January Happenings

Happy New Year!

The kids are growing like crazy! Tyler and I are just trying to enjoy them and soak up all the cuteness that it them. Zoey is going through a growth spurt at the moment--she is constantly eating. She has been a member of the "clean plate club" all week long. And as for Zander, as soon as we put him in his big boy bed and got his haircut, he has decided to be a big boy in his communication too. He now talks in mostly complete sentences and is all about his big sister. Whatever she does, he is sure to follow.

Zoey lost another tooth yesterday (that is number 2 if you are counting). She was very excited about it and when she found another toothbrush and 4 quarters under her pillow again this morning, she declared that 3 quarters will go to the church. (She has declared that the tradition.)


Zander is very into music lately. Ever since Nana and Poppa gave him the percussion set, he plays the drums all day long! You would think that it is annoying, but it is actually pretty cute! Look at the set-up he put together to help accompany me while practicing for church last night--that's right, he set up this "drum set" all by himself, and put on his rockstar glasses.

This was another of Zander's ideas--it is part of him loving his sister so much! His favorite part of the outfit is the dancing shoes.


On New Year's Day, Grandma and Grandpa Nyhlen came down to celebrate Christmas with us. It was fantastic to have them around for the weekend. The kids enjoyed all the gifts and especially loved going to the movies with them. They saw Disney's Princess and the Frog.


I put this picture in just to remember that I love this robe! It is so comfy, I have worn it a lot. The funny thing is that one of the nights that Tyler was reffing, I declared another pajama party night with the kids. Zander looked at me and said that he would be right back. He left and came back with my robe, stating that I needed to put it on. How can you argue with that!

More Big Boy Excitement!

And the big boy events just keep coming! This haircut was way overdue, but he just didn't seem to have that much to cut! He wasn't keen on the idea of a haircut, but once he was in the chair, he just went with the flow. Zoey was there the whole time giving him a pep-talk. She was saying things like, "Don't worry little buddy, I'm right here for you." It was sweet.

Before:

During:

After:

A view from the back. . .
After a little shopping trip yesterday, I semi-completed Zander's room with some accessories. Zoey loves Zander's "Feme Room." She now wants a "feme" room of her own--a princess "feme".

The little pirate enjoying his new digs.

Follow Up

At about 3am this morning, Zander decided it was time to go back into his crib. I told him it was his last night in his crib and he said ok and went back to sleep.

The Big Boy Bed

We took the plunge today and bought Zander his brand new big boy bed. He was very excited about it and couldn't wait to try it out. Didn't even wait for the box to be opened! Tyler spent the good part of the evening working on it so that Zander could use it tonight.

All done! (The cool thing about this bed, is that when he is a little older and used to the bed, it flips over and bunks--so that he will have all that floor space underneath as a play fort.)

I got to put Zander to bed and he seemed pretty excited, but I think he felt the same bittersweetness that I did. He asked for more stories and songs than usual and was a little extra cuddly. But I told him that the rule was he had to stay in bed! He repeated the rule and within about 10 minutes of leaving his room, he was snoring away in his new bed. I am so proud of him!
We'll see if it is always this easy, but he did good tonight! That's what counts!

Christmas 2009

We hope that everyone has had a blessed Christmas! It is definitely a white one and we are all snug at home enjoying a very lazy day!

Here is Zoey at her Church Christmas program this year, next to her "best friend" Paige.

After Zoey's Christmas program at church, we came home and
she and I put together the gingerbread train.

This is really mostly what she did. . .
The final product. . .

On Wednesday we went to the Annual Daycare Cookie Party and enjoyed a visit
from Santa. The kids got their last chance to ask Santa for what they really wanted.
We were glad that they stuck to their list!

On Christmas Eve, the snow was falling and Mommy was cleaning for guests--so Daddy took the kids outside to enjoy the snow. Zoey stayed out for almost 2 hours! Here she is in her snow fort.

Nana, Poppa, Auntie Tammy and Uncle Eric all came over that evening to enjoy dinner and company. It was a nice relaxing evening and the kids really enjoyed all of their gifts. Zander opened his baseball beanbag first and thought that was the greatest gift. . .that is until he opened the percussion set from Nana and Poppa! Can't get him to stop playing the tambourine with his maracas--we have a little rock star on our hands!


The Livingston Family Band
Zoey really wanted to leave a note for Santa so that he would know the cookies were for him.

The note must have worked, because in the morning, the cookies were eaten and Santa had left a red bag with everything the kids asked for. Zoey even got a dog toy for her dog (that she will get when she is 7 years old.) Zander got his baseball and a baseball mitt. He was so happy!


We thought he can start the potty training process by learning from Elmo!
Zander's face says it all. . .Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

The HolliDisaster Parade, A Christmas Story. . .

It has been literally months since we have gotten together with our good friends Roz, Kevin and Hazel. Tyler was away reffing again, so I took it upon myself to make plans for the kids and me to meet up with them in a naively grand fashion. The plan was perfect! Meet downtown Minneapolis (the weekend before Christmas on a weekend night) and go to the Macy's Christmas display--the kids would love it-- "A Day in the Life of an Elf!" then eat, exchange gifts, and catch the Hollidazzle parade as none of us had ever seen it before. I wish the story went even close to this, but alas. . .it is nothing like our vision of the evening.

I was actually pretty proud of myself that I successfully drove the kids and myself to the Macy's downtown, parked and found Roz, Kevin, and Hazel with no problems. Then we headed up to the 8th floor to see the Elf display. Never a good sign, the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor and we were told that this is where the line started. Yikes! Then came the news that it was an hour and a half wait. There was NO way that the three adults were going to entertain two 2 year olds and a 4 year old for that long. So plan B. We went back to the cars to exchange gifts tailgate style as we didn't want to be lugging around the extra weight all night.



Then back inside for some dinner. Macy's food court was packed so Plan C was to walk over to the IDS tower where we enjoyed the really big Christmas tree and tried to find some food.

It was about 5ish at this time and Kevin wen t to get us some food and Roz and the Kids and I sat in the skyway, thinking that we can just hang out there until the parade started--at 6:30. That's right, we sat for an hour and a half, ate our dinner and enjoyed very little conversation, as it is difficult to carry on a conversation with the kids around. Zander and Hazel took everything is stride, but Zoey was having a few meltdowns during all of this. She wanted to see the parade, but she also really wanted to go home--I just couldn't win.

Thank goodness for cookies!

This is Roz's "How much longer. . ." Face

The parade started and we watched from the skyway for a while. Kevin and Hazel ventured outside to the street, but Zoey didn't want to go. Finally Zoey decides that she does want to go outside. It takes a while to pack up three kids and all our stuff. We made it outside JUST in time to see Santa's float go by and then parade was over.

Luckily it was surprisingly easy to leave the city and come back home. We did climb 7 flights of stairs with kids in tow to get to our cars faster, but the sore muscles today are worth it. It is a story worth laughing at and planning out better in the future. Thanks Roz and Kevin and Hazel for a memorable evening.

Zoey's Christmas Writing--isn't she good?

December Update

It has been a busy December! So before I begin with any updates and such, I would like to extend our loving birthday wishes to both Poppa Livingston and Grandma Nyhlen! We hope that you both enjoyed your birthday.

Most of our busy-ness has been just the usual stuff. I have recently started singing with the contemporary Christian band at church, so we rehearse once a week and sing every Sunday. It has been a blast! I am really enjoying it.

Tyler is doing a lot of reffing basketball, so the kids and I have had a lot of time to hang out. Yesterday we made it outside for a while to enjoy all the snow that we got this week. Both kids had a blast in the snow--especially being pulled around in the sleds. Zoey couldn't wait to get outside to make snow angels!



In other news, Zoey has ANOTHER loose tooth. It is the one right next to the tooth she just lost.

Just think this is a fun picture!