Lucas Turns Two

I'm finally getting a chance to get Lucas' birthday pictures on here. So sorry it took me a while. The holiday schedule was crazy and I really enjoyed several days of laziness for our New Years break!

Lucas had a blast for his second birthday! I can't believe he's already two. Where does the time go? He's turned into such a big boy. He can even tell you he's two now when you ask him! We opened presents in the morning and had a birthday party with lots of kiddos in the afternoon. We had a blast but I think next year we're taking the party out of the house. :) Here are some pictures to help explain our wonderful day.

The present table -- and yes he got very good at opening presents very quickly!

Some of his new toys: road rug, lego bus

Helping Nana bake cookies for the party. Nana made chocolate chip cookies and mommy made zucchini cupcakes (i'm a pediatrician i can't help it).

Cute little guests:

Olivia

Our favorite twins: Ella and "more Ella" (Anna)

Max

Olivia, Charity, Jess, and Finn

Christy with Anna

Dayna with Max

Digging into his birthday cupcake. Dad making silly faces (as always)

Group shot

Lucas with his best daycare buddy Emma (see videos below for how much fun they were having!)

Ahhh! (also see video.. they crack me up)

Lucas and David sporting the twin look. David braved the kiddo birthday party all without Kathleen. Kudos.

Anna wants to play with the big kids

And here are some videos:

1. Presents

2. Happy Birthday to You

3. Two Cupcakes Later...

4. To young to have a girl in bed?

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!