First Steps

So this video is obviously old (more than a year which is really old in baby years) but I just found it and thought it was so cute. I can't believe he was so little just a year ago; it seems like forever ago.

ICE!

Nashville has an annual ice sculpture exhibit called ICE! made "hand-carved from nearly two million pounds of ice." This year's theme was "Santa Claus is coming to Town. We went for the second time this year and had fun while freezing! Temperature inside: 9 degrees Fahrenheit (-13C).

Getting dressed for ICE!

All bundled

Family picture

Kathleen and David borrowing Lucas for their family picture

Christy with Anna... a little birthday celebration for the girls (it was the day before the twins turned 1!)

Mike with twin sister Ella

Our orphan

Kathleen and David in "Sombertown"

...and in the Dungeon!

Me and Lucas... Brrr!

Petting a reindeer

Thanksgiving

We had another great Thanksgiving this year. Matt and I were both schedule to be on reserve call (we took the risk to take it from Alabama) and were lucky to not be called in. That means four days off all together. Amazing! We spent the first few days in Huntsville and then headed to Birmingham to see my fam.

End of November and still warm enough to swim in the pool!

Hanging with Uncle Dan & Nash (pantsless ... at least Dan's wearing pants this time :)

And time with Aunt Jenny! *Kisses*

Putting up Christmas decorations

Cute pic of mom & Jenny

Being a "big" help to his Opa

Now it's Christmas Eve already! Time flies (faster than I can post pictures apparently). We're spending a nice afternoon/evening with my family after working this morning and pretending that we are not on call tomorrow for Christmas. So grateful my parents and sister work around our crazy schedules for the holidays and celebrate with us up here in Nashville (& babysit of course). Our holiday break is coming up though. Countdown: 3 more days. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Not in the running for the Cy Young award

I didn't know who Cy Young was before Paul sent me this video (I admit it). But now that I do, I'm going to have to agree.

November in Deutschland

Last month I finally got a chance to go back to Germany. I used to go every year and now with residency and Lucas I hadn't been in almost three years. Last time I went I announced that I was pregnant to everyone. It was definitely time to go back! I missed the kiddo and Matt and wish they could have come with me, but it would have been too much for the little man this year. A 20+ hour plane ride for one week of vacation would have been a lot to ask of an almost two year old. I did convince my mom to come with me which was some nice bonus family time. It was a short trip and I mainly visited family (and did some Christmas shopping) but it was nice to be back and see everyone.

My first day there it was beautiful! After that it turned into a very typical November: cold/rain/fog.

Out for a walk with my cousin Eva.

And more walks. My grandmother, my mom, my aunt Jutta, and her dog Sandy.

My grandmother lives in a beautiful mountain region called the "Rhoen". Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery.

Maiersbach

Der Wachtkueppel

Back to people pictures. Here are Tobi and Carlos. Two of my cousins who have gotten so much bigger since I last saw them!

Out for a girls night with my mom, my grandmother, my aunt, and my cousin Isabell. (Der gebackener Camembert war so lecker!)

Cousin & Cousinen Treff (cousins meeting). Everyone traveled to come see me. Love them!

More of my cousins: Lara, Nic, Eva, & Michel

Just the girls: Hannah, Lara, Steph & Eva

Es war so schoen mal wieder in Deutschland zu sein. Ich freue mich auf meinen naechsten Besuch! Hoffentlich kann ich Lucas das naechste Mal mitbringen. Es wuerde him bestimmt super gefallen: Eis essen (im Sommer), auf der Wasserkuppe rodeln, Annis Katze am Schwanz ziehen, in Dettingen im See schwimmen und bei Oma Pfannekuchen essen (Cribe Zemede kann ich nicht schreiben). Danke das ihr alle angereist seit damit wir uns mal wieder sehen konnten. Bis bald. Alles Liebe!

Boom!

A Random Collection

Here are a few cute pictures I found that I had not yet included anywhere. A little random but I didn't want to leave them out.

Lucas having a tired day. He was so sweet all cuddled up in his chair with Morris and blanket.

This one's from a visit to grandpa's in Huntsville. They were practicing drawing letters with pool water. I hear we almost got the "o" down.

Shopping with mom. What a big helper!

A little outing to the park with my friend Charity's little girl Olivia. She's about 9 months older than Lucas and such a sweetie.

Big truck! Lucas loved climbing on this thing with his friend Ben at our friends' wedding. Best wedding ever if you have big construction equipment right around the corner!

Time with the twins! Anna and Ella are one year younger than Lucas and just turning into good playmates now that they can toddle around.

A very Barry Thanksgiving. The Barry's have had us over every year for a Thanksgiving meal for the past 3 years. They're moving to North Carolina in the summer and we're going to miss them so much! (Not only because of the turkey).

Here's a pic of the girls + babies at dinner. They boys didn't get to partake in picture taking. Next year we'll be up two more babies... (they're still hidden in this picture).

A hug for Anna...

...and now a kiss. Good thing there was parental supervision. (We did ask him to give Anna a kiss... mean parents trying to get good embarassing material for his future wedding slide show).