Just for You Dad

I love my Dad. For those of you who don't know my Dad (who is also referred to as "Big Guy" wherever we go, so much so that it has become his nickname) he is serious and smart yet funny. He loves to play with the kids, watch cartoons, watch sports, hang out at the golf course, and razz my Mom. Another thing you should know about him is that he has a dry sense of humor and you can rarely tell whether he is joking or serious??!! In one of these instances, while we were visiting at Christmas, he expressed his opinion and I heard it loud and clear. He didn't feel that he was represented enough on our Blog, so here it is Dad, a blog all about YOU!

My Dad

PS - he is wearing his "Big Guy" shirt and (as the boys call them) "Pa Pants"

Pa & Mimi with the boys

My Mom & Dad
xoxo

Love you Dad! Now you are officially Blog worthy :)

O'Mara Family Christmas

We started the festivities by celebrating Bryce's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa O'Mara. Check out this CUTE snowman cake grandma made for Bryce!

Max was a happy boy and loved his first Christmas


Max loved tummy time with Uncle Sean

and he was all smiles for Aunt Erica

All the boys got these really cool hockey sticks from Grandpa and they were a big hit!

The O'Mara Boys

Blake, Max, Bryce, and Quinn

We had a great day at Grandma & Grandpa O'Mara's, thank you so much for everything. We love you!

VanDeVusse Family Christmas

The VanDeVusse family Christmas was a rockin good time with Blake on guitar, Bryce on drums, Max on the rattle (not pictured).

Annual Family photo in front of Mimi & Pa's tree

All the Girls in the family :)
My Mom and Me

All the Boys

Thank you Mimi, Pa, and Uncle Allen for a great Christmas!

Christmas at Home

What a fun filled Christmas we had with our boys and our families. Following our family tradition, the night before Santa came to our house we got in our jammies, slippers, and robes, made hot chocolate, then all loaded in the car to look at Christmas lights. Lots of Ooohs and Aaaahhhs were had by all.

The boys had their hot chocolate in hand ready to roll

Then we came home and got out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

Santa was very good to us this year. Blake and Bryce got scooters they wanted so badly, Max got a super soft blanket he just loves to cuddle with, Tim got a TV, and the boys spoiled me with a 3 stone diamond ring with the boys birthstones on the sides, which are 3 different shades of blue.
We love our little family Christmas!

Birthday with Santa

Today for Bryce's 4th birthday we went to visit Tim's workplace where the boys were put to work and earned $4 each for helping sort items. Then we did some shopping and went to Somerset to see Santa. Bryce felt very special because not too many people can say that Santa wished them a Happy Birthday!

Max with Santa

Blake & Santa

Birthday Boy Bryce snuggled up to Santa

These brothers were on their best behavior for the man in red

Family picture with Santa

We had the best day today all together as a family for Bryce's special day. Bryce is our super special middle boy and we love him so very much for his sweet smile, sense of humor, cool dude attitude, inability to say r's in words (aka woouds), and for making us realize every day that we are so lucky to have him. Love you to pieces Tink! xoxo

Formal

All dressed up and no where to go!

Tiny Tots

Bryce's Tiny Tot Christmas program was Wednesday and Brycie was the star of the show! He did every motion to every song and sang every word without missing a beat. We were so proud.

Bryce and his angel he made

A look at the performance

Here he was waiting for his turn to sing

Mommy was beaming with pride and so was Bryce

Way to go buddy!

Oh BOY!

I would like to share with you a few recent scenarios to give all of you a taste of what life is like living with 4 boys.
Scenario #1: After getting Blake off the bus I went upstairs to change Max's diaper and when I returned downstairs I found my 2 older boys had plowed through half a loaf of bread and half a jar of peanut butter in a matter of minutes. They had each eaten 4 peanut butter sandwiches made by themselves, BEFORE dinner. Flash forward to the teenage years . .. I will be at Sam's Club daily buying food in bulk.

Scenario #2: Freqent saying around our house, "PLEASE take your hands off" or my favorite, "Please take your hands out of your pants and go wash your hands". Seriously. Ugh.

Scenario #3: After getting myself dressed and ready to leave the house one boys says, "Why do you have your hair up? It looks better down." Only to be followed up by another boy saying, "You have a BIG butt, Mom." Nothing like a healthy dose of honesty to boost my confidence.

Scenario #4: As a boy comes out of the bathroom he turns to me and says with a straight face, "Don't worry, Mom, I only peed on the wall just a little bit." Lovely :)

Scenario #5: I walk into the living room to find 3 boys (yes one of them is an adult) laughing hysterically at a little baby boy who just passed gas in sonic boom fashion.

As I reflect on these memorable moments with my boys I can foresee many years of urine smelling bathrooms, empty refrigerator, etc. and call me crazy but I feel BLESSED. Blessed that I have these boys in my life to love and to make me laugh every single day regardless of where I find their hands or how stinky they may be. They are always a handwash or shower away from cuddling me on the couch! I couldn't be happier!!

Early Celebration

Although Bryce's birthday isn't for another week we celebrated early with some of his friends at Safari Playland. He was sooooo excited to have a party with his friends at his favorite place.

Holding up 4 fingers, he finally will turn 4 next week. I say finally because he wants to be bigger and tells most people he is 5 years old and does not like to admit he is 3!

Bryce and Blake's friend Asa came over early to ride with us to the party. He's actually Blake's age, but a friend of both boys.

Brycie got really shy and embarrassed as we sang Happy Birthday to him


He was just so happy

The whole gang

Safari Playland has a really cool play area for kids and is big enough for adults to go in as well. I would say the Zip line was a BIGGEST hit with the Birthday boy.

Blake made it across

Jeff, Lauren & Lia loved the slide. It looks like Jeff has just as much fun as the little kids!!

Taylor & Bryce getting ready to slide

Jenna loves saying CHEESE

Quinn's turn to say CHEESE

Alex & Blake

Blake's biggest dilemma in life is that he has 2 girlfriends and feels bad he can only marry one of them.

Taylor on the Zip line

A picture of the cupcakes. Bryce requested cupcakes with frosting like Superman Ice cream, so this is how they turned out.

Tim liked the fact that the football game was on a flat screen in the party room :) Poor Max was exhausted from all the partying and took a snooze on Daddy's shoulder.
Bryce has the best friends and we all had a great time at his party. He received so many wonderful gifts and he hasn't stopped playing with them. Thank you!!

Woolman~O'Mara Christmas 09

We had a fun Christmas celebration last night with the Woolman family.

The kids get along so well it makes our get togethers fun and relaxing.

Love these kids!!!!

Taylor loves her new horse who she named Angel.

Jenna Bean is so cute!
She liked her princess tea party set and offered coffee to everyone.

Oh my goodness, look at Blake doing his happy dance when he and Bryce opened their present from the Woolmans . . . Nerf Gun Dart Tag. Exactly what they wanted and have been asking everyone for!

Blake had Big Hugs for Monica. He was the happiest kid.
Blake knows how to work the crowd, here he is snuggling with Brad. When we were camping in the Upper Peninsula last summer Blake was BEGGING for this silly little camera from one of the gift shops and we would not get it for him. Brad snuck back, bought it for him and saved it for Christmas. We were all surprised when Blake opened it and remembered it!!! He seriously likes it as much as the Nerf set.

So, here they are all decked out ready for some Nerf tag.

This is a huge step . . . for me. If you know me at all you know I do not like guns, never have, never will. Our kids don't even have water guns!! However, the boys have been playing with the neighbor kids who all have Nerf guns and it is all Blake has been asking for so I figured it was time to give in. They have not stopped playing with them since they opened them. They woke up at 7am and went straight to the basement to play Nerf tag. Thank you Woolmans for making our boys the happiest kids ever. Blake even said he doesn't want anything else for Christmas, he's done!

2 Month Stats

Max saw the Dr. today for his 2 month checkup. His stats: 14.5 pounds and 25 inches, 95th percentile for both height and weight. Our boy is a healthy baby. He is having some sleep issues at the moment, screaming every time we lay him down. He does have problems with a little reflux, but certainly not enough to medicate him. Here's hoping this issue resolves itself :)

Baby's First Christmas

Max Aiden's first Christmas season is happy and bright! We love our little Santa Baby.