Future Bobby Fischer

Matt and Matthew got into a pretty heated game of chess the other day ;) Seriously though, Matt sat down with Matthew and told him the name of each chess piece and how that piece moved. They then played a game with Matt coaching the whole time. Matthew was amazing at remembering how each piece was allowed to move on the board and played a whole game, declaring at the end that they both won.

Our Christmas Tree

I have to admit that I really love when the Christmas tree is set up. There is something peaceful about seeing it in the room while hanging out, playing, whatever. Matthew was once again super anxious about decorating it and had been asking to set it up all week. On Friday we got all of the ornaments and decorations out so now our living room is very festive. Meredith giggled when she saw the lights and touched the branches. She likes to crawl over to it and try to get the ornaments off.

Matthew put on the very first ornament :)

Almost done!

Being the perfectionist that he is, he made sure the ornaments were on just right

Candy Cane Time!

Lily seemed to think the candy canes were put on the tree for her to get off and enjoy at her own pleasure.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a yummy Thanksgiving at Papa and Nana's house yesterday. Matthew really enjoys any holiday and Meredith seemed to have a fun first Thanksgiving. Papa put a super neat train on his Christmas tree that Matthew had fun inspecting. Meredith was mesmerized with the ornaments and lights on the tree.

Brittney and Aykut shared in the Turkey Day fun with us

The kids got in some good play time with their Aunt Brittney

Matt insisted on making the mashed potatoes, which turned out tasty.

Meredith and Matthew are great siblings. He really cares for her and she is amazed with him.

Carving the turkey

Feast Time!

Merebear tried some mashed potatoes....

and thought they were pretty yuck :)

Matthew had the turkey he made in school sit at the table with him :)

I am so thankful for having two healthy, beautiful, wonderful children who just light up my life!

My little Angel :) She LOVES to look at herself in the mirror-she cracks up every time she sees her reflection.

Lights On The Lake

'Tis the time to start getting into the holiday spirit! We went to see Lights on the Lake last night, which is really neat. They have 2 miles of lights set up with different themes. They had an underwater theme, Santa's workshop, and Holiday traditions. Normally you drive the path, however the opening night people walk through the lights. Meredith seemed to enjoy herself and Matthew thought it was cool, especially the displays that appeared to move.

Matthew had on his grumpy face :)

Early Impromptu Santa Visit

After last years Santa debacle I wasn't sure if I was going to attempt the whole Santa thing this year, however we were at Bass Pro the other night and Santa was there and Matthew decided that he wanted to see him, so who am I to keep a kid from Santa? He refused to talk to him or sit on his lap, but slowly walked up to him, took a candy cane, and then stood next to him for the picture (which I want to add that I was not pushing the issue, this was all his decision, despite the apparent trepidation). Meredith had no idea what was going on and was not happy about the strange, hairy man holding her.

My Bean is a silly tippa who likes to wear gloves on his feet, what a nut ball :)

This past weekend we worked on beating the sickness blues by getting outside as much as possible, even if it was just on our driveway/street. Thankfully it was decent weather so Matthew was able to do everything from his skates to his bikes to his scooter.

You know we are feeling trapped in the house when we get a good bit of amusement out of a little wood pecker on our front porch-it's kind of sad really ;)

This has been a long week for all of us due to the fact that we have been sick. Well, Meredith thankfully dodged the virus bullet. We are still coughing and have runny noses and are going completely stir crazy, especially Matthew, but we are over feeling absolutely miserable. I hope this is the one time this winter that we all get sick like this, it really takes a lot out of you and is no fun whatsoever!

Ok, so I know some people might find this inappropriate, but it's my blog so I can post what I want! Anyway, breastfeeding is one thing that I'm so proud of myself for doing and something that I love doing for my kids. I hated that I had literally no pictures of me nursing Matthew so I always told myself that I would make a point to have some with Meredith. I'm sad that this intimate relationship I have with her is coming to an end soon so I try to take in each moment with her. The closeness a mother feels when she nurses her child is indescribable and I believe that it is one of the greatest gifts I can give to my children.