CA cousin's in town

Look what my Aunt Beth bought Eli for Christmas...a drum set! 

He's pretty good, even throws his drum sticks to the crowd at the end of a performance! 

 Cousins--Madison, Henry, Caitlin & Eli (consumed with his drums)

 Uncle Pete & Eli rockin out!



Family Pictures/Eli's 2nd Birthday/Henry's 9 Month

Last, but not the Least...Schneider/Driskill Christmas!

Our final stop on Christmas day was at Anthony's parents' home.  A few of Anita's sisters & their families joined in on the fun while we celebrated together! 

Anthony, like a boy on Christmas morning evening!

 Eli & Henry got a rocking chair from Grandma & Grandpa!

 Wore out!  I guess Henry just had too much fun!  He was out like a light, right on schedule at 7:30.  Luckily he sleeps pretty sound so we were able to keep partying while he slumbered. 

 I think we are on track for starting a band!  Pickin' and Grinnin'!

A Hambach Christmas

Grandma & her boys on Christmas! 

Hambach girl cousins (minus 2). It was so nice to see each other this Christmas, it doesn't always happen because of distance.  I wish Kristen the best in her military career, as well as Stephanie, Mike & Anuhea in their upcoming move.  Love you all!

Love is missing someone whenever you're apart, but somehow feeling warm inside because you're close in heart. ~Kay Knudsen

 Eli, enjoying one of Kristen's cake pops!

Both boys CRASHED at naptime Christmas afternoon and slept about 3 hours.  Here is Henry after his much-needed nap!  Ready for round 3! 



Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was SO much fun this year.  I've been looking forward to this day for a long time & it turned out great!  Santa really delivered some great stuff this year!  I guess we were all pretty good!  I made homemade Monkey Bread & eggs for breakfast...what a wonderful way to start the day!  We were also blessed with the presence of my brother Pete, who stayed with us over Christmas.  It was really fun sharing these memories with him as well!

 Eli's first present...A CHOO-CHOO from Uncle Pete!  He LOVES this toy and hates sharing it with Henry.

 Santa brought Henry a couple of fun toys, a basketball hoop and a push/pull wagon.  Both of which Eli has tried to hijack for himself :)  We're working on this sharing thing....an ongoing process.

 Uncle Pete gave Henry a funny binky, unfortunately he doesn't take binkies any more.  So Eli demonstrated how it's used...dork!

 "Can you help me with this Uncle Pete?!" 



Santa Claus Came to Town!!!

Had I known Santa would be coming to the Schneider Christmas I wouldn't have made the trip to town last weekend :)  Oh well, maybe next year he'll let me know ahead of time...hah.  It was SO cute watching all of the kids give Santa their Christmas lists.  What a special memory. 

Here is Eli trying to rob Santa's Sack of Candy...stinker! 

We convinced Eli to sit on Santa's lap for a piece of candy, he stayed preoccupied with the candy pretty much the whole time. 

But we did get one GREAT picture of Santa & Eli!!!!

 Santa & Henry 2011

 Santa gives STICKY candy...the caramel and chocolate kept sticking to the roof of Eli's mouth. 



Christmas @ Grandma Simpson's

Well, we made the treck down to Southern MO this past weekend for Christmas at my Grandma Simpson's house.  It's always good to catch up with family, most of which we see only once a year, so it was definitely worth the drive.  Here are a few snapshots from the evening spent at Grandma's. 

 Poor Henry, we started opening gifts about a half hour past his bedtime, so he was a real trooper! 

 Eli LOVES opening gifts, so he "helped" his brother out and opened his too.  Oh, and played with all of Henry's toys too.  Of course it doesn't really matter because they will have to share all of their toys :)

 My Grandma found the cutest dancing & singing dogs for the boys.  Henry's is a Basset Hound that sings "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" while his ears flap up and down.  So cute...but Henry didn't know what to think!

 Sporting his new stocking cap from his 2nd cousin Anna (thanks!!!) and watching Eli play with his ball popper! 

Christmas Cookies!

Could this get any cuter?!  The boys LOVED looking in the oven at the cookies.  Eli especially loved helping me dump things in the mixer & watch me scoop them onto trays.  But his favorite job of all...quality control ;)

 Oh, Henry...I can tell you will be just as much fun as your brother! 

 Anthony and I were catching up when he got home from work & turned our back for ONE minute...Well, Eli thought he'd help mommy and add some more sprinkles! 

DATE NIGHT! Whoo hoo!

My friend Danielle came up with the idea a while back to go out for Saturday evening church at her brother-in-law's parish & then The Funny Bone.  Anthony and I had never been to the Funny Bone before.  So this past weekend, we got a babysitter (thanks momma) and headed down to Chesterfield for church & dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  Then we were off to the 10 o'clock show at the Funny Bone (that's right people...the show STARTED at our bedtime!)  But we had lots of fun laughing and catching up.  It will get even harder to get together like this once Danielle and Jeremy welcome their first baby boy in February!!  Can't wait for the little man's arrival! 

 Danielle & Jeremy @ The Cheesecake Factory

Just Another Day in Paradise...

Here are a few silly little moments throughout the past week. 

Eli & Daddy doing push-ups together--SO CUTE!

 Henry's 1st Graham Cracker.  He handled it pretty well, don't you think?

 Playing with Mommy's scarf..."What are you lookin' at?"

 Henry pulls up on EVERYTHING, and of course big brother Eli is right there cheering him on! 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!

I'm ready for some white!!! Although we didn't get much, just a dusting last week, Eli and I made the most of it during Henry's nap and played outside.  Eli really loved the fluffy stuff, especially the taste!

Pictures with Santa

Here are the snapshots from our pictures with Santa this weekend...pretty entertaining!  I had a feeling Eli wouldn't care for the big guy, and I was right.  But they made for entertaining pictures!

Eli's 2nd Birthday

Eli's 2nd Birthday was lots of fun!  We enjoy getting together with family so much.  I think the highlights included Eli blowing out his candle over & over again, as well as the little ones playing with balloons! 

 Opening up gifts.  Eli's a pretty lucky fella & recieved a great mixture of toys and clothes for his birthday!  Thank you to everyone, we appreciate it!  (Especially me, I kept a few toys back to bring out on rainy days!)

 BLOW!!!

 Eli's favorite...cake & ice cream!!  This boy is an experianced eater!

 Our 2 year old...so innocent.  Chasing balloons at his birthday party.  His cousin Chloe had fun with the balloons too!