Getting our Christmas Tree

According to family tradition we went to get our Christmas tree with Grandma and Grandpa. They found the right tree within minutes - we took over an hour! But we found the perfect tree.
Jamie was cozy in his sling with a big blanket around him. And Lilly helped with the tree search - it wasn't easy.




Afterwards we went to Grandma and Grandpa for dinner and family time.

First snow

Today it snowed for the first time and Jamie experienced the cold white stuff for the first time! He wasn't sure what to think about it, but didn't mind it much either.
Lilly was busy making snow angels and having a snow ball fight with Mama.

Heute hat es zum ersten Mal geschneit und das war auch Jamie's erster Schnee. Er war sich noch nicht so ganz sicher, aber war ganz okay damit.
Lilly hat Schneeengel gemacht und wir hatten eine Schneeballschlacht bei welcher Wally die Baelle gejagt hat.

Visiting Santa!

This was Jamie's first Santa visit and he wasn't too excited about jolly old St. Nick. Lilly took a few minutes to warm up, but then told him happily what she and Jamie wanted for Christmas and even let Santa have her reindeer. In exchange for some candy she even sat on his lap :)
We had cookies and juice and then headed to a friend's house to play. It was a very nice afternoon and now she keeps on asking to go back and see Santa.


Das war Jamie's erster Besuch beim Weihnachtsmann und er nicht besonders begeistert. Nach anfaenglicher Scheuheit hat sich Lilly dazu ueberwunden Santa von ihren Wuenschen zu erzaehlen und hat sich mit ein bisschen Bestechung sogar auf seinen Schoss gesetzt :)
Dann haben wir noch Kekse und Saft gehabt und sind dann zu Freunden zum Spielen gegangen. Wir hatten einen sehr schoenen Nachmittag und die Kinder waren fix und fertig dananch.

Love her smile!

The pictures are 4 months old, but I just ran across them and I love the smile!
Die Fotos sind zwar 4 Monate alt, aber ich liebe ihr Laecheln!

Jamie - 9 months

It's hard to believe that Jamie is already 9 months old! He's been crawling for about 5 weeks, pulls himself up on everything, tries to stick all kinds of things in his mouth - his favorite being leaves. He adores Lilly and wants to be around her non-stop.
Kann kaum glauben dass Jamie jetzt schon 9 Monate alt ist! Er krabbelt seit ungefaehr 5 Wochen, zieht sich ueberall hoch, und steckt sich alle moeglichen Sachen in den Mund - am liebsten sind ihm Blaetter. Er betet Lilly an und will pausenlos um sie rum sein.

My guys...

I had a very nice and relaxing date with Shaun last night. We went to a concert and afterwards went out for dinner. Jamie has been awake at 1:30 in the morning, laughing, rolling around, trying to crawl - we'll never get to sleep again. He woke up this morning very early and extremly happy. When that little man puts his mind to something, he won't change it easily. Like when he wanted to play with Shaun's computer this morning - he kept on crawling toward it, reaching, hitting at it, etc. (Shaun sat on the floor)
Shaun said: Jamie is like pushing mud up the hill.
I love this expression because it applies so well to raising kids!

Lilly is running around the first floor, playing with her pretend dog, telling him to play quietly because Jamie is asleep.
We are blessed with two adorable children. I enjoy every minute of it - well, maybe not the ones in the middle of the night when I'm up with my baby boy instead of fast asleep. But soon that will change (I hope so).

NEW HOUSE

Just in case I haven't mentioned it yet: We bought a new house in Cincinnati. We are very excited to move in two weeks, but the preparations come along slowly.
We are trying to get all the stuff for the children's rooms together first since they are the only rooms that need immediate attention, plus Lilly doesn't have any furniture yet since Jamie will inherit hers.
I'll post some updates soon :)

Progress - or not...

There I was, the cabinet with the pots and bowls mostly packed up, when Jamie woke up.
So, good mother that I am, I went upstairs and changed the soaked little critter and his bed sheets.
After a lovely game of “where is mommy’s stinky monkey” we came downstairs to find all the mixing bowls and baking pans lined up all over the family room floor and Lilly was getting ready to play the “drums”.
Now she already lost interest in the pans, but Jamie bangs with his hands and a spoon on my metal mixing bowls while Lilly returned to the kitchen to hopefully not get more packed stuff out!
Whenever I try to get something done with her around, it’s like taking two steps forward and one step back - with a detour.

Almost crawling

Jamie has been making tons of progress with moving around, but he isn't crawling yet. He does the little soldier crawl and he is perfetly capable of getting himself across the room and in all kinds of stuff, but not in the old-fashioned way of crawling. :)
He has the motions and the position down, but can't really figure out to put them together. It's pretty funny to watch. I'm sure he'll figure it out soon.
Wally got a nice haircut today and I am looking forward to not have all his fur everywhere!
Jamie hat jetzt schon fast rausgefunden wie man krabbelt, aber eben nur fast... Er ist in der richtigen Position und macht die Bewegungen, schafft es aber nicht beides zusammen zu machen. Er schaut allerdings ganz witzig aus wenn er so durch den Raum robbt. Lange wird's nicht mehr dauern.
Wally war heute beim Hundefrisoer - es war auch schon hoechste Zeit. Ich freue mich dass er jetzt fuer eine Weile nicht so haaren wird!

Neue Leiberl

Die Godi hat den beiden neue Leiberl gemacht und sie schaun total suess aus. Und Lilly ist total stolz auf ihres. Danke Godi.
My sister made t-shirts for the kids - totally cute! And Lilly is so proud of hers!

Playing at the pool

I'm eating!

Jamie's first meal!


One of my favorite things in the morning - playing in Mama's bed


We are a lot outside - enjoying the weather whenever we can

Precious baby boy

James in his baby legs - I think they are cute, Shaun thinks they are very metro sexual. Whatever! We also love the cloth diapers. I'm so glad Sonja's and Ricki's influence rubbed off on me. Thanks girls!

My babies

At the park in Oakley...

James isn't so sure about the swings


Best friends...

Fun at amusement parks

Riding trains at Carillon Park in Dayton. Lilly couldn't get enough!



Lilly and Jake at Coney Island (it's been a couple of months)
We had a lot of fun


Jake is a great big buddy to Lil, until she decided she didn't want his help anymore and bit him - that was the end of our trip to Coney

Being out all day is exhausting.