Christmas Time Is Here!

After attending a few different Christmas parties and watching all the TV Christmas specials we could, we were finally ready to pack up the car and head to Iowa.  We stayed at Aunt Lisa and Uncle Bouck's house with the Notz family, which gave us lots of time to relax and play.  We celebrated Christmas lots of different times...first with Papa Ronnie, Vickie, Grandma Gwen and Duke and Lynn, then with Grandma Brenda and Papa John, then again with the Rubel family, and finally, with Santa gifts.  Needless to say, it was a busy trip!  And Miss Kate made out like a bandit!

-- I should have stayed in bed! --

-- Action shot of Max doing a header! --

-- Reading with Daddy --

-- Wrapping paper wars --

-- Dressed up like a member of the Claus family --

-- Snug as a bug for our trip to Grandmas --

-- Catching a quick snooze in the car --

-- Christmas at Grandma and Papa's --

-- Wearing Max's hat --

-- It looks a little better on him though! --

-- Kye opens his gifts --

-- Papa and Cesar --

-- Copper makes sure everyone cleans up their wrapping paper --

-- Wearing a bow --

-- Missing a bow! --

-- Reading my new book --

-- Bundled up and ready to head back to Aunt Lisa's --

-- Christmas Eve! --

-- Catching Grandma --

-- Opening gifts from the Marcus family --

-- Ready to help in the kitchen on Christmas morning --

-- Brushing our teeth --

-- Giving Copper a Christmas hug --

-- Santa brought Kye a train--and he let me ride on it!! --

-- Opening our Santa gifts --

-- Santa brought me a stacker train... --

-- And another gift! --

-- Working on rebuilding my train --

-- Taking a break to read my new book --

-- Back home in Belleville where Santa left our stockings --

-- Copper is pooped from our trip! --

Early December

December started off with a visit from Joma and a little snowstorm.  Brandon and I had our first delayed start at work--we got to go in a few hours late and we loved the extra time in the morning.  Little did we know that by the time February rolled around, we'd be tired of the snow and cold--delayed reporting, snow days and all--but there's time for that later on.  Kate popped out of bed and, although she'd never really seen snow before, seemed to be itching to go outside.  So we bundled her up as best we could and took her out.  I was unable to find boots small enough for her little feet, so we put her on her little pink Keds with some extra socks, put her feet into sandwich bags, and taped them on.  Needless to say, she wasn't wild about her homemade shoes, and she didn't have any traction so she slid all over the place when she tried to walk.  When it was all said and done she spent about five minutes outside, but at least she had the chance to experience it.

-- Can I please go outside and play? --

-- Catching snowflakes --

-- Helping Daddy shovel the driveway --

-- What is all this stuff that's stuck to my glove? --

The cold weather was perfect for playing inside and enjoying the Christmas decorations.

-- Still loving my tent --

-- Got my handbag and my dino hat...ready to go! --

-- Loading up my train --

-- Hitching a ride with Momma --

We were lucky enough to get to spend a week with my mom.  Instead of sending Kate to daycare, she got to stay home with her for a few days.  I'm not sure who enjoyed it more--Kate, Joma, or Copper!

-- Hanging with Joma --

-- Helping Joma open her Christmas gift --

-- It was a book full of pictures of ME! --

-- Bedtime --

-- Seeing Mommy off to work in the morning --

Here are a few more moments from December...enjoy!

-- Coloring a self portrait --

-- What's up, Doc? --

-- Sometimes I like to style my hair with cottage cheese --

-- Sometimes I'm too sleepy to do much of anything --

-- And sometimes I'm just really darn cute --

-- Helping Mommy make breakfast on a snowy morning --

-- Enjoying all my hard (and tasty) work! --

One More Thing...

November seems to have passed in a blur, but there's one more thing that happened to us Snyders that's worth mentioning.  We found out that our family of three will soon be a family of four!  That's right, we're expecting again!

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving I was able to share the news with Brandon and Kate, and we decided to keep it quiet until we could be seen by the doctor.  Our eight week mark (the earliest the doctor will see you) fell on Christmas Eve, so we had to wait an extra week before we could get in to see her.  We had our initial appointment on New Year's Eve, and learned that everything is going great!  So we started to share our news.

Here are the first pictures of Baby 2 (who will probably have a nickname before you know it!)...

-- I look like a peanut, but it's ok, I'm only 10 weeks! --

Since I'm so behind on the blog posts, I can report that we've had another appointment.  Everything is still looking good, and we were able to hear out little button's heartbeat.  We just hit the 14 week mark, so we're officially into the second trimester.  I've already scheduled a massage (which they won't due during the first trimester) for this coming weekend--and I can't wait!  I had some issues throughout December with nausea, but those seem to be coming to an end.  I've been extra tired and have had the strangest food aversions, but aside from those things I'm feeling pretty good.  I'm already into maternity shirts (my pants are still hanging on, but just barely), and I can definitely tell that my body has already been through one pregnancy (it seems to be stretching out much easier).

Our next appointment is scheduled for February 28th, and an ultrasound should follow a few weeks after that.  We'll be sure to keep everyone updated!

Flashback to November

November came and went with a few exciting things happening.  Miss Kate continued to wow us with her developing personality, and we spent our time enjoying the remainder of the fall weather and getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I started my last semester of graduate school and tackled two courses--one online and one at the Webster location at the base, and they kept me busy.  Brandon did a wonderful job a holding down the fort while I was in class and working on homework (which felt like it was ALL the time).  Here are a few photos from the month...

-- Trying to decide what to get into --

-- Just getting cuter --

-- Playing in my tent (the best $10 Mommy ever spent at a garage sale!) --

-- Giving Copper a treat --

-- What do you get when a bitty bug with high winds? --

-- THIS! --

-- Helping Dad wash dishes... --

-- And I just happen to be dressed like a bee :-) --

We hosted a small get together for Thanksgiving, and had a very nice day with our friends.  Thanksgiving night Grandma Brenda and Uncle Shiloh and Uncle Dakota came to visit.  We had a lot of fun spending time with them.  We were even able to switch out all of our fall decorations and transform the house into a Christmas wonderland!

-- Reading a story with Grandma Brenda before bed --

-- Making bed-head look good --

-- Playing with my pup --

-- Decorating the felt Christmas tree Mommy and Grandma made for me --

-- Slide time --

-- Posing with Grandma in my sweater from Colorado --

-- Catching me in a smile --

With Thanksgiving over and our bellies stuffed full, we were officially ready for Christmastime!

Holy Moly! It's 2014!

Where, oh where, did 2013 go???  I can't believe it's 2014!  And it's not just 2014, it's already February of 2014!  It would seem that we need to take a little trip back in time to catch everyone up on what we've been doing for the last three months.  I've got lots of pictures to share and I promise to keep the narrative short...and I'll try to do better in the months to come!

Hop on in the DeLorean and away we go!!

October's Final Days

We had a few big happenings towards the end of October.   In addition to Kate’s birthday, we also have our big neighborhood garage sale (ok, it has NO business being mentioned in this particular posting, but we found some really good deals this year!), Copper’s birthday and our wedding anniversary.  So happy birthday to Mr. Kunitz, and happy two year anniversary to the most wonderful guy that I know!

-- Birthday boy. --

-- Two happy years in the books, and many more to come! --

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Our blog posts usually focus on Kate and her milestones (and occasionally on Copper, since he was our first baby), but it’s important that we acknowledge the achievements of one of the grown-up Snyders too.  Brandon has his first semester of grad school completed and on the books!  After being out of school for almost 10 years (YIKES!), he started a graduate program with SUNY Maritime in August.  He jumped right in and took two classes his first semester, and ended up with an A in both courses!  Kate, Copper, and I couldn’t be prouder of him!

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And finally, it was Halloween!  We had a pretty strong weather front move through the area that dumped a lot of rain on us, so our trick-or-treater numbers weren't as good as last year.  We got Kate into her costume for about 15 minutes before she had a melt-down, so we didn't get very many good pictures.  Poor little bug was so tired that while she was in the tub, I started to let the water out and turned around to get her towel...when I turned back to her, she was curled up on the bottom of the tub in the bubbles, almost asleep.  It seems that someone had too much Halloween fun at school.

-- I showed my Halloween spirit in the jack 'o lantern onesie that Uncle Sean got for me. --

-- Busy bee. --

-- I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep! --

-- Why fly when you can ride on your buggy? --

-- Sampling the candy (or at least trying to). --

-- Trying to take a group picture.  It was not successful. --

-- But this one was! --

Thanks for reading!  Until next time...