Worker Man!

Since Duke is on the DL, my dad was kind enough to help us out and fix a few things around the condo. Max was obsessed with watching Papa Mow fix things. He learned about screw drivers, drills and measuring tape and he officially wants to be a "worker man." Papa even went to Home Depot to get Max his very own measuring tape. I think Max was so impressed with Papa that he now thinks Papa is driving all the trucks in his truck books.

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a happy New Year! While we did not have the Christmas we originally planned, it was still special and so much fun to watch Max & Tessa experience all the fun of Christmas. Unfortunately, before Christmas, Duke tore his ACL. It's been a bit challenging since his injury trying to chase Max and Tessa around, and cross all our t's and dot all the i's at work, but we did get lots of company and help from family over the holidays. The torn ACL is in Duke's right knee which means no driving. We had planned to drive to Pittsburgh for Christmas and spend a week, but Duke's doctor recommended we stay put. Duke will require surgery sometime in the next couple of weeks to fix the tear and we're trying to make sure he doesn't injure it further before the surgery.

So, we stayed here and made the best of it. We had a great Christmas day with a surprise visit from Duke's sister Mary, a webcam Christmas with my family and then Duke's parents, sister Julie and nephew Jack came over for Christmas dinner. Max and Tessa LOVED opening presents. I didn't think they would get it, but they had zero problems opening anything. My parents drove in that Monday and we did Christmas all over again. Max and Tessa really enjoyed spending time with the webcam grandparents "Gaga Sassy" and "Papa Mow". It was really nice to have them here for a few days. I wish we could do it more often. They were a huge help with the kids too since Dada had to have his leg up most of the time.

The big hits with Max and Tessa were slippers, a school bus and stuffed Big Bird from Santa, a Peek-a-boo baby from Aunt Beas and rocking chairs and a rocking pony from Gaga Sassy and Papa Mow. We're getting lots of requests to "rocky rocky" right now. Here are a few pics from the last week. Sorry for the quality. We need to get a new camera and these are all taken on Duke's phone.

Happy New Year!

Santa!

We headed to Navy Pier's Winter Wonderfest this morning and had an absolute blast! If you have kids and live in Chicago, definitely check it out. Max and Tessa were too young for most of the rides/attractions, but it was still fun to see everything. We also took them to meet Santa for the first time. It went just as we thought it would. They were terrified. We did get a good pic (except for Max picking his nose) with all four of us that I will have to scan in and post. We are making Winter Wonderfest and annual event!

Snow, a Haircut and Turkey Day Re-do!

We had a great weekend. Max and Tessa had their first hands-on experience with snow and they loved it. We let them play for a few minutes on our way out Saturday and they did not want to get in the car. We still need to get some appropriate snow clothes, but I can't seem to find snow boots small enough for Tessa's itty bitty feet.

After MANY requests from Duke to get Max's hair cut, I finally caved. I was just so afraid of loosing his curls, but it really did need cleaned up. He was starting to look a bit shaggy. So, Max got his first big boy hair cut on Sunday and other than one little cry, he did great! He drove the car he was sitting in, had some snacks and watched the "buh" (buses) go by outside the shop.

Sunday afternoon, we headed out to Duke's parents house for a Thanksgiving re-do. Since Max and Tessa were a little less than cooperative for us on Thanksgiving (we had to leave early without eating), Don and Mary made an entire Thanksgiving meal for us!! Max and Tessa loved the turkey and stuffing. Duke and I were very grateful to get a second chance at a very tasty meal.

Can you tell we tired them out this weekend?

Hats and Shoes

Tessa has taken a liking to hats and shoes. Here she is with her new favorite hat from Grandma Sassy. She asks for it first thing in the morning and wears it for hours at a time.


Here she is after Thanksgiving wishing she could wear mamas "boos" (boots).

The Holidays are Here!

We put up our holiday decorations last night after the kids went to bed and took a few pics of the kids coming out to see everything this morning. They didn't notice anything at first, but once we pointed them in the direction of the tree, they spent quite a bit of time looking at it, smelling it (this is funny because it's a fake tree) and touching all the ornaments they could reach. We strategically placed a few non-breakable ornaments within their reach. They gave Santa, an elf, Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman lots of kisses. So far they haven't pulled the tree over or broken any ornaments, but it's still early. We're working on getting them to say HO HO HO while jiggling their bellies.

We took a quick trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo today. We went thinking the kids could see Santa, but I must have must have read the flyer wrong. Santa didn't start until 5pm. Oops! Oh well, it was actually really fun. We practically had the place to ourselves. Max and Tessa loved watching the monkeys and the lions and wanted to touch everything in the gift shop. It was chilly, but a beautiful sunny day. We even took a ride on the carousel!

Happy Turkey Day

Max and Tessa with their first turkey hats! We have so much to be thankful for this year, most of all our friends and family. We hope you are enjoying Thanksgiving with your friends and families. We are off to Duke's brother's house later this afternoon.