Christmas time in KC

We really enjoyed the holiday season this year in Kansas City. It was a nice balance of pretty Christmas lights and holiday traditions there but it wasn't so painfully cold! We were able to bundle but not fear frostbite like in Minnesota. Below are pictures of some of the pre-Christmas holidays we enjoyed while Ted was on an easier rotation.

Lucas spent a lot of quality time this past summer playing in the fountains at Crown Center. The fountains are still going through the winter season but they add an ice skating rink and beautiful Christmas trees in the courtyard. Inside the Crown Center is an area for children to play and meet Santa. Lucas also helped with ringing the bells for the Salvation Army and cheered on a brass band.















We had a great Christmas Day complete with Grandma and Papa Holl, uncle Evan, and auntie Breann. We opened lots of presents and enjoyed Christmas waffles! There was also a white Christmas this year in KC. Prepare yourself for this "blizzard" that causes people in Kansas City to lose their minds.







Lucas called Grandma on Christmas morning and also enjoyed watching some animals on YouTube.



Here are a few of the favorite new toys that were received for Christmas round one in Kansas City

Thanksgiving 2009

We enjoyed Thanksgiving this year down in Kansas City and the long weekend was split up seeing Erin's Dad, his wife Barb, and the siblings Ryan, Dylan, Breann, and Evan on that side.

Erin worked hard to set up the day so that good homecooked food was enjoyed by all in our little space in Kansas City.















We had a lot to be thankful for in 2009 and hope 2010 is just as wonderful!

All Lucas all the time

Okay so this one is all about the little guy and what he's been up to! Which is a lot. He walks, he talks more and more every day... he runs into stuff and gets into things! He is one of those "all boy" boys. It's all about trucks, puppies, rocks, sticks, balls, and wrestling and getting dirty. There's always a little love for mom in there every day too. Here are a few shots of general craziness from the past few months.







Can you handle this ladies? Yeah. Didn't think so.



There is also a strange need to wrestle with Aunt Breann's panda.



And who could forget the "great bleed" of 2009?? We still don't really know HOW he ripped out a good chunk of his top lip... but it bled for days and eventually required more medical attention than we ever thought it would. We spent a few days in the bathtub and a fair amount of clothing was thrown away.





Will sit still for Mom's phone...



But not for long...



I don't really know how this happened. I turned around for a second, and then looked back and he found a way to get stuck upside down in his hamper. He was rather upset about it too.



These are our friends Lion and Rhino. I am being poked in the bum right now by rhino as I write this.



Monthly pictures are an increasing challenge can you tell??









I think this is the winning shot after about 12 attempts :-)



Here he is running from the scene of the crime. While I was uploading (just now) he found the wipes container and discovered the joys of pulling out each wipe individually. I bet that was a good time.





I will leave you with a video of Lucas doing what Lucas loves best- "driving" cars. This one happened to be a big jeep that he didn't expect to move!

October fun in KC and another trip to MN

We were able to enjoy some family time during a few days off here in Kansas City. We traveled to Faulkners family pumpkin patch and made attempts to get pictures of a very busy little boy.











We weren't able to get cute posted pictures with the pumpkins like last year.. so we compromised by slapping the pumpkins with sticks and that kept us within the frame of the camera!





Not long after this, Lucas and I left Ted to work the ICU for the month and we made the drive up to Minnesota to see friends and family. It was a full two weeks of visits and dealing the the Minnesota fall.

We visited one of our favorite Medical school families the Nelsen's who have a boy one year older than Lucas and also twin little guys that are younger than Lucas. It was a busy day at the McDonalds play place!





We also got to meet up with our buddy couple from FANA the Wagners. Lucas really enjoyed playing with Matthew (although I doubt either one of them remember that they lived at FANA together).





He also really enjoyed "driving" all of the cars at Chuck E Cheeses with Grandma and Grandpa in Maple Grove.



Even the busiest of little men need to rest up with all of this visiting!



Lucas had a great day with his Aunts and Uncles, Grandma, Grandpa, and cousins at the apple orchard. It was a busy day!

Getting 3 toddlers to sit on a couch at the same time was challenging but we got it done.













Being in Minnesota also gave me some time to get together with some other Colombian mama's like myself. We ladies don't get out much anymore!



We enjoyed our time, but it was still nice to return home this past weekend to see Daddy again after a few weeks away!