Merry Christmas

i can’t believe another year has come and gone, but what a great one its been.  in may, we welcomed little ms. riley to our family, she was 7 lb 6 oz. she has been wonderful baby and a delight to have in our home.  from a very young age (1 week) she was already enjoying central park and the playground with her big brother. she’s been a real trooper as we have been to countless playgrounds, summer concerts, museums, zoos, and the list goes on-and-on.  although she may not be the marathon sleeper her brother was in the stroller she is always a good sport to be out for long hours.  

it’s been a fun year to watch chase grow and discover what his likes and dislikes are.  he loves anything to do with numbers and letters, but his first love is the subway.  he can tell you all the stops, which trains run express vs. local, were you can transfer and what is at each stop (at least our frequent stops that this).  when you ask him what he would like for christmas he’ll say the “c” train (which is the train by our house). i can’t believe our little boy is 3; time really does fly by.

tyler continues to work at mcgarrybowen, he recently switch accounts from disney to chevron and is enjoying the change.  it’s been a great year for me; i love being home with our kids and recognize it as a huge blessing.

 we wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year

love, tyler, minde, chase and riley

A Visit To See Santa

A couple weeks ago, I started mentioning Santa to Chase in hopes that he would get excited about Christmas. When he asks for something like Candy Land, or the "C" train, I say we'll have to ask Santa for it. He has been asking about Santa, where is he, what is he doing, etc., so this morning we wrote a letter to Santa and headed down to Macy's Santa Land to see Santa. I was in high spirits that Chase would like Santa this year; the last two years have been less then ideal - lots of crying, not wanting to sit on Santa's lap, etc. Let's just say, this year was probably worse then last - As soon as we got in line, he started to cry, yelling he wanted to go home, falling on the fall, the works. I should have known. Anyway, I was determined we were going to see Santa I figured after we walked through the winter wonderland and looked at the trains, the stuffed penguins and bears all would be well. We walked in to see Santa and Chase stayed in the stroller crying and asking to go home. On the plus side, Riley really enjoyed it and loved Santa. Here's to hoping next year will be better.

On the way home we stop by a Gingerbread House display at the Le Parker Meridien at least he enjoyed that.

The "5" trains was by far Chase's favorite

Grand Central Terminal

Riley turns 6 months

I can't believe you are 6 months old, you are such a delight to have in our home. Your best feature is when you smile your entire face scrunches up and I can't help but laugh and smile every time you do it. You are just starting to sit up all by yourself, you hate being left alone and will cry until we walk back in the room and you love to pull Chase's hair and he lets you do it. You are still on the small side (we go to the doctor tomorrow) you wear 3-6 month clothes and can still fit into some of your 0-3 month. We love you little peanut. Note: I was never a fan of calling kids peanut, however it just fits little Riley.

Thanksgiving

What are you grateful for this year?  This year like years past, I am grateful for a loving husband, who works hard and has a strong love for the gospel, 2 beautiful children that make every day a little brighter.  I am grateful for the gospel, the knowledge and peace it provides me in my life, I'm grateful for a supportive family that I can count on at any time and for technology that allows as to be connected no matter where we live.

This year my brother and his family came over from Champaign, IL, for the week.  We had a great time exploring the City, with 4 kids under 3.  We walked through Central Park, lunch at the Shake Shack, 5th Ave, Rockefeller, Bryant Park, Brooklyn Bridge, lottery for Next to Normal and winning, balloons for the Thanksgiving Day parade, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thanksgiving dinner, Natural History Museum, and a little bit of shopping.   Wow what a week and the kids were great.

Auston, Audrey and Chase

Feeding the ducks in Central Park

Chase and Riley loved having Auston and Audrey around the house.  Auston couldn't get enough cars in his little hands, whenever we were home he had at least 4 or 5 in each hand.  Audrey her little voice is just too cute, I've missed having it around the last couple of days.   Thanks for making the drive, we had a fabulous time.

Riley and Daddy enjoying the parade

We arrived at the parade at 6:45 am, the kids were great given it didn't start until 9:00 am thanks to the help of a dvd player, ipod touch and goldfish.

Sesame Street

Cindy Lauper

This is how Chase enjoyed most of the parade, playing with my phone.

The only picture taken of Thanksgiving dinner, our place cards.  I must say Kristen and I made a pretty good team cooking dinner, given it was the 1st time either of us had cooked a turkey.