We are back home from our Kentucky Christmas

After filling up our bellys with soup beans, sweet tea, and biscusts and gravy, we started the long drive home today after a wonderful visit with family and friends in Kentucky. We have not been back since Kian was born so a lot of family members Kian hadn't even met yet! We also were able to meet up with friends we haven't seen in about 6 years!

Kian and Jamie are happily putting together some Christmas gifts in his room and I am just relaxing, enjoying the lights on the tree. Tonight is a wind down night for us.

Hopefully I will have photos uploaded soon to share more of our great trip with you all :)

Merry Christmas!

We will be in Kentucky at this time tomorrow! We hope that you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and that Santa is good to you all :)

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful....

because of the ice storm that came through here last night - YIKES! All the schools are closed and there is seriously a layer of ice everywhere on everything! The branches on trees are really heavy - Jamie and I both had large branches in the back of each of our cars this morning. I had to even scrape off the ice on the flag on our mailbox to put it up!

Kian Sat on Santa's Lap - It's a Christmas Miracle!!!

Every year we ask Kian if he wants to see Santa and he says he does, get excited, stands in line and then when it's his turn he flips out and won't sit on his lap :

This year we finally had success!!!

Kian walked up to Santa with his Walmart catalog in hand and started telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas. Jamie had is iPhone out and took this picture of him :)


And here is the picture we brought home with us - forgive the blurry look as it is a picture of hte picture. But check out the great smile :)

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Here is glimpse as to what you will see in our Chrsitmas Card this year :) Kian had a little photo shoot with the tree in the background :)

Bailey wanted his own, priavte shoot apparently. I was taking pictures of just the tree and he posed all on his own lol

The Tooth Fairy's Delivery!

The Tooth Fairy left Kian Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from Star Wars - he loves these figures! Here is a better picture of his missing teeth and of him with his new toys thanks to the Tooth Fairy :)

All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

That's right! Kian just lost another tooth today!

He wasn't quite as excited about it as he was with the first one - he was more into watching a video on a player he has than "posing" for my camera lol Hopefully I can get some shots with a nice smile later on :)

O Christmas Tree

Tonight we decorated our Christmas tree. All our decor made is safe (well, my angel was about to lose her wings - nothing that a hot glue gun couldn't fix :)). Kian had a blast hanging ornaments on the tree. The only rule was to not let them hang too low so our puppy Bailey woudln't think he could help himself to them.

It's amazing all the memories that come flooding back as we put up the ornaments. There are ones from each of the places we have traveled to, ones that commemorate our First Christmas Together, our new house, and of course Toby and Allie ornaments. Kian hung one that looks just like Toby in a place of honor right in the front. I hung Allie's ornament right next to it. Kian even said a little prayer for Toby and Allie tonight. We still miss them a whole lot.

Speaking of animals, Bailey is growing and growing! Jamie asked me today if I have taken any photos of him recently and I really need to - it's unreal how much he has grown in such a short period of time! We are also finding out that Bailey is very different from Toby. He loves the water (Toby hated it! - yeah odd for a lab to hate water). Bailey actually sticks his head behind the shower curtain so much that by the time I am done showering, his head is soaked! Bailey is also very vocal. He will often bark or whimper at me (while staring me down) when he needs to go outside to "get busy." Bailey also LOVES to be outside. This weekend Jamie was out in the garage rearranging boxes and such and Bailey was in our fenced in backyard just running around, full speed, all on his own lol Bailey is such a little lover and we are so happy we have him in our family :)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!

We are getting our second snowfall right now where the snow is actually accumulating!!!! The first snowfall we were on our way back down home from Wisconsin so we didn't get to enjoy the actual snowfall too much. Tonight all 4 of us went outside while the snow was falling. Bailey was chasing Kian around the yard - I think they both would have stayed out there forever if we let them!

Yesterday there was still a blanket of snow outside so I took a few photos of Kian before it started to melt (I used some for my new blog banner). Kian is really enjoying the snow and I am looking forward to having enough to snow to make a snowman!

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin

We decided to make the 5 hour trek up to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving this year. It was the first time that all three of us were in Wisconsin at the same time! We really enjoyed visiting with all our family :)

Thanksgiving Day we headed over to my Grandma and Grandpa Zuelzke's house. I think that all the people were kinda overwhelming for Kian at first, but he is so social he warmed up pretty quickly. Grandpa Z had a good time teasing Kian - brought back a lot of memories of him teasing me as a child! Kian also quickly made friends with my cousin Steve's daughter, Ameerah, who is only 4 months older than him. She called him her "new friend."

Below are some photos of the festivities.

Grandma and Grandpa Zuelzke with their 5 Great Grandkids!

Kian hanging out with his Great Uncle Jack

Kian's picture of Grandpa Zuelzke's turkey leg - and yes it is real :P

During the time we were in town we got to hang out with my little sister, Laura, and her fiance Brian. I went to see them perform with their band Wavelength at a bar on Wednesday night. Laura and I had the happy surprise of seeing my Uncle Paul (my biological father's brother)there!

Friday night Jamie and I headed out to see Brian and Laura perform as The Moonlighters at the St. James - a martini bar in Darboy. Below is a photo of them performing. It was so neat to see them and the place was something that Jamie and I really enjoyed and would enjoy it more if it was in our city!

Laura and Brian performing as The Moonlighters at the St. James on Darboy.



Me, My Mom and Laura - the three girls :)

All-in-all it was a great visit. Kian got to know our extended family better and so did Jamie! We look forward to many more trips up to Wisconsin in the near future :)