Let's Finish Up 2012, Then Jump Into 2013

Well, I am officially behind on the blog.  A year behind.  Ha!  Get it?  Anyways, I've got several days of catching up to do which means this post includes our 2012 ending and 2013 beginning.  

Grampa heads home to NH...
Grandparents are such a blessing.  It's been great to have my mom and dad here for awhile through the holidays.  My mom is actually staying on a little longer, but my dad headed out on January 1st.  We had a great visit with him.  Tavin had some especially great play time with Grampa (little example here).

Tavin also continues to enjoy time with Gramma.  Tav's actually had quite a cold this past week and hasn't been acting like himself a lot of the time.  Gramma is so great at reading his needs and she could totally tell on this morning that he needed some one-on-one snuggle time with a good book.

Koen was so busy with Doug enjoying the snow, lots of sledding and entertaining our Aussie friends that are in town visiting as well (pictures to follow of these buds from Down Under) that he had a little less one-on-one time with Grampa.  Thankfully we now have another son that can easily fill Grampa's hands.  My dad was such a natural with Penn.  They connected so easily and Penn was so comfortable with him.  I loved seeing it!  Daddy, I miss you already!

We had a great visit with you, Dad.  Can't wait for your next trip out.  (Literally, the day you left Tavin was already saying, "Dampa come back home").

New Year's Eve...
We had a packed New Year's Eve this year actually.  The day was pretty normal (well, our Christmas vacation normal), but our evening was full of special fun things.  First, we went to a family party at Nate & Megan's.  Lots of friends were there with their kids.  It's hilarious to look around the room at all these friends we went to college with and then see the miniature versions of them running around at their knees.  Where has the time gone?  The party was loud, fun and festive.  We had a blast.   It was an Italian themed evening because our hosts had wisely chosen to celebrate New Year's at 6pm, Italian midnight.  The dinner was make-your-own pizzas.  Check out these toppings!

I made Tav's, but Koen was a big boy and made his own.  Alex seems to be watching his every move.  =)

After the quick cook time, the kids jumped right in and enjoyed their yummy creations.

Koen was particularly happy to see Miles.  Now that Koen is in school, we rarely get to get he and Miles together.  This was a much overdue meetup!

While the big kids got to eat pizza, the little ones enjoyed their mush.  Here's Penn Rye entranced by all that's going on around him as he eats his rice cereal dinner.

Meanwhile, to his right his little friend, Cora, was having some fun.  And look at those eyes!

Here a couple of the proud dads.  

By the way, that's not Penn Doug's holding, but it's Andy in the same outfit Penn had on.  Megan and I had them match on purpose so that we could take a few buddy shots.  I love this first one because it looks like Penn is really tugging on Andy!

Still doesn't want to let go of his pal!

In this shot it seems like Penn is saying, "Oh no, he got away!"  And Andy seems to be saying, "Phew!  Finally out of reach!"

So, 6pm hit and Megan (being the totally prepared hostess) passed out noisemakers for the kids.  They had fun with that!  Happy New Year!!

Here are a few shots of the post-dinner and post-New Year celebration playtime that ensued until we had to hit the road for bedtime.  Alex generously shared his awesome felt Firehouse that his grandmother made him.  The boys loved it!

This isn't even all the kids.  Actually it's about a third!  That's it!

Koen wasn't supposed to do the riding toy, but he finagled his way onto the toy train because "Isabelle needed him to push it."  Right, son, right.

Penn enjoyed all the activity as usual and did actually take a short catnap too before we had to head home.  Here he is when he was having a good time watching the chaos.

Our hosts were so generous and hospitable.  I was excited to bring something to contribute to the amazing evening they had planned.  So, I ventured into the unknown and made a pecan pie recipe.  I've never made pecan pie anyways and this was a new recipe and on top of that I totally messed with it in order to make it a chocolate pecan pie.  Well, thankfully it was a success.  Too bad you can't taste what you see here!

Thanks for a great New Year's Eve-ning, Nate and Megan.  We had a blast being with you and so many other great friends and watching our kids together.

After getting our boys to bed, we headed out to Sean & Jen's for a few hours.  It's become a tradition to spend New Year's Eve with these friends and the last few years they've hosted an informal, relaxed evening of hanging out and reconnecting as we wait for the New Year to come.  Doug and I still didn't make it to midnight EST, so this time we rang it in with San Juan, Puerto Rice at 11pm EST and then headed home.  By the time we got in bed it was midnight and we mumbled some "Happy New Year's" and fell satisfyingly asleep (well, after the random fireworks went off around the neighborhood).  2012 was an amazing year.  Standing out most to me of course is the addition of Penn Rye to our family and just the joy of these 3 boys we've been blessed with and the gift it is to have a devoted and loving husband.  So much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to in 2013.  

Firsts...First of the Year, First Ice Skating for Koen!
The first of January we just laid quite low, but on January 2nd we ventured out to PPG Place to take Koen ice skating for the first time.  Our friends, Nic, V and Mo are visiting from Australia.  Koen and Doug have been enjoying sledding outings and museum visits with them all week.  We've been entertaining them in the evenings for some dinners and some great chats, but finally, on the 2nd, I got out of the house and into some skates for a little adventure myself.  Here's Koen and I before we hit the rink with our skates on all ready to go!

Walking up the ramp (thanks for the play-by-play pics, babe, really builds the suspense!).

This is it!  Koen's on skates!

And then he's at the railing.

And quickly slipping and sliding to his first fall.  Happens to everyone, buddy!

Koen was actually very brave and didn't mind the occasional falling at all.  Most of the time he stayed close to the railing, but he also would ask to get out on the rink.  He was dying to just let go and be able to skate around like me.  He would ask, "can't I just let go and do it by myself."  I had to explain to him that he could try, but until he got more comfortable he would probably just stand there or fall.  Mommy was right, but he was a great sport and kept at it.  It was frustrating for me as a trainer because 1) although I started skating at a young age and am comfortable with it for sure, I've never had to teach it.  How do you do that?  2) Koen is probably at least 2/3 my size, so he is a heavy little bug to try and help hold up, pick back up and direct around on the ice.  Let's just say my arms, shoulders and back were a little sore the next day.  It was a good first attempt though.  Here are a few more shots.

 

Nic could see my plight that Koen was quite tiring to steer around, etc. so he came to the rescue and took Koen around a bit.  Koen loved that as he was able to glide between Nic's legs.  Thanks, Nic!

Nic's son, Mo, has tried skating before and was very excited for another go at it.  Unfortunately, he was coming down with quite a cold, so I think he tired earlier than he would have.  Koen was getting exhausted from it all (and probably a little annoyed he couldn't figure out how to go fast on his own), so we all headed to lunch at Noodles & Company in Market Square.  Perfect warm up spot!  Finally I managed to get some pictures of Nic, V and Mo.  I don't know how I did so terribly with photos on this visit.  I'm so frustrated!  I'm thankful I at least got these though to prove that these special kindred spirits from the land of Oz were actually here in the Burgh with us.  Koen took the first 2 pictures.

I grabbed this one of my skating date and I.

Then Doug took one of Koen up on my lap.  He was worn out this day.  He was in great spirits, but just physically tired.  On the way home he almost fell asleep in the car (that never happens with Super K!).

After a week here in Pittsburgh, Nic, V & Mo left for Boston this morning.  We've had a special end of 2012 and beginning of 2013 shared with family and friends.  So blessed!