Why?

Yes, I'm crazy far behind in posting pictures. I have about a week's worth of pictures from our trip to Boston haunting me, but I wanted to post this before I forget...

Jonathan's vocabulary exploded about two weeks before Christmas. He repeats everything and really wants to communicate, finally! This weekend he added a new word, a favorite for him, that he uses in perfect connotation, tone and structure - "Why?"

Since Jonathan was old enough to understand and follow, Andrew has bossed and instructed him in the way that he should go. Here's a typical, rather one-sided conversation:

Andrew: "Jonafun, chase me!"
Jonathan: chases compliantly

Andrew: "Jonafun, run in a circle!"
Jonathan: runs in a circle until too dizzy to run anymore

Lately...
Andrew: "Jonafun, you drive this car and I'll drive this one."
Jonathan: "No!" followed by screaming until a parent intervenes

Last night:
Andrew: "Jonafun, let's go downstairs."
Jonathan: "Why?"
Andrew: "Because we need to blah, blah, blah."
Jonathan: Goes downstairs with his brother

I didn't hear Andrew's answer, but it must have been sufficient because Jonathan went where ordered. It cracked me up that he is now questioning the instructions of his rather bossy brother. It's not so funny, however, when he asks me why 20 times a day. Isn't this stage supposed to happen when he's 3?

Christmas Day

cousins
Andrew (4 1/2), Jonathan (22 months) and Luke (10 months)

Trying to capture a picture of the cousins is not an easy task!

Gina was the lucky winner of our white elephant gift - DCUs and giant boots

Luke trying on Matt's new camo hat.

the white elephant exchange

Al picked our other gift - pink fuzzy socks and a snowman candle. Lucky guy!

Ashley took one for the team and opened the Nisly family photo that has been circulating for a few years. She says she's going to hang it in her dorm room. I think retro is the new modern look! (By the way, I'm the cutie in the blue dress.) Sondra and Ashley wanted to be in the portrait, but since it was taken a bit before their time, this is as close as they get!

Jonathan was stuck to Grandpa like glue all day!

Matt and Sarah stole the crate filled with work gloves and cool shades from Keith.

Sarah was at Andrew's beck and call all day and surrendered her back muscles to give the boys a ride in the mini wagon.

Jonathan helping play Amish Poker (aka Sequence)

We had Christmas Day at Mom and Dad's with all the Nislys. We spent half of the afternoon on our new tradition - a white elephant exchange. Once again, we didn't end up with anything great, but it wasn't horrible either - a broken scrapbook, some hot chocolate, a cute Americana candle holder, and some half-used chapstick.

The boys played all afternoon and Jonathan was stuck to his Grandpa. No one else would do. And even though Grandpa was recovering from a bug, he was a good sport and played with Jonathan all day. And the best news was that Jonathan never caught dad's fever!

We left in the late afternoon to come home and finish packing for our trip to Boston. We had to get up bright and early to catch our 6 am flight the next morning!

Christmas Morning

The "BIG" gifts for the boys.

Before the destruction and ripping of paper started...

Jonathan isn't too sure about the dump truck at first.

He was more excited about his new Elmo toothbrush and figured out how to open the package!

New googly-eyed TRIOs for Andrew - the only thing he asked for this year.

a shopping cart for Jonathan

One of the most fought over gifts - a box of mini Cars books

Honey Bee Tree game

Jonathan giving his milk a ride in his new wagon and tractor he received the night before from Grandpa and Grandma.

Andrew reading Jonathan's new Tag Jr. books.

We had a fairly quiet Christmas morning. Andrew slept in until 8 and we finally woke Jonathan around 10 am! (A little Christmas gift from the boys to us!) We had plenty of time to get the car packed and food made for Christmas lunch with all of the Nislys while Jonathan slept. But we couldn't make Andrew wait forever to open gifts, so we finally woke our sleepy boy. Then the fun began - with many an "Oh my Goodness! Just what I always wanted!" heard throughout the process.

Keith and I bought a large and rather heavy desk as our gift to each other. (I'll try to clean it up and post a picture soon.) It was great to watch the boys rip into their presents and then we let them pick one thing to take along to Grandpa's house for the rest of the fun day.

Christmas Eve

We had a lot to do on Christmas Eve, so we let the boys open one present...

cars racing launchers

We thought it would keep them busy while we packed for our trip...

But they required daddy's help - over and over again.

Jonathan hanging out with Uncle Chad and eating a WHOLE apple!

Sarah and Luke

The table laden with deliciousness: prime rib, roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, creamed peas, rolls, and creme brulee for dessert!

Luke making his O face

Luke is full of expressions and wasn't too sure at first about opening presents.

It didn't take him long to get in the groove!

Grandpa helping Jonathan open his Handy Manny toolbox - Thanks Matt and Sarah for one of the loudest toys we received this year! It's a favorite of the boys!

Andrew's new marble roller

Matt helping Andrew assemble the marble roller. It has been built many times and is another favorite toy!

This lovely noise maker is from Chad and Sondra. Andrew likes it. We, well not-so-much...Just wait until Luke gets older. We will remember this noisy little gem when shopping for him!

the doctor kit - we have all been examined many times!

Grandma and Grandpa bought each of the boys these cute fold-up chairs.

This may look like a medieval torture device, but it's really the Ab Circle Pro. Grandma asked Santa for it and he delivered. We just pray no one gets hurt on it!

Luke taking a break from it all.

We drove to Hutchinson on Christmas Eve through blowing snow, not a super fun drive, and thankfully it only lasted half the drive. We arrived to fun and food! We ate dinner and then we dove into the presents. We all made quite a haul! Grandpa wasn't feeling great. He had a fever all day and no energy, but he rallied by the time we arrived and hopefully we didn't wear him out too much! I tried to explain to Andrew to give Grandpa space because he was sick and had a bug. So when we got there, Andrew said to him, "You have bugs in your belly?!" Oh the literalness of a 4 year old!

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas fever is high around here and the only remedy at this point is some wrapping paper-ripping therapy! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Letter

December 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Once again, this past year has flown by! Everyone warned us that your kids grow up so fast, but you don't believe it until you live it!

We've had a great year, with only one trip to the ER. (With these two active boys, we consider that a successful year!) Jonathan cut his hand on some sheet metal back in March while crawling outside at the farm. He had 14 stitches put in and was a great patient. But I'll be very happy if we never have that experience again! During the healing process, Jonathan learned to walk and then run before the stitches were taken out, and he hasn't stopped since! His main goal is to keep up with Andrew and pretend he's 4 instead of almost 2. Jonathan has finally started to talk a little. He's been slow to speak, but he understands everything!

Andrew started preschool three mornings a week at our church and he loves it. His teacher is great, and he is always excited to go to school. They had a Christmas program earlier this month and the kids sang the cutest songs. I think this was the only day Andrew did NOT like preschool. He's not a fan of being in front of crowds and stood stiff as a statue for the whole program. We didn't know he could hold that still, but he was very brave! We hope he always has such a love of school and learning!

Both boys are into playing with cars of all shapes and sizes, but especially the Disney Cars. So, it's never quiet around here with all the traffic in the house! And they both love crafts, especially when glue and markers are involved! They are starting to play together, but they usually require some sort of referee!

Keith continues to work at MKEC, and likes his job. Every day is something new and once a week, he drives to Blackwell, OK, where he is the City Engineer. The company is feeling the downturn, but continues to be a great place to work. It is blessing to work for a company run by strong Christian men.

I stay busy keeping up with the boys and volunteering at the church. I joined a little Mom's Day Out co-op with a couple of friends this fall. Each Friday, two moms get a kid-free morning, while the other two moms watch the kids. We have all boys and one sweet girl that joins us when she gets out of kindergarten at noon. It's a little loud, but the moms watching the kids usually have time for coffee and a good chat!

This summer we flew to New Hampshire and met the rest of the Ayotte gang for a week-long vacation. We ate, relaxed, played games, shopped a little, and of course watched the cousins play together. The boys and I also travelled to Oklahoma to visit the Petersons. We didn't get much sleep, but we had a lot of fun! And we are getting ready to travel to Boston to celebrate a late Christmas!

You can check our blog to see pictures of all of our latest adventures: http://ayottefamily.blogspot.com/

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas season and a Blessed New Year as we celebrate the birth of the King and the Light that He brings!

Love,
Tanya, Keith, Andrew and Jonathan

Little Lambs Christmas Program

Andrew's the one in the middle looking scared to death!

Jonathan loved the program and clapped after every song.

Still scared!

Ahh, it's over and mommy and grandma are comforting our poor scared little boy.

Cookies and apple juice

Posing with the balloon sheep after the program

Back on Dec. 4, Andrew's preschool had their Christmas program. We were a little worried about it, because of how the first Sunday of Advent went with his Sunday School class the week before. (see previous post) But they practiced all week at school and he sang us all the songs, so we knew he was ready. He even told his teacher about his previous performance, and she didn't believe him. I confirmed it was all true, and so she encouraged him all week and bribed the kids with Skittles if they practiced well. My kind of lady!

Then the morning of the program came. Keith stayed home that morning so he could go to the program and he took Andrew to school. We thought it would be a special treat, but it was the beginning of the end. We messed up the routine and we should know better than to do that! He went to class kicking and screaming, literally. His poor teacher was shocked to see him like that, but she managed to calm him down.

By the time the program started, an hour later, he was a frozen statue on stage. Every so often, it looked like he was about to cry. It was a painful for me to watch. I just wanted to run up to that stage and rescue my poor frightened baby! But he was super brave and stayed up there for the WHOLE program!

Afterward, his teacher told me that next time I'll need to come to the dress rehearsal to watch him perform and get some smiling photos! Hopefully the next program will go better!