The Christening

Saturday was a special treat, we went to the Christening of Grace Elizabeth & Rory James. They were having a two for one deal for Erin and Nora (her sister). They had their babies 40 hours apart, so fun! Tom is the Godfather, so in addition to teaching Gracie about the Cubs and drinking beer, he will be responsible for her spiritual guidance (gulp).

My men hanging out before the big show

Aunt Kir and Papa trying to get the extra energy out of Kyle before the ceremony

Stunning Erin and Grace!

CUTE!

Nora and Erin with their cutie pies!

Proud Papa

Uh Oh Aidan!

I love this picture of Erin and Mark, it sums them up: Always laughing and enjoying life.

Gracie and the Godparents....and the 'Father' baptised Mark back in the day. Full circle moment.

I'm sure this is not allowed, but it was either milk in the pew or Kyle running to the alter.

The Mogensens.... Grandma Maren came to the brunch and it was a wonderful treat to have her there.

Kyle and Aidan hanging out...they were extremely slap happy at this point!

After a day of Irish Catholic rituals, Alice started to research other religions.

Meeting Baby Gracie

We traveled to Chicago this weekend to meet our new gorgeous niece Gracie! We LOVE her and were soooo happy to meet her. She is a doll! Erin and Mark are handling new parenthood as if they have had 5 babies already, we were very impressed! It was a whirlwind of a weekend with the Christening, Brunch and lots of family obligations...and all three of the Chi-Town Mogensens took it in stride. You guys are amazing!

The Ryans treated us to a fabulous dinner at Chicago Q Friday night, DELICIOUS! Thank you dearly Jim and Noreen!

Alice LOVED Gracie! She was one proud cousin!

'Gentle Touches Kyle!' He was very gentle with her, thank god!

Proud Papa

Nanny loving it!

Go Local

Tom and I have been trying to support the local guys this year, and here is one example: Milk Delivery. I LOVE it. It totally reminds me of my childhood and the milk cooler is so fun to have on our front porch. Boise folks, definitely recommend it!

FINALLY! Spring is coming!

Slowly But Surely

we are redoing our house. We're a slow at getting things done, but our goal is to have the first round of changes completed before the summer. This last month was the downstairs bathroom and a hardwood area that we needed to completely replace.

Next: The baseboards throughout the downstairs and new paint....

This was the sub-floor

Ta Da

Bathroom Before

During the floor demolition

The Finished Floor, New Paint Job and Toilet. Although we are not huge fans of the yellow, we thought the gray made it a little more modern.

Kyle's new accessory

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day to Everyone! We had a good one, it started off with a little cookie decoration. As you can see, Kyle did not perfect his decorating skills...but he honed in on his eating skills a little more...

I only gave him 2 cookies to decorate..as you can see why.

Alice was our serious decorator

The gorgeous finished product.

No Buddy, that's not how you eat an oyster.

Messing with the Kids

I am the first to support the kids reaction, I hate oysters too. But it's pretty fun to try and make them try it.

Alice's first taste

And her reaction...

Kyle's turn

The children's rejoice when they learn they don't have to try oysters anymore.

Never Again

will I take Kyle to get his haircut. The kid is super mellow until that smock goes around his neck. FREAK OUT! He had a candy cane in one hand and a sucker in the other, and he still FREAKED out!!! I had him in my lap and was retraining him while he screamed (and tried to eat his hairy treats during the screams). Fun.

So, Dad is officially in charge of haircuts....they can hang out at a barber shop and look at dirty mags together (or whatever it is men do to bond in a barber shop).

Before Haircut - Shaggy Bowl Cut

Post cut..during the screaming I was a little freaked out with how much she took off. But I was more focused on restraining Kyle. Not sure if I'm upset b/c I don't like the haircut, or I've just realized my baby has grown up!