Those are not cool!

We usually let Brady choose his pajamas at bedtime and last night he chose these funny pajamas that Bubba and Bamma Lou found at a garage sale this fall. When he puts these on, Brett and I can't help but laugh at him because he looks so silly!! The best part is that about a month ago, Brett tried to put him in some other pajamas and he threw a HUGE fit! After we calmed him down and got him to choose other pajamas he told us he didn't want the first ones because they were NOT COOL!! Those were his exact words. These are the ones that apparently are cool!

Christmas Festivities

WOW....where to begin and what to choose to post about!! This is going to be a long post because there's so much to write about and so many pictures to choose from! I swear that I am cutting this down a lot!!

This past week has been so busy and filled with lots of excitement. It was Brady's 3rd Christmas and Jackson's first and the most fun yet, I would have to say. Brady was very excited about Christmas this year and it was great to see the child's perspective and awe of everything about Christmas. We would sing Away in a Manger and Brady would stop when we sang "no crib for a bed" and ask his favorite question: "Why?" He couldn't understand this, and I think it's great to be stopped by a child so that we really think about how Jesus came into this world.

Unfortunately, our week started with an unwanted gift of the flu! Brady was not himself last week Saturday and although he never threw up, he had a low fever and wasn't feeling well. We had a party Saturday night that he did better for with Brett's mom's family. I posted a few Rock Band pictures from this day and as you can see, Brady was feeling well enough to play the drums for us! The sickness then passed on to Jackson on Sunday. We were all sitting in the living room playing (I was actually also talking on the phone) when Jackson suddenly threw up. This is the first time he's been sick! After his LARGE throw up, he seemed fine. Monday was all clear so Brett and I thought we were off the hook, but on Tuesday, Brett woke up VERY sick! Then Wednesday, I woke up sick along with both of Brett's parents! It was a miserable Christmas Eve and I spent most of it in bed. We had to cancel our Christmas Eve party with Brett's dad's family, but we did open a few Christmas presents on Christmas Eve night.

Of course, Brady LOVED opening presents and he also enjoyed helping his brother. This is actually Jackson's present :)

I love this picture....it looks like Jackson is holding up George to show him off :)

Christmas Day we woke up and did presents as a family and then with Brett's parents. We then headed out to Holland to spend the day with my mom's family. My uncle is an AMAZING chef and he made Turducken! My grandpa and uncle got together the Tuesday before Christmas to debone all of the birds and stuff them inside each other. It then cooks for 12 hours - it was AMAZING along with all of the other food!

My cousin Katie (isn't she glamorous!) and Grandpa DeVos

Papa John (my dad) and Jackson

Jackson was pretty happy about his first Christmas :)

Brady and Katie proudly displaying his new tabletop easel

What a cutie!!

We had one final celebration with my parents to end our Christmas day. It was a long day, but a wonderful one :)

On Friday, we moved from Brett's parents condo to Brett's grandma's apartment. She will be in Mississippi until April and we will be staying here either until our house sells (continue praying) or until I am done with school in June! I will post more about our new temporary home soon!! This is probably enough to keep you busy for right now :)

We had another party Friday night with my dad's family. We were very tired after moving and didn't party too late! This is a small get together as it's just one cousin and her family along with my family. It was lots of fun this year because there are three little ones now in our family.

The newest addition : Lucy - 5 months old!

Michael (my cousin's husband) and my dad

Taylor - I remember when she was as big as Lucy! Wow, that really makes me feel old!

Brady loved this sunflower chair at my cousin's house! He also enjoyed telling me that I was too big and I would break it! Thanks...I guess I need to stop eating all those holiday treats!

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas and we still have a few people yet to meet with since cancelling our party on Christmas Eve. We hope you all enjoyed your holiday with family and friends and I hope you're not too overwhelmed with this large post!!!

The Family Band

We opened a family Christmas present yesterday with the Kidds. Everybody had to help open this huge present and we couldn't imagine what could be inside!

It was ROCKBAND!!!! We had lots of fun trying it out. Brady loves to play the drums, he calls himself the little drummer boy. He has also done a little singing, but no guitar for him yet :) Brett has guitar hero so he already enjoys playing the guitar, but he's quite good at the drums as well! It's been a lot of fun for everyone! What a great family gift! Who knows, you may be seeing us out on tour soon. Get your autographs now!

Christmas with Gramma Goodyke

We went to Brett's grandma's apartment complex to visit with Santa - a lot less busy than the mall! Also, we will be moving into her apartment after Christmas so it gave us a chance to meet some of our new neighbors. Brady sat on Santa's lap and just kept repeating, "I'm not scared!" over and over! Jackson just kept staring at him, but he loved pulling his big beard!!

Brady enjoyed meeting our new neighbors. I love this picture of him deep in conversation with this woman he just met! He is so sweet!!

Last week Sunday, we had a family Christmas party with Brett's Grandma Goodyke and his mom's side of the family. There are six great grandchildren on that side of the family and they are all under the age of three! Brady is the oldest at a little over 2 1/2! It was lots of fun to get all of the kids together (and the adults, too!)

Merry Christmas

I guess that it is now time for me to join the rest of my friends in creating a blog. I have tried to keep up with posting updates on Multiply for awhile now, but I have been very bad at it since returning to work and having two little ones to take care of! Many of my friends say it's too difficult to check Multiply and since my last friend, Alissa, gave in and created a blog of her own, I figured I could hold out no longer!

So, here is my Christmas gift to all of you - my first blog entry!! I will do my best to post, but life is unbelievably busy with two little ones and working! I hope you enjoy the blog!

Merry Christmas to all!