Christmas in Glen Ellen, CA

Here are some new pictures..... Will got to sit in the pilot's seat on our flight to Sacramento from Atlanta. He has his new fighter pilot's jacket on (from Grandpa, of course!). The pilots were very nice to Will and he thought he was very special!
Here is our family picture from Glen Ellen, CA. Joe, Julie, Will, Dad, Mom, Bradley, Kristy, and Paul.

Here are some pictures of my Christmas in Glen Ellen, CA. I had a lot of fun with my cousins. We did a lot of fun things together. Decorating gingerbread cookies with Jenna and Nicole.
Getting ready to toss the pumpkins down the hill. My cousins Jenna and Nicole are in the picture with me.
Riding up through the roof of Uncle David's new barn. Jenna, Daddy, Allison, Uncle David, and Tyler went with me.
Looking at the tractor with Grandma.
Nicole, Michelle, Allison, Will, Jenna, Tyler, and my Great Grandpa.
Eating breakfast with Great Grandpa, Jenna, and Tyler.
Thanking Great Grandma for my Leap Frog Fridge Phonics set.
Michelle and I both got goggles..... hers are for skiing and mine are for doing work with daddy.

Opening my present with Uncle David.

Lauren's Birthday

Lauren Anne Stone will be born on February 6, 2007, at 7:30 in the morning. We are very excited that she is going to have this birthday. Joe and I went on our first date on February 6, 1998. My Grandma Niedermuller was born on February 6, 1916. She celebrates her 91st birthday this year. A little less than 6 weeks to go until our daughter arrives!

We had a great Christmas in California visiting with the Osmundson family. We celebrated my Grandpa and Grandma Osmundson's 60th wedding anniversary and my Grandpa's 85th birthday. We had the best time just watching Will play with all of his cousins! He had a great time! I'll post pictures once I get organized enough to find the camera!

Snowmen

Will made his first snowman today. It wasn't made from real snow, but he did a great job. We went to the library for a special program called, "Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow." Ms. Kelly read books about snowmen and then the kids got to make snowmen out of play-doh. She was going to have them make it out of ivory snow, but she was afraid some of the kids might eat it. I sat across the table from Will and I didn't help him too much. I rolled the balls to make the snowmen and he put everything on his snowmen just the way he wanted it. I was curious to see what his snowmen looked like, and I was pleasantly surprised. Their eyes were in the correct spot (and each snowman had two eyes) and he made noses and buttons. He even gave each snowman arms and a hat (except for the "baby Lauren" snowman). We had a great time today at the library. Thanks Ms. Kelly!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Tonight we celebrated Jesus's birthday. We are going to be out of town on Christmas, so we wanted to open our family presents before we left. There is no reason to trek them across country and back! Some other moms have shared with me that they bake a cake for Jesus and have a party to celebrate his birth. Will and I made the cake today and we had our celebration after church tonight. We were going to have our celebration tomorrow night, but I really wanted to eat the cake tonight. Will was so excited to celebrate Jesus's birthday tonight. He got to blow out the candles and eat the ice cream cake. After we ate our cake, we opened our family presents. We each had one present to open. We're trying not to have Will focused on getting a lot of gifts, plus we really don't need too many more toys! Will opened his gift first. Joe and I got him 6 new books to read. Reading is his favorite thing to do, so he was very excited. He's really into the Little Critter books, so we bought him a couple of those along with some Thomas books. I opened my gift from Joe and Will. I asked for a new robe to wear when I have to nurse Lauren in the middle of the night. Joe found the softest robe and it is so warm and comfy. Joe opened his gift from Mommy and Will. We bought him a pair of headphones to use when he plays bass. He was very happy with his new toy. Grandpa and Grandma had sent their gift up to Will already and he got to open that tonight, too. (They don't want to bring that across country, either!) They got him a play grill with play food. He loves the kitchens at church, but I was hesitant to buy a boy a pink kitchen. Mom found this grill and thought that it was a "manly" kitchen for Will to play with.

Christmas Baking

Last week my friend Nathan came over to make Christmas cookies with me. I love to bake and we had a great time! I helped Mom and Janie make the cookie dough and then we had to wait a while for it to sit in the fridge. When it was ready, Nathan and I got out the cookie cutters and we made a lot of cookies to put in the oven. We made Gingerbread Men, Gingerbread Houses, Snowmen, Christmas Trees, and Stars. We put them in the oven and they baked. Mrs. Janie made some frosting and we got to make it different colors. I wanted to make red frosting and Nathan wanted to make yellow. Mom and Janie made green frosting, too. We then got to frost our cookies and put sprinkles and M&M's on them. It was more fun to eat everything, though! When the cookies were finished, we each got to eat one! They were so good!

Southern Lights

Last weekend we went out to the Kentucky Horse Park to view their Southern Lights. We first went out to dinner with Nonnie and then drove out to the Horse Park. We drove through a 3 mile tour of Christmas Lights and then enjoyed the inside activities. Will really loved all of the trains. They have a large room full of model trains. It was really neat to see all the trains as they went around the tracks. Of course, Will's favorite train was the Thomas train that pulled Annie and Clarabel. Next, we went outside to the petting zoo. It was neat for Will to see donkeys and camels - since we've been learning a lot about The Christmas Story. I think his favorite animal was the Emu. Well, at least that was the most interesting animal!

No pictures - just an update

Well, I have no pictures to post because Joe built us a new computer and the drive for the memory card doesn't work. I'm sure it will be fixed soon. Since our last post, we have enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Anggelis family. Will loves to go over to Papa John and Diddy's house and the food was wonderful. Nonnie brought some puzzles and books for Will and he really enjoyed spending time with those.

Not much has gone on around here recently. We've just been getting ready for Christmas and hanging out at home. Most of our shopping is finished and I think Joe, Will, and I will be exchanging gifts this weekend or next. We're heading out to California for a big Christmas celebration at my Uncle David and Aunt Jeanette's home. We're also celebrating my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. It's going to be such a special time. Will hasn't met some of his California family and most of them haven't seen him since he was 9 months old. Obviously, he has changed a lot.

Lauren is doing great. I am 30 1/2 weeks pregnant and getting ready for my c-section the first week of February. I believe I get my delivery date tomorrow at my doctor's appointment. We have one more ultrasound, though I'm not sure when that will be. I guess sometime within the next 2 months! I'm going to the doctor every 2 weeks now - which means we're at the end! She is a strong little girl that loves to kick and move around. Will loved to move, too, so I guess they're a lot alike! Will had the hiccups a lot, though, and Lauren hasn't had those yet.

Will is excited about having a baby around the house. He helps me change baby doll's diaper and he loves to carry her around. Potty training is still going great! He had a set back a week or so ago and he had many accidents. It was a control issue - he wants to do it all by himself. Now he goes all by himself (with some assistance).

I guess that's about it for our household. Nothing new. Check back later for pictures.

Santa

Tonight Will went to visit Santa at the Fayette Mall. He was very apprehensive about seeing Santa, even though he loves to read books and talk about him at home. When it was Will's turn to sit on Santa's lap, he didn't cry! Santa asked Will what his name was, and Will replied, "Will." It was a very quiet response, but he responded! Santa asked him if he liked trains and Will replied, "Yes." Then Santa asked Will what he wanted for Christmas and he just stared at Santa with a blank look on his face. For weeks Will has been saying that he wants a ball with dogs on it or a ball with bunny rabbits on it. He decided to eventually tell Santa that he wanted a ball - a tennis ball - and a tennis racket. He then looked straight at Santa and said, "Daddy eat gum." Joe and I just laughed. (Joe was chewing gum at the time.) Santa gave Will a coloring book and some crayons and we left. Will looks a little stunned in the picture, but at least he wasn't crying! Maybe he'll smile next year!

Bob the Builder

Will after trick-or-treating.
Will and Jack the Dinosaur.
Diddy, Will, and Nonnie. Will and Papa John.
Will and Nathan celebrating at the library.

Will really enjoys watching Bob the Builder. Unfortunately for him, I only let him watch it once (maybe twice, if he's lucky) a week. For Halloween Will dressed up as Bob the Builder. His budy Nathan dressed up as Bob the Builder, too! The Monday before Halloween our library had a Halloween Party for the kids. There were lots o kids there to enjoy the songs, crafts, food, and trick-or-treating around the library. I've posted pictures from the library celebration as well as Halloween evening. Joe took Will trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and Will had a great time. Our neighboor, Mr. John, let Will borrow his real hard hat for the night. Will was very excited about that! After trick-or-treating, we went to Joe's grandparent's house to visit Papa John, Diddy, and Nonnie. It was a fun evening.

Pumpkin Carving

Helping Daddy clean out the pumpkin
What's inside?
Watching Daddy carve.
Helping Daddy take off the stem of the pumpkin.
Here are a few pictures of Will and Joe working on the pumpkin for Halloween. I have pictures of Will's Halloween evening and I will post those soon. He enjoyed eating the Halloween donuts and eating the pumpkin seeds after we roasted them.

Lauren Anne Stone

This is a picture of Lauren Anne Stone. She is 1 pound 6 ounces and growing well. She has 15 more weeks until she comes into this world and we can't wait to meet her! The doctor said that everything is perfect and she is doing great. Now we just have to wait a couple more months. Thanks to "Ms. Debbie" for scanning her picture!!!

Bi-Water Farm

We woke up and got ready to take Will to Bi-Water Farm to pick out his pumpkin. Nathan and his mommy, daddy, and baby brother Luke went with us, too. We had a great time! We got there at 10 am and took the boys to the petting zoo. They loved the rooster that kept crowing and the silly goat that kept coughing. After the petting zoo, we took them over to "Pirate's Cove" where they could play in a little park and ride trikes around a little road. Unfortunately, the trikes were really heavy and big, so Daddy had to help Will ride around the path. We then went to get on a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. Will loved the hay ride and he enjoyed seeing all the different plants growing out on the farm. We got out to the pumpkin patch and decided to go through a corn maze. That was lots of fun! They boys led us through the maze and we all made it out in one piece! Once we got to the pumpkin patch, Will picked out his pumpkin and he was "done." We still had to find our family pumpkin, so we walked around the patch for a while. Will and Nathan had a great time trying to pick up different pumpkins and Will even tried to pick up a broken one. That was the end of his mittens! They got very messy! Once we all found our pumpkins, we got back on the hay ride and went to buy our pumpkins from the store. We said goodbye to the Stewart Family and went out to lunch at a local Mexican Restraunt. Will fell asleep on the way home and we all took naps when we got home. It was a very fun day! Enjoy the pictures!

Keeneland

Today we took Will to Keeneland. Keeneland is a horse racing park here in Lexington. I've driven by it so many times, but I've never been to a race there. The first race began around 1:00, but we didn't leave the house until 4:15 since Will had to take his nap. We made it in time to see the last two races. Will was very quiet as he watched the horses run around the track. He didn't quite understand why everyone was cheering, but I think he had a great time. We went to see the horses after the race and Will got to pet two horses. They weren't the race horses, but they were the escort horses that take the race horses out onto the track. Their names were Trouble and Easy and they were very sweet. Will got to see all of the jockeys in their silks and he even got a pair of their goggles! They were giving them out to the kids as they passed by. It was a great activity for our Sunday afternoon and it was FREE. I guess they don't charge admission so late in the day!

Potty Training

I am so happy to announce that Will is potty trained! He's not perfect, yet, but he's doing a great job at using the potty! We started this weekend and he picked up on it so quickly. He even woke up last night to have me take him potty. He was dry this morning, too! He loves getting M&M's for going potty......

We decided to try him at potty training because of a couple of things. First of all, I'm just about out of diapers and I didn't want to have to buy more. Second, we have a baby coming in 4 1/2 months and I don't want to have to buy double diapers. Third, we really felt that he was ready. He's a smart little boy and he picks up on new concepts pretty quickly, so we didn't think potty training would be any different. When we talked to his pediatrician a couple of months ago, she said not to wait too much longer. I felt it was early, so I waited a couple of months. It's a hard thing to do, but I am so happy that we have no more diapers.

There are no really appropriate pictures for this post.......

It's a Girl

Well, we had our Ultrasound on Friday and we're having a baby girl. We are so excited to have a daughter. It's been fun to think in pink instead of blue. Will is so excited about having a little sister. He already picked out an outfit for her. He said it was for his sister. I am so thrilled to have a little boy and a little girl. The best thing is that she is doing great and growing perfectly inside of me. The ultrasound tech said that she was a perfect and beautiful baby.

We went out to eat to celebrate our perfect little girl with my mom (dad was in Boston on business) and Joe's mom. Here is a picture of our evening.

I know I haven't posted in a while. We've been pretty busy around here. I've "caught" up on my posting, so scroll down to see what we've been up to recently. I think this is my fourth post this morning, so I am no finished! Enjoy all the pictures and keep our family in your prayers!

Cousin Bradley's Birthday Party and the Denver Children's Museum

Eating a cupcake at Cousin Bradley's Birthday Party! We had such a great time!
My first time painting on an easel. I loved it!
Hanging out with Papa and Cousin Bradley at the Denver Children's Museum.
Shopping at the Denver Children's Museum. This area was my favorite area. I was very serious in here!
Climbing the tree house with Cousin Bradley. We're great pals.

On Friday we all headed to the Denver Children's Museum. The boys had a great time playing together. Will's favorite area was the shopping zone. He was so serious about pushing his cart around the store and picking the food off of the shelves. He even got to check himself out. He scanned all of his food items and put them back into the cart. It was so much fun to watch him in the store. He took it very seriously.

On Saturday we celebrated Bradley's birthday. Paul and Kristy had his party at the park and all of Bradley's friends were there. There were around 12 kids and their parents. The kids had a great time and it was fun to watch Bradley eat his cake.

Will and Bradley had so much fun together this weekend. I am so glad that they will have eachother to play with for the rest of their lives. I hope that they can be great friends. They played very well together and Will just loved all of Bradley's toys. We hope to see him soon!

Denver Zoo

Mommy and Will in the petting zoo at the Denver Zoo.
Daddy, Aunt Len, and Will at the Denver Zoo. Aunt Len and Uncle Jared live in Denver and it was great to see them!
Will outside of the gorilla exhibit.
Aunt Kristy and Bradley went with us to the Denver Zoo. Uncle Paul, Aunt Kristy, and Bradley live in Denver, too!

We flew out to Denver at the end of August for Bradley's first birthday. We had a great time visiting the zoo with Aunt Len. It was a great trip because both of Will's Aunts and Uncles live in Denver, so he got to visit with a lot of family. My parents stopped by Denver on their way home from Alaska - so that was an added bonus. We had a great trip to Denver!

Cincinnati Zoo

Our family at the zoo!
Will and Jackson playing in the water.
Will and Mommy with Jackson and Raegan (and baby Heidi).
The boys in the car after a day at the zoo!
Well it's been a while since I've posted, so here are some pictures of what we've been up to.... The Hicks Family and the Stone Family headed to the Cincinnati Zoo one weekend and we had a great time. The kids loved the animals. Will got to see an elephant for the first time! The boys did a great job at the zoo and we had a fabulous time hanging out with the Hicks Family!