A Great '08

Michele and I met in 2005, we were married in 2006, had Addison in 2007 and Sullivan in 2008... so what big thing is in store for 2009? Well, I was the big door prize winner for my company holiday party a few weeks ago. I won a trip for 2 anywhere Delta flies in the US (except Hawaii), Canada & Mexico. We have no idea where we're going to go. Our first thought is that if we go during Spring Break when Michele is off, Addison won't be 2 years old yet and can fly free. Now, we just have to decide where to go. A few possible places include Alaska, Las Vegas (with a side trip to the Grand Canyon), San Fransisco, Boston, somewhere in Mexico, Jackson Hole (Yellowstone/Grand Teton) & the Bahamas or Virgin Islands. My first choice would be Alaska but it's a VERY long flight with a kid in your lap and it might be too cold but tickets to Alaska are expensive so if you have free ones, you have to consider it. Anyone have any suggestions? Leave them in the comments and we'll check it out.

For anyone that went Christmas shopping and just found stores with empty shelves... our apologies, we were probably there right before you and cleaned the place out. Addison now has enough toys to last her until kindergarten and Sullivan has tons waiting for him to get big enough to play with.

what Santa had waiting Christmas morning

Michele assembling & arranging the Little People village

Christmas was crazy but fun overall. We actually celebrated at home Christmas Eve morning and then went to Michele's parents house that evening for the traditional fondue dinner - maybe my favorite meal of the year. We left early Christmas morning and headed to see my family in North Carolina. We spent a few days and had a good time, there are pictures from the trip in the online album.

In the car on the way to NC

The kids are doing very well. They have had mommy's full attention for the 2 weeks Michele was off from work. I managed to get some things done around the house including finishing Sullivan's room. Michele started moving things into it yesterday and hopefully Sullivan will be ready to move in the next few weeks. Van will be six months old next week (the 10th) and he's becoming a little more animated. He laughs and smiles a lot and is now on solid food. He ate rice cereal for about a week and just recently added green beans. He still cries a lot and doesn't sleep as much as he should but he is a teeny-weeny bit better.

Eating rice cereal

New Video - eating green beans for the first time

Addison turned 20 months old on Friday. She talks more and more everyday and repeats just about everything. Last week, she repeated the entire alphabet after I said each letter. The only one she didn't quite get was "Q", she says "cute" instead, probably because she hears it so much. Also, when I say "I" she points to her eye and when I say "U" she pointed to me and said "you". It's very cool to hear her talking and telling us what she wants and doesn't want, I can't wait until she starts telling us her thoughts and opinions about different things.

You can see in the picture below that Addison got an Elmo potty training seat for Christmas. She's been telling us when she needs her diaper changed so we thought we would give potty training a try. The first attempt resulted in Addison going #1 on the floor two feet to the right of the potty seat. Ten minutes later, she went #2 two feet to the left side of the seat.

A few weeks ago we took Sullivan to his first hockey game. The Bruins came down to play the Thrashers and they won 7-4. I usually root for the Thrashers except when they play the Bruins so I was glad they won. It's tough taking kids to any sporting event but this was VERY tough. Sullivan did well but Addison was extremely frustrating. She would not sit still and threw several tantrums. I missed every goal and didn't enjoy the game very much because she was being a pain. I don't think we'll be taking them to any more games until they are older.

First hockey game 12.12.08

New Video - is Van part Dolphin?

There are 100+ new pictures in the online album from December. It has lots of pictures from random things that happened throughout the month. Here is a link.

Also, there will be a new website for pictures taken after January 1, 2009. I have just about run out of free space on this account so I have to post them on a new one. It will still be on Picasa, just under a different name. The pictures up there now will stay so don't worry about them going anywhere and don't forget to use the 'download' link above the picture if you want to download them rather than 'right-click and save' - the downloaded ones are full resolution.

That's it, it was a great '08. As 2009 gets underway I take a moment to reflect; I'm 36 years old, been married for almost 3 years, have 2 kids, 4 dogs, house in the suburbs... the American Dream, right? A lot has happened in the last few years and there are no signs it's going to slow down. Now I just need to find a way to create more hours in the day.