Happy New Year

Riley helped me bake cookies on New Year's Eve.  They were quite tasty.  She is such a good baker!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!  We are so blessed this Christmas.  This is a good time to remember how lucky we are to have two healthy kids, jobs and a roof over our heads.  We are truly grateful.  Kellen Claus says "ho ho ho"!

Kellen 3 months

Today turned 3 months old today.  He is getting bigger by the day and we are enjoying every minute.  This month he worked on this neck strength and we have been doing lots of tummy time.  He is smiling more all the time and it couldn't be cuter!  His grip is also getting much stronger.

Breakfast with Santa

Today we had breakfast with Santa and 50 of our closest friends at the Columbus Zoo.  It was awesome!  Riley's friend - Sophie - and her mom joined us as well, which made it even better.  This morning when I told Riley what we were doing, I think she was more excited about going to the zoo with Sophie then she was to see Santa.  Now, this is the first year we have been to see Santa so Andrew and I were very apprehensive about how Riley would do sitting on a stranger's lap - even if that stranger is going to bring her presents.  Well, she did great!  We had breakfast and while we were eating the zoo animals made an appearance (of course, we are at the zoo!).  After that, Santa came in and we waited in line to see him, while we waited we were entertained by a juggler.  Riley and Kellen sat with Santa and took some cute pictures.  Then, Riley decorated a cookie and proceeded to eat the entire thing.  We worked off our sugar buzz by going to the aquarium for a little bit.  The weather was great, 50 degrees, and there weren't many people at the zoo so it was like we had the whole place to ourselves.  Definitely a great way to spend a morning.

First day of school

Maternity leave is over and Kellen is starting daycare.  It is hard to believe that our time at home is over and that I have to go back to the real world.  We had a great time hanging out at home and visiting with other new babies -- potential future wife?  Never know.  He has had a great first week at school - hopefully making a smooth transition.

Build A Brutus

Riley went to Build-A-Bear with Grammy and Mommy to stuff her OSU Brutus shell that Grammy bought for Riley.  She had fun stuffing the Brutus and bringing him to "life" with the heart ritual.  Kellen contributed to the day by sleeping quietly in his chair.

Kellen 2 months

Kellen is 2 months old!  Our little guy has grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of months - he weighed in at 13.3 lbs at the doctor...goodbye 0-3 month clothes!  We can't believe how big our little guy is getting.  We have been working on Kellen's "tummy time" to strengthen his neck.  Kellen also smiled for us and at himself in the mirror.  Only a couple more weeks before my leave is over and we will be back to real life.  We are looking forward to charting Kellen's accomplishments over the next month and enjoying the holiday season with our new addition.

Halloween 2011

Riley dressed as a cupcake and Kellen was our little football for Halloween this year.  I'm thinking themed costumes next year.  Riley did trick or treat for the first time this year.  She was apprehensive at first, but after a couple of houses - she was enjoying herself.  She is allowed one piece of her candy each day, mom & dad might be helping her out as well. It was chilly, so Kellen stayed home while we took Riley out.  By the end, she was getting tired and required a "neck ride" from dad.

Trick or Treat

Our little cupcake had tons of fun trick or treating this year.  At first she wasn't so sure, but she quickly got the hang of it. I'm not sure if we will be able to take another walk around our neighborhood without running up to every house who's light is on in anticipation of some sugary treats!  Andrew and I both got to take her around and G&G Malone took care of Kellen and passed out candy at our house.  It was a busy night - we rand out of candy and had to turn off our light after one hour!  The weather started out wet, but the evening turned out to be just cold.  It did not deter the kids from coming out in full force.

Dinner with Riley part 2

There have been some requests for more Riley video.  Here is a glimpse of dinner last night at our house....I hope when she gets older she enjoys looking back at her pre-school singing career.  She is very good!

Christopher Robin!

Riley got a cool new Winnie the Pooh book to read recently that we have had to read A LOT.  She really likes to see Christopher Robin in the book and  one of our favorite things is the way she says his name.  After dinner the other night we were trying to have her name all of Pooh's friends so that she would say "Christopher Robin".

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we carved our pumpkins.  Last year Riley did not want anything to do with putting her hand into the pumpkin to clean him out - this year she really got into it.  She picked out all of the seeds and helped pull out the stringy mush as well.  She also decided on the shape of the eyes and nose of each pumpkin, I did the drawing and Andrew did the cutting.  Now we are ready for Halloween!

Boo at the Zoo

Riley wanted to take her costume for a test drive this weekend, so we took advantage of another beautiful fall weekend and headed for the Zoo.  This weekend was "Boo at the Zoo" where the zoo is decorated for Halloween and there are special sponsors and events.  As you can imagine, this is a popular event in  Columbus so we headed out early, which meant it was still chilly!  Our cupcake started the day with her coat and gloves.  By the time we left it was almost 60 degrees.  Riley liked the not so scary haunted mansion and the hay bail maze - she is getting very good at these.  This maze was right up Riley's alley with lots of tigger and mickey mouse decorations.  We saw lots of other kids dressed up and there were many sponsors handing out plenty of candy.  We were able to see some animals along the way as well.  And, of course, it would not be a trip to the zoo without riding the carousel.

Oh no! 6-0

This weekend my mom turned 60 and we celebrated by getting the whole family together.  This is quite a feat for us -- two brothers came from California and one from St. Louis.  Jordan didn't travel far and I came from Columbus with my family.  Traveling with a one month old and a two year old requires a lot of packing....I felt like a traveling nomad.  It was awesome to have all of the kids together, and their significant others.  We don't get to be together very much so this was a treat.  Kellen and Riley were the  hit of the weekend!  We had a party on Saturday night at Baker's house and Riley told me that she wanted to get her party on.  Well, that she did - she had a lot of fun with the uncles and their girlfriends.  Can't wait until the next family gathering.

Pumpkin Patch

The family went to the Circle S Farm this weekend to pick pumpkins and do fun fall stuff - it was another gorgeous weekend that we had to get out and enjoy!  This trip took us down to Grove City, which seems like a world away when coming from the east side of town - but it was totally worth it.  At this farm we had to take a hay wagon out to the pumpkin patch.  After picking our pumpkins out in the field, we took a ride around the farm.  We dumped the pumpkins in the car and headed for the petting zoo.  After feeding the goats Riley did the scarecrow cave - which was a little maze set up with hay bales.  I couldn't believe she navigated the  whole thing all by herself!  The farm also had a huge hay barn with slides and tons of soft hay.  Riley could have stayed in the barn all day - climbing and sliding.    We took this trip with our friends, the Callam's, and after a full morning, headed to Cane's for some lunch.  Needless to say, Riley took a great nap when we got home.  Riley was such a busy body that I didn't get her to pose for any pictures - we only have "action" shots.  Now we have to get our pumpkins carved for Halloween!

Kellen 1 month

Kellen turns one month old today.  As is tradition, we have photographed him in the nursery chair.  This time, though, we have Riley to "measure" him against each month.  I have to say, she looks like such a big girl next to our little guy.  As you can see, Kellen does not look pleased to be propped up - hopefully in future months he will become as camera happy as Riley.  This month we have been getting to know each other and his big accomplishment has been working on his neck strength with plenty of tummy time.

Here one minute, gone the next....

willow tree before

willow tree after

walnut tree before

walnut tree after

willow tree through the wood chipper

There is an overgrown willow tree and a dead walnut tree that we have been talking about taking down for months.  Finally, the day has come and the tree removers came to help us clean up our skyline.  Although the willow tree was pretty and provided a great screen, it was choking out our pine trees and was encroaching on the neighbors trees.  After many years of trimming it was time to get rid of this high maintenance landscaping.  While we were at it, we had the dead walnut removed.