Great Blog- MUST READ!

If you need a laugh you need to check out this blog: People I want to punch in the throat.  I found it through face book and can't stop reading it.  She is from Kansas and tells it like it is.  She is brutally honest and says what most of us are thinking but are to afraid to really say it.  She does cuss a lot but she is hilarious! It is laugh-out-loud-funny! Happy reading.

P.S. Make sure you read her elf on the shelf post- it's what made her blog famous!

Fun pictures

Oliver loved looking at the lights and playing with them.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to try it out.  He would have sat there for hours if we let him! They turned out great in black and white.

Merry Christmas

This year was our turn in Russell for Christmas.  We had a great time with my family.  We got to Russell late Thursday night and drove home on Monday.  The time always flies by and goes way to fast.  On Friday we went to Hays to have the Budke Christmas, my mom's side of the family.  I think this year there was 66 of us there and missing lots of cousins and a few aunts and uncles.  My mom has a huge family :)  

Christmas 2011

After about 5 pictures of Thad's silly face we tried getting a nice smiley one and this is his best- no smile!

He did give me a little smile in this one so it was okay.  He looked so handsome in his little vest.  We went to the Christmas mass where his cousins were Angels and sang a few Christmas songs.

Ollie wanted no part in a picture! He wasn't feeling the best and was mad I put him down.  He caught a little bug Thursday night and had a fever so we took him to Hays to see a doc.  After a few doses of motrin and tylenol he was as good as new.  

Both boys were good this year so Santa brought them what they wanted.  Ollie could care less but Thad was very excited for this Christmas.  He finally understood what Santa meant and had fun leaving him cookies and milk the night before.  On Christmas morning he was very excited to see what Santa brought him.

Ollie got a driving toy and a toy you put on the table that spins.  Thad got what he asked for- binoculars and a boat with animals (noah's arc).  He was also excited to see Santa left him a little cookie.  Santa ate 2 full cookies and took one bite of a cookie and left it for Thad.  He thought that was pretty neat Santa left him a cookie to eat in the morning.

He loves the binoculars.  He has wanted them ever since he saw Dino Dan had them to hunt dinosaurs.  Now he can too :)

The best part was opening the gifts Thad got us.  At his school they have a little shop that the kids can buy gifts for family.  I sent him to school with $10.00 to buy Adam, Oliver and myself a Christmas gift.  He was so happy to give them to us.  He got Adam a notepad that said Best Dad Ever, Oliver got a stuffed animal and I got a little green jewelry box.  I was pretty impressed with our gifts.  Thad's teacher said all the kids had fun picking out presents for their families. 

(I love the look on Adam's face opening his gift)

Of course the boys got too many toys they don't need but they had fun opening all their gifts.  Next year I need to buy extra batteries.  One of the toys needed 8 AA batteries! We were stealing batteries from Grandma to make them all work.  

Santa's little helpers

Mike, Mindy and Michelle

The family

We set the self timer and took a few pictures of the whole family.  Dawson had to go home early so he didn't make the picture but everyone else did.  It took a few try's but here is what we got!

We hope you all had a great Christmas.  It's hard to believe another year has come and gone but we are looking forward to 2012.  

Toy Story 3 on Ice!

I think I was more excited then Thad was to go see Toy Story 3 on ice.  We bought our tickets a few months ago and went to Denver to see the show.  Once we got there Thad was very excited to see all his favorite characters.  

He is always excited to see Mickey and Minnie.

 It was really neat when the army guys came marching out.

 Woody and Buzz were the stars of the show!

I love looking at Thad's facial expressions.  He stood most of the time and was amazed at all the characters he saw.

This was my favorite part. I love the pizza planet aliens.  They all came out and everyone went wild!

Oliver had a fun time too.  He actually slept through the second part of the show even though it was so loud.  He liked seeing all the lights.

Being silly with his alien hat that came with his cotton candy.  He also got a slushy in an alien cup. He had enough sugar to last a few days!

 Barbie was fun to watch too. 

 Lot-so was big and springy.  

Of course Hamm, bullseye, T-Rex, Mr. and Mrs. Potato head were there too.

It was a great night.  I'm glad we are able to take Thad to such fun things.  I love watching him at these events and he talks about it for weeks and months after.  I have to admit I have just as much fun if not more at them too!  

Meeting Santa

Every year our Realtor has Santa come to visit and they give free pictures out.  We have gone the past 3 years and have always been impressed with the Santa they have.  This year Thad was excited to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.  He told Santa he wanted binoculars like Dino Dan and a boat with animals like Noah's Arc.  Santa asked him if he was a good boy and he answered Yes pretty quickly!  Oliver didn't really know what was going on and sat there like a good boy.  6 months is a good age to meet Santa for the first time.  Now we will wait and see if Santa brings Thad what he wanted (I have a feeling he will!)

Oliver- 6 Months

Oliver is 6 months old today! What a little cutie pie he is.  We had his check up today and here are his stats:  18 lbs 4 oz and 28 inches long.  He is in the 70th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height.  He is very tall! I guess he will take after his Papa Steve.  He hammed it up for the Dr.'s and nurses today and they all LOVED his diaper :) He had to get a few shots but was a little champ.  Thad was happy it wasn't him getting those shots.  

Oliver is slowly starting to roll over.  I guess I shouldn't worry too much because Thad didn't roll over until he was around 7 months.  He is sitting up but falls over occasionally.  He isn't sleeping through the nights either.  It's probably my fault since he sleeps right next to me :)  He only wants to snack 5 times throughout the night! When I told the Dr. that today she said it was up to me if I wanted to keep doing that or make daddy get up with him to put him back to sleep.  I'll run that by Adam and see what he thinks ;)

We have started feeding him cereal/veggies/fruits but he doesn't seem too interested in them just yet.  He just likes his mama milk :)  I am going to try the little disposable puffs this weekend and see if he likes that.  He is always interested in what I am eating so maybe he will like a little snack of his own.

It's hard to believe he is already six months old.  He is so fun and is still such a happy baby.  He is outgrowing his carrier for his car seat and it's way to heavy to tote around all day!  We may be switching him to Thad's car seat he had when he was a baby and bump Thad up to the next level of car seats.  Our Dr. told us today that they recommend keeping babies in a rear facing car seat until they are 2 years old! Yikes! I remember when Thad turned 1 we switched him to forward facing and he LOVED being able to see me and out the front window.  I can't imagine keeping Ollie turned around until 2!  

Adam and I were looking through Thad's baby pictures last week to see the resemblance between the two.  I was trying to find the same shirt Thad wore when he was 6 months but it's packed away with the summer clothes.  Look how chunky Thad was a six months! We were talking about who was cuter at this stage but it just might be a tie! They are both super cute! I remember Thad being so chunky he looked like he was going to pop if you touched him.  Ollie is chunky but he seems to have his weight evenly proportioned to his body.  Two sweet boys!

Family pictures

We went and saw Santa last weekend and the boys were all dressed up so we took a few family pictures.

Love this sweet boy.

These two boys really melt my heart.  Thad is becoming a little man and Ollie is growing way to fast.

Best buds

I don't know why Thad has decided we need pictures like this but he always has to sneak one in.  

Me and my boys.

I am so glad this picture turned out well.  We have had issues with taking pictures with the self timer but this one turned out good.  Both boys looking at the camera is a good thing!

Christmas decorating

We decorated for Christmas last weekend and made a few ornaments for the tree.  Of course I saw this on my new favorite website Pinterest so we had to make them.  We made reindeer's out of their handprints.  I thought they turned out really cute ;)

I tried putting Oliver's handprint on this ornament and it didn't turn out very well so I decided to paint a Christmas tree instead.

I thought since Thad was a little older I could do his handprint but it just wasn't working very well. The blue blob is our attempt at a handprint but then he wanted to paint over it.  Still turned out cute and unique.

Here is the Christmas tree all decorated and lit up.  

Trying to get a good smiley picture of both boys isn't that easy! Here is the best one.

We had to get a few silly pictures too.  This is right before Thad dropped Oliver and he did a face plant into the carpet!

Thad wanted to decorate his room too.  We put up a little Christmas tree for him.  He didn't want to hang ornaments on his tree but instead he hung them on his dresser drawers!

Cloth diapers

What have I done without cloth diapers?  When I was pregnant with Oliver I got a gift card to this little shop that sold cloth diapers and organic baby items.  We went in to use the gift card and I remember feeling so overwhelmed while looking at all the options.  They seemed so bulky and I didn't want to do laundry 5 times a day keeping up with them.  After much thought and now that Oliver is a little older we decided to give it a try.  I LOVE THEM! We started out with 2 diapers to try a few different kinds.  I love both of them- Dry Bee's have the velcro and the insert already sowed in the diaper.  The Whamies have snaps and you have to put in the insert.  They are both great and hold up very well with no leaking.  They make such cute designs it's hard to choose!  They are expensive to start with- about $20 a diaper but in the long run will save us tons of money and they are better for Oliver and the environment.  Ollie has had diaper rash every time we used certain disposable diapers.  Ever since we have had these his little bottom is rash free!   

I am addicted to them now! I can't wait to get a few more designs!

Check out his chunky legs!

If you are considering using cloth diapers you will love them.  Give them a try, they are so much better for the environment and baby!