You might have noticed that I didn't post a picture of Addison and Fischer with Santa. That's because we didn't go see him this year.... After much debate, we decided to skip it. I felt like I was supposed to take them, because everyone else does it. But, I knew that it would end up with one, if not both, kids in tears. I know, without a doubt, that Addison would've had a complete meltdown. I'm not quite sure about Fischer but didn't want to risk it. I didn't really feel like I needed to go stand in a long line just to get a picture of my children crying on Santa's lap! I do love looking at everyone else's pictures though. :)

Hopefully next year we can pay him a visit and Addison and Fischer won't look terrified like they did last year (Addison broke down about 5 seconds after this picture was taken)!

The day after Christmas, we woke up to a snow-covered yard! It was still snowing, and kept snowing for several hours. It was so pretty and I couldn't wait to go outside and play. This was the second time Addison and Fischer got to play in snow this month.

Just like last time, Addison loved the snowballs. We even got to make a little snowman....unfortunately, using mulch for eyes made him look a little evil. Fischer seemed more excited about the melted snow on the driveway, and kept trying to drink it...gross! Like I've said before, he's all boy. :)

I am looking forward to more snow this winter. :)

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone! Soon, it'll be time to start shopping for next Christmas. I hope to get things done a little earlier than I did this year. I think I have a good excuse though... :)

Chirstmas Eve night, we read The Night Before Christmas before putting Addison and Fischer to bed. My dad read it to us every year, and I want to continue that tradition.  Little did we know that Grandmom Komarnicki sent Addison and Fischer a copy of that book for Christmas, and she recorded herself reading it. They have loved listening to that ever since opening it!

We had a great Christmas at home. Addison and Fischer woke up to a lot of presents under the tree and stockings in their high chairs... Santa had to get a bit creative this year since we don't have a mantle or any other free space to hang stockings. Of course, Bo got a stocking too!

After breakfast, we did stockings and opened presents.  Addison was very into it all... Fischer lost interest in the unwrapping after the first few. They did work together nicely on a few of the bigger items though.  Addison gladly took over, and with each gift, she would sound like she was hyperventilating because she was so excited. It was really cute. We took time between presents to play with some of the toys instead of rushing through everything. Addison and Fischer got a lot of new exciting toys, which makes me happy too!

Scott and I got them several smaller things this year. We didn't go overboard because we know they'll be getting a new playroom when our new house is finished, hopefully this summer! Their favorite gift from us so far has been the doctor's kit we got Fischer (even though we knew they'd both play with it). Addison has a slight obsession with band-aids, so she was thrilled that the kit included a plastic band-aid!

We spent the day playing with new toys, going for a walk, and playing outside. I think it was all a bit overwhelming for Addison and Fischer, and they were asleep in record time last night.

Addison got some sunglasses and a purse from some friends.  Scott and I got her a purse kit too, but she definitely likes this one more. Ours didn't include make up....I think that was our mistake. :)  She definitely loves all the girly things! And a side note, I saw her pushing the sunglasses up into her hair like I do all the time. So cute!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. We're already really excited about next year!

We are spending this Christmas Eve at home, just the four (well, five) of us! It should make for a fun, relaxing day!

I mentioned that our Christmas picture session at home was a bust. I ended up taking them to Portrait Innovations to get a few pictures done, and they turned out pretty well. I was proud because I took them by myself, and still managed to get some decent shots, while only one of their ornaments got broken (by Fischer).

And a story not related to Christmas - yesterday, we were outside playing. Scott was giving Addison and Fischer some animal cookies as a little snack. Fischer got upset when they were all gone, and kept saying "more" as he followed Scott to the trash can and watched him throw away the box. Addison then broke her last cookie in half, walked up to Fischer and said "She She, Here." It was so sweet, and she was so happy to share. We told him to say thank you to her, but instead he looked and said "More?" One day he will appreciate how much Addison looks after him!

A few weeks ago, Scott and I decided to give Addison and Fischer their "big" Christmas gifts early. They needed something new and exciting to do outside, and the weather was nice, so we decided to go for it. We knew we wanted to get them tricycles, so that Saturday we went and got them!

Unfortunately, the day we bought them, it got really cold, and stayed cold for the next few weeks. I guess we could've waited until Christmas after all. Luckily they are still too young to really know the difference.

We did bring them inside and they got to ride them around our living room. It's really cute to watch them "ride" around and ring their little bells. They are still trying to figure out the pedals, and can't quite reach the one that's farthest away.  They like to push each other too, which is really funny.

Finally, today, it was nice enough to ride them outside. Not only did we get them tricycles, but we got them adorable helmets to wear while riding. They look so cute in them, and they actually keep them on! Also, the tricycles came with handles that can be attached for us to push them... and when we turn the handles, we can actually steer the tricycle for them! It's a very neat feature!

Addison and Fischer are 22 months today! In just 2 months, on 2-22, my 2 babies will be 2 years old. That's a lot of 2s, and it's only a little scary. :)

Our new house is moving right along! We went by there on Sunday and the footers had been dug. Yesterday, Scott went to check on things and they were already pouring concrete! There was no work done today, but the blocks were delivered and will hopefully be laid tomorrow.  I'm sure things will slow down a little because of the holidays but it's so fun seeing something new almost everyday!

It has been quite a few days.  All 4 of us had a stomach bug... Fischer had it first, then Scott, Addison and I all got it a few days later. Not fun. We are finally all feeling back to normal today. While Addison and Fischer weren't feeling well, they got to have some Cheerios on the couch in front of the TV. That normally doesn't happen around here, so they had a good time with that.

Speaking of TV, they watched WAY too much while we were all sick. We are paying for that today - they even managed to take the knobs off the entertainment center while begging for "a show" because they were trying to open it on their own. They don't like it when I tell them "no" but we are getting through it. :)

On Friday, we felt ok enough to head to NC to do Christmas with my parents! We were getting ready to do presents on Saturday when it started to snow. So, we put Christmas on hold so we could go play. We all had a great time!

Addison didn't like wearing her hood, but she did love the snow balls...

I managed to get one picture of them together - they (especially Fischer) were too busy running around to get good shots...

We even got out the trash can lids so we could do some sledding... that's how we do it here in the South!

Even Bo got in on the action...

After drying off and warming up, we did presents. I wish I could say Addison and Fischer paid attention to each of their wonderful gifts, but they were sort of all over the place. They've been playing with their new things though and they definitely love it all.

These laptops are their favorites right now. It's hard to believe they aren't even 2 and they have their own laptops! :)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Suttle!!

Scott and I decided to try and do our own pictures for our Christmas cards this year. We got Addison and Fischer dressed in their Christmas outfits, sat them by the tree and hoped we'd get at least 1 good one. Swe even have a box of Cheez-Its on hand for bribery (which we ended up using). Then, the camera wasn't working...the pictures were coming out blurry and dark. Once that got figured out, Addison and Fischer were tired of "sitting still" and smiling. So, our photo session at home was a bust.

Here are a couple of our attempts...they pretty much all look like this...

I actually think this one is cute!

And, eventually, Fischer thought it would be more fun to go use the dust buster...

Yesterday we went to a Singing Christmas Tree program at a nearby church. I've heard about these for years and have always wanted to go. I thought this year would be the perfect opportunity - I wanted to see how Addison and Fischer reacted to all the music and lights!

On the way, Scott and I took bets on how long we would be able to sit and watch before we'd have to leave. He said 20 minutes, I said 45. We were both wrong, as they lasted an entire hour! They really liked the lights and upbeat music. It was when the program turned a little more serious and subdued that they made it clear they were ready to go. We didn't want to ruin everyone else's experience, so we left. We strategically sat at the back near a door just incase. :) I was proud of them though and know that at their age, we can't expect them to sit still much longer than that.

Not that they really "sat still" during the program. They stood up, sat down, clapped, danced and secretly ate cookies. :) Addison was also quite vocal in parts, saying "yay!" "nose! beep beep!" and "pee pee." These things, of course, seemed to happen when it got quiet in the church. You just never know what will come out of their little mouths!

I wish I had a picture because we were all dressed in red and/or green, and we were quite festive looking. Oh well... next time!

In other news, the well at our new house is finished. So, in the very least, we'll have water!! When they started digging, it wasn't clear how deep they'd have to go - a lot close to ours had to go 600 feet, which would have been quite costly for us! Good news though - they only had to go 160 feet, which was pretty much the best-case scenario for us. Woohoo! Next up:  the foundation!

Not a lot happened with our new house this past week. They did start digging the well yesterday, and we hope that will be finished by Wednesday. Once that's finished, the foundation work will begin! That's when we'll start to see some real changes to the lot!

We did get bundled up on Thursday and went to play on the lot. Addison and Fischer enjoyed digging in the dirt, even with their mittens on. They also enjoyed sliding down the little dirt mound. I love it when they are easily entertained. :) Also notice that in the video, Addison does her "mmm mmm" then makes her fake eating noises. She's started doing this more and more, even if food isn't around! :)

Addison and Fischer are at such a fun age right now! I love everything they do (well, almost everything) but here are a few of my favorite things that have happened recently...

1. When Addison gets a burst of energy, she starts running around saying "Hi mommy! Hi daddy! Hi Bo! Hi she she (still her name for Fischer)!" She says it over and over, really fast, and gets herself out of breath.

2. Fischer likes to say "hi" to everything. Just recently, he has started saying hi to strangers a lot more. Yesterday, he greeted a little boy at the children's museum with a very enthusiastic "HI!" then pointed out his eye, while almost poking it. Thankfully he didn't, but it was funny. :)

3.  Addison is quite the care-taker. She is worried about any child she hears crying, and any object that happens to fall on the floor. If a toy or piece of food falls (or anything else), she is very concerned. She gets a very worried look and said "tay?! tay?!" Then she picks up the object and gives it a hug. If Fischer is crying, she will rub his head or pat his back. Just the other night while we were eating dinner, she dropped a potato. She said "Oh no! Tay?!" Then rubbed the potato for a few seconds, before putting it in her mouth and biting it really hard. If that doesn't say she cares, I don't know what does!

4. They both are saying "I don't know" now and the tone in their voice and hand movements are almost identical to what I do. They really do copy everything!

5. They are also both saying "hush, Bo" which is what I say when he barks. This started the other day and while it's funny, I have to make sure they don't tell Bo to hush all the time!

6.  Addison twirls when she's wearing dresses now!

7.  Fischer is all boy, most of the time. But every now and then, he still likes to cuddle (which he calls cuckle).

8. When we lost Sassy, we buried her on our lot, knowing we'd eventually be moving there. Now that our house is underway, we ride out there quite a bit to check on things. Whenever we pull into the "driveway" Addison and Fischer say "Hi Sassy." It makes me smile everytime!

9. They are getting very good at cleaning up their toys, putting dirty clothes in the hamper or dirty diapers in the diaper pail.

10. They love looking at our Christmas tree. If the lights aren't turned on, Addison says "on! on!" until I turn them on. Then, Fischer says "hi tee!" I can't wait to take them to look at Christmas lights - I think they will really like them this year!

When it's too cold to go outside, this is how Addison and Fischer get their exercise...

Last Thursday, we finally got a chance to check our local children's museum, Edventure.  It wasn't crowded at all, which made it all the more enjoyable. There were a lot of hands-on activities for Addison and Fischer to do! They got to walk around a fire truck, sit on a tractor, throw snow balls, make music, crawl through tunnels, go down slides, and much more!

It was hard to get decent pictures since I was having to keep up with two very excited kids! Here are a couple though. We are definitely looking forward to our next visit.

Progress has been made!! We rode over to our lot yesterday, and the trees that we'd marked to be taken down were gone!  While we were there, they were cutting down the last couple of trees, while loads of wood and stumps were being taken away. Addison and Fischer loved playing in the dirt and looking at the giant tractor!  Addison, however, was quite worried about the trees... after seeing one fall, she kept saying "Tay??" asking if the tree was ok.

Scott and Fischer, walking down our driveway...

The spot where the house will go, before....

And after...

And Addison and Fischer getting dirty, as usual...