No, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth

I know, I know.  I have lots of catching up to do.  I see a blogging marathon in my future.

I did, however, take some time to update Nathan's Caringbridge website.  We have had a lot going on (some good some not so good) the past few months.  He is having surgery on his hips and feet on April 11th.  Ryan is meeting with the surgeon tomorrow.  You can catch up with things by clicking on the Caringbridge button on the right. At least it's a start! 

More to come soon!

Just to name a few

I have some nicknames for Lucas.  I wanted to document them so I wouldn't forget.

Here goes:

Love Bug

Honey Bear

Tater Tot

Sweet Pea

Bugga Boos

Cupcake

Peanut Butter

Sweet Potato

Monkey Boy

Sweetie Pie

Sweetie Boy

Bay Bay

Sugar Plum

Honey Love

Cutie Pie

Lukie Boo

Lukie Pookie

Yes, I know.  But I can't stop!

Wordless Wednesday

Practice

makes perfect.

Macys 2011

Every year it's tradition to go to Macys (or Marshall Field's as I will always know it to be) and have lunch under the big tree.  This year was fun (and a bit tricky having two new babies with us.  Thank goodness for an expansive furniture floor where two nursing mothers can find some privacy!)

The "big" cousins had a ball running around and chasing each other.

And the "little" cousins had a ball talking baby talk and being dressed alike (thanks to my mother-in-law).

I usually love to take lots of pictures and get all artsy, but with two kids in tow it wasn't happening this year. I'm not sure I even got a proper picture of the tree!

This is Nathan and his cousin Jake.  Nate just adores him (as you can plainly see!)

At least I got some cute pictures of all the cousins together.  We don't see them often enough.

One of the best photos of the day-the Queen Bee with her grandchildren.

The day went by too quickly and we were out of time before we knew it and had to head home so Ryan could go to work.  However, we were happy to have carried on a tradition, spent time with family and made some memories!

The view from here

So now that we've lived in our new home over a month, I thought I should share some photos (er, I mean one photo). 

This is the view from the back of our house, which faces a corn field.  The seller told us at closing that sunsets were her favorite part of this house.  I can see why.  Firework displays (like the one I saw on New Year's Eve) aren't so bad either.  Except I don't have any pictures of that.  Have I mentioned we love it here?

Gramma

and her 3 boys.