Our Birthday Party!

Christmas morning

Loving on her brother!

Jack Sparro and Storm trooper!

Christmas Eve Service 2009

Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ!

Christmas was amazing this year. We enjoyed Christmas Eve by going to our church and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and then when we got home we had a birthday party for Jesus. My mom made a homemade Red Velvet cake and we had Adam and Michelle over for diner. It was so nice to gather around the cake and sing Happy Birthday to our savior. Christian loved the fact that we were celebrating Jesus birthday. Christmas morning we kept the kids in their beds until my mom and step dad woke up and then once everyone was down stairs and the camera was out we let Christian make his way down into the living room. He was so Happy. Such sweet memories. He had fun going through the Santa sack opening various gifts from MiMi and Papa Toe. He got a new kitchen and alot of costumes. I didn't know if it was Halloween or Christmas. He loves dressing up. Avah got a cabbage patch doll which was sentimental to me because I loved them when I was growing up. My mom suprised be and bought me a coach watch. I must say I was def. shocked. My mom and stepdad left for Canada this morning and my in-laws are in route to our house right now. More time with family! I cannot wait!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Love the Welch Family!

Ice (It really is 9 degrees)

The Nativity

Colin and Christian

Mimi, Me and Avah ontop of the Ice bridge!
Avah being silly after the exhibit!

Well we froze our little booties off this morning! They advertised ICE as being 9 degrees cold but seriously how cold is 9 degrees lol. We walked in the building after standing in line for 20 minutes outside and though it was awesome. We waited in line for the tickets and then to get our parka's. Right as you stood by the opening you could feel the freezing cold air. Avah wasn't having it so I took her out of the stroller and loaded her up in the Beco with the parka on top of us. I had my ski jacket on underneath and gloves but poor little Avah was freezing. The exhibits were beautiful but the cold was to much to bear. I ran through it with Avah so that she didn't have to freeze. Christian just walked around in Awe. The last exhibit was pretty awesome. They had carved out the nativity. It was so impressive especially since they were celebrating Jesus birthday with the rest of the general public. It was He also went down the Ice slide by himself which was pretty funny! We had a great time will be do it again, prolly not. After we did Ice we walked down to the Gaylord to have hot chocolate and cookies. Yummy. Now most of everyone is taking a nap and of course you guessed it, I'm blogging!

Botanical Gardens!

Beautiful Flower!

Burrr It's Cold!

Christian and MIMI

In the Tunnel at the train exhibit!

We finally got out of the house after being stuck inside for three days. We decided to head out to the botanical gardens and the air and space museum. I enjoyed the botanical gardens but wish that the trains would have been through out the entire museum and not just the two exhibits that they had. Avah and Christian did exceptionally well since it was extremely cold out. My step dad was so awesome he dropped us off at the front door and then picked us up when we were done :-)

Let it Snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

Mi Mi and Christian! Round 50 in the snow!

Testing out the new camera! Impressive!

Avah and her pearls!

Snow Angels!

Digging!

Snow Cute! HAHA

Beautiful Brown eyes(Nikon)
Kisses for Sissy!

And so it did! We had our first big snow ever! At first it was pretty but then it just wouldn't stop coming down. When Christian woke up he was so excited. On Friday night we had diner with friends and she so kindly gave Christian a snow suite that her son had out grown. What a blessing. On Saturday he played in the snow for hours. Colin shoveled all day Saturday and by Sunday he was worn out. My mom and Step-dad made the journey up from Florida to Va. They had rough ride. They left their house at 4:30 in the morning and did not get here until 11:00 at night. They were in Richmond by 5 but it took them from 5 until 11 to get to Woodbridge. That's just insane. They rolled down the window and asked Santa Clause literally a truck driver dressed up as Santa Clause what the deal was and they had actually shut down interstate 95. Just crazy. We were a little bummed that Christian didn't get to see them until morning but it is always worth the wait. He was so excited. Now back to the snow. Christian played outside for hours and then when he would return inside we would make hot chocolate to warm him up. I also enjoyed it a little as this was my first really big snow ever! I was impressed at the amount of snow there was but not impressed by how many people unfortunatly cannot drive in these conditions. Last night(Sunday) we went down to Costco to get my new camera! Thankyou Colin. We purchased a Nikon D5000 and I must say I am in love with it. I'm having alot of fun taking pictures and creating memories that will last forever. As for now it's time to go back to enjoying the family. We are truly blessed that they are here.

5 More days!

We had made an official countdown to when MIMI and PAPA Toe will get here. Only Five more days. Christian has been saying five more days since 29 days haha. Next week we have a busy week ahead of us. We will be going to the botanical garden display, The Gaylord hotel, Christian's school sing a long on Tuesday, and last but not least Ice Skating. We cannot wait to PAPA on skates. He's from Canada and played hockey his whole life. Should be a great time. This past weekend I had the opportunity to go out on Saturday night to Celebrate some lovely lady's birthday. We went out to Shirlington and had a great time. The atmosphere was aweswome and It was just simply a nice evening out with friends and NO kids. AHHHHHH

An attempt at our first Gingerbread house!

He was so proud!

Here is our Jesus House! (Great idea Christian)

So proud of his house!

It fell apart so we had to put it back together! lol

I knew that the weather would be yucky this morning and I needed to keep Christian occupied with something so we headed out to Micheal's last night to pick up a gingerbread house. Christian was super excited that it would be our own thing. Avah was taking a nap while Christian and I were decorating the house. He was very helpful and listened very well. You could tell that he really enjoyed making the house. He didn't call it his house he called it Jesus' house. He sang Happy Birthday to Jesus the whole time we made it. So sweet to think of that. I think we will do this every year just me and Christian our own thing. I love my little man!

Grandparent's day!

Teri and Christian playing at the fuzzy ball table!

Teri and Christian!

This year at Christian's school they celebrated the kids Grandparent's. We celebrated the relationship of a wonderful friend who fills Christian's heart with love and joy just like his real grandparent's. Teri is such an amazing woman and took the time out of her day to join Christian at his school for grandparent's day. I don't even know if she knows how much this meant to me. It truly has touched my heart especially Christian's heart. He still talks about how Mrs. Teri joined him at school. We are so fortunate to know such a wonderful person. We love her very much and appreciate everything that she has done for us and our family. Thank you Teri!

Snow day!

This was the highlight of our weekend!

Me and Christian out in the snow!

I love this picture! He is so happy to be in the snow!

Yesterday was our first snow day of the winter season. Christian was amazed. He stared at the back door all morning asking constantly if he could go out and play in the snow. Finally right before his nap we took him out and I don't know who had more fun Christian or us. It was my first time to actually make a real snowman. It was AWESOME. I started rolling the ball of snow and when I looked down there was a huge track behind me and a huge ball of snow. I must say I had a blast playing in the snow. Christian really loved making snow balls and throwing them at anyone who was in his path. We had a great time out in the snow. Avah was upstairs asleep(I mean screaming) in her room. We think that she has an ear infection and a cold and of course your kids sickness always gets worse on a Saturday or Sunday when nothing is open. We also installed our new microwave this morning. The Milne's had been letting us borrow there microwave so we finally decided that it was time to return it. Plus we got a great deal on black Friday and it actually turned out to work for us.

8 months old!

My little Cherub!

Avah is 8 months old now and currently has no teeth! I know something to blog about right. I can tell that three want to come out so she has been pretty cranky the last couple of days. On Thanksgiving day she really started blabbering. She said Da Da all day long which def. melted Colin's heart. She has not been quiet since then. She has also started screaming if she doesn't get her way. She def. has attitude. We are all looking forward to family coming in soon.

A father's love :-)

Today I am so Thankful for my husband and for the love that he has for our children. This picture fills my heart with so much joy that I cannot really find the right words to express those feelings. Another year has gone by and my dad is not with us. I really do miss him a lot but it is the moments that Colin spends time with Christian that help me get through those really hard days. Especially Thanksgiving and Christmas. Colin and Christian's relationship has really grown over the past year. Nothing sounds so sweet than Christian yelling "Daddy's home" at the end of our day. What would I do without these two people in my life. So THANKYOU so much God for providing me with such a loving husband and such a sweet beauitful little boy! I love them both!

The Welch's come to town!

The Welch girls at the park!

The Welch's

The Turducken! Yummmyyy!!!!
Christian learning how to play the violin!

This past weekend our family came in town. Well Colin's side of the family but I seriously consider them my own family now. We had an awesome time. I don't think that I have ever cryed after they have left but this time I did. I think I cry because so much time goes between our visits that when they see the kids again they are so different. It had a been a year since I had seen my sister in law and so much had changed. We had an AWESOME pre-thanksgiving diner at our house on Saturday night. We cooked a Turducken and played a game of Risk. Saturday during the day we took the kids to the park just to walk around and play. It was so nice to just hang out with everyone. They all left on Sunday so Colin took Christian to the airport with him so that they could go to the park after everyone left. Christian always has a hard time with family leaving. He just doesn't know how to deal with it. He gets really mad and doesn't want to tell anyone by but you can tell that he is so sad inside. On a much lighter note we have alot going on this week. We get to spend Thanksgiving with our awesome friends Josh, Jen and Raegan who we have missed so much. Then three weeks and my mom and stepdad come into town. I am so excited. So Thanks to Colin's family for coming in. We love you guys and are missing everyone alot!

A Day in the Leaves and Trees!!

Christian completely in the tree!

Avah Faith playing in the leaves!

7 months old!

Avah and her girlfriends for Halloween!

Avah just turned seven months old on Halloween. She is now sitting up on her own and loves babbling. She has also found her tongue and her ear. I have been noticing that she is alot more sensitive than Christian was when he was this age. If you take a toy away from her now she bursts into tears as though you've done it on purpose. She still does not like tummy time at all. Neither one of my kids liked to be on their stomachs. Avah has also discovered a new way to get mommy back into the nursery from church service. The workers in the nursery try to feed her yesterday but she insists on the food coming from me. She coughed and cryed until she almost threw up yesterday and of course I was paged to come down. Once I got in the room I nursed her and she calmed down. When I put her in the bouncy she laughed(haha mommy!) and ate all of her baby food. That is a seriously BAD habbit if you ask me. She loves loves loves to look at herself in the mirror and also has a huge fascination with other babies. She gets to happy when she sees baby Kate or any of her other girlfriends. We are looking forward to a very busy November!

Nursing home visit & New Car!

It was so hard to get the kids to look at the camera!

Little Miss Avah in her Peacock costume!

Raegan as a beautiful ladybug!

The Welch Wagon!

Yesterday I had the chance to take the kids over to the nursing home with Jen and Danielle for a little "Bless and Treat"! It was so awesome and they were so excited to see the kids dressed up in their costumes. It felt so good to spend time with the oldies as one of them called themselves. It also felt heartbreaking at the same time. I will never put my mom or my in-laws in a nursing home. I vow to take care of them as they took care of my husband and me since we were babies. I hope that one day I can return the favor to them. On another note the Welch family has purchased a new vehicle. Let's just face it the Acura wasn't cutting it. Our trips to Wegman's involved putting/ shoving the trunk down and placing groceries in the front seat of the car. Now we have lots of space and plenty of room. It will be so nice when family comes in to visit and we can actually fit in one car instead of taking several cars. We thank god for this blessing.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

Spectacular spiderman!

Christian 2009

Avah the peacock princess!

This one took alot of time it's handmade by me!

The kids in their costumes!! I hope that everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween this year!

Cat's Milk "2009"

The group! Avah, Colin, Christian, Bobby, Holly(with twins),Preston, Erica
Sierra, Taya, Tim, Livia, Jennifer, Ben, and Adriana!

The Welch Family!

This past weekend we had the opportunity to meet up with great friends who are all like family for a week vacation at the beach. We left on Friday and headed to Alabama. I was a little apprehensive about this trip since the last trip Avah didn't do so well in the car. She ended up doing great. We played a little movie for her and she loved it. We stopped to eat at Old Country Buffet and then headed on to Selma, Alabama to visit Shelley, Tyler, and Alyssa. They took us in at 4 in the morning and I must say we were treated so well. Thank you Shelley for being such a great host. The kids were all so excited to see everyone and to be honest I was so excited to see such a great friend. I really missed Shelley. We woke up the next morning and headed out of Selma to hit the beach. We ended up beating our friends there so we got to pick up the key and check out the room first. We were on the 19th floor in a penthouse. The beach view was breath taking and we got to get in a little quiet time before everyone arrived. Once everyone arrived the kids were really excited. The weather was extremely cold the first two days we were there. We ended up not even going down to the beach and just hung out in the room. Two days later the weather warmed up and we headed out to enjoy the beautiful water and the beach. Avah really liked the sand and Christian had a blast playing. The boys/men had more fun digging a hole than the kids did lol. The girls got to go shopping and enjoy a little girl time while the guys stayed back at the beach house with the kids. The trip to the beach seemed very short but luckily we had a couple of days to stop at Shelley's cabin and spend some more time with her and the kids. Her hubby Danny is deployed in Iraq so we chated with him via Skype which was cool. I really do feel for her and those kids. I can truly say that I look up to military wives who have deployed spouses they truly are amazing. The cabin we stayed in was beautiful and in the middle of no wheres. Shelley's family always makes us feel like family so we felt very much at home. All in all it was a great trip with awesome friends. I cannot wait for next year. p.s. If you are wondering what is with the name Christian called our friend Bobby cat's milk the whole trip. So we named the trip Cat's Milk 2009 lol.