New Car

At the end of October, we bought a used, 2006 Honda Odyssey mini-van. We had been praying for the past year that God would provide for us to buy a new car because our other car wasn't very reliable and pretty dangerous to drive during the winter. We paid a lot for that car and it wasn't worth much at all when we got rid of it so we were glad that we got rid of it when we did so we at least got something out of it. I didn't post about the car sooner because we were waiting to surprise Derek's family in person when they visited at Christmas and we didn't want them to find out when reading the blog. It was very hard to keep it a secret and I almost posted a couple pictures of Sean playing in the snow outside with the van visible in the background!

We absolutely love the car and it is a very practical family car. Years ago, Derek said that he would never drive a mini-van, but after having the boys we decided it was the best vehicle for our family. We are ready for a road trip! We're hoping to hit the road in May to visit our friends and family in Arizona (and our new baby nephew Anthony) and also travel to Illinois in July.

Christmas & New Year's

Christmas was much fun at the Wilson house this year; Sean was so excited he could hardly contain himself. From the cookie decorating, shopping, gingerbread house, Christmas lights, wrapping presents, decorating the house, school Christmas program, church activities, and of course Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We're excited to start Christmas family traditions; some carried over from when we were kids and others that are new family traditions. Sean is old enough to really enjoy Christmas and understand the reason that we celebrate Christmas.

Derek's mom, stepdad and sister Megan visited for a week from Illinois and we really enjoyed having there here. Unfortunately, we were all sick with a cold! It started with Sean who was sick with a runny nose before the family arrived and then I got sick with a cold and sore throat worse than he had and then Ryan got sick and then Derek got sick. Needless to say, we really weren't completely better until after Christmas. The first night Ryan was sick, I think I got like an hour of sleep - it was pretty bad! The poor little guy could not stay asleep and he just cried and cried for a couple of days. I took him to the doctor and they really didn't know what was wrong with him. The ironic part of this is that it seems like one of us is always sick when our family comes to visit. Derek had been telling his family about how easy going Ryan is and that he is slow to cry and quick to smile. Well, that is not the baby that they saw when they first arrived! We kept telling them that he really was a good baby and usually didn't cry like that. Thankfully, he was much better the last couple of days that they were here.

We spent most of the week playing games and of course, eating and eating! That's what we like to do around the holidays. Our family helped to spend time with Sean since we all just kind of layed around from not feeling well. Sean was so excited on Christmas Eve for Santa to come that he just kept running around the house asking when Santa was coming! On Christmas morning, Sean actually slept in until about 7:30. His Aunt Megan was sleeping in his room so she helped to keep him in the room until we were ready.

He received way too many gifts and his main Christmas gift was a train table. We had it set-up in the living room all put together (took 3 of us to figure it out the night before!) so that it would be the first thing he saw when he came down the stairs on Christmas morning. He loved it and started playing with it as soon as he saw it.

On New Year's Eve we stayed home and Derek's dad and stepmom Diane and our good friends the Nix Family came over and we snacked and enjoyed each other's company. We rented a couple of movies and I actually managed to stay up until midnight! Derek set-up a special snack table for Sean and his friend Grace in the basement so they could have their own party.

I guess I should also mention that Derek's dad, stepmom Diane, and grandma moved from Pinetop, Arizona to Colorado Springs in December. They had planned to move here in a few years to be closer to the boys, but Diane's job situation moved them here sooner! They found a house to rent and she is looking for a job. It all happened very quickly. It's nice to be close to family though and we're trying to encourage others to move here too! :-)

I'm looking forward to 2009 and pray that your year will be blessed! We are hoping to take a few trips; one to Arizona and one to Illinois. My sister Michelle is having a baby in March and I can't wait to see the new baby. Derek is planning on teaching some more classes at Colorado Christian University and thinking about starting an MBA program. Happy New Year!

Sean's Christmas Program

On Wednesday, Sean's pre-school put on a Christmas program. It was adorable and Sean did a great job. I was a little worried that when he saw Derek and I in the audience that he would not want to stand up there, but he did fine. Just mommy worrying I guess! I've included several video clips of the program and Sean is in the left bottom corner sitting with the teacher. The videos are a little shaky because I was trying to hold Ryan at the same time and only had one free hand! Here's a funny picture of me and Ryan - he has bug eyes!

After the program, we went back to Sean's classroom to have a birthday party for Jesus. The kids also handed out presents to the parents - an ornament with a picture of them. It was supposed to be of him dressed up in a costume and standing by the manger, but his teacher told me that he and one other boy in the class wanted nothing to do with it. So, she convinced him to stand in front of the Christmas tree. Either way, it's cute.

Christmas Traditions

Whew - sorry it has taken me so long to post an update! Since Thanksgiving, I've been so busy with Christmas shopping, parties, school events for Sean, etc. As Sean gets older, it's so fun to start Christmas family traditions. This year we had some friends over to decorate Christmas cookies and Sean had a blast! I have to admit that I didn't make the dough from scratch; I just bought the pre-cut sugar cookies. I figure that as Sean gets older we can progress to making the cookie dough and cutting out the shapes. After Sean was done decorating his cookies, I couldn't tell if he even had any cookies on his plate because his plate was covered in sprinkles!

This year we also decorated a gingerbread house and Sean really enjoyed it. I waited for a good sale and bought a gingerbread house kit. Sean took his time to place each piece of candy in the right place and didn't complain when mommy realized that the frosting had to set for hours before the house could actually be decorated! Oops! I was also surprised that he didn't fuss about not being able to eat the gingerbread house (although we had our share of candy while we decorated!).

We hope to look at some lights this year and Sean enjoyed helping to decorate our house. He has several of his own decorations in his bedroom and it's cute that each one has it's own place.

One last thing - a funny story about a mommy mistake I made this year. Sean didn't have any presents under the tree so I put 2 out one morning. One was from Ryan and the other was from my sister. When I got out of the shower that morning, I heard running downstairs up and down our walkway. I didn't think anything of it at first and then I got this bad feeling that he was up to no good so I went downstairs and heard the sounds of paper ripping! I found him hiding behind our recliners opening the gifts. He had already opened one of the toy packages! I was shocked and mad at first until I started to think back to when I was child and all of the sneaky things I did to try and get a peek at my Christmas presents. He helped me re-wrap the presents (I didn't put them back under the tree this time!) and he asked me not to put them under the tree because he was too tempted to open them! Now I've learned my lesson not to put any presents for him under the tree until Christmas.

Hello, Winter!

Well, the snow has been falling all day. Last Sunday it snowed nearly 9 inches and we've gotten several more today. In addition to the snow today, it is VERY VERY cold. Right now it is around 14 degrees outside - Brrr. During the first snow, Sean and daddy went sledding with our friends, the Nix family. They had a blast, but Sean started to cry for mommy when he was tired and too cold. It was very windy that day and you could barely see because the snow was blowing.

The nice thing about snow here is that the roads can be covered in snow one day and if the sun comes out the next morning, it's already melted quite a bit by early morning. By the end of the day, you won't find much snow. Driving tomorrow morning should be fun!

Enjoy the pics of the snow and Sean helping me shovel the driveway. Here are some pictures of Ryan and his girlfriend, Mary Ashlynn (she is 2 months older than Ryan and absolutely adorable). :-)

4 Months Old!

Time has gone by fast - Ryan is already 4 months old. At his doctor's appointment he weighed 13.9 lbs (29th percentile) and was 24 3/4 inches long (52nd percentile). Most of the time, he is a very happy baby. He is usually smiling; especially at Sean. When Sean is in the room, Ryan just follows his every move. He adores his big brother. Ryan is close to sitting up and we just took out the exersaucer toy and he loves it!

Really the only area that he is not doing so well is his sleep. He's been in his crib for about a month and a half and still struggles to sleep. We had a couple of good nights where he would sleep for 3 hours straight, but the last few nights have been extremely exhausting with Ryan waking 2-3 times per hour! When I saw the doctor, his first question was "Is your baby sleeping for at least 6 hours at a time at night?". I exclaimed "NO!". He gave me some tips and basically said that he felt bad for me! Derek and I definitely long for a full night's sleep. I honestly don't know how I function during the day. God gives me the energy I need each day to make it through.

We also started feeding Ryan solid foods. His first food was rice cereal. He actually was very calm about the whole experience and is pretty good at keeping more of it in his mouth now.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are so thankful to God for how he has blessed and provided for our family this year. Derek's dad, step-mom Diane, and grandma are visiting. We usually take a trip to Pinetop/Lakeside to visit them for Thanksgiving, but since Ryan is still a little guy they made the trip here this year. As usual, we ate way too much!

Derek and I braved the Black Friday after Thanksgiving sales. We took Ryan with us and he was such a good boy sleeping most of the time. We got some really good deals, but the crowds were nuts. The weather was also bad and we woke up to icy roads and snow. The Lord kept us safe, but we saw several cars slipping all over the roads.

Enjoy the video of Ryan eating his first food and some pictures of the boys!

Get That Bird!

Here are some videos of Ryan playing on his toy playmat and really trying to grab a hold of the bird that flies over his head. In the second video, he really grabs a hold of the bird!