New Years Eve

This new years morning has been hectic. I am determined to get all of the Xmas stuff outta here. Sucessfully, it has all been moved to the garage. The inside of the house has been cleaned, and now I sit here blogging with the fireplace on. I have not lit the fireplace since the gas scare we had when Tyler was about 6 weeks old. I miss it and its burr cold today, so I am super glad to have it on.

Since I am off today and Tyler's birthday is about 10 days away, we decided to do the 2 year pix today... none of these are the one I ordered so you will have to wait and see which one you get in your thank you card..... that is...IF you send Tyler and birthday gift. lol jk.

He was pretty good...

showing off the tummy Well, these letters spell TWO, but Tyler decided he didn't like them. These cubes are part if the waiting room material. Tyler decided he liked them and dragged them into the studio to take pix with them.

Close up

TRUCK

Look at this truck...

Merry Christmas!

2009 Christmas started and ended with a bang in the Drake house. We had a blast! Xmas Eve we went to Nannie's as is the family tradition. We have gone to her house every Xmas Eve my whole life...we hope to go for many more years. Things have changed over the years, different house, move people, but it is always the same fun! Tyler wasn't too sure about all those presents. He never fails to make a mess for Nannie tho, he has decided he loves to shred - literally shred, tissue paper. Good thing Nan has a good vacuum!

Xmas morning was really fun too. Tyler got up and wanted to play with the toys he got on Xmas eve. Angelos was saying, come on Tyler...its xmas. Santa came. lol Here is Tyler seeing his new bike for the first time.

Checkin it out. He was a pro right away. And still is...we have to ride inside because of all the snow.

Next we got dressed, well some of us - I went in pj's... next door to the Drake house. Pete and Lisa got Tyler some awesome trucks. Here is Tyler watching and waiting quite patiently for Pete to undo the 40 ties to get it out of the package... toy packaging is crazy!

Next Mommy got showered, etc and we went to the Monaco house. What fun! There were sooo many gifts! Tyler decided to go first and open the BIG box from Mike and Mandy. WOAH - its a hot wheels big wheel!

Then Grandpa unveiled the hugest gift of all....the THOMAS RIDE ON TRAIN! Tyler loves it and wants to ride it everyday!

Christmas was a truly happy day. We had so much fun and thank everyone again for the great gifts and generosity. When we got home, Angelos took Thomas downstairs and set him up... then.....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

3 am.........woooooooooooooooooooowooooooooooooowooooooooo out house alarm went off... scared Mommy to death. Well, we aren't positive of course, but after Angelos checking the whole house with a huge knife in hand, we think that Thomas may have inched himself a bit and set off the motion detector. lol - nothing like a xmas scare.

Santa Visit - SUCCESSFUL

We went to the Geneva Santa House tonight to see Santa! What a complete success! It is decorated just like a little house... with decorations, a tree, a fireplace and all.

Here is Tyler on Santa's lap.... alittle shy

I would like a truck....

Or a train...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

More Zoo and Plowing

There was a model train room at the zoo, Tyler was just mesmormized. Sunday Angelos took Tyler and I with him to plow at the restaurant... Tyler even got to drive and loved it!

Then we went to the mall to see Santa....what a joke. There were about 400 ppl in line and the Santa was ugly. We will try another place later this week.

5 days and counting....

This weekend was fun.... I was off work on Friday and Nancy, Dave, Pam & Dick came over for haircuts/ color and dinner. It was pretty fun! Saturday, Angelos had to work all night so Tyler and I decided to head to Brookfield Zoo for the Holiday Magic! http://www.czs.org/czs/HolidayMagic.aspx

It was super fun to go with Nicole, Ryan & Denise. Nicole rocks and is a member so it was free for Tyler and I!! It was sorta snowing and soooo pretty. We got to see reindeer, FROSTY, RUDOLPH and lots of kids. =) Tyler had so much fun til the end.... look at his pants below...you would never know by his expression that he had a diaper blow-out. But thank goodness this was just before we left. BURRR Here the 4 of us are near the tree on the way out...

And at this point, I was NOT letting Tyler out of the stroller anymore! =)

All in all, it was a blast! Thanks NICOLE!

More pix from the weekend to come!

My Little Cuties!

Yesterday morning, my little cuties were cuddling! Tyler was all snuggled up against Angelos back... ( I am sure Daddy hated it. lol) But, I must say, there was no way that Angelos was going to be able to move... Last week, I had to be in Tinley Park all last week for work training. Mind you Tinley Park is NOT close to Geneva. Its about 1 hour south...now, normally I would be OK with that. However, since we had SNOW, SNOW and FREEZING rain, WIND, etc... so, thus my hour drive turned into a 2.25 hour drive home on Wednesday. Thank GOODNESS Pam was available to pick Tyler up, since I didn't make it home until after daycare closed! UGH.... thank gosh that is over and I am back in little ol Lombard! =)

Over the weekend, we had Chris, Laura and Cole over for pizza and playing. The boys played quite nice this time, until they were past tired... then the struggles began. Tyler likes to do what he wants when he wants to, and Cole like to do the same... lol - the 2 sometimes argue. =) Boys will be boys!

Sunday - we went to Eric/Sharon's to watch the Bears loose! UGH! Tyler was sooo funny, being the only kid, he was the center of attention. But after about 1.5 hours, he brought Angelos and I are shoes and put his coat on. He decided he was ready to go! So home we went! Again, too funny!

This week has been fairly quiet, which is fabulous! Hopefully, it will stay that way.

Good luck to Jim (my father in-law) who is having hernia surgery on Friday! XO

GO BEARS

I guess this is one of the many advantages to being Friends with the KinderCare director...she send me videos of tyler!

you better get on it!

Someone who shall remain nameless, told me today, that I better get my blog updated...here goes.

The new job has started and is in full swing. Its very low stress and quite easy! What a change from my last job!

Wednesday before Turkey, Andrew & Amy came to visit and babysat Tyler.

Thanksgiving was a complete success! Dinner at Olinger's was super yummy and tons of fun! After that it was a visit to Trudy's and the Drake's!

Tyler kept going up to his cousins and saying, "SIT HERE" As you can imagine, he did this about 200 times.

We had a great date night in Chicago on Saturday night. Dinner at Keefer's was amazing. Thanks Shan for the suggestion!

Tyler had a visit to Dr Tony today, who we have not seen successfully since May 2009! He's got a touch of bronchitis but is on the mend!

May your weeks to come be filled with not-so-crowded stores and tons of fun.

xo

My Little Italian

Tyler is dancing to "It's Amore" Sorry its dark, but it was funny!

One week COMPLETE!

I have completed one week of my new job and so far so good!! =) I like it...all the people are very nice and fun! In December I have a week of product training where I will learn all about the different accounts, etc. I DO, I DO, get an incentive if you open an account in the Lombard Branch.... SO, if you are interested in the accounts visit www.mbfinancial.com and check it out. I can get the paperwork for you and deliver so you don't even have to come in if you don't want to! We have free Internet banking, free bill pay, free checking, etc. So, if you are feeling generous and need a new account, please let me know! This weekend, we attempted to take Xmas pictures and failed miserably. I will try to get the "bad" ones up this week.

Happy TURKEY!

catching UP

This week, since it was my last one off work for a while, I decided to get a headstart on Xmas decorations. So, my little helper below, thought he would help too...

Back to work tomorrow....

A really, really nice November day...

This weekend has been the nicest November weather I can ever remember. It was about 65 on Saturday and 70 today.
Angelos was using his head when he decided to work on the Xmas lights outside... I am so glad hes not climbing and up on the roof in the snow and all the cold weather clothes. That always makes me nervous.... I am sure he loves not freezing out there too!

a NEW car

Here is my new Black 2010 Toyota Camry! I love it!

Pictures...

Tyler has been very into looking at pictures lately. The other day, he was curiously quiet...so I peeked in and he was sitting in the big chair all alone looking at a little photo album. So funny

Details

I begin my new job at Mb Financial in Lombard, IL on Monday, November 16. For my first day, I attend orientation in Rosemont, IL (near Ohare). Day 2, I will go to Lombard...I will be doing customer service.

They seem to be a great company with great benefits! I am excited but sad to only have one more week off work.

Sad on another note too, yesterday the lease on my lexus was up and I had to return it. boo hoo

JOB

I GOT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Details to come

another beautiful fall day!

Monday was a gorgeous fall day. We decided to take a walk on the bike trail and stop at the Red Oak Nature Center, in Batavia. What fun just walking and looking at leaves. We of course, then stopped at a real park with a playground for Tyler.

Halloweeeeeeenie

Halloween started on Thursday for us this week. We did the annual and last annual trick or treat on Geneva's 3rd Street. All of the old cute shops do this trick or treat event each year... last year was a blast...this year, not so much. First, to keep with our Wizard of Oz theme, Kristin convinced me that I needed to dress up.... which I did, as you can see below. Then, we met Lynn and her family at the Little Traveler. The games began there... we tried to take a group picture at LT and had a heck of a time getting all of us together and looking at the camera... imagine that. Then off to my personal fav, Kernal Fabyans! Well, the teenage employees thought dressing as the scary guy from Scream would be funny... Tyler and may others hated it and were crying!! AHHHHHHHH

Then... the rain began... just a few sprinkles at first...then... actually rain! yuck. So... off to finish the event at Graham's Chocolates on the way to the car... holy chaos batman! Sooo many people... including the old bat who hit Lynn in the face! Yes, in the face. HELLO? This is a kids event, what is wrong with people. Looking back, we prolly should have called the cops on her... oh well, Lynn was ok, just pride injured!

Halloween day, was another event. Tyler was NOT wanting a picture taken. So, here are a couple attempts. What a weather change from Thursday...no more nice rainy weather. It was SUNNY and FREEZING!

Family shot... no, there wasn't a prisioner in Wizard of Oz. lol

Pumpkin Carving....

Friday night, Mike & Mandy had a pumpkin carving party. Yummy food, beer and carving pumpkins - what fun! We had a really good time. There are some pix below.

Tyler was NOT about to touch the guts from the pumpkin! However, he did think that putting painters tape on it was about the coolest thing ever and did this for about 45 minutes.

Here is my master piece. Dick took my guts out, I don't like to do that either.

Here is tape adding in action.

playdate

Today Tyler and I were not able to go to the library class, because the dumb floorguard people where here working...AGAIN. So, instead we had a playdate with Michael across the street....