Happy 2007!!!

We were unable to get our act together enough to send out Christmas cards so I am sending New Year's cards. Also, I have never sent a letter with our cards, but what the heck? We had an AMAZING year :) Here is the letter we are sending:
Happy 2007! We hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season and that you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. We’ve never really written a “Christmas” letter in the past but we feel that with all the excitement we have had this year it was warranted.
2006 started out with Ryan in full blown toddler mode – he was so much fun – most of the time! We already knew that we would be adding to our family and in February we found out a daughter would be rounding out our clan!

Rachel Louise entered our lives at 12:05am on Saturday, June 24th. She was born 5 weeks to soon and weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces and was 19 inches long (yes, that is as skinny as it sounds). It seemed that Miss. Rachel’s lungs were not quite ready for the outside world and she spent some time in the Special Care Nursery at Rochester General Hospital. She spent several days on oxygen and antibiotics and then a few days just resting and eating. The nurses who cared for her were amazing and made us feel so much more comfortable leaving every evening without our baby girl. Thanks to the incredible medical staff at RGH we were able to bring home with us on the 4th of July (10 days after her birth).

Ryan was beside himself to have a companion in the car on the ride home from the hospital (he was to young to visit) and continues to be enamored with his “baby girl” six months later! Rachel was such a sweet and peaceful newborn that our transition from a family of three to a family of four went very smoothly (not counting the two kid time warp we get into every time we try to leave the house!).

We spent the summer just getting to know our little beauty and watching Ryan grow. We also visited with family in Michigan towards the end of the summer and both kids had a wonderful time getting to know their extended family. October brought about Rachel’s baptism (her God Parents are her Uncle Mike (Rob’s brother) and Kara (Andrea’s best friend) and Ryan’s second birthday! Is it possible that he is already two???

At two, Ryan is sleeping in a real bed and beginning to potty train (wish us luck!). He loves Sponge Bob, Little Einsteins (or any other Playhouse Disney show), Hockey (watching it on t.v. and playing air hockey at Papa Tony’s), books, singing, and various assorted mischief and mayhem!

In the six months since her birth, Rachel has morphed into a 14 pound 6 ounce beauty! She has a smile that can light up a room. She currently loves laughing, stealing toys from the dog, rolling onto her back, and eating sweet potatoes (hey, what else do you do at 6 months! I was tempted to lie and add quantum physics to her list of favorites, but who would believe that???) She has been such a joy to us and truly is our little miracle girl!

Rob and Andrea have done nothing extraordinary this year, other than parent these two wonderful children. Rob is still the Culinary Manager at the Olive Garden and Andrea returned back to her work as a Paralegal after a short (12 week) maternity leave. We both feel incredibly blessed to be the parents of Ryan and Rachel!

So, we hope to see each and everyone of you in 2007, but if we don’t we hope your year is filled with joy and happiness!

Maybe she can just drool her autograph

Rachel is going to be famous!!! Okay, not famous, but she is going to appear in our local paper next Friday!!!
They are always looking for local pictures to put in their on-line edition and I sent this one:

because it's funny! They liked it and are going to put it in the print edition! YAY!

More Rachelisms
Rachel will be 6 months old on Sunday!!! How is that possible? SERIOUSLY????
She got weighed yesterday during her Synagis vaccine and was 14 pounds 6 ounces! Amazing to me seeing as how she was less than 5 pounds when she came home from the hospital! She is enjoying her new bumbo seat (and early Christmas present) and actually got angry at Ryan this morning for taking her toy! Good for her! She is doing very well (we think) and I can't wait to see what the pediatrician and the neoatalogist have to say on January 3rd when she has her well baby/NICU follow up appointment!
It amazes me that she went from this:

to this in 6 months!!!

She is truly a gift to us!

Ryan, the man
Oh lordy! 2 years old is fun, right? RIGHT?!?!?!? Okay so 75% of the time Ryan is great! A true joy and a little smarty pants. The other 25% you ask? HA! He is a non-sleeping, food throwing, disagreeable little punk! So he's 2 okay?
He cracks us up pretty much every day! Just yesterday he was playing with my MIL's little nativity set and dropped Baby Jesus and broke him! I promtply sent him to time out explaining that he broke Nana's Baby Jesus and he had to say he was sorry which he did. Then this morning he burst into the bathroom while I was getting ready for work and promptly exclaimed "I'm Baby Jesus!!!" Rob's response from the other room was "good. Baby Jesus can make his own breakfast!!" So funny :)
Ryan is LOVING Christmas and digging Santa provided he is bringing an Elmo guitar (he is) and paint (check). Those and cereal are all he has asked SAnta for this year!
Anyway, I'll post more after the holidays! So enjoy!!!

My absence and some pictures

I just wanted to post quickly about where the heck I've been for the last month. I am here. We are all fine - better than fine - GREAT! I just didn't post for a while because someone from work was fired and word on the street was that it was for blogging at work. Of course, I never talk about work on here so I guess I am okay but I thought it wise to play it cool for a while.
Anyway...
PICTURES!!!


An attempt at a family photo on Thanksgiving. Ys, my husband ALWAYS looks like he has no idea who the rest of us are in pictues!

2 kids on Santa's lap and no one is crying??? A Christmas miracle!

I am STILL trying for the perfect Christmas card pictures. I like this one but my kids are way cuter than this!

Rachel really likes to sit. Sadly, she can't do it alone. Santa is bringing her a bumbo seat!

So she hates the hat. I LIKE and I'm the mommy!!!