More pictures from Christmas.........

Christmas Morning!!!!

Oh, what fun.....the kids had a great morning. I believe Olivia got everything she asked for, except a dog!!! That'll come at a later date. It was alot of fun to watch them both get so excited everytime they opened something. Billy would just say-"Oh, wow, wow!" And Olivia couldn't believe Santa got her what she asked for. And she got a pair of pink and white cowboy boots that I think got the most emotional reaction. Once she opened them she jumped in her dads arms giving him the biggest hug. She had shown him those boots when they were at the store and he somehow snuck out with them without her seeing them. Tearful moment, very sweet. And of course Billy didn't show much concern for anything except once we showed him how Elmo works, he just laughed and laughed.....that new Elmo is quite humerous if I do say so myself. All in all a memorable Christmas morning, of course it kindof went downhill after that. See, I decided to make a big breakfast that everyone would eat, sausage, pancakes, eggs, etc. So as I am getting it all done I go to get out the condiments. I reach for the syrup and there is only about 2 tablespoons of syrup left-What NO SYRUP!!!!!! What will I do??I of course had to think fast. Good thing my sister in law lives a minute away, I quickly ran over and got some and we were able to eat. Then, I slowly got sicker an sicker, just thinking it was the baby but no, I had gotten the stomach bug that Bo & Olivia had on Monday-oh misery!! Bo had to go the farm so he took Billy, which was so much help. And Olivia just played with her new toys all day. I, of course, just layed on the couch watchin Lifetime movies. I felt better the next day so no biggie. Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

The Rockettes

What a fun time, Olivia and I had a blast!!!! This was the best show I've been to in a long time. And to see how excited Olivia was just made it better. I think I cried for the first 15 minutes watching her get so excited. Stupid hormones. She loved the girls and thought it was so cool how in sync they were. And the dancing Santas were a big hit. But her favorite was the "golden girls" dancing. Thats what she called them, so of course she got a Rockette Barbie to take home with her. Which she took home and put on the shelf next to Simon the Elf b/c she thought he needed a girlfriend!!!

This is our elf named Simon. He has been a great addition to our household. Olivia has been on her best behavior since he came. She know she cannot touch him or that he cannot talk to her but she loves to talk to him. She really loves to wake up every morning and find his new hiding spot. It is a great way to get her up in a happy mood in the morning. Billy doesn't really get it but thats ok.

and this is where Simon was yesterday when we came home, yes, thats the fridge with a tootsie roll in his hand. He must have gotten hungry!!! Right, daddy!!!! Olivia was very upset when she came home and couldn't find him in his other spot. I had trouble finding him too so I called Bo and he said to check the fridge. I asked Olivia to get something out of the fridge and she found him-she was laughing so hard she started to cry, she said "that is one silly elf!!"

Here are the kids with just a few of their Christmas projects. Olivia is set on doing one EVERYDAY!!! It gets kindof tiring but she loves it so I try to come up with something everyday. The whole-"go color a Christmas picture" doesn't count for her. And poor Billy, wants to be involved so bad but he is so destructive that it just doesn't work so I pinned him in his highchair with rubber beads that he had a hay day with. The projects are supposed to be gifts to give to other people but neither Olivia or Bo are going for that. He claims them all...not really Christmas like but they are cute so it is hard to give them away.

Winter is here....we were only supposed to get a "dusting" of snow. It was quite beautiful. Until the next day it was all gone. But we have now been blessed with 3 more inches with more to come. It is definetly VERY cold here so this round should stick around for a while. It puts you more in the holiday mood.

Gingerbread House

Olivia finally got to make her gingerbread house. Oh what fun, I put it together and Bo and Olivia decorated it. I was busy keeping the little guy out of harms way. Meaning that if he touched it Olivia would have gotten him. He did finally sneak in towards the end. Bo gave him a piece of candy to put it on the house but he popped it right in his mouth. He gave him another one and he figured it out.

Santa Letter

Olivia got her first letter from Santa. She was sooo excited. She couldn't believe that the helper at the mall already told Santa what she wanted.

Christmas Tree

Ok, so i feel kindof scroogey when it comes to decorating my house this year but we finally got the tree. Actually Bo & Olivia went and got it as a suprise while Billy and I took a nap. I didn't have the heart to tell Bo that he broke the one tradition I was trying to do of going out to eat and then getting the tree as a family, he was too excited about suprising us, he even put the lights on and helped decorate. A job usually done by me. So yes, you can tell kids and husband helped decorate it but its cute. It has definetly gone from a beautiful color coordinated tree to an even more beautiful children hand made ornaments and all on one branch tree. We have even replaced the shining star on top with a glitter painted star on a toilet paper roll. But it means so much more and makes us smile every time we look at it. Of course little Billy likes to take one of the ball ornaments and run and hide!!!! He's our little demon!

These are my beautiful kiddos ready for Christmas. They did so good for these pictures. So far we are having a great time with all the Advent calendar stuff, which we received a HUGE box yesterday for more fun stuff-thanks Mom! The other night Olivia painted ornaments and colored pictures, then I fixed a big pot of semi homemade chicken noodle soup. I put Billy's highchair in the living room and let Olivia sit at the coffee table and we atched Polar Express. Which of course, sassy and I have seen alot but she didn't watch it last year so I think she kindof forgot some. It was very exciting to her and Billy just got such a kick out of it. I didn't think he would care but he laughed and clapped with excitement the whole movie, I must admit it made me a little misty eyed. Olivia got upset b/c she didn't think he would find the bell, I kept telling her to just watch and see but it really upset her when he got off the train to go home. Billy came over and sat by her, he put his head on her shoulder and did his little babbling to her like her was trying to tell her it was ok, it was very sweet. Then she realized he got the bell back and all was good.

Funny kid moment:

We get alot of charity mail around the holidays so Bo lets Olivia open it b/c sometimes they send cards and stuff. Well the other day she opened one that had 5 nickels taped to the letter- its purpose was for us to send it back with more money. But Ms. Olivia took it and ran to her dad and said "Daddy look, the poor people are sending us money now!" We just laughed.

AS you can see, Packers/Jets fans. We had these pictures done for Bo's birthday. There were more but I left them at home. Billy is really cute, if you say Brett favre to him he puts his hands upp for a touchdown- he did that all on his own!!

We are obviously Brett Favre fans....you think?

Ok, so the Lucille name not a big hit, and yes I used to want Claire but that is Bo's bosses name and lets just say I am not too fond of her. I really like Caroline but Bo has an aunt that he doesn't care too much for and that is her name so here we are- stuck again!! I guess it's a good thing we have plenty of time. Amber, we are not finding out with this one, its pretty cool now b/c we have one of each so we really don't care if it's a boy or girl. As for a boy name, Bo is set on either, well - Bo, or he has always wanted Isaiah Joseph. I am still not 100% on Isaiah but we'll see. I know I havn't posted pictures but I do have some cute ones so maybe if I can remember I will do that tomorrow!

ok, i need a few opinions - we are thinking of different names, ok i am thinking, Bo says its too early. But anyway, we have a boys name but not a girl (which is what I think it is!) shhhhh!!
We kindof like how both olivia and billy have middle names with the J O thing, Jolene and Joseph. But I can't think of anything to go with Lucille (Lucy). So here are a few I found online, give me your opinion or any names you can think of:
Lucille Joy
Lucille Jolee
Lucille Jorgelina
Lucille Josie
This is driving me nuts..........HELP!!!!!

Well, we just pulled out the Advent Stocking. I am really excited about it this year because Olivia is a bit older and understands more. I had picked up more stuff last year after Christmas so it will be alot of fun. I really want to make this a special Christmas this year seeing as she is old enough to play along, last year was mainly about the little candies in each day, which of course were chocolate mints, which reminds me I better get to the store. I am also starting another small tradition with Miss Olivia. We are going to The Christmas Spectacular Show featuring the Rockettes- cost a bit more than I would like to spend but her and I really want to go. And she loves when I plan a special day for just her and I to do go so something with no boys!!! Bo didn't really care about a musical so him and Billy can play with the cows! I would like each year for just the girls to go see a show together and when Billy boy is old enough I will make a tradition with him, like the train thing. I also just ordered a Christmas letter from Santa to be sent to her which she will think is pretty cool. I love Christmas time!!! Anyway, Happy December!!

Ok, so its official, everyone now knows about our new addition coming in June!!! It was actually very funny how Bo was telling everyone. We decided to do it on Thanksgiving. Bo was out in the shop doing his duty of frying the turkeys, which is "Oh my" soooo good, anyway, he would bring one to the house when it was done. Billy would then run to him and fuss a bit, Bo would make a comment like "It's cause he wants a little brother", then the next comment was-"Billy's gonna be jealous". And NO ONE caught on, I think they were too worried about the turkey!! So by the time he brought the other turkey, he was still just making subtle hints that no one was catchin on to and then his mom said "it's like you're tryin to tell us something", and I said " he's been tryin all day and no one got it", thats when everyone got all excited and finally understood. They of course go in to "When are you buying a bigger house?" That we are unsure of right now, we are just happy to have another baby. It took Olivia a while to get that I was REALLY pregnant. It didn't click really till the next day but she is very excited, and Billy just hit my belly saying "bebe, bebe!" I think he has known all along..........By the way- IT"S SNOWING BIG TIME HERE!!!!! What a way to put you in the mood for Christmas!!!

Here is what happens when Olivia is playing in her room too quietly so little brother wanders in to find out what is going on. You think she needs a little sister?

Here is Billy waiting patiently for daddy to get home. He wants to put on his hat and boots b/c he thinks he is going with him.....isn't that just cute!!!!! He is definitely a little farmer boy.

My family

Oh, the wonderful, crazy Whelan Family.....All I have to say is - CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG!!!!! Just kiddin...... but i do hear things and would just like to say that even with all the chaos and difference of opinions that many of us have whether it comes to religion, our children, the President or anything else I am still grateful to be part of such a wonderful family. I think its great that we all express our opinions(some more than others;) ) but thats what is so great about having such a big family. There is no way with this many people that we will all agree on everything. But just remember that we are family and we are entitled to have our opinions. I am not agreeing with or against anyone. I love my family and am thankful that I am still part of it even after the tough choices I made in my life. Even though it was hard, everyone came to accept my decision and my family which I am truely grateful for. I am also grateful that our family does not stray from each other just b/c we don't exactly agree on everything. I see alot of families that don't ever talk again b/c of things that are similar and I am just glad that everyone in our family understands that family is the most important thing. So with this beautiful holiday season coming up lets remember where we come from and how lucky we all are to be part of such a great family!!!!

So Olivia and I were driving to the mall yesterday and I had the new Faith Hill Christmas c.d. playing, yes I know a little early but its Faith!! Anyway, The Little Drummer Boy song came on after Santa Claus is coming to town and she wanted to hear another Santa song but I left it playing. Olivia asked me why she was making that noise, I tried to explain to her that it was the sound of a drum - "that's not a drum", she replied, "did Santa give it to her?", Realizing that Santa is about all she thinks about during Christmas I decided to explain the song to her. She does know who baby Jesus is but didn't know why the little boy was playing his drum. So, I then began to explain that he played the drum b/c he couldn't afford any gifts so he wanted to play him a song, I am a little over hormonal right now I guess cause it just hit me and I couldn't even get through it without choking up. Anyway, she got quiet and listened to the rest of the song and when it was over she asked to hear another song about Jesus. What a moment, that she asked for Jesus instead of Santa, was just over whelming to me. I have a very sweet girl.....

here is a play place that we went to to get my crazy 2 children out of the house on a gloomy cold day. it was nice to just sit back and let them play. its like that place we went to in Texas just 1/2 the size and 1/2 the noise level!!! Olivia just ran in and took off, of course not liking the idea that she had to wear socks (memories!!) but no fits this time. Billy was playing in a small area they have blocked of for little ones but then he discovered the balls that were for the basketball hoop and that is all he did after that, he would take them to anyone and throw the ball to them and of course they would throw back, he is too cute to resist. he is quite happy if he has a ball to play with. Thats what I would add to Heather's thankful list, is that I am thankful for a little boy who is pretty easy to please, I am thankful for the fact that that night Olivia went with her dad to the farm, Billy came and sat in my lap all night just cuddling with me and his meemee (blanket). I love Olivia dearly but it was nice to sit and watch the CMA's with my sweet little guy with out having to do anything else to make sure she was entertained, the t.v. probably would've been on Sponge bob or something. I am grateful that my big girl is learning so quickly without much effort. I just bought her a workbook yesterday and she finished the whole thing in no time, it was great to see how well she is learning and how much fun it is to her. And of course I am thankful for our next little bundle growing inside me, even though he/she makes me VERY sick I know that that means everything is going well. And I am thankful for this beautiful season that is approaching us so quickly, it seems to add so much peace to people. What a wonderful time of year.

ok, fellow bloggers, I am trying to change and make mine look cool like everyone else but where do i go to get different backgrounds and fun stuff to put on my blog????

this is what happens when Olivia and billy play baby dolls, it started out with babys but then I guess Billy wanted a turn. He loves to play with the "bebes", he is very sweet hugging and cradling the babys.