh that when he got back we needed to tell Daddy what he did so Daddy could help us get the jelly beans. The moment Daddy opened the door, Hugh told him (in the most exciting 2 year old boy voice) about going on the potty not once, but twice. Daddy, of course, was in disbelief, yet so excited for our big man. I think Hugh got more jelly beans last night in one sitting than he's ever had. We know that this will all still take time, but hoping this is a great sign for what is to come!!! :) Yay!!!

Collin's Belly Laughs

Our little man is quite vocal. Sweet coo's are not his style. He loves to either yell loudly at different pitches or laugh out loud. All very cute. The funniest is when he decides to do this mid-morning (2/3AM). You can't help but laugh and want to cuddle with him:) We've posted a little video to show him giggling with Daddy which has become a daily routine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_6gqUwfOGY

Yummy.....fooooood:)

Our growing boy has been introduced to cereal and LOVES it!! After returning to work and still getting up every 2-3 hours to feed Collin, we decided to start him on cereal. The Dr. recommends waiting until 6 months, but we couldn't hold out any longer. So far, we've only given him rice cereal and he is a big fan!! He'll grunt until you give him more. His brother also enjoys feeding him and then calling him 'Messy Face'. Sometimes while you're feeding Collin, Hugh will go get his baby and we'll give him a spoon and bowl to feed his baby.

In the next week or so, we'll probably start him on veggies which will be fun to watch him eat. His faces are priceless. The best part is that he's waking only once (sometimes twice) which makes it much easier on Mom & Dad.

Dinosaur Halloween

This year, both boys dressed up as dinosaurs for Halloween. The idea of the costume was super exciting for the pre-Halloween neighborhood party the weekend prior, however, the costume was less desirable the day of Halloween. For some reason, Hugh did not want anything to do with dressing up and/or going out for candy. Prior to going outside and handing out candy, Hugh was cracking us up. After the minor costume tantrum, he started wheeling his suitcase into the laundry room to go outside. We asked him what he was doing and he said "I need to go to Boston". (Mommy had just returned from her business trip to Boston a few days ago). We asked him why he needed to go to Boston. "I need to go to the store." What do you need at the store? "I need to buy some jelly beans." Sounds like an expensive trip for jelly beans, but humorous nonetheless. About 7:15pm, we finally coaxed him to walk to some of the neighbors houses costumeless (costume was over mommy's shoulder) to trick or treat for candy. He did and loved it!! Finally, he put on the costume and walked around the two streets adjacent to our house. He was running house to house. In between the running, he would roll in the neighbors yards ?? Not sure why, but he would run, then roll, then run to get the candy, then roll back down their yards. Weird, but very funny!! He also enjoyed staring at the talking 5ft witch at one of our neighbors. He would have stood there all night if we let him:)

Hugh is Two!!

Many thanks for everyone who came by to visit and/or shared kind gifts with Hugh for his second birthday. He is a very lucky boy!! His basketball party was a hit!!

Walgreens Photos - Too many to post

In the link below you will find an array of photos from the past few months including:

• Avery's birthday party
• Hugh's birthday party
• The zoo
• Children's museum
• Trip to Chicago
• Visit with Aidan and Ethan
  

http://photo1.walgreens.com/walgreens/share/p=632281322515671152/l=2118788004/g=12898979/cobrandOid=1009/otsc=SYE/otsi=SANR

Thanksgiving Weekend!!

We have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed us with two handsome healthy boys that make life so much fun!! This past weekend, Hugh surprised the family with a little getaway to Chicago for the holiday weekend. We stayed in a little city called Roscoe which was only a simple subway commute to downtown. Thursday, we saw the tail end of the McD's Thanksgiving parade. Little Hugh loved watching Santa dance. We visited a little Christmas village and dined at Bennigan's on Michigan Avenue. Friday, we visited the Nature Museum and then went back downtown for some Chicago pizza and a little shopping. Above everything, Hugh's favorite part was seeing the trumpets displayed outside Macy's. "Frumpets" as he calls them. During the trip, he kept asking, "Can we go see the Frumpets?". He also enjoyed riding the subway/'Train'. We hope everyone had a great holiday too.