Messy Baby!

While we ate dessert on Christmas day, we gave Samantha her first Biter Biscuit. It was very funny to watch! This is Samantha when she first began eating the biscuit.The more she ate, the messier she got. This is her about half-way done with it.This is what she looked like when she got done. She had it ALL over her face and in her hair!So she got a bath!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope everyone had a joyous day! We woke up about 8:00 this morning and started our day. The first thing we did is let Marc open his stocking. He got lots of stuff!

My Mom, Grandma, & Brother got to our house about 10:00. After they brought in their presents and put them with ours, they took up A LOT of space.
Samantha was completely overwhelmed! She took a nap not long after everyone got here. She woke up in time for lunch and them some more present opening. Since she couldn't do it, her big brother helped. She had most of the new toys sitting in her lap and she looked like a deer in the head lights. Marc had a lot of fun. Marc (Daddy) bought himself a new laptop for Christmas so Marc got his old one, all loaded up with kid's games, for Christmas, sohe has his very own laptop. How many 5 year olds can say that?!For about the last 3 months Marc has been telling us he wants the My Friends Tigger & Pooh changing tree. We were able to find a good deal on it, so we brought it for him for Christmas. He was very excited!Every year I try to remember to have someone take a family picture of us on Christmas day.

Christmas Eve

Every year we go down to my Mom and Grandma's church in Kentwood for a Christmas Eve candle light church service. This is one of the only of the only times that we all get dressed up so we took some pictures.
Samantha was tired so we didn't get any smiles from her, but it is still cute.Marc was excited about it being Christmas Eve so he was all smiles.We got a cute picture of them together.After church we had our family picture taken in front of the Christmas tree in the church sanctuary.

Cute Santas!

We got our Santa hat out and had fun taking pictures of the kids with it on.

Snow Day!

Well, we got pounded with Snow Thursday night into Friday. Our neighbor boy usually shovels for us, but he had the flu, so I had to do it myself. I went out while Samantha was sleeping. I took Marc with me but when we opened the garage door, I quickly found out that he wasn't going to be able to help.I was out there for about 2 hours and when Marc got home from work he started too. He was out there for about 1 1/2 hours with me. The snow banks were almost as tall as Marc!

Marc in Concert

Daddy built a microphone and a set of drums out of Tinker Toys for Marc. Since he had a microphone he decided to put on a concert for us. Daddy played music and Marc sang along. He sang probably about 6 songs. The video is him singing "Away in a Manger". We have been practicing that song since he is singing that one at church this week. Enjoy the concert!

Marc's Preschool Christmas Party

Marc had his Christmas party are preschool today. It was really nice. they started the party out by having snack (you know how those 5-year-olds like to eat). ;)
After snack, they cut out and decorated a stocking.
Each child had to bring in a wrapped book for a book exchange. The way they did it was they played musical chairs. When a child didn't get a seat, they picked out a book and sat down and waited.
Marc kept playing the game. He was almost upset that he lost the game of musical chairs, until he figured out he got to pick out a present.
All the kids opened the presents at the same time. Marc got a book called "Snow Bear"
It was a very nice party. I think all the kids had a good time. :)

Santa is Coming to Town

We took the kids to the mall to see Santa on Saturday. Marc was not the lease bit afraid. He went up and told him he wanted a robot Santa. ;)
Samantha was fascinated by him. She just stared up at him with the widest, wondering eyes. She did not get scared. We were afraid she might, since he is a stranger. (She is entering the stranger anxiety phase)After we left the mall we went to Meijer do to some grocery shopping, and who did we see?......but Santa & Mrs. Claus.

Ever-changing Samantha

Well, Samantha doesn't listen very well. ;) I have told her to stop growing and changing so much so quickly. She is beginning to try to crawl. While she is laying on her belly, she has begun to pull her legs up under her. We can prop her up on her hands and knees and she will rock back and forth and stay up for about a minute or two before her arms slide out from underneath her.We brought down some of Marc's old "sitting-up" toys for her to play with. She really loves the stacking rings, the nesting cups, and the beads that she can push along a track.She is still trying lots of new flavors of food. She tried bananas with mixed fruit......
and mango.
While I was feeding her green beans one day, I got some on her nose and I thought it was really cute, so I had to take a picture.

Helpful Marc

Marc has been in a phase of wanting to do things by himself. The last few weeks he has been wanting to help us do everything we do. Unfortunately, he doesn't understand that he can't help with everything we do. When we can, we try to find something for him to do to help us. He got to help Daddy shovel the driveway over the weekend. I braved the cold (with no jacket on) to go take a few pictures. This is the cutest.We started baking some Holiday goodies, which he is excited about. I am not sure if he is more excited about baking them or eating them. ;) He likes to call himself "Little Chef" while he is cooking.

5-Year-old Marc!

Well, we had Marc's 5 year old check-up today. The doctor confirmed that he is a healthy, happy little boy. She was quite impressed with his vocabulary! If any of you have ever talked to Marc, he talks more like a 15 year old and not a 5 year old. ;)
We found out that Marc weighs 55 pounds and is 3ft10in tall. The doctor informed us that his weight is in the 98th percentile and his height is in the 95th percentile. Wow! They grow up fast!

Christmas tree decorating

We spent the weekend after Thanksgiving putting up our Christmas tree. Marc is old enough this year that he was able to help us put it together.

Samantha wasn't quite sure what to think of the artificial tree. When we first had a feel it, she jerked her hand away. The more she touched it, the better she was with how it felt.
While Marc was decorating the tree, he also decorated himself. :)

Black Friday - Happy Shopping!

Yes, my Mom and I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving. But, no we did not go out at 4:00am. We met at Rivertown Mall at 9:30. We were there until about 5:30pm. We got some good sales on lots of Christmas gifts. Both kids did a great job. Samamntha had it the easiest, jst sitting in her stroller. ;)Marc and Samantha were great! They didn't complain and they listened very well. Since they were so good, Grandma took them to Build-a-Bear.Marc chose to have him and Samantha get boy and girl moose, Hal & Holly.Marc started getting an allowance for his birthday. He also got some birthday money, so he had $30 to spend. Since we were at the mall we went into the toy store and the Disney store. He went through the dilema of "Do I spend my money now, or save it for something bigger?" It was so cute to see him try to figure out what to do. In the end, he decided to get a small toy at the toy store and a small toy at the Disney store, and he even had a little money let over.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We had a good time. Marc helped Grandma cook some of the food.Samantha even got to try some baby turkey and sweet potatoes. I'm not sure is she liked them or not, but she ate them.We got a couple of cute pictures pf the kids at the dinner table.
All the turkey, sweet potatoes, and activeness wore Samantha out!