Christmas Celebrations!

What a busy few days!!

Santa came early to La Grange and brought with him quite a few presents.  Ryan loved opening all his presents (and Connor's).  After opening everything, he declared his favorite gift was the M&Ms in his stocking!  Later, he decided he really liked his Bears helmet too and proved it by wearing it on and off throughout the next 3 days.

I got M&Ms!!! 

A big hit with both Connor & Ryan 

Who needs presents when you have hats? 

Go Bears!

We headed to Hollowayville on Christmas Eve day to celebrate with the Golden side of the family.  Ryan was super excited that Santa came (again) and very patiently waited to open presents.  Connor was so excited that he was up at 5 am!  

Wearing his pjs from Santa's elves 

Ready for present opening! 

Direct quote from Ryan: "Mom, do football guys wear sweaters?" 

 Connor, Ryan, and Elsa

After our celebration in the Illinois Valley, we headed to Dwight to celebrate with the Sand family. Connor was thrilled to see his bestie Grandpa and even wore a sweater vest in his honor.  Ryan and Kate had a great time playing together and loved opening everyone's presents!

 Family picture (Take 50)

Grandma & Grandpa with the kids 

Loving the boxes! 

Cousin hug!

We had a great time celebrating with all our families and are thankful for them everyday!  Thanks for everything and Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

 

Christmas Pictures!

My friend Claire recently took some holiday pictures of the boys.  The boys did a great job for the one-on-one pictures but the pictures of them together did not go as smoothly.  Even without their cooperation, Claire did a great job... check her out at http://clairecruzstudio.blogspot.com!!

Holiday Train!

Tonight the guys and I (plus the Eder fam) got in our cars and travelled to the North Pole.  Ok...maybe it wasn't the North Pole but it sure felt like it.  We headed to Union, IL (go ahead and look it up) to board the holiday train and visit Santa.  Our visit went much as expected.  The kids loved the train but the only person brave enough to meet Santa was Connor.  You can see below how well that turned out. I don't think we will be making a second attempt with Santa this year!

So far so good! 

This is fun! 

Obligatory family pic 

Eder Family 

Seeing Santa...kept coloring as hard as he could (pretty sure he wore the crayon out) 

Turns out Santa is the only person Connor won't smile at (and Papa sometimes)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The holiday season has commenced.  We were lucky to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with both the Golden family and the Sand family.  We have so much to be thankful for this year (and every year).

Please note that I really slacked at taking pictures during the Sand celebration.  Also, the Sands in general are not huge picture people :)

First meeting between Matt & Elsa

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Elsa, Connor & Ryan 

 The family

We are especially thankful for our first Thanksgiving with this "little" guy

and his big brother!!

8 months old!

Here are a few things to know about Connor at 8 months old:

Likes:

Eating (duh)
Letting go while standing (giving his mom many heart attacks a day)
Playing with Ryan
Putting things in his mouth (preferably phones and remotes)

Dislikes:

Napping at daycare
Hats (see below for exception)

Connor does not mind underwear hats

Sweet (Old) Home Chicago

On Saturday we headed back to our old stomping grounds and took the boys to a few of our favorite places.

Dinner at Rockwell's

Ice cream at Scooter's

Then on Sunday we headed to Wheaton to hang with the Cruz family and watch some football (or weather updates as it turns out).

Brandon Marshall & Jay Cutler just hanging out

Play date with Kate

Last weekend we were able to have a play date with Kate. We had a great time playing in the basement and at the zoo. We can't wait until Baby Eder is here so we have another friend to play with.

Snack time

          

Cousins!!

Elsa Suzanne Golden

My brother Erik and his wife Carrie welcomed their first baby on Friday, November 1st. Elsa Suzanne Golden is adorable and we can't wait to spoil her!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Buzz Lightyear and Baby Monkey!!

7 Months Old!

Please pretend my mom posted these pictures about 3 weeks ago...

Pumpkin Patchpalooza

Last weekend we hit up not one, but two, pumpkin patches.  On Friday, the boys and I headed to Siegel's Cottonwood Farms in  Joliet.  On Sunday, the boys and I were joined by Memaw, Papa, Kaylee and Kaylee's friend Taylor at Boggio's in Granville.  We had a great time at both and Ryan is already looking forward to going back next year.  Special thanks to Kaylee & Taylor for going with Ryan on everything (although I think they had just as much fun)!

Serious face

This is lame Mom!

 Let's go feed some animals

Connor would prefer to eat the hay 

Never too old to play in corn 

Bounce pillow 

This sums up our weekend