Our Annual Christmas Party

We had our 5th Annual Christmas Party this year! Because of the snow/ice it was a pretty low-key party, but we had a blast with the people who DID show up (and risked their lives for our party). You guys are the BEST!!!!

Here are a few pictures from the party.


Everyone dug into the food after they got here. We had my famous Spicy Beef dish and it was a hit!!!


Lisa and Daniel (we love you guys!!!!)


Owen (Lisa & Daniel's son) hanging with our friend Bruce. He really liked Bruce!


The kids playing with all of Jacob's toys. It's amazing how much our Christmas party has turned into a family event. It DID NOT used to be that way, so it's been weird to see that happen...


I LOVE this picture of Owen trying to get ALL of the toys out of the toychest :) He is determined to get to SOMETHING down there!!!!

Matt and Candice. They came the farthest from the Snohmish area and had quite the drive home, but made it home nice and safe due to Matt's SUPER East Coast driving abilities...

Uncle Matt absolutely LOVES Jacob. They have this really cool bond...he is going to be an amazing daddy to baby Tanna due in February! Jacob cannot WAIT to play with her!!!!!

Jacob snuggling with Auntie Candice (and baby Tanna in her belly). He truly loves her too. Both Matt and Candice are very special people in Jacob's life...we love you guys!!!!!

Dave & Andrea hanging on the couch waiting for white elephant to start :)

Lisa opening her white elephant. She got the bag of random stuff out of drawers :) That was my idea...

Jacob and Whitney (Dave and Andrea's daughter) playing. They have a really good time together!

CUTE picture of Whitney. She is sitting so nicely in her pretty dress!!

Matt opening his white elephant.

And lastly...Uncle ReRe and Uncle Matt playing around with my camera. The other pictures they took I cannot post. Those two get into WAY too much trouble together!!!!!!!

Annual Progressive Dinner

Last year we started an annual tradition of doing a Progressive Dinner in December with our very close friends the Zaniewski's and the Kovar's. This year was SOOO much fun (I would say better than last year even!) and we just love them all to pieces!!! This year Matthew didn't join us (he opted out), but we had 2 NEW kiddos to the group. Lynnae and Charlie. Lynnae and Charlie are in the process of being adopted by the Kovar's and until the adoption is finalized, we can't post any pictures of them on the internet. Which STINKS because I have quite a few really cute ones of them playing with Jacob, but in due time we WILL be able to post :) We can't WAIT for that day!!!!!! Charlie just turned 3 last week and Lynnae is 8 so Jacob has a really good time playing with them whenever our families are able to get together.

We started the night at the Zaniewski's for appetizers, moved to the Kovar's for the main dish (prime rib...YUMMY!!!) and then we treated everyone to dessert at Cold Stone since our house is about 1 hour south of where they live. It's MUCH easier on everyone that way instead of making them all come down to us...

We can't wait for next year and next year Caleb and Tanna (the Zaniewski's baby that is due in February) will be there to join in as well!!!!

Some of these pictures are from my poopy camera and some of them Dzana took with her professional camera. I'm SURE you can all tell which are which...



We started at the Zaniewski's house for appetizers. They were YUMMY and we realized Jacob LOVES quiche :)




Snuggling with Auntie Candice at her house...he loves her!


The boys chatting for a bit after appetizers and before we went over to the Kovar's for the main dish.



The Kovar's house had a lot of fun toys! One of them being a mini trampoline that Jacob was very intrigued by. Here is Uncle Andy showing him how to use it.



Those big baby blues got Uncle Matt to show him as well...what a sucker!!!!




Uncle Matt attempting to snuggle with Jakey.



Playing with Charlie's toys at the Kovar's house.



At the Kovar's house after dinner before we went to Cold Stone for dessert. What a cute little boy!!!!




Daddy and Jacob getting ready to go to Cold Stone.



Auntie Candice lounging on the ottoman at the Kovar's house. I think it was feeling good on her 8 month preggo belly to lean over and take the pressure off! Can't wait until Tanna gets here!!!!

Auntie Candice (and baby Tanna in her belly) and Uncle Matt at Cold Stone waiting for their ice cream!

Andy waiting for ice cream. He LOVES getting his picture taken!!!

Dzana and Andy. I know it's not a great pic, Dzan, but all the other pics I have of you have the kiddos in them, so I couldn't put them up!!! Sorry :(

Santa Pics

We went and got Santa pics taken last weekend and we just got it in the mail yesterday. They turned out SOOOOOOO good!!!! I am shocked. Not only did both Joe and I think he was going to cry, I was POSITIVE I was going to have to sit on his lap with him. I even did my hair and make-up so that I could at least look decent if I did have to. It's the same santa from last year, so that makes it even better!!!!

Here is last year's Santa picture for a comparison with the one above.

Caleb's BIRTHday Has Been Chosen!

We had our 24 week (although I am actually 25 weeks) appointment yesterday. Caleb is rolling and kicking me like crazy lately so that is all a good thing! His heartbeat was at 140. I am already measuring 4 weeks ahead, so we are watching that closely. Being that I had gestational diabetes with Jacob, I am going in for my 1-hour test next Tuesdsay (at 26 weeks) and assuming that I do not pass (which we all are assuming) I will then go in for my 3-hour test and then from there I will start being treated for it earlier than I was with Jacob. I just want my boys to be healthy, so I will do whatever I have to do to make that happen!! Plus...if I do have it, one of the benefits is LOTS of extra ultrasounds and lots of extra times to hear his little heartbeat :)

So...now to the important stuff. Our doctor let us pick our c-section date, yesterday!!! It was between the 16th and the 19th. The 16th is a Monday and the 19th is a Thursday. Since my mom has graciously offered to come up and help us with Jacob while we are in the hospital, we went with the 19th so that she only had to use 2 personal days and then we should hit their Spring Break perfectly and we can have for her an extended period. The 16th just wouldn't allow for that. So, as of right now (as long as Caleb doesn't have other plans) his birthday will be March 19th, 2009. My very good friend Kari is probably SUPER excited as she is reading this because that is HER birthday!!!

Funny story...as we were walking out of the office and getting into the car, Joe says "wow...you're going to be THAT mom, huh?" I was caught off-guard and said "what do you mean?" He said "you were able to choose for Caleb whether his 21st birthday was going to be BEFORE St. Patrick's Day (I refused to have it ON that day) or AFTER St. Patrick's Day!" Now...drinking isn't really a big deal to either one of us and we refuse to live our live by that, but I realized all of a sudden that on his 21st birthday he is probably REALLY going to be mad at me when he realizes I potentially had a choice about this! Caleb...if you are reading this (which I know you will be because I am saving all of these postings and making books out of them for both you and your brother)...mom and dad are VERY sorry that your 21st birthday doesn't happen until AFTER St. Patrick's Day!!! We just love you soooo much that we wanted your nana to be able to be there when you were born and be able to enjoy you as much as we are going to!!!! Hopefully someday you will forgive us...

Picture & Video download...It's Christmas Time and More!!!

It's been almost 3 weeks since I posted. Oops...

This time of the year gets a little hectic for us between parties and yearly family/friend traditions...they seem to take up all of my "free" time. We have had a fun-filled few weeks. We went down to Portland for a baby shower and spent some time with nana, grandpa, and auntie Michaela. We had Thanksgiving up here in Seattle and it was very low-key this year which I DID NOT mind since I am 6 months pregnant. A co-worker of mine (Georgia) and her husband Mark recently moved here from Minnesota and didn't have anywhere to go, so we had them over and had a REALLY good time just relaxing and chating for a few hours. Thanks guys for coming and celebrating the holiday with our family!!!! That weekend, we also went to get our Christmas tree and got it all set-up and decorated this week. I forgot the camera AND my cell phone when we went to get our tree, so I don’t really have ANY pics or video from it. I am VERY sad about that, so we won’t dwell too much on it.

I haven't been very good about taking pictures at certain events. It's TOTALLY not like me, but either I forget the camera (darn preggo brain) or I just plain forget to take a picture and am enjoying the moment. Which sucks because I like to document EVERYTHING. Ugh.

Here are some of what I DO have.

Jacob and his FULL plate ant Thanksgiving. He only ate about 1/2 of what was on his plate :)

Joe putting the tree up after we got it home.

Jacob running around "helping" daddy get the tree up.

The "after" of the Christmas tree.

Jacob seeing the tree for the first time.

The fireplace with the stockings. I love how matching they all are. I'm addicted to Pottery Barn

Stockings up close so you can see the names better.


Jacob's first look at our outside Christmas Lights. It's a little dark, but SUPER cute even just to listen to. He LOVED them and still does...


A quick video of the lights from a little further away...

I call this one "Big Brother Torture". Joe and I were CRACKING up! Don't worry...it's VERY good for Matt!!!

Jacob watching daddy put the Christmas tree up in the family room.