Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We were so happy to spend the holiday with lots of family (but there was a lot we missed seeing too!) Will was so excited to play with each gift he opened and didn't realize that there was a whole stack just for him! A special "kee koo" (thank you) from Will to everyone who helped make this such a special Christmas!! We are so lucky to have you all in our lives!

Breakfast with Santa

This morning we met up with Avery, Lila, Aunt Aud, Uncle Corey and Grandma and Grandpa at the Arboretum for breakfast with Santa. It was so much fun watching the kids with Santa- Will is starting to get that there's something special about that guy, but he's not quite sure what it's all about yet! After breakfast, we checked out the train exhibit- funny that both of our Santa outings have involved trains too. I guess there is something fascinating about both!

Nice Gloves

Will has been fascinated with all the Christmas ornaments. He's been taking the mini stocking ornaments off and saying "Bap boo" (help please) trying to put them on his hands as mittens! Now if we could only get him to keep his real mittens on when we go out!

Visit with Santa!!

We went out in the cold to visit Santa last night! Will was his usual serious self around a new person but he was fine sitting in Santa's lap! Will had little to say and was happy to get out of the cold and eat dinner at 2 Toots, the train diner. He loved watching the trains go around delivering the food. And we had a great view of the DG Train station just outside so we got to see lots of big trains too!

Silly Willy

So silly....you can almost hear him laughing!!!

My Little Helper

Will has been very hands on in all the Christmas goodies. He's been testing to make sure the lights work (don't worry he wasn't near any outlets!), sampling the gingerbread house, and making ornaments. I even caught him in the stash of Christmas gifts testing out some of toys to make sure they up to code- how thoughtful!! After all his hard work he enjoyed a ride in the sled around the back yard!

Christmas is coming...

I love Christmas and all the traditions that go with it!! Along with Will's help, we got the lights up outside and all the decorations up in the house. We turned on the Christmas music and enjoyed a cozy afternoon gearing up for the holiday. Now if we can just keep the ornaments ON the tree...they are so tempting for curious little fingers!

Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Will had a busy day playing with ALL of his cousins. He shared his enormous hugs with Fini and Lila, chased Avery and Eme with lots of giggles, and rode on the big wheels while H played hockey in the garage!! He even played in a piano concert with Grandpa's supervision! We enjoyed spending the day with family and eating lots of good food. We have so much to be thankful for!!

Colorado

Another great trip to BV! Will got to ride on the ATV's with Dad, throw rocks in the river, ride on his little car, and enjoy some mountian air. It was a little chilly to do much outside, but the deer came to visit us often so we watched them eating right outside the windows. They stayed for a long time and we loved watching them. Will also kept Grandma ("Bama") and Grandpa ("Bampa") very occupied by playing under the office desk with them! It was a great escape and a whole new world for Will to discover! We can't wait to go back with Will's little brother and do even more!

Brookfield Zoo

We took advantage of a few warms days and headed to the Brookfield Zoo. Will loved the monkeys ("ahh ahh ahh") and the goats. We ended the day with a ride on the carousel with Avery and Lila.

Happy Halloween!!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween like we did! Will dressed up for music class and got to see all his friends in their costumes dancing around! Then we had lunch and a quick nap and it was time to trick or treat. Avery taught Will what to do and he got plenty of yummies! He kept wanting to go into the peoples houses but finally caught on that we just get candy and move on! I loved seeing all the kids in their costumes- it's such a fun day. After that, we had birthday dinner with Avery. What a great day for a birthday!! The kids were toast and snuggled up on the couch before we headed home.

Children's Museum

We had a fun trip to the Children's Museum this week with Avery,Lila, Aunt Audra, and Grandma. Will had a hard time focusing on just one thing and wanted to do it all! There was plenty of hands on exploring through all of the exhibits.

Frogger's Buddy

Frogger is one of Will's best buddies! Can you tell he gets dragged everywhere especially near nap/bedtime.

Puppy Love

Will loves to give Ernie big hugs! Will laughs and Ernie runs away!

Visit to M.C.

We made a trip back to Mason City to celebrate Holli and Mario's engagement! We are so excited for them! While we were there we also made a trip to the pick-your-own pumpkin farm and found some pumpkins just our size! It was great to see Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandma (who taught Will all about sugar packets!), Aaron, Jill, and of course Holli and Mario and all the other friends and family who were there!

Can't Catch Me!

Will loves to run around the house on the chase! Sometimes he even plays this game with Ernie. I love watching him run and seeing his arms pump to make him go really fast! As you can tell from all these clips, we play this game a lot and it never gets old! Usually he keeps going around and around but you'll get the idea here. (To get the full effect, pause the background music at the bottom of the page so you can hear the clip- in the last one he says Dada...love you.)

Eye on you

I meant to post these over the summer but I'm a little slow. Will is very curious about the camera! It's funny because he seems to have gotten so much older since these clips were taken.

Appetizers

While I was making dinner, Ernie and Will decided to have a some appetizers in the sun room. What better choice than Dad's Cocoa Krispies!! Will shared with Ernie, which really means that he just dumped them everywere. Ernie tried to clean up the ones on the floor before I noticed. Thankfully they are easy to vacuum!!

Lawn mower rides

There is a lot of mowing that happens around our house! Will likes to put things on the mower to push along- notice the sippy cup. Sometimes Frogger get a ride on the mower too! Guess what he's watching out the window... yes- a lawn mower!

Working hard

Will's busy working at his work bench! He figured out that the drill actually works so he's been busy drilling the pieces in. I wonder what he's making...

Farm Fun

We made a trip to Indiana for an unseasonably hot day at the apple orchard. Will ate an entire apple and yes that included the core!! There's nothing like an apple fresh from the tree. We also made a quick stop at the pumpkin farm- see if you can spot Will in the pictures! It was cool checking out the barn with the tractors and the little kitties were a big hit- "mao" as Will says! He had so much fun with all the new experiences, he was out cold by the time we got back to the house and didn't budge when he was changed and put down for an afternoon nap!

Mama's helper

Will's a great helper around the house. When I vacuum he walks beside me with his lawn mower "vacuuming" any spots I miss, he gets the swiffer out when I sweep and this morning he helped wipe off his high chair! It was funny watching him because he was getting frustrated if the washcloth wasn't perfectly flat. He went above and beyond even cleaned his hair too! What a great helper!!

PJ Day

We stuck around home yesterday waiting for the washing machine repair man.... so we had a pj day! Will loved playing in his firetruck fort and playing "peeky" around the house. Great hiding spot buddy, but you're feet give you away!!