January 26, 2009

Me....Plus Four!

Here is a picture from our fun MLK/inauguration weekend down in NC visiting our friends Lenise and Paul and their three kids. I had about 60 pounds of toddler on my lap while the boys watched some TV! Fun times were had by all!

January 06, 2009

Christmas Festivities

The season kicked off with Jonah's school's Christmas program. It was really cute to see the kids doing their little performances. Above is Jonah's class singing Jump Into the Light (Jonah is off to the right in the white sweater).

His class also did an instrumental rendition of The Little Drummer Boy.


Around this time, Jonah also began Tae Kwon Do lessons. He had gone to a birthday party at the Tae Kwon Do school, which is located right next door to the little kids' gym that I've been taking him to for the past year and a half, and he really liked it, so we decided to sign him up for classes. Here he is in his adorable little uniform getting ready to do his punches and kicks. Once we got past some initial resistance around actually wearing the uniform and getting his belt on, he has really taken to the classes, and I think it will be good for him in the long run in terms of teaching discipline and respect.

Josh's mom (Nana) came down on the 23rd to stay with us through Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to church to celebrate what the holiday is really all about, then we came home and left out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Somehow or other (namely, all the adults) everything was eaten and drunk up, so that the plates and cup were empty the next morning! :)

On Christmas morning, Jonah woke up to discover that Santa had brought him the chart he'd been asking for. he can now keep track of his "chores" (helping the feed the cats, helping to make his bed, etc.) and get rewarded accordingly when he accumulates a certain number of stars on the chart. He loves it!

The Olsson side of the family gathered at Christmas! (I believe I spelled the name right this time, Nana!)

And the Merritt side!

The day after Christmas, we drove with Nana back up to Pittsburgh and spent a few enjoyable days with Josh's dad, Heather and Nicholas. While we were up there, the two daughters of Josh's dad's best friend, who have been like sisters or cousins to Josh and his brother Ben, came into town with their three collective kids. So we had four toddlers, all under the age of three years nine months, and one eight-month-old to keep tabs on. Talk about chaos!

Here I am holding the eight-month-old, Hannah. I had to get my baby fix, after all, and she was SOOOO adorable! I'm hoping that baby #2 will be something that Josh and I can plan on this year!

And here is the requisite picture of Jonah and Nicholas sitting at the island in the kitchen of Josh's dad's house. Someday, I'm going to put together an album of just the pictures of the two of them stting at the island so we can see how big they keep getting (and, of course, how cute they are!).