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Our favorite neighbors from the old house on Village Drive, Kara and Jeff, came to visit and hang out with our kiddos.
Kivrin wasn’t too cooperative when Jeff offered to hold her, but we figured out that she wanted to play instead. Kara entertained her with tissue paper and that reliable standby– swinging hair!!
Later on, Grandma Denise came for a Christmas visit.
Her traditional gift to Dan– a Simpson’s Christmas decoration– was a cool ornament this year.
Kivrin can’t wait to grow into this one — an Illinois sweathshirt just like mom and dad’s!
Kivrin had fun playing and opening her presents.
Colin got a floor hockey set, which was the funnest thing ever! He and Grandpa had to play it right away.
Did Santa come? I think he did! Colin, Leigh Anne and Grandpa all rush to the living room to check under the tree…
Once we were reassured that Santa had delivered some presents, Colin took some time on Christmas morning to enjoy some milk and play with baby Kivrin before he opened his packages.
Kivrin was happy to sit in the high chair with us at the table while we had breakfast. Since she doesn’t eat solid foods yet, we call that thing in front the “toy tray.”
Colin gave Kivrin a colorful jacob’s ladder toy; he was showing her how it works.
Kivrin got a special “Money Savvy” piggy bank from Grandpa – it has FOUR coin slots, for save, spend, donate and invest. Right now, Kivrin just likes to look at her own reflection in the shiny surface, but we will teach her how to designate her money for saving , spending and sharing with others.
Dan’s big present this year was a robotic dinosaur. Colin saw it early, before we got to town, and was supposed to keep it a secret until Christmas. Alas, it was just too exciting, and the first words out of his mouth when he saw Dan were about the robot dinosaur…Dan still had to wait until Christmas morning to open his present though!
Colin did a great job of playing with his cousin and handing her the ball over and over when she dropped it. Kivrin really likes to play with him!
Here is a collection of videos from Christmas. They are all also available on youtube.
Colin and Kivrin watching the train under Grandpa’s Christmas tree
“The only reason to turn on the annoying music on that train is if you are shooting a video.”
Some clips from Christmas in Collinsville, December 21-22, 2008
Kivrin playing with cousin Colin, Colin riding the carousel and watching Uncle Lee’s trains, Kivrin playing with Nana and getting raspberries on her tummy from mommy.
Fogt family Christmas in Kansas City, December 20, 2008
Opening presents (and wrapping them) is always more fun with infants around!
There is an episode of the O.C. called the Nana and even though our nana isn’t the same as Seth Cohen’s nana, they are both pretty great.
We went to Nana’s for Christmas lunch on Tuesday. We came early to help with the food, but she had everything so prepared and organized that we just lifted dishes in and out of the oven at the scheduled time. Nana’s food was amazing and she made all of our favorite- green bean casserole, candied sweet potatos with nuts, cauliflower with white sauce, buttered corn, vegetarian stuffing, mashed potatos and gravy, turkey and veggies with dip, plus lots (and I mean hundreds) of cookies!
Colin loved Uncle Lee’s trains, and he also enjoyed the large cardboard box his present came in.
Kivrin liked everything– the people to hold her and smile at her, the wrapping paper, and her new musical balls that are just the right size for her!
Here she is being jealous of Colin, who was getting an airplane ride complete with barrel-rolls from Dan. Kivrin had fun a bit later though when Colin blew raspberries on her belly!
Kivrin wasn’t old enough this year to play Santa and hand out presents, but she dressed up for the occassion anyway and let Colin do the hard work of delivering (and helping to open) the packages.
See a few more photos on flickr December 23, 2008 Christmas at Nana’s house
Leigh Anne and Colin arrived early at Papa Staley’s house to travel between two big snowstorms in Milwaukee.
We made sugar cookies, rolling out the dough, cutting shapes, baking, icing and adding sprinkles. Kivrin watched from the highchair, and later she just snuggled with Grandpa.
Under the Christmas tree is the train– Colin loves to help turn it on and off and even baby Kivrin liked to watch it and reach for it as it went by.
I brought home some magic rocks for Grandpa and Colin to grow together– science is really fun, especially crystals!
Some of Leigh Anne’s friends came over and everyone shared silly smiles.
We ventured to St. Clair square in search of yummy lunch at Olga’s and so Colin could tell Santa to bring a firetruck for him. No trip to the mall could be complete without a little breastfeeding in public though.
See a few more pictures from December 21-23, 2008 A few days before Christmas at Papa Staley’s house here.
Our house just hasn’t been the same since Kivrin’s Aunt Leigh Anne and cousin Colin went back home to Milwaukee last Sunday. It’s much quieter, for one thing. And much less fun, even though we are just now getting the toys put away five days later!! (I’ve heard this toy takeover happens at Papa Staley’s house too!)
Colin liked to play with our old Fisher Price toys, especially the airplane and the dragon from the castle.
Aunt Leigh Anne has the magic touch when snuggling Kivrin.
Kivrin gave Colin a present – this Halloween puzzle has 24 pieces, and Colin could work it with only a little bit of help from his mommy. He also helped match all of Kivrin’s clean socks, and entertained Kivrin with songs (see the video!) Kivrin hopes that we can visit with Colin again soon!
Improvisational singing with a toddler can lead to hilarious results. On two car rides, Colin, Lissa, Leigh Anne, Dan (and baby Kivrin!) were singing the new song “Organic Farm” from Nerissa Nields “Rock All Day/Rock All Night” album. We had just been to the Topeka zoo though, and Colin has MANY suggestions for additional animals on the farm!
Watch Leigh Anne and Colin read to Lissa and Kivrin.
Colin, Kivrin and Lissa walking on the zoo path.
Leigh Anne and Colin admiring an orangutan who can climb a ladder while holding his lunch!
Colin watches the big gorilla.
Colin roars at the lions.
Leigh Anne and Colin get up close to the colorful parrot.
Lissa and Kivrin enjoying the steamy heat of the Tropical Rainforest exhibit.
We all rode the Gage Park mini-train together. Colin was too mesmerized by the train to smile for the camera.
Leigh Anne helped Colin use the cool digger toys at the park — they only got a *little* bit of sand in their shoes!
Motherhood has taught Lissa many things in the past two months. Today’s lesson was that it is indeed possible to nurse your baby on the Gage Park mini-train if that is when she gets frantically hungry. Leigh Anne took this picture of us just because we were proud we had survived that adventure!
From waiting for the hippos to say hello to riding on the mini-train, Colin and his baby cousin Kivrin have a fun morning together at the park, ending with one last trip down the slide.
Kivrin is stuck in giggle mode and very, very happy when she is being entertained by her cousin Colin and by her mommy! (Thanks to Aunt Leigh Anne for capturing these moments on camera!)
Overheard from Aunt Leigh Anne’s phone conversation later in the day: “the baby is the cutest thing in the whole wide world and people laugh at her just to make her smile”
Kivrin enjoys using Colin’s old activity mat to entertain herself…and maybe Colin still enjoys the garish lights, jarring music and dangling toys as well.
The morning after Colin arrived in Kansas, we all headed to the library. We visited Uncle Dan while he was working, ate a snack in the cafe, did some singing and dancing at preschool storytime, watched the fish get fed in the aquarium, and played in the house in the children’s area. Kivrin let Colin use her library card to check out a few board books to read.
Kivrin Anne 
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