Boys, Balls, Blocks, and Books

What else is there to do in this subzero weather, but have a fun photo shoot!



Psycho happy baby!

 

What a comforting older brother.



Hey!  Get that out of your mouth!



 





Let the fun begin!

Admiring his older brother

mmmm. Tasty.



I had to throw this one in there because it was so adorable!  We were supposed to go to a pirate bday party, but Lachlan got sick at the last minute.  We were all dressed up and ready to pARRRty!



Ok, one more.  This was taken at the beginning of the new year.  He is wearing his Daddy's hat.





 Love ya, mean it!
Be here now.

December in January

Not much was posted in December.  In short, it was a crazy month.  But so many fun things happened, I wanted to share them still.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy our December!

Luke and I had planned way back in the summer to take a trip to Door County in December when work was 'not going to be busy' Ha!  But since the trip was non-refundable, we had to come up with a plan B, so I took Lachlan, Torin, Auntie Emi and Auntie Tess to Door County.  This is a place I will definitely go back to.

Torin fit right in!

We went to lunch at this great restaurant that brought your food and drinks on a TRAIN!   And we were the only ones there.  We went shopping at a British shop and a cute pet shop for Weezer, and some other shops.  And we were the only ones there.  We stayed in the 'Navigator' building at our resort and aside from one other couple, we were the only ones there!  Since Lachlan is loving to run foot loose and fancy free, we let him!  He discovered the elevator:

This was probably one of Lachlan's highlights of the trip

Lachlan's first time with VeggieTales-watching in the lobby while we played games

We celebrated the feast of St Nicholas while we were in Door County, so we told Lachlan all about who he was and leaving our shoes out, etc.  That morning he woke up saying 'Mama boot!'  So we went to find his boot and St. Nicholas had come!  St Nicholas, Pray for us.

He broke right into that candy cane, much to his mother's chagrin.

We went swimming-Torin's first time in a pool.  Oh, and we were the only ones there!

We played games, had delicious food, went to Mass, drove up and down the coast, cooked, and really did just have a nice relaxing time.  Thank you, Emily and Stephanie for coming with us!

Our view from our living room

My boys

Last picture before we headed back to MN

After settling in from our trip, we had some festivities to participate in!  We joined James at Barnes and Noble for some Polar Express story time, and we ended up getting snowed in at my parents' house-more time to play!

Uncle James and his nephews

Giggling with Grandpa

Too cute for words. Ah! Babies are just too adorable!

Too cute for words!  Ah! Aunties are just too adorable!

Torin had the HUGE honor of being baby Jesus in SACS' Christmas program.  It was so fun to see the Christmas program once again, and so weird not to be part of it--at least not the music part of it.  Torin did pretty well for the show.  He hung out in Mary's arms for about an hour and didn't make a peep--a toot perhaps, but not a peep!

Justin Bieber hair.  Love it!

THANK YOU, Hrad!

 We hosted a Christmas Carol Christmas party and even Torin dressed up for it-although we are not sure what song he is from, we just thought he looked elfish.

1st Place Winners!  Can you guess the song???

We 3 Kings tied for 2nd Place with...

We TREE kings, and their mascott

Run, Run, Rudolf and Mele Kalikimaka lived happily ever after

2 cute babies WAAY up past their bed time.  Can you guess who is older???

 Then Christmas came at last!  We celebrated with Luke's family on Christmas Eve Eve.  Filled with a fire, delicious food, laughter and tears as we remembered Nora, and the placing of Baby Jesus in Grama and Poppops Manger scene.

Evie being so sweet and gentle with Baby Jesus.

Yay! Baby's 1st Christmas!

The 2 cuzes going to town

Luke fell asleep while he was holding Torin.

 Christmas Eve I spent at the eye dr's to make sure the abrasion my son accidentally gave me was healing ok.  Nice timing!  We went to Mass where Torin was able to be Baby Jesus again!  Once again, he did a great job (meaning he was as cute as ever and there was no crying or fussing).  Luke's parents came over for a Christmas dinner.  The next morning we opened gifts as a family.  Lachlan really likes tearing the wrapping.  Gift bags...not so much

 Then it was off to Nana and Grampa's house with all the Aunties and Uncle James.  Opening presents is an all day activity on Christmas for us.  We stay in our PJs and open presents and graze on food.  One of the best days of the year!

Lachlan received a bag o' balls and plays with them every day!

Puppy's 1st Christmas!

Matching PJs picture

Matching PJs picture

Merry Christmas from the Cahills!

Thank you Mom & Dad Cahill, Molly, Aaron, Evie, Michael, Mom & Dad Adam, Emily, Stephanie, Sarah, Mary, James, and Aunt Annie for 3 wonderful days of celebrating!

May you all know of the JOY of Christ's birth all year long.

Love ya, mean it!
Be here now.

Sleds and Friends

Our Dear, Dear Friends, Sara and Peyton came up for Louisiana for some much needed cold time--

--well really just to see family and friends, but their goal was to spend some quality time with winter.  So we joined them on their sledding adventure.  Burnsville is a pretty hilly city, I think at least, so we were bound to find some good ones.  Our first stop was kind of a bust, but we still made it down a few little hills. 

Peyton sliding down the first hill, Lachlan watching with fear

 This was Lachlan's (and Torin's) 1st down hill sledding trip, and being some one who isn't that adventurous, I was curious to see how this was going to go....He hated it.  At one point we were sitting in the snow waiting for Sara and Peyton to tackle a HUGE hill, and Lachlan didn't even want to touch the snow.  He wouldn't eat it, he wouldn't draw in it, he wouldn't sit in it, he wouldn't touch it.  He wanted to stay put on Mama island. 

Then we hit the JACKPOT hill!  It had a long side and a short side, so I thought the short side would be perfect for Lachlan and I to go down.  Well because our sled was a real special sled, (it would slow down, and then turn around so you would go down backwards half way down the hill) it kept wanting to turn us around, so I put my boot out to steer a little and both Lachlan and I got white washed.  He was not happy.  So he just sat on the top of the hill for the rest of the time.  Not complaining, not whining, just kind of content--and actually sitting in the snow--great success!  His job was to count us off before we gave our pushes and comment on when we wiped out down the hill: "Mama, boom!"  He did a great job with that.
Now where was Torin this whole time?  Well this angelic child slept the entire time.  He had on 2 diapers, a long-sleeve onezie, a sweater, pants, socks, a snowsuit (which included mittens and a hood), booties, a hat, a blanket stuffed all around him, and then a blanket draped over his carseat.  Seriously, as snug as a bug on a rug. 

Lachlan and Torin's version of sledding

With Lachlan being a bit scared of it, and Torin being so bored with it he can't help but fall asleep, sledding doesn't seem to be the boys' favorite thing to do, but I think we will have to go back to this hill and try it again...even if it is next year.
Thanks for the visit, Sara & Peyton!

Love ya, mean it.
Be here now.