Christmas 2009

This year was Zachary's first Christmas. How cute he was :) We put up a tree strategically in the corner of the living room so that it could be easily baby-gated and he often went up and shook the baby gate trying to get to it. Dave sometimes took the gate down or held Zach up close enough that he could reach the ornaments and mess things up a little. He would get so excited. Mostly Zach just loves to get into anything that he knows he's not supposed to. Pretty typical. We also put a big snowman stocking up on the door - facing inside because the boys wanted to be able to see it- and Zach liked to go up to it and wave a lot.

On Christmas morning, Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw and Uncle Matt were here with us and were able to see the boys open their presents. The boys were really excited about their gifts, and Zach was really excited about the wrapping paper. After the gift opening, my dad took us out to brunch at the Little America downtown, a Christmas tradition he has started that we don't mind one little bit! Yum! Afterward, we came home to relax and lounge.

The day after Christmas we had a big Bradshaw family dinner with a lot of Dave's cousins that were in town for the holidays. It was fun to see everyone.

Grades

So, I don't mean to toot my own horn... but here I go anyway :)

I got straight A's this semester! Woo Hoo! :)

It makes me feel good to have done well in my first semester back at school after so many years away. Although I felt relatively confident at the start of the semester, it's nice to have the validation. Now I know I can do this. Here's to next semester :)


I'm also going to take this opportunity to brag on Dave as well. Most of you know that he was also taking a class this semester and is about to finish up his Computer Science degree. His class was in Java programming and he also got an A. :) Way to go Dave!!

Old Movies

I love old movies, especially musicals. In the couple years I have started exposing the boys to some of these. It started during my pregnancy with Zach when I was on bedrest and watching lots of movies (thanks to my subscription to netflix - thanks Lizzy!). I got some of these specifically hoping the boys would like them, and some expecting the boys wouldn't even watch. One that I got for the boys was The Music Man. We sang "Shapoopie" for weeks.... One that I was surprised they even sat through was An American in Paris. After they liked that one, I got Singing in the Rain, which is a favorite of mine. They liked it too :) Anyway, I have a point, and I'm getting there.

The most recent musical that we have added to our list is Annie. It was actually on TV a couple of weeks ago and Dave and I recorded it on the DVR. The boys liked it much more than we expected, although we were hoping. We both remembered liking it when we were kids. So, last night we watched it together as a family (Ben's choice) and when Annie got to Daddy Warbucks house and they are all dancing and singing "I think I'm gonna like it here" I said, "Wow, can you imagine if you lived in a huge house like that and had all those servants to take care of everything for you?" Then Jacob said, "Well, you're kind of like our servant Mom..."
Huh.

First Steps

Zach took his first official step on the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, just ONE step :) For those of you who don't have his birthday memorized :) he won't be one until February. Since then he has continued to try to walk and occasionally takes one or two steps when he is playing around in the living room. He never does it when we try to get him to do it, only when he is playing on his own. Although he can be clingy in some things, he seems to be very independent about this one.
Regardless, it looks like we will have a walking Zachary by Christmas!

The End is in sight

Next week is the last week of classes for Fall semester, and I have survived. I have one more paper to write and one more final to take... and then I just have to finish the rest of my degree. But at least I will get a break for a few weeks :)