Happy New Year!!

We are very fortunate that Gigi and PaPa once again stepped up and watched the boys for us to give us a night out - especially to ring in the new year :)  Steve and I enjoyed a nice dinner and then toasted to the new year with Marie and John.  We had such a great time catching up and hanging out with just adults!!

We wish everyone the very best in 2013 - here's to a new year full of health, love, laughter and happiness!!

New Toys

The boys have been playing nonstop with all of the new toys they received for Christmas. 

Marble maze...both boys really like feeding the marbles and following them through the maze.

Uncle Todd teaching Andrew pool :)

Andrew mastering another new puzzle.  He loves putting puzzles together.

Variety WINTER Camp!!

Andrew was able to attend one week of Variety Adventure Camp this past summer and had an absolute blast.  When we learned they offered a winter camp for a few days, Andrew could not wait to go!!  Andrew went to camp just two days, but what a great opportunity to have so much fun and get out of the house for a bit :)

Enjoying some pool time!!

No more BOTTLES!!

We are so thrilled that Nathan no longer is drinking from a bottle!!  Since we have some time off to work on this transition, Christmas night was Nathan's last time for a bottle.  Nathan has been drinking out of a straw for a while now and is working on an open cup, but we always used his morning and night time bottles to get his medicine and daily milk intake.  Nathan doesn't really drink much liquid throughout the day, so his bottles were a bit of reassurance that he was getting what he needs. 

When Nathan woke up this morning, he was immediately requesting his bottle.  When I presented his milk in a cup with a straw, I got a little resistance.  After a couple of sips, he didn't make a peep and low and behold he finished the whole cup of milk!!  I was relieved that it wasn't as big of a deal that I was thinking it would be.  You never know with Nathan!!  We will be monitoring all of his liquid to make sure he is drinking plenty.  We are excited for these little milestones as Nathan continues to make progress :)

Our happy little guy sporting his new hoodie!!

Merry Christmas!!

This morning the boys were more than excited to wake up to lots of gifts from Santa :)  We could not believe our eyes with everything Santa brought the boys.  We had fun opening up presents, playing for a bit and then celebrating Jesus' birthday at Christmas mass.  From church, we headed to Gigi and PaPa's to celebrate with the entire Bruemer side of the family.  The boys had quite a busy day!!

Opening presents Christmas morning.

Andrew is already hard at work with all of his new tools.

So much to do with his new work shop :)

Playing with his remote control stunt racers.

In the middle of a spin and lights on!!

Unwrapping yet another present.

Busy with his new car garage and ramp.

Christmas Eve with the Vehige's

We spend Christmas Eve with the Vehige side of our family.  It is always so much fun to get together with everyone - ALL 33 of us!!  The boys have a blast with all of their cousins and we adults manage holding everything and everyone together :)  It's a busy evening with dinner, singing Christmas carols, listening to Pops read Twas the Night Before Christmas, the kiddos opening their presents and the adult gift exchange. 

Andrew placing Baby Jesus in the manger.

Singing carols.

Kathryn, Anna, Henry and Andrew dancing!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Nathan and Daddy opening presents.

Andrew checking out his present :)

Nathan opening his present all by himself!!

 

Andrew thanking Pops and Grandma for all of his emergency vehicles.

Trinity Christmas Program

This morning we enjoyed Andrew's Christmas program at school.  These programs are always so fun to be a part of and great to see all of the kiddos performing.  Andrew did a great job with all of the songs and motions :)  Then, it was back to the classrooms for cookies and punch - a perfect start to Christmas break!!

Andrew is on the very left.

The whole group on stage.

Daddy and Andrew. 

Discussing his cookie choices with Grandma :)

 

Botanical Gardens

This morning we headed down to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to enjoy their Christmas Train display and walk around some of the gardens.  The boys loved the trains and Andrew especially liked the scavenger hunt that went along with it.  He was a great seeker and found the majority of the items on his own :)  We were lucky with pretty good weather and were able to walk around a bit outside too - there's so much to see!!

Family Pic.

 

Nothing more mesmerizing than a waterfall.

Getting wet!!

Our doorman...

 

And, personal tour guide :)

Variety Bikes for Kids!!

This morning we headed to Webster University for Andrew to receive his adaptive bike from Variety!!  Andrew had been measured earlier this summer and couldn't wait for this day to come!!  It's such an amazing event to be a part of.  I think this year, they donated over 50 adaptive bikes.  These bikes are all individually made for children to meet their specific needs.  We are so very grateful for both of our boys to have received these amazing bikes. 

Andrew waiting to get his NEW bike!!

 

Just for Andrew. 

Off and riding.

Checking it all out.

 

More room to actually ride - he was so excited!!

 

After receiving his bike and testing it out a bit, we headed out to lunch at Llywelyn's Pub.  It had been an exciting day and a celebratory meal was in order.

Andrew all smiles :)

And proud little brother, Nathan.

Annual Friends' Christmas Dinner

Every year one of my best friends throws a wonderful Christmas dinner party for us all.  It started when we were all just out of college and on our own for the first time and has grown into this!!

All of us - The Adair, Parrish, Thach, Vehige and Witthaus Families :)

All of the kiddos - Addison, Ellie, Kate, Will, Andrew, Ryan, Nicholas, Ben, Zachary, Cole and Nathan

My very best girlfriends and our little balls of energy!!

Parkway Team Meeting

Steve and I met this morning with Andrew's team at Parkway Early Childhood Center.  The meeting went very well and Andrew is making great progress.  He's already meeting some of his annual goals and continues to keep working hard to reach the next goal.

Steve and I brought up Kindergarten and what options would be available to us.  This is a HUGE decision for us and we are trying to make sure we cover all of our bases.  If we keep Andrew at Parkway, he will attend Pierremont Elementary which is our home school and will be able to receive all of his services while at school.  If we decide to send Andrew to a private school, there are two options for him to receive his services through Special School District.  One is during after school hours during the week and the other is called dual enrollment where he would spend part of his day at Pierremont and receive services and then the rest of his day at the private school.  It's hard to explain all of the details, but there is a lot to consider and a lot of pros and cons with each scenario.

We are just praying that something will hit home with us and that we make the right and best decision for Andrew. 

Gingerbread Train Station

Tonight Andrew tackled a huge project - an entire gingerbread train station!!

Getting started on the frames of the station and train.

Kneading the icing :)

Let the decorating begin!!

The finished train station - Andrew did all of the green icing :)

Our train station - Andrew had fun with the red and yellow fondant icing.

Neighbor Christmas Party

Our next door neighbors - Gary and Dianne are just fantastic!!  They are always playing with the boys whenever given the opportunity and are always checking in on us to help in any way they can.  They have welcomed us with open arms ever since we moved in and our friendship has just grown stronger over the years. 

Tonight they invited us over for a Christmas Party with some of our neighbors.  It was nice to meet some of them for the first time and actually be able to chat longer than just a quick hello or how are you.  Steve stayed behind with Nathan and Andrew and I were able to visit for a while before we left for bedtime.  We were all having such a great time and I was asked to come back after getting Andrew settled. 

I ended up staying over well past 11pm.  A lot of our neighbors are retired, but it was still a school night for me - ha!!  As I was leaving, I was handed a big envelope and told Merry Christmas from all of your neighbors.  I was thrown off guard and politely said thank you and headed home.  Once home, we opened the envelope.  I am humbled to say that each one of our neighbors had made a donation to the boys' trust.  It brought tears to our eyes how generous and thoughtful this gesture was.  We are so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful neighbors who care for us deeply.  We are at a loss for words to try and describe how much everyone's support means to us.

Breakfast with Santa

This year we headed to Eckert's with the Bruemer side of the family for breakfast with Santa and to help Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura and Mary cut down their Christmas Tree.  We enjoyed a great family style breakfast and then headed out to the tree farm.  It was great to experience this and the boys loved all of the action.  We keep it simple at our house with an artificial tree, so this was quite the treat!!

Andrew with Mrs. and Santa Claus

Me and the boys - Andrew was done at this point.

Uncle Todd sawing away - what a great tree!!

Nathan helping to transport all our supplies :)

Andrew taking a turn :)

Heading out after a hard day's work - ha!!