Snow.

I finally got to downloading more pictures, and alas at the beginning of Spring I must flashback to the Winter! It took us a long time to get into the snow despite the fact it was snowing every other week. Mostly we wanted a sunny day in the 20's or 30's (not cloudy, windy and zero degrees). So we didn't get out until February. It was a great time because a) the boys were super ready to play outside and b) due to many circumstances it was Jeremy's first time in the snow!

Here are the boys at the bottom of our small hill in our back yard. They opted for the "drag our butts down the hill" strategy. Not nearly as fun as the "roll down the hill" way but whatever works!



Craig wanted to swing. If he doesn't look happy, it's because he isn't. Shortly after this he decided to take his gloves off. Before we could get them back on his hands were so cold Tania had to take him inside and warm them up. (That's the gentle way of saying it, there was much crying involved.)



Jeremy and Craig both ready to swing. Jeremy would have his meals served in that swing if we'd let him.



After Craig went in Jeremy and I played some football. Meaning I would try to kick the ball and Jeremy would retrieve it for me.



Overall Jeremy took to the snow really well. I had to convince him to come inside before he noticed how cold it was! It just didn't bother him! On the other hand, the cold REALLY bothers Craig. Next winter I'll show him the majesty of a "snow ball fight" in hopes of getting him over his "snow is cold" phase.

I really like using "quotations" this blog. Anyways, next blog should have some Easter pics. Happy Easter to you all!

Christmas and January

We had a fantastic Christmas this year. Our schedule was very busy, but we absolutely loved every family gathering we attended!

First stop we opened presents at Grandma and Grandpa Willmann's on Christmas Eve. Craig is quite accomplished at opening presents and was ready to go.



Here is Jeremy opening a soft bowling set. Both the boys absolutely love this bowling set and for the most part can take turns playing.



This pic was taken at home Christmas morning. It's a toy vacuum cleaner that is meant for Jeremy, but obviously Craig was excited too.



Craig got a stuffed Curious George. It was one of those gifts where he didn't even notice he had more gifts to open afterward. That good!



Now we move on to Nana and Papa Mantia's house on Christmas Day. Here is Jeremy eating a cookie with his bib on his back like a cape. He wore it that way for much longer than I expected.



Here are the boys opening more presents with Mom.



Moving into post-Christmas pictures, Craig and Jeremy helped celebrate their cousin's birthday at the Transportation Museum. It was a little cold to walk around outside. (And Craig likes to eat snow regardless of its cleanliness) But they had a blast inside. Here is Craig playing with a train set.



Jeremy and his cousin playing at the Puppet Show.



Here the boys are playing with the kitchen they have set up. Apparently it takes hard work to find just the right fake plate. And it appears they enjoyed the fake cupcakes!

Re-living the Christmas hype

So I failed to blog for a couple months now, which means you get to re-live the Christmas season with us! As I was putting the pics together I realized I had enough for more than one blog. So here are pictures from the weeks before Christmas.



Here are Craig and Jeremy having lunch at the mall. Jeremy can eat Craig under the table. He likes to stuff as much as possible into his mouth and then when he (eventually) swallows he stuffs it again!



This is Jeremy riding the bouncing Zebra. Craig likes to try to ride it with him, but clearly that thing isn't built for two little ones to ride it at once.



Yes, that's Craig getting a high-five From Santa while playing Foosball. We went to a Christmas Party that featured Santa! Well, Craig (and Jeremy) were so focused on playing with games downstairs that they refused to come upstairs for pictures. So Santa came down to Craig! It was really awesome, Craig was glad to have a playing partner.



This was our best family picture with Santa.



Next up we went to bake Christmas cookies with Grandma Willmann. Jeremy and Craig took their task seriously.



Jeremy had a good time!



This is Craig and Grandma adding ingredients. They did a great job and the cookies were yummy!

Next time I will get through the Christmas pictures. I promise to blog again before March!

It's 9 o'clock on a Saturday Morning.....

Ok, this here is what we call a "catch up blog." How it works is that I apologize for not blogging in a while, then you go "Yeah, it has been a while. What is the deal?" Then I post 2 months worth of photos and we all leave happy. Everybody got that? Good. Let's get started!

For starters, I want to bring to your attention how Jeremy looks every time he eats spaghetti. No exceptions.



We took the boys to a pumpkin patch a week before Halloween. Craig wasn't excited that day, but Jeremy took advantage of the haystack pyramid.



The boys did have a good time picking out pumpkins. Although most of the time Craig was just practicing for the punkin chunkin competition.



Here is Jeremy dressed as a cowboy with 2 of his cousins.



Here we are carving pumpkins for Halloween night. This is the best picture we had and it captures that "What are you up to?" look parents often have while supervising their children. For the record, Tania was the carving champion that night.



Craig was supposed to be a cowboy with a long sheriff jacket. But since he carried that flashlight all night most people asked us if he was a Jedi. Which made me happy.



Here is the family Halloween night. We dressed Jeremy as Tigger so he'd be warmer, but he turned out cuter. Who knew?



Here are the boys together. Craig has a lollipop addiction now. Curse you Halloween and your ridiculously tasty treats!



We move ahead to Craig's 3rd birthday! Here we have Craig getting ready to dig into some cake. He is all red because he had been playing the Wii for a while before cake and presents.



Craig got Lincoln Logs as a present! This is the first picture of Mom trying to build something and Craig/Jeremy happy to destroy it.



Finally here is a youtube clip of Craig singing and playing the piano at Grandma and Grandpa Willmann's. He had been doing it for a while, but I managed to at least catch the end. Enjoy!

...he sure plays a mean T-ball

I want everyone to know, Tania and I did NOT train Jeremy to do this. He just wanted to be like big brother! Here is a video of Jeremy setting up and "batting" from a batting tee! (That's right, my boy can play T-ball before he can walk! and I'm ok with it!)



And because we don't play favorites around here, here is Craig dressed in Cardinal gear for the playoffs. Go Cards!

Jeremy is one!

Last month Jeremy turned one! While I don't have the pics from his birthday party yet(which was awesome) I do have pics from Jeremy's first year with us!

From his first day


First few days home


Hi, I'm new here.


Halloween '08


Springtime '09


Learning to sit up!


Ready for football season!


Jeremy is still walking around furniture and has stood on his own two feet a couple times. We are still waiting on that first step and we don't think we will have to wait all that much longer!

All Star Weekend with the family

The Saturday before the All Star game Tania and the boys went to the All Star Fanfest with Grandma and Grandpa Willmann. Craig may have liked baseball before this outing, but it is clear he LOVES baseball in the weeks following. In addition to the Fanfest festivities they all went to the new City Garden where the boys played in the fountains.

Here is Craig throwing lefty, which is weird because he throws predominantly right handed. Being ambidextrous is a handy skill to have in life!



This is Craig hitting off the batting tee. He hits off a tee in our backyard pretty often now, although he clearly prefers when somebody pitches to him. Note the determination.



Tania and the boys with the grandparents at Fanfest



This is Craig hitting off a tee with an aluminum bat. Pretty good form considering he is used to using a yellow wiffle ball bat! (He stopped using the big red kids bat at the beginning of summer)



Jeremy playing in the fountains at the City Garden. He was having so much fun and being so cute other people were taking pictures of him too!



Craig had fun in the fountains too!



This youtube video shows the boys playing at the City Garden and the aforementioned fountains.