Easter 2015!!!

Yup, it's almost September and here I am finally blogging about Easter! LOL  This year was a little more hectic than usual with Easter because we got home from Disneyland the day before. And when I say day before, I mean 10 pm the night before. But what was awesome was that the Easter bunny totally came and visited that night, so us parents could get some sleep!  It also rained (shocking, I know!), but we were all pretty happy about that because we needed the water, and Jacob really wanted to wear his new Thomas rain jacket that he has not gotten to wear much!  My dad came up to visit, which of course the boys loved!! So we just did dome egg dying and a hunt.  Nothing too crazy, but just enough so it felt like Easter.

 Jacob got really pretty good at dying eggs this year! He was very focused and intent on using a spoon, which made me slightly nervous, but he honestly did great!  He loved saying the colors in both English and Spanish!

Brayden wanted to use a spoon also because his brother wanted to use one.  That was very hard as a mother to watch a 15 month old use a spoon with food coloring and eggs.  Eventually he decided himself that it was not the easiest route, so he just used his hands.  Granted I think his hands were stained for about 2 days, but nothing else was!

The hunt went really well too! Jacob actually did a pretty good job sharing with Brayden and allowing him to find some eggs. They were both so excited when they found one, but then they would quickly get over it and try and find another... in true Wood competitive spirit!

This is just one of my all time favorite pictures of Brayden... he looks so sweet and innocent! Not that he isn't sweet and innocent, he just isn't ALL the time lol!

The Easter bunny got the kids some pretty cool stuff this year too!! They got nets, some toy wooden trains, some plastic food, and car/train shooters! The boys were so so excited, as you can see in this video...

Valentines Day!!

Well we finally made it to a holiday in February!!! So Valentines Day was a little more special this year in the fact that we could actually teach the boys about it...well Jacob anyways. We had a plan to do Valentines Day cards to each other with little mail boxes I bought from Target, but alas that failed to happen! LOL We pretty much just took photos and made Valentines Day cards for Jacob's class... for how busy  things have been, I am pretty proud we got all the cards done for his class! Thanks to Gabby, we got all these awesome photos!!

We also got some photos of the youngest siblings, of the Wood/Adams family, budding romance. As cute as they look, they were actually fighting over who would be sitting on the platform, LOL.  I love that Brayden and Tessie are so close in age and so are Melo and Jacob. It makes for funny conversations. I just got a text the other day from Gabby that said the following...
 "Melodie and I were just talking about when she grows up. She was very disappointed that she can't marry Jason. The it was decided "When he's big, I want Jacob to drive his car over to our house. Then we'll get married, And then he can go home to his house." LOL!!!! I love the ideas of three year olds!! I can only hope that Tessie and Brayden are as good as friends. But I think we are off to a good start...

These two boys, plus their daddy are definitely the loves of my life. I am such a lucky mom and wife!

The Holidays....

It seems that the end of the year is our family's busiest time of year. Everyone's birthday falls within a four month period AND Christmas!!! Whew!!! It just flew by!!! It was quite exciting that I had this Christmas off, because it was a Christmas that both boys could really enjoy.  We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Pleasanton with family. It was so awesome this year because Jacob really got into it... he would constantly talk about how Santa Clause is his best friend. It's now May and he still wants to read Christmas books!!! Above is our attempt at a family photo, for a card... for those of you who got that Christmas card, I apologize. LOL For those of you that didn't... here is what you missed...

Story of having two kids... one was happy, one was not! Or they were both insane... (I guess I should be happy that we got one of the four of us looking at the camera!

 One thing that they both loved was decorating the Christmas tree. Jacob really liked to put the ornaments on nicely, whereas Brayden liked to throw the ornaments at the tree and hope they stuck. Again, another difference in their personality! But one thing they have in common is they are both completely adorable!!!

 And we did our annual Christmas tree hunting!!! The boys had a great time, but as I recall Everett and Jacob both had breakdowns, but Brayden was all smiles. It was mostly dirt so he was happy!

We saw tons of family and it was great for all the boys to hang out!!! They really make the best of friends!! And of course all our little boys looked so cute all dressed up for the Christmas Eve festivities!!! They are just so dang cute!!! All THREE of them!!! We could not be more blessed...

The best thing about the holidays hands down was watching the boys have all the fun!! They got bikes and toys and clothes.  Spoiled rotten of course, but as Jacob would tell you, "It's because Santa is my best friend and he loves me!"

Favorite picture of the holidays!!!

A day with Tutu and Grandma Jen

The other weekend we were so lucky to have Grandma Jenn and Tutu come visit us!!! It cracks me up because Tutu and Jacob are 88 years apart, but Tutu is one of Jacob's best playmates!!! He is constantly talking about her and the things she likes. "Tutu likes pancakes!" "Tutu likes baths!" "Tutu likes Santa Clause!" I'm not sure if Tutu likes all those things, but Jacob is pretty convinced that she does! Needless to say, Jacob was very excited to have Tutu over to play. There was a tea party, a picnic lunch, and painting of pumpkins!!! Brayden did join the tea party also, however his etiquette was much to be desired!

I think one of my favorite activities of Halloween is painting pumpkins.  It makes for such a a great decoration and easy activity for Jacob! This activity was totally Tutu's activity because she is the fabulous artist of the family. I love the photo on the left because they both have the same look on their face... the look of concentration!!! Maybe Jacob will get Tutu's talents instead of his mothers!!

Here is the final products...guess who's who's LOL! Tutu's pumpkin did get carved yesterday morning, but Jacob again said, "Tutu wants her pumpkin carved like this!" LOL this kid!!

Bishop Farms 2014!!!

Last year we discovered the wonderful pumpkin patch that is Bishop Farms. We had so much fun, that we had to go back this year (a couple times!). I didn't think that Bishop Farms could get better! But, they really stepped their game up even more!! They now have pony rides, a merry go round, and a zip line! We got so many great photos this year, thanks to Mrs. Gabby Adams!!! Oh and I can't take credit away from Jason because he did have the skill of getting the kids to cooperate with jellybeans! As you can see in most of the pictures they are looking up...that's because the jellybeans are located there! LOL

We had so much fun just playing in the pumpkins!!! The kids, especially the babies, loved touching them and balancing near them! I love the upper left photo! It totally looks like Brayden has his arm around Tessie, oh young love! LOL

My dad got to come with us this year! I think he was a little exhausted after, lol! But the boys loved having him there! We rode the train a couple of times, which Jacob of course loved!! My dad also loved it because there were all kinds of old cars and tractors to look at on the ride. Jacob found his pumpkin after much searching by my dad. He is quite excited for his pumpkin and has even slept with it! He often tells me that he loves his pumpkin! LOL this kid!!!

 

There is an awesome tractor ride out the acres and acres of pumpkins. The boys really liked it! I will give myself props though too, because I breastfed on the tractor, which was a skill!! LOL

 Oh these cute boys!!! Brayden seriously would not sit down and face the camera! He only wanted to touch the pumpkins!!! I swear he loves October as much as I do!!!

So, I think this was my favorite thing that we did at Bishop Farms. Gabby bought a ride for both Memo and Jacob... well, Jacob refused to get on, so I looked at the sign and the minimum age was 6 months. So. Brayden got to ride a pony!! He was definitely uneasy at first, but once he realized it was a rocking motion, he was super happy!!! Notice the black spot on his chin... I think he ate his weight in dirt that day! LOL!!!

Easter Festivities

With our mellow Easter Sunday, we somewhat forgot to do a lot of the Easter traditions before hand. For example, dying eggs!! We waited until Easter morning to do that!! LOL I must say though, it was one of my favorite experiences with Jacob. He thought it was the greatest thing in the world, that the eggs would change colors...almost like magic!! He only broke a few eggs... and I walked aways giving Mike and I an A+ on the no mess making and inventing colors (oh another thing when you dye eggs on Easter Sunday... you shouldn't wait to buy the dye until that morning because no one carries it!)

We had so much fun dying these eggs, that it makes me want to do it again just randomly through the year!!  Jacob was very proud of all his eggs.  He was sad when they had to take a "nap" in the fridge until dinner...LOL.

The Easter Bunny made a visit to our house too!!! Jacob was very excited to see all the stuff he got!!  As Uncle Matt Matt said, "Why is Jacob dressed like he's going to a rave?" LOL I guess the Easter Bunny got a little crazy with accessories this year! The Easter Bunny even got him underwear, so we'll see where that takes us!!

I had to share a couple of my favorite pictures from Easter... they just don't get any cuter than this!!
(And yes Jacob is trying to eat the egg with the shell on it!! LOL)

Easter

A couple of weeks ago was Easter Sunday!! Since we have been traveling so much lately, my suitcase just rotates clothes in it, we decided to enjoy a weekend home as a family of four! It was actually a really calm and nice day!! We spent the morning at the park, dyed eggs, took naps, and then ate a great dinner with Gabby and the girls! I will post about dying eggs separately because Jacob just had too much fun and I took too many pictures!! LOL Anyways, Melo and Jacob's favorite thing was the Easter egg hunt!!  They had so much fun looking for all the eggs and not one fight happened either!! Jacob and Melo loved eating everything inside the eggs... Jacob kept saying "More Monies?" LOL

As for the little ones... they actually had a really good day too!! They hung out and took the most hilarious pictures together!!

 

Earlier in the day, Mike took Melo and Jacob for a bike ride... they totally loved it!!

Our dinner was really good, especially since we were away from everybody that normally cooks for this holiday. Gabby made an amazing ham! 

Here's our little hams at the dinner table...

Mike loves this picture of Tessa, so I had to post it. As you can see by the amount of rolls on the table, we did not go hungry!

Although we missed our families, we did have a really wonderful Easter!

Santa Came to Visit!!!

Christmas this year was extra special in so many ways... not only did we have our new baby to celebrate, but we had a toddler that could actually appreciate the "magic" of Christmas. I always thought Christmas as a child was an amazing time of year, but I have come to realize (in my wisdom, lol) that Christmas as a mother is the BEST thing ever!! Seeing the excitement on Jacob's face about everything from lights to presents to Canta (Santa) was absolutely priceless. Jacob's relationship with Santa started off extremely rocky; screaming and crying whenever he saw him in the same room and sometimes on TV. After many books and statements of "Santa is a cool guy!" he started to be less afraid of the jolly old elf. Granted we never got him to sit on Santa's lap (I think we need more than a few weeks of "Santa's a cool guy" to get that accomplished). On Christmas Eve it all finally came together and we got the cutest video of Jacob to date... (You need sound to fully appreciate it)

This holiday was really nice because we went back to Pleasanton for the entire week! We got to see all our families and everyone got to meet Brayden.  Three people were especially missed however, Matt Matt, KiKi, and Everett were in Alabama, so we didn't get to see them. Jacob of course got so many presents... he started shaking the boxes like a true kid!! He also had a great time opening Brayden's gifts too! Thank you to everyone who got them something by the way! We had an amazing time with friends and family...

I love this of Tutu and Brayden!!

Here he is discovering Lego's as a present for the first time... needless to say, it was at this point in the unwrapping he started to shake every box.

Merry Christmas!!!

I had an ideal plan to send out Christmas cards this year, but seeing as I am adjusting to becoming a mother of two... yeah that didn't happen!! So, I figure the next best thing is to post the pictures I would have used for the card, on here.  I like to think that the Wood family is going green this holiday season. 

 

We had an amazing Christmas!! I will post all about it one of these days. We just wanted to make sure that everyone knew we were thinking about them this holiday!! Love you all!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Every year we have the tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree. However, this year was a little different... we had a 1 week old, are living in a new area, and it has been down right freezing here!! We were lucky enough that Saturday that number one, it was above freezing temperatures, number two, I felt way good after having Brayden, and number three, that everyone was up here already!! We went to Apple Hill for our tree hunting. The weather was actually pretty warm (I was roasting under that sweater and baby!) Another bonus was that dogs were allowed, so Shaniko and Emerson got to come with us. This place was a little funny because when you find the tree you want, you yell "CUTTER!" Then a teenager brings us the saw to cut it down. Now, when we first arrived and heard all this yelling we thought a kid was missing...LOL.  So, it was nice to see that it was just teenagers running with saws rather than a child lost in the woods.

 Here we are as a family of four with our tree!

Jacob loved pulling the tree, he pulled it almost the whole way! He also has a new obsession with pockets. He loves any sweatshirt he can stick his hands in. The top left photo of Jacob just cracks me up because he is so proud of himself to have his hands in his pockets.

After we got our tree, we started a new tradition in our new house... decorating!! Jacob loved decorating and having the lights on the tree. He is especially fond of a Mickey Mouse ornament...whenever he sees the tree he goes up and gives him a kiss. He liked the ball ornaments because they were fun to throw into the tree, needless to say they are way up high now.

Jacob was the honorable member of the family that got to put "Stewie" on top of the tree. Stewie is a stuffed owl that Mike and I got a long time ago, from who knows where. It's one of those things that makes us chuckle every time we see it, and we have no clue why.

With our tree hung and our lights outside, we are officially ready for Christmas! I am so excited for Brayden's first Christmas and Jacob's first Christmas that he can really understand! It's gonna be so fun!!

Thankful...

Now that it is almost mid December, I figure it would be a great time to write about Thanksgiving!! Our week of Thanksgiving got a little busy, you know with the addition of our fourth family member and all. However, we did not let a life altering event to allow us to miss one of my favorite holidays. This past Thanksgiving will go down in history as the most casual Thanksgiving we have ever had. I think everyone was in sweats and I'm pretty sure none of us left the house (well maybe we went to the park). We had great food! As if with Debbi cooking that was in any doubt. I should mention that there were both a ham and a turkey for 10 people (in true Burkholder fashion!). I may say that this was my favorite Thanksgiving ever!!  There is so much to be thankful for this year. 2013 has been really nice to us. We are so thankful for our healthy children, family, friends, and being a family everyday.

As you can tell by my hair...Thanksgiving was a very casual affair. This is my first photo with just me and my boys! (I can't believe I can say that!! I love it!!) 

 

Jacob really enjoyed his dinner. I can't believe how big he looks now!! 

This is what Brayden did all through Thanksgiving dinner. It was actually his first time in the swing.