A Fisher visit and Valentine's Day

Last weekend was Chris and Courtney's bachelor/bachelorette parties here in Kansas City. We hadn't seen baby Fisher since he was still in the hospital and he's 6 weeks old now so he looks completely different. Such a cutie pie. Mike and Geri volunteered to have ALL 3 kids on Saturday night. (Okay, we asked :)  The kids did great and I didn't feel too terrible Sunday morning.  A success all around.

Emerson did an impressive job holding Fisher and putting his binky back in his mouth and everything. He even fell asleep with her holding him. I'm taking that as our green light for a third.

Meanwhile, Easton found Cole's hotcakes and proceeded to eat them.

Ryan was in Maine this week and this was how I found the girls last night at bedtime.  They play so well together sometimes.

And a Happy Valentine's Day it was. Easton wouldn't pose unless she was in the laundry basket so we went with it. On a side note, today at breakfast she said, "thank you, mama."  A legit sentence!  was adorable.

Bounce House

A bounce house opened up about 4 blocks from my house and it's clean and cheap. My kind of place. My girlfriend Jayme and I love taking the kids on Fridays and then eating at Chick Fil A afterwards. I finally remembered to bring the camera to get a few pictures.

Sweet Baby Kate.  I'm not sure how much longer I can get away with calling her that...

The kids prefer to go down the slide backwards. 

Finally! A cute shot of Easton Claire smiling!

Manhattan

Last weekend we went to Manhattan, Kansas to visit some good friends, Brandon and Kelly Yoder. Kelly let us borrow some purple and we headed to the game. Peyton and Emerson are about 3 months apart so they get along great.

We hadn't been out to see them since this... 

So it was great to get our (now 4) girls together.
Emerson and dad at the game.

Easton checking Kamryn out. They're also 3 months apart so it's always fun getting together with these guys. We all had a blast and celebrated a great K-State win that night.

Bowling for Salsa

Long story but that's what we call the Wood Family college bowl pics pool we have every year. Ryan won the cup last year and it's made its way into most social situations. Like, you literally drink out of it. I'm pretty sure it traveled with us to Puerto Rico.

This is Emerson making her selections. Easton was new to the group (along with Courtney) and after the first 7 games, guess who was undefeated. Easton Claire. I kid you not. It was incredible.

After an interesting bowl season, a woman won the cup for the first time and I'm jealous it wasn't me. But my pics are terrible. Congrats to our new mom Sarah for winning the cup- it was decided a few games back and I've been completely uninterested since. In honor of tonight's game I figured I'd post a few pictures of Ryan getting the cup last year.  Kiss it good bye, honey. Maybe next year.

Christmas 2011

Our family pic at the Christmas church service at Walnut Gardens. Unfortunately we've found ourselves being more C & E churchgoers but we're just chalking it up to having two little kids. As they get older hopefully it'll get easier (and more enjoyable for us) to go to church more often.

Emerson gazing at Elfie, our Elf on a Shelf. Between Elfie and the girls' countdown chocolate and the two advent calendars, bedtime seems to take hours in December...

Ryan's started a tradition of actually making the cookies for Santa.  In my house I think Santa just got Chips Ahoy but Ryan scoffed at the idea.  I just stood back and took lots of pictures.

And the icing is from scratch.  Didn't even know you could do such a thing,  Our girls are so lucky to have the dad they do.

These are Emerson's fancy earrings.  As Amber told her, "you look like a pretty 70 year old!"           

Our Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's house.  So fancy.                                                                    

Easton is obviously perplexed about something she got in her stocking.                                         

Oh the cousins in their matching pjs.  I know these days are numbered so I'm enjoying it every year it lasts.                                                                                                                                                         

This is so Easton- opening up a gift with one hand and eating something (anything) with the other.    

I can only imagine the bossy thing she's telling Will in this pose du jour.                                              

Grandma Margaret got her a new bike for Christmas.  I think she was in shock.                                   

But Amber got the biggest hug for the Tinkerbell book she got for her.  It was a hit.                            

Santa left the girls a trampoline.                                                                                                              

Our Monkey Bread Christmas morning tradition my mom started years ago that was so fun to start with my little family.  Makes me feel old...  But happy.                                                      

Christmas was a great one this year and with the new member of our family it reminds me of what's truly important day to day- the relationships we keep with friends and family. Here's to seeing more of you who I love in 2012.