Fun Day

Since Jason had the whole week off in between Christmas and New Years, we took advantage and had a special day out.

We started off with breakfast at Cherie Inn where both kids behaved beautifully!  We then headed to the Children's Museum.

Hannah had a ball dressing up and performing on their stage.

After we got home, Hannah and Jason played Chutes and Ladders while Jack took a nap.  Once Jack got up, Jason took both kids to Meijer where they got cookies at the bakery.

After dinner we had a sundae bar where the kids had no problem at all choosing their toppings.

Hannah then got to sleep in her new Red Wings pj's, a present from cousin Mark.

Overall, a great day!

19 Months

Jack turned 19 months old the day after Christmas.  Here's what our guy is up to:

*He continues to find new places to climb.

*He tries to whistle and copy sounds that we make.

*He loves to dance.  He will push the music button on his magnetic farm on the fridge just to hear the music and dance.

*He is saying more words.  Some of the ones we hear often include hot, Nanna (Hannah), JJ, choo choo, Jack, and bird.

*He is very good at keeping himself busy.  We often find him reading books (sometimes ripping out the pages) and playing in their kitchen.

*He is his father's son.  Whenever there is a spill of any kind, he rushes to the kitchen, grabs a towel, and wipes it up.  I've also caught him taking a cloth from my kitchen drawer and cleaning the windows.  I hope this trend continues!

*He waves with the funniest side-to-side wave to everybody and anybody.  He's a very friendly neighbor.

*He loves JJ.  We commonly find him brushing and petting him.

*He loves to show off his belly.

*He now has 9 teeth.  Several came through at once.

*He is 22 lbs. 15 oz. (10%) and 31 1/4" long (15%).

*He can be quite dramatic.  For instance, he ran to his room in tears and cried on Hannah's bed because I was putting away his favorite Christmas decorations.

He is definitely a silly, happy boy and makes us laugh every day.

Christmas

Santa paid a visit overnight and left each of the kids one present and a stocking full of goodies.

I was so anxious for the kids to get up, that I actually got up before they did!  Around 8:00 Hannah came running out of her bedroom.  I thought she would run right over and hop on her bike, but she took my hand and told me I had to come with her.  We had set up a nativity in the kids' room at the beginning of the month and kept telling Hannah that when baby Jesus was there then she would know it was Christmas.  She went over to her dresser and gently picked up the baby Jesus who had arrived that morning and told me it was his birthday and now it was Christmas.  That was definitely the highlight of my whole day! 

Hannah got her purple-pink-shiny bicycle.

Jack got a fun new race track complete with race car noises.

Jason and I got the kids 3 presents each, just like Jesus got from the wise men.

Hannah got lots of goodies  in her stocking like paint, a movie, and coloring pads.

Jack got little trucks, crayons, a ball, and forks (Santa is very sensible!).

My parents joined the celebration in the early afternoon, and we all enjoyed Christmas dinner together.

I got out my grandma's china and crystal and even my table cloth, and we enjoyed a traditional ham dinner (thanks to Johnson Tech!).

To wrap things up, Hannah sang happy birthday to Jesus and we enjoyed the beautiful birthday cake she made and decorated for him. 

Christmas Eve

For the second year, we stayed home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and everybody came to us! 

Jason's family came over during the afternoon so that we could all go to Christmas Eve service at our church that night.  

Unfortunately, the flu bug also paid us a visit. Hannah and I had been sick a couple of days before, and Jason got sick on Christmas Eve day. Thankfully, he was feeling a little bit better in the evening so he could join us at church.

We were happy to have Jason's grandpa join us as well.

After church, we came back to our house to have appetizers and open presents.

Then it was time to get the kids to bed so that Santa could come.

Hannah picked out a plate full of cookies and milk and set it on the mantle downstairs.

Finally before heading to bed, Hannah poured sprinkled her reindeer food on the deck.  Then it was off to bed in anticipation of Santa's arrival.

Christmas Crafts and Baking

Although the month was quite hurried, we managed to make time to do a few fun crafts and baking projects.

Decorating Christmas cookies.

Decorating felt Christmas trees.

Making reindeer food.

Baking banana bread (Yes, Jack is wearing a Christmas headband.  Tis the season!)

Merry Christmas from the Cramer kids

Cramer Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with the Cramer/Oberholtzer side the weekend before Christmas.  This is a newer tradition for us, as we used to always come over for the Christmas Eve celebration with my mom's entire family.  Although most of my aunt's family was unable to join us (except for my cousin Brett and his wife Emily), it was fun to get together with the rest of the family.    

Aunt Courtney got everybody reindeer antlers.

Hannah was a big helper, opening many of Jack's presents.

Grandma Cramer giving Hannah her instructions.

Hannah got princess shoes, so she immediately ran upstairs and had to put on her princess dress (aka my flower girl dress from 1984).

Jack was happy with lots of trucks.

We surprised my mom with a picture of the 4 grandkids together.  A few weeks before, Courtney, Jason, and I took the kids to have their pictures taken by a friend of my mom's.  We are now convinced that it is next to impossible to get a good picture of 4 kids 3 and under!

Weekend Getaway

Jason and I managed to sneak away for a weekend trip to Traverse City earlier this month while my parents were kind enough to watch the kids.

We stayed at the Grand Beach in a room with a beautiful view.  The weather has been so mild that it almost looked like summer!

We did some exploring (and wine tasting) around Mission Peninsula. 

We also drove M-22.

It was a much needed break together in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the season.

Christmas in Ada

Boy, am I behind in blogging this month!  That's what working extra hours will do to you.  Well, better late than never.

The first weekend in December we headed over to Ada on Friday night for their Christmas lighting and candle walk.  What a fun time we had!  All of the stores were open with tons of free goodies.  We all had our fair share of sweets, hot chocolate, and cider. 

On top of all of that, we experienced a live nativity complete with a real camel and multiple Santa sitings.  In fact, at one point, Hannah was crying as we were walking along because she wanted to go for a trolley ride.  Santa just happened to be passing us the other way and stopped right when he got to Hannah.  Immediately, the tears stopped.  He asked her if she was being a good little girl, to which she nodded yes.  He handed her a candy cane and walked off, leaving a mesmerized little girl.  When we got back to the car, she again started crying because we never rode the trolley.  After a couple of minute, she suddenly stopped and said, "You never know when Santa is watching."  I guess the big guy really made an impact!

Christmas Traditions

We have been having fun this Christmas season with traditions, both new and old.

The weekend after Thanskgiving, Jason's parents kept the kids for a couple of extra days.  When they came home, they discovered that Santa's elves had delivered our Christmas tree and 2 special gifts for them while they were gone...

...snuggly, new Christmas pajamas to wear throughout the Christmas season.

A few nights later, Jason got out the train to put around the Christmas tree.

Since it was originally Jason's dad's train as a child, we put it away during the day and get it out at night.  Both kids absolutely love it.  Jack is especially captivated by it this year.  He's definitely Jason's boy!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving seems like an eternity ago.  Obviously, blogging has gotten put on the back burner as we've been enjoying the activities of the season.  I thought I'd better get a bit caught up with Thanksgiving before Christmas is done and over!

As is tradition, we started the day with the Davis side, which actually only consisted of our immediate family, Jason's parents, and his grandpa. Hannah helped me set the table and was very excited to eat her turkey cookie.

Jack ended up crashing right as we were about to eat dinner, so it ended up only being 6 of us eating together.  (Don't worry, Jack got his very own dinner as soon as he woke up.)

Hannah and Grandpa doing the dishes.

Jack got some snuggle time with Great-Grandpa Ocedek.

Following round #1, we headed to Frankenmuth for round #2 with my family where it was a little busier with 17 of us, but still fun to catch up with everybody.

With 4 kids 3 and under, there was lots of running around and very few pictures.  Overall, it was a busy, fun, family-filled day.  We couldn't be more thankful for the blessings of our loved ones and the time we got to spend together.