Christmas Morning

Grant's very first Christmas morning.... We opened presents and then go ready for the day. My family was over for a quick breakfast and then Kyle's family or dinner.

Kyle's toy assembly role has officially begun.

Good job dad (even though the seat was initially put on backwards)!

A Christmas doggie, complete with Grant's Santa bib.

Finny, you are so cute!

A Christmas snooze before the Woods' family arrives.

Kyle's parents and sister's family came to our house for Christmas Day dinner. I was so busy making dinner that I did not take any pictures of actual people. Amanda was excited about her Taylor Swift CD and requested a spoon to sing along. Collin had a hard time waiting to get home to open his giant lava lamp. We had a great time with the family.

The table before the party....

A couple photos Kyle snatched after dinner....

But Monika did get one of Grandma Woods and Grant....

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house. We had a great time, but the day went by too fast.

Grant's Christmas buns....
We ate way too much, so much that no one could eat dessert. We had homemade clam chowder and king crab for dinner, delicious! My family is used to feasting on dungeness and were amazed by the size of the king crab legs. Look at at the pure joy on my sister's face and the size of that meat

Finnegan was on his best behavior. We had to work to get this picture by putting peanut butter on the end of the bottle....

What a mess!!

The girls- Marcie, Mom, and me.

The boys- dad, Chad, Grant, Finn, and Kyle.

Our first Christmas. Grant is looking up at my mom and dad's ceiling fan. He loves that thing!

Dad taught us how to make lefsa this year- our favorite Norwegian treat. Sorry, grandma but but Dad has a recipe that makes the best lefsa we have ever tasted. We had a great time as you can see.

2 Months Old

Grant is now 2 months old! He weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs, 14 oz (in the 75th percentile). See below for the cute leg chunk.

The Grant report:

Playing: He in smiling alot know and even laughing. He found the mirror in his swing and thinks it is funny to look at himself. When he gets excited he makes short quick breaths. He likes to stand on our legs and jump. By jumping I mean we lift him up and down and he moves his legs up and down too- it is so cute. He is getting better at holding his head on his own. He knows his mom and dad and follows our voices and turns to look at us.

Sleeping: He is great at taking naps and traveling in the car, but he is not sleeping longer than 3 hr segments during the night. Hopefully, we can break this habit in the next few weeks before I head back to work!



Grant got to see his two gorgeous lady friends, Madison and Taryn, on Friday (he was much more into it than when he first met the girls at 4 wks old). My girlfriend, Mandy, from Bonney Lake, has 6 mo old darling twin girls. Here is a picture of the three trouble makers....

Our tree and more.....

Grant' x-mas stocking

Grantie Claus

2009 Christmas Outing

It is time for the annual Christmas outing!

The tradition started a couple of years ago when we saw the Seattle Men's Choir x-mas concert and then SPU's Christmas concert last year. This year Marcie and Chad were in charge of the outing and they wanted to do something "fun." Well, they came through and on Sunday we spent the evening at Bellevue Square. First we watched the Christmas Carol in 3D at the IMAX. Check out the groovy glasses below. Then we watched the x-mas show out on the street. They have Christmas characters, lights, fake snow, and some rocking x-mas tunes.



Here is Grant peeking out of his snuggly stroller and watching the show!

And those crazy cool glasses....

Everyone is thirsty!

Picture Catch Up

I am a little behind on posting pics, so let me catch up...

Grant loves to look around. He loves to look at lights, balloons, and his mobile. When he is in the right mood, I can set him in his crib and he will stare up in amazement. The darn thing does not even move, he just likes the pictures!

A picture of us hanging out while dad is at his volunteer fire fighting class.

Here is Collin's last soccer game of the season. It was a chilly, but clear day. We love to watch him play. He is so fast! You can see that Collin and Kyle are most definitely related- the crazy hair gene.

Our sweetie niece, Amanda. She is such ham. We spent most of the game making imaginary drawings in the air with a plastic hand. Oh, it is great to be 6!

Grantie getting ready to watch a husky game. He is just as excited as we are about the season.

Grant and Dad love to do things together. The other day he spent hours in his Bjorn. They went for a walk and worked on projects in the yard (you know, man stuff).

Thanksgiving and my 30th

On turkey day/ my 30th b-day we went to my sis's in Maple Valley. Chad and Marcie knocked our socks off with a fabulous dinner. It was fun to spend the day with Chads family and just hang out. Mom made my favorite dessert, french silk pie, Delicious! Some of my favorite gifts for my birthday were a new watch (it was definitely time for this events person to get one) and a Gene Juarez gift card for a massage. I am excited to be 30. It is always easier when your hubby is two years older. :)
On the way to her house, there were surprise signs along the road- "Rachel Jo" and then "the big 3-0." She marked me a parking space in here driveway withe chalk that said "reserved for old people" and then she put this on the front step "Old people watch your step"...

Our girl, Gabby

I have decided that Gabby deserves some blog time. She has been great with the baby. She smells his head and likes to snuggle on your lap when you are holding the baby. She also likes to sleep in his room on the rocker. Her favorite things in the world are tissue paper and ribbon. You will see in the photos below she got both of these things- thanks to Kyle's b-day on the 23rd.