Grandma Jean's Chairs are the Best!

Just trying the chairs out for size.


This is a much more comfortable way
to sit.

We love Grandpa Bill

Both Cousin Olive (just about 2 years) and Shay (9 months) enjoyed spending the holiday with Grandpa Bill.

Christmas with the Carrolls- Part 2!

All the grandkids (2 more will be in the
mix next Christmas).


Grandpa and Grandma with the kiddos.

Olive practing her big sister skills.

Christmas with the Carroll Family

Kyra, Olive and Kadyn eating dinner.


Julie


Brett and Rach opening Shay's gifts.

Becky

The whole gang!

We spent the day after Christmas with the Carroll family at Bill and Ginger's house. Lots of kiddos, presents and food!

Andrea and Declan Visit

My girlfriend, Andrea, and her son, Declan, visited us this past week all the way from Atlanta, GA. The babes had a "play date" while the moms got to talk in between chasing after the kiddos.

Christmas Day with the Sturm Family

Uncle Paul, Shay and Aunt Colleen.


Grandma Sturm and Cousin Eric.



Rachel, Megan and Taylor opening gifts.


Rachel and Aunt Marylou.

Brett playing Wi Fit- fun times.

Jesse and his girlfriend, Ambre.

We spent Christmas day with the Sturm family. Lots of fun, food and family.

Christmas with Cousin Taylor

Shay and cousin Taylor enjoyed their first christmas together. They were able to crawl or walk to whatever they wanted, and even played a little tug-of-war with toys.

Fun at Tracie's

Shay attends daycare 4 days a week at our provider Tracie's house. She seems to have a lot of fun, and we get to read about her days in her journal, the board at the house, and monthly newsletter. She has made a lot of friends, and is all smiles when we drop her off. Here are some pics of her in action at Tracie's.

Cousin Taylor

Taylor is becoming such a big girl! She is on the go now-- walking, walking and more walking! She also becoming a little talker-- saying "mama, dada, and pretty" or so I have heard!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving day at Grandma Marvin's house-- along with Julie, Becky, Gregg and Olive. It was a very nice, relaxing day, with of course plenty of delicious food! On Friday Brett and Shay headed over to his dad's place, while I headed back to work.

Shay's Baptism

Shay was baptized on November 9th at First Presbyterian Church in Rochester. It is the same church that Brett and I were married in, over 5 years ago. Time does fly by! All of her grandparents and great-grandparents, along with a couple aunts, uncles and cousins were able to attend. Shay was a pretty happy baby throughout the service and didn't seem to mind the water being sprinkled on her head.

Chewing.. Fun for Everyone

Apparently, both Bailey and Shay love to chew on toys. My mom caught them both in action while she was babysitting Shay at our house.

A Week Shy of 8 Months

Some of the new things Shay is doing:

• Getting teeth! She has 2 teeth poking through on the bottom and a few more on their way.


• Growling (not real pretty)


• Rocking on all 4's, and then falling to her stomach (getting closer everyday to crawling, but not quite there)
  
• Eating more foods- lots of fruit, vegetables and a little bit of cereal

Bath Time Fun

Shay loves to take baths, and we think her favorite part is trying to grab the water as it comes out of the faucet.

Happy Halloween!

Cousins, Shay (the sunflower) and Olive (the dinosaur) were able to celebrate Halloween together and Grandma Jean's house. Olive went to 4 houses to trick or treat, and Shay pretty much hung out at grandma's and played with toys.

We love Crocs

Duluth Weekend

We went up north to visit the Burns family in Duluth. Our weekend consisted of the guys running the UMD alumni race, Boo at the Zoo (kids dressed up in costumes and visited the zoo), the girls going out for apps and drinks, and of course-- just plain relaxing. A great weekend!

Pics: Breck was a Penguin (very fitting for the zoo) and Shay was a sunflower