SNOW DAY!

At 6:15am this morning,

we set out with Mom for downtown KC

through blizzardy snow.

3 hours later,

we were only 10 miles from home and still in Lee's Summit.

4 hours later (at 10:15),

we were 11 miles from home, still in Lee's Summit.

So we gave up and came home.

Oddly enough,

it only took 30 minutes to get back.

We broke out the Playdoh

We were entertained for hours.

Jack had to build a tower...

he's got a knack for it these days.

After nap,

we headed out to play in the troublesome stuff

It was great!!!

Frozen, but happy boys

Wester

A little backstory...we've been watching a lot of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.  There is a part where Herby the Elf and Rudolph both declare they are "independent" and decide to be independent together.  Weston has latched on to that word and declares he is "independa" several times a day.

At dinner, after being coaxed to finish his corn, he loudly announced, "No, I'm independa!  Independa!" and leapt to his feet out of his chair.  Aaron and I almost fell out of our chairs in laughter.

Christmas in Wathena

Today we drove up to Wathena, KS

for the annual Miller Family Christmas Party

(Grandma Phyllis's family).

There are over 60 of us,

(8 brothers and sisters with 2ish kids each,

who also had 1-4 kids each...

you get the picture)

so it is always a good time!

 We sent Christmas wishes to Uncle Ron in heaven

although West didn't completely understand

and was heartbroken to lose his balloon.

It was quickly forgotten when the presents came out

and he found a new John Deere digger under the tree.

I like my 3D spy glasses

but Daisy the puppy was my favorite part.

Guess what I want for Christmas now???

Jackisms and Westers

It's been a while.  Here are a few funny moments:

A few of my favorite Jackson words:
"dery" = very
"lemolade" = lemonade
"cavities" = calories

I love that Weston will eat anything...ANYTHING!  Including anchovies.  Raw.

According to Weston and the day you ask, sometimes the baby is a girl, to be named Girl.  Or John Deere.  Sometimes its a boy, to be named John Deere.  Or Bucket.  Who knows.

Jack thought the 7 week ultrasound picture looked like a whistle (???).  So we affectionately call the baby Whistle.  Jack was known as Curly; Weston as Hamilton.

Weston has taken to saying "I gotcha Dad" when he understands your directions.  He also uses phrases like "actually," "I prefer," and "I'm pretty sure."

Weston wants to do things by himself.  He will take his shirt back off just to put it on again if Mom puts it over his head.  He gets very upset and yells, "Mom, you RUINED me!"

Last night, Dad told Jack he talked a lot.  Jack said "Well, yes.  I have a lot of stories to tell."

We are having trouble keeping Christmas presents a secret.  At dinner, Weston blabbed one of Dad's gifts not once, but 4 times in the same conversation despite Mom trying to stop him.  He got very frustrated and said "Mom, you are being RUDE to me!".  Then, Jack took over and tried to mime what the gift was.  "I wasn't telling him what it is--I was just showing him."  Similarly, Jack is very excited about the toy puppy he got for Weston.  He tried to tell him several times but Mom cut him off mid-sentence.  Finally, Jack got frustrated and said (in front of Wes), "Mom, I was just going to tell him I got him a puppy, not show it to him!"

It's a...

We wanted to be sure Baby #3 had it's own special recognition.

So although we (including the boys) knew the gender on December 14,

we fibbed and said we didn't know so we could have some Christmas surprises.

We whipped up a bunch of cupcakes

(a set for Reed Christmas, Woods Christmas, and Sweeney Christmas),

dyed the filling,

and waited for the Christmas celebrations.

The baby got to make a lasting first impression.

Some pictures of our precious...

BOY!

In keeping with the Reed boy tradition,

the first picture as the ultrasound probe went on,

was Baby Boy #3,

spread-eagle,

on display for Mom and Dad to see.

We are thrilled!

Jack and West are still holding on to "John Deere Bucket Reed" as their name of choice.

I think they are going to be disappointed.

Continuing tradition

We headed to Christmas in the Park

for our annual drive through the lights.

Earlier this week,

I had to get my 5 year old shots.

But it was ok--

I handled them like a champ

AND got a coupon for a free ice cream cone at DQ!

We were pretty psyched.

The lights were pretty awesome

The train was, of course,

our favorite

Oh! Look over there!

And there!

Mom, stop the van!  Look over there!

It was a good time.

Let's SING!

It is finally here!

The UHDS Nutcracker Noel!

We've been practicing and practicing our songs,

and we couldn't wait to bust them out!

First was my turn...

Do you see me on the right end? 

The grin never left my face

A'capella Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Rudolph? 

Nailed it!

The video is great.  Hopefully Mom and Dad will get it together for your enjoyment soon... 

We got to meet the Big Guy again.

It went much smoother this time.

Maybe it was the toys he was handing out

In the afternoon,

it was Jack's turn.

His class even had costumes!

See him?  On the far left end?

Last year, he wanted nothing to do with it.

He didn't want to go to preschool for fear of practicing.

He didn't want anyone to come to see him.

But this year,

he told us to sit in the front row

"'Cause that's the best place to see me!"

He belted out We Are Santa's Elves and a jazzy version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town 

like he was born to sing!

Santa was impressed.

I don't think he minded seeing us twice in one day. 

We've got that Christmasy feeling!!!

Breakfast with Santa

Today was our first visit with Santa this season.

Jack was afraid and refused to come up,

but I marched right up to him

and with just a touch of hesitation,

sat on his lap.

We had a nice discussion about getting a train for Christmas

and how Mrs. Claus used to play basketball. 

Chris Cakes was there,

FLIPPING out the pancakes!

(Can you see the pancake in the air?

Jack caught it on his plate!) 

After breakfast,

Jack warmed up a little to Santa.

He managed to spit out that he wanted a train that puffs smoke for Christmas.

AND we actually got a pretty good picture this year!

Next up was the craft table

Jack made a card with fingerprint lights

And I made fingerprint lights and reindeer

Sort of. 

Mrs. Claus read a few book too!

The highlight of the day though,

was probably the train.

Of course.

We each had our own horn and everything.

 We loved it so much,

we took a second ride.

Mom came that time

(She's the one waving in the back.

Silly Mom.)

This holiday season is starting out just right.

The Plaza Lights

Last year we checked out the Plaza from a limo.

This year, we checked them out

from a CARRIAGE!

They were beautiful!

We snuggled with Mom

in the cool night air

and took it all in.

Dad thought it was pretty cool too.

Here's Gus, our horse

Patting him may have been our favorite part.

But wait.

Maybe our favorite part was the

FONDUE

and the Melting Pot!!

We were psyched again!

A 2 year old with a pointy stick and a pot of chocolate...

what could go wrong?

DELISH

I've been here before...

I can do this by myself!

Definitely DELISH!