Merry Christmas

Christmas 2008 was spent in Kannapolis with Rebecca's extended family (Baldwin side). We went to Rebecca's Grandparents' house and spent Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day eating, having fun, eating, talking and eating some more.

On Christmas Eve, we let Olivia open two gifts. The first was an actual working digital camera that we found at Rite-Aid for $15.

The second was a pair of Christmas PJs. I think this is going to become a tradition for our kids.

On Christmas Morning, Olivia and Mommy baked a brithday cake for Baby Jesus.

Olivia Just about wore out the batteries on this frog. It sang that stupid "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" song...

Msis O surrounded by her presents and the wreckage of presents past.

She got a pretty necklace with an "O" on it.

Her Doctor's Costume and Medical Kit.

We dressed her up in the costume, at which point she declared, "Mommy, I think you're sick." She put the stethoscope to her chest and said, "I don't hear anything." She then took Grandpa's blood pressure, which she said was 2008.

Cousin Mallory with Gabe.

Great G-dad with little man Gabe.

Grandpa and Olivia.

Grandma brought Gabe a jumperoo to play in and he did very well.

Preschool Christmas Pageant

Ok, well, not really a pageant, per se, but still very cute nonetheless. The kiddos got dressed in costumes and played the various parts as Kim read the Christmas story to them. About halfway through, there was a complete cast change as the kids each decided they wanted to be someone else, so Olivia played the Angel in the beginning and switched to Joseph towards the end. All-in-all it was a bit like herding cats, but we all had a great time.

The Christmas Angel

We bought Olivia an Angel costume because she kept begging to dress up like the Christmas Angel. It's adorable, but I couldn't resist popping the wings and halo on Gabe. I know this is one of those pics that will haunt him for the rest of his life. :)

Definitely Sarine Children

I walked in our room the other morning to find both kids on the floor watching TV. Granted, I put Gabe in the boppy so he could sit up, but I didn't expect to find them both so completely engrossed. I suppose I should have since they are my kids. This just proves it.

Tanglewood Festival of Lights

So we took the kiddos to see the lights at Tanglewood and a jolly time was had by all. It took two hours just to get into the place. It seemed like we were in the slow lane the whole time. Once we got in, though, it was great. Olivia loved seeing all the lights and shapes. We stopped about halfway through at their gift shop, where they had a big fire pit for folks to roast marshmallows. Olivia had a blast doing that, though she didn't want the one that got burnt. Mmmm....more for me. :) We were moving so slow through the place that Rebecca fed Gabe on the road and I held him for a while afterwards. We didn't get a picture of it, but he did grab the wheel a couple of times.

Baby Gabe and his rattle

Gabe is finally holding on to things! He's been swatting at the toys on his play gym and today Rebecca got him to hold his little rattle. Big Sis Olivia sat with him and showed him how to shake it. This evening, though, Nana scared him with it. A little too much rattling, i guess. :)

Grandma Jeanne's Christmas Party

We went over to Durham this weekend to visit Rebecca's Grandmother and Grandfather at her Grandmother's nursing home. They were having their big Christmas party with lots of food, music and even spiked egg nog! Olivia and Gabe also got to see their Grandma and Grandpa, Great Aunt Nancy and Great Uncle Charlie, and cousins Lucas and Sarah. A grand time was had by all!

GreatGrandma Jeanne holding her greatgrandson.

GreatGrandpa Bill taking his turn.

Grandpa finally gets his chance.

Grandpa let miss Olivia indulge in a lot of chocolate and cookies. Grandparent's prerogative, I suppose. :)

Gabe Laughing

I know there are a bunch of other things to post, but this video of Gabe laughing was just too cute to hold off. I promise I'll try to put some other stuff up here this week.

We had a huge family gathering here over Thanksgiving, so check out Mom and Dad's Blog for all the great pictures.

Some More Gabe Pics

Hey everyone. I know it been a while, so here are a few Gabe & Olivia pics for y'all.

Caught him doing some light reading...

The obligatory naked baby shot. Let the therapy sessions begin...
Actually he rather enjoys his baths. When Olivia was his age, she would just scream, but he just relaxes and enjoys it.

This was a happy pic only moments before the doctor came in and gave them both shots. Then it was loud in the room.

Olivia loves when baby Gabe comes in to give hugs and kisses before bedtime.

Happy Halloween!

Well, we went to our church's Pumpkin Bash and Olivia got to play some fun games and bounce in the inflatable castle. She was very cute in her Frog costume. Not to be outdone, however, was Gabe in his adorable Peapod. Olivia got to go Trick-or-Treating for the first time tonight and she had a blast. I tried to get her to say, "Trick Or Treat and Vote Republican" but she clammed up whenever someone opened the door. She did bring in a pretty good haul, tho.

One Mammoth Olivia Update

I know it's been all Gabe this and Gabe that for a while, so here's what his big sister's been up to...

A couple weeks back, we all took a ride out to a corn maze and pumpkin patch. The corn maze was insane. I expected something at least mildly difficult, but no...it had to be this:

There were 6 checkpoints, each with a map, so we figured we could get to one or two and then go, but again, no. We spent more than an hour getting into it and finally just followed someone to a checkpoint where there was a map, took a picture of it and used that to get us back out so Rebecca could go feed Gabe. Maybe if we'd had another 18 hours....

While we were there, we let Olivia play on this giant jumping "pillow."

On another day, Rebecca, Olivia and Gabe went to the Zoo with some friends.

Ok, you're officially a geek if you know what the number on the helicopter is from. (yes, I know...)

The Polar Bear was quite playful the day they went, as you can see.

Olivia's also been doing a dance/gymnastics class at the Little Gym each week and she loves it!