Christmas with the Vermont Family

My parents came to New Hampshire on Saturday to celebrate Christmas 2008 with us. Being 9 months pregnant made this holiday a little different. There has been a lot less driving this season. And a whole lot less hustle with my bustle.

I made a lasagna and then Grandma D., Grandpa D., Brandi and Angus showed up around noon. Luckily, they didn't hit any of the morning icing that was reported on the weather forecast.

Grandpa and Grandma brought a bunch of gifts for Gabriel, Michael and I. Gabriel got some toys including a top, a Glowworm, a stuffed sheep, a mobile for his crib, and a wooden dump truck. Michael and I were spoiled too, but I am most excited about all of my new pajamas, assuming I will be lounging around in those a bit more over the next few weeks. And Michael has already started wearing his new sweatshirts that he much needed.

Michael and I gave an "anti-gravity" car to Angus for Christmas. It is a remote control car that was suppose to drive on the walls and ceilings. I was a bit skeptical, but it really did work! We have textured ceilings, so it didn't work up there, but Angus was able to drive the car all over our walls. Brandi is becoming a high tech teenager, so she got an iTunes gift card and a USB port. That's the kind of Christmas shopping Michael likes!

Elleigh and Lucas were so excited to see all the company and the presents. Angus was so interesting to them, and yet, over stimulating as well. We haven't had anything that high energy in the house in a while. Probably since Angus' last visit.

After having some lasagna (and fudge, summer sausage, cheese, spinach and artichoke dip, crackers, cookies...), Michael set the Wii up for Angus and Brandi to try their hand at bowling and golf. Michael made sure Angus' controller was firmly secured to his hand before letting him stand in front of his flat screen.

Elleigh and Lucas were so exhausted from the visit. They had to nap all afternoon with Daddy to recuperate.

Thank you for the visit, Mom and Dad!

Christmas will be so different for us next year when Gabriel is here.

Happy Father's Day!

Elleigh and Lucas are so happy to celebrate their Daddy on Father's Day! The kids started the day off snuggling in bed with Daddy. And then they helped Mommy to make Daddy home fried potatoes and an omelet. They mostly just used Jedi mind control on me while I cooked. They try to use their mind to get me to drop ingredients on the floor. Yesterday afternoon, we gave Daddy a present. He got a new Wii. We thought it might be good for him to have for when he is recovering from his surgery. Mike has to leave today to go to work in New York, so he got his present yesterday so he would have time to set up the Wii and play it at least once before leaving. He's very aggressive with the boxing game and it even scares the children a bit. Lucas doesn't have a good snuggling with Daddy photo from this morning. But he has a good photo of him smiling because his Daddy makes him so happy.