A visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Abby wasn't too fond of Santa this year so she sat with Mrs. Claus. James didn't seem to know the difference :)

Our first snow of the year

Abby kept saying she wanted to go outside and shovel snow so we bundled her up in her pink marshmallow suit and sent her out with a broom. I don't think she was much of a shoveler, but she had a good time eating snow and posing for the camera.

an update from Abby

So, now that I am 2, my mom asked me to give an update of what is new with me. We decided on interview format again (some of the responses have been edited to make sense).

Q:Tell us about some of your favorite things.
A:My favorite thing to say is "no like it". I say this even about things I actually do like, which frustrates my parents, but I'm 2 so that is my goal in life. My favorite foods are yogurt, Cheerios, pancakes, cherry tomatoes, ketchup and anything classified by my mom as "junk food." I especially like lollipops--mommy uses them to bribe me all the time. My favorite color is blue, as evidenced by the fact that I will only wear my blue pajamas even though I have several other nice ones. I don't really have a favorite show--I just love TV in general. Mommy doesn't let me watch too much though, but it's not so bad because then I get to play with my toys or read books. My favorite Disney princess is Cinderella, but I like all the other ones too.

Q:Now how about your least favorite things?
A:I don't like time out, especially when mommy takes away my blankie for time out--then I know I have been really bad. I don't like to be told "stop." Whenever this happens I lay on the floor and cry. I don't like boo-boos, the car wash or scary Halloween masks.

Q: What are some of your newest skills?
A: I can make lots of different faces (you can see my "mean" face above). I also have a happy face, sad face, surprised face, fish face and silly face. I can sing pretty well--I like the ABCs, twinkle twinkle little star, and Sweet Baby James (I sing this to my brother). I can count to 20 and I know my colors and shapes. I am also quite a good dancer. I have many sweet moves. Oh, and I can jump now too. I do that alot instead of walking.

Q: What do you think of your baby brother?
A: I think he's okay most of the time. He doesn't really do much, but I like him anyway. I like to sing to him and give him kisses and wipe him up when he spits. Sometimes I get mad when mommy spends too much time with him, and so I tell her to "put James in the crib." She doesn't always listen.

Q: What has been your biggest accomplishment?
A: Learning to say "yes", "please" and "thank you" without being told. My mom and dad were very proud of me when I finally started saying these things on my own, especially "yes" because they were really tired of hearing "no" all the time.

That's all for now. Until next time...

Abby

Craig and the kids

Just hanging out, watching the Browns game..

James--almost 10 weeks!

Our little chub is much more animated these days. In case you were wondering, he does have a neck--it's just not visible most of the time :)

Stroller Ride

Abby tried to give James a ride in her doll stroller but he clearly did not enjoy it. (We realize this violates some serious safety standards--don't worry--it was completely supervised and only lasted about 2 minutes!)

Halloween 2007

Party Time!

Abby's birthday party was lots of fun! She got lots of clothes, books and fun toys to keep us busy through the winter months.

Abby helps Mommy make her birthday cake...


..and follows Mom's lead with the tasty batter


Birthday cutie


Papa with his two grandsons

James at 6 weeks

Our little guy is growing fast! Here are some of his newest expressions...

Birthday Girl!

She's 2! We can hardly believe it.

Modeling her fairy costume


Waving her magic wand. If only there were sound to accompany this picture--you would hear her shouting "bibbity bobbity boo!"


Playing in her new kitchen--what fun!


Enjoying her Happy Birthday song....


..and her yummy cupcake

More introductions

James got to meet his Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Mruczkowski in Cleveland last Sunday...

The Pumpkin Patch

This past Saturday we took a little family excursion to Shenot's Farm Market to pick out some pumpkins. We got to take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and Abby got to pick her favorite one to take home (with a little help from Dad). James seemed to enjoy the outing too, although he didn't really get to see much :)

playtime

Meeting the family

Aunt Kara, Aunt Kelly and Great-Grandma Rizzi were all in town this past weekend for a family wedding, and they got to meet James for the first time. He slept through it all, of course!

Bed Head

Here is a sweet shot of our girl looking her best in the morning.

Our first week with James...

It's been a busy week! Abby is getting used to her little brother slowly but surely. We discovered that James really is not a big fan of bathtime...we're hoping that will change with time and that he will like it as much as his big sister does! He is, however, a fan of sleeping--even up to 3 1/2 hours at a stretch--which makes Mom very happy :)

New Baby Brother!

On Monday Sept 17th 2007 we welcomed into our family James Francis Brocklehurst. He was born at 10:40am and was 6lbs 11oz & 20.5in. Both James and Mom are doing great and excited to come home. Abby was very excited to meet James and give him a kiss before she made mom show her his "piggies"

Here come the Browns!

Wouldn't it be awesome if we crushed the Steelers today?? It would be especially nice for those of us Browns fans who live in this city with the most unforgiving fans ever!