Zonked Out!

Today is Dawson's 4th Birthday! Can't believe that he is already 4 years old. Seems like yesterday that we were at the hospital. I remember that I was due on Christmas day, but my doctor was kind enough to induce me the week before. Good thing, since he weighed 8 lbs 9oz! Can't imagine how big he would've been if I had gone another week.
We've had fun celebrating the past few days. Last night we got together with the "Blaich" side (my mom's side of the family) to celebrate Daws' birthday as well as Christmas. The kids had a lot of fun. And today we took him out to eat at his favorite restaurant, Chapala. We were so excited to surprise him with the Chapala birthday serenade...BUT, we didn't even think that our shy little boy might not appreciate it as much as we thought. Poor guy. Started crying he was so shocked and embarrassed. One of the waiters thought it would be funny to put a spoonful of ice cream on Dawson's nose for fun...not so fun for Daws :(. He quickly cheered up when Daddy put ice cream on his nose too! We finished the day off by spending three hours at Zonkers and the mall. Yes THREE hours. The boys probably would've stayed even longer, but Josh and I were zonked out.
I have to share a few things that happened to us today to remind us of the "Christmas spirit." First, when we were cashing in our tickets at Zonkers, a man came up to us and gave the boys all of his tickets. The boys were so excited to have an extra 100 tickets to spend! Then, as we were walking past Guest Services at the mall, the woman working motioned Josh to her desk and gave him a FREE $50 Visa gift card to spend at any store in the mall. She said that the mall had some secret santas this year and they were giving gift cards away to people at random. It was so great for the boys to see such kind and giving people today! It's my hope that they will be the people showing such kindness to others in the future!

Here are some pics from Dawson's birthday celebrations. Happy Birthday Daws! We love you!!


Dawson was "zonked-out" too by the end of the day!

The firetruck exhibit at the mall.

He's not so happy about this one...

Showing me his new legos.

This is one of the gifts that Aunt Joy and Alida sent Dawson. So funny! Now he can build things just like Daddy!

Christmas Pics

Hibernation has begun!

It's cold outside and we just had the first snow of the year. Unfortunately, we've also had the first round of the stomach flu too :(. Dawson was up all night getting sick, poor guy. He's such a trooper though, didn't even cry once. I've spent the day cleaning carpets and sanitizing the house. Not that I really mind being stuck inside on such a cold day, but this is day #2 of being inside, and I'm starting to get cabin fever. Maybe we'll be able to venture out tomorrow pending all is well.

Christmas is quickly approaching. It seems like once Halloween is here, the time until Christmas flies by! We're having a pretty laid back Christmas this year. We'll be staying in KC since we traveled for Thanksgiving. The boys are getting excited for Santa to visit. Although Josh and I have already had to pull-out the "Santa card" a few times. You know...when they misbehave and you tell them the "Santa is watching" sentence. Yes, I admit to using this phrase a time or too before the big day actually arrives :). Of course, the boys' Christmas list is full of plenty of toys, and more toys, and even more toys. Transformers, bakugans, star wars toys...boy stuff! At least we will finally be seeing some girly gifts too this year! Even though Emerson won't have any memory of them. The years to come will be so much fun for "Santa!"

Josh and Masen have plans to go sledding this afternoon. Masen was very excited to see the snow this morning, but very disappointed to hear that he still had to go to school. Josh has a kid-free day as his school is closed for the day. Unfortunately, he still has to report when there is a snow day. But I think he enjoys the quiet school every once in a while.

As for me, well, I'm still in my pjs and plan on staying that way the rest of the day! No sense in getting dressed when you aren't leaving the house. Hope everyone is staying warm!