End of 2020 (October-December)

The boys are into Super Heros!  Blake especially likes Spiderman.  He will shoot his webs.  We can't get him to do it on camera but it is the cutest thing!

Greg turned 40!!!  We had big plans for his 40th but unfortunately covid changed those plans.  We celebrated at home and he got a night out with his friends.  I tried to get some cute videos of the boys but they did not want to cooperate.  Lets hope we get to celebrate with a trip next year!

Blake is learning how to pedal on a bike!  This bike is hard to learn but he is ready to keep up with his brother!

Caught Grant playing by himself!  I love these moments and listening to the imagination going on in his head.

The boys reading together.  It looks like they are reading while also being mesmerized by the TV but still a cute moment. 

These are my favorite cuddles.   Blake is laying down on me watching TV.  He loved taking naps like this when he was a baby.

We officially have a house!!!  It was quite the process but we are so happy to finally be in!  We moved in a week later than planned. I took a whole week off work to get settled but we didn't end up moving in until Friday so I got nothing done while the kids were in school.  Frustrating I took that time off but glad it is done and I will slowly move in.

Such a sweet moment watching Grant read to Blakey. 

Blake is really good at puzzles.  It amazes me!  And he will just sit quietly and do them.  He loves them!  I hope this continues because I love doing puzzles also.

Blake is pointing out all the balls on his PJs.  And Grant gives him a nice hug.  A sweet moment in between the wrestling.

We painted pumpkins for Halloween!  The boys loved it!  We aren't quite old enough to carve them.  We went up to Steph and Brett's neighborhood to trick or treat and there were so many kids.  Blake was supposed to be batman but wouldn't put on the costume that day.  He decided on Thomas at the last second, thankfully.  The boys had a blast and Grant keeps asking if he can do it again.  He is going to be waiting awhile!

NOVEMBER

We had a friend take our picture outside our house for our Christmas cards.  It is easier than getting a professional photographer and I wanted to get it out early so everyone knows our new address. 

Blake has learned how to jump!  He won't perform for us on camera but he is so good at it!

Blake found our pooh matching game and he calls Pooh "poop".  So funny!

I love listening to all the Blakey giggles!  He is so sweet and silly!

Grant is such a good talker for his age.  He talks a lot! :)  He is so excited for his 4th birthday!!

Somehow my phone camera was switched to black and white and I took these adorable pictures of Grant.  He is so handsome!

I got a rare picture of everyone looking at the camera and smiling!

Grant is 4!!  I am not sure how we have a 4 year old already.  He is so sweet and cute!  We love him so much! We decorated the house and his door for his birthday.  He got some presents in the morning and gets a day with mom and dad today.

We finally got a video of Blake shooting his spider webs!

We took Grant to the jump park for his birthday!  He had a blast getting attention from both mom and dad!

Grant got 2 family birthdays just like Blake did even thought we are in our new house.  His first one was themed Thomas of course!  I am happy he still likes Thomas.  Greg and I love Thomas.  He loved all of his toys and got way too spoiled.

We had a lazy morning in bed and got some cute and silly pictures with my boys!

Grant is playing with his new remote control car and he loves it!  The boys love playing in the basement and it is perfect to bike bikes and scooters in the winter with an unfinished basement.

We celebrated with the Youngs next.  This time it was a Spiderman themed celebration!  Grandma and Grandpa came early to play.  Grant had a great birthday and lots (too many) toys to play with!

This is my absolute favorite picture of Blake.  This was taken at daycare and when I say it, I knew I had to get this print.  His face is a picture of absolute joy and I can hear his belly giggles just by looking at this picture.  Blake has the best laugh and is the sweetest kid.

Cal was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early November and we found out November 9th.  We got family pictures taken before Cal lost his hair and changed the way he looks.  We are very, very sad about this diagnosis.  We hope he tolerates chemo well so he is able to be here with us for awhile longer.  He is pretty uncomfortable right now so we are also hoping the oncologist helps him feel better so he is able to go on some trips, enjoy time with family and fish.

Grant tells me he is my best friend and he wants to marry me.  I think it is sweet.  I know he won't feel that way for long.  Blake comes in at the end and tells me he loves me more too!  I love these sweet ages where they have genuine, unconditional love for their parents.

Greg got out his Wii and Grant loves playing boxing!  It is a fun activity to do in the winter when it is so cold outside!

Blake had some cereal and needless to say I think he liked it!

Blake read the Hungry Caterpillar book this week and keeps talking about the butterfly and flying his wings.  I love it!

Grant played cards with Uncle Peter.  They were playing go fish but the cards were face up so Grant could play.  Makes for an interesting Go Fish game when you know all of your opponents cards.

Greg is going to try and put the lights up on our house by himself.  I wasn't happy about this idea since we have multiple steep peaks on our house.  He is obviously already frustrated so we will see how this goes!

We got some cute pictures with the Uncles and Nana and Papa.

Nana got the boys presents to start off the Christmas season!  Blake and Grant loved their new ornaments and their Christmas pajamas!

We got a new Christmas tree!  Greg and I went looking at multiple different stores and found the best one at Menards.  We are ready for the Christmas season!

Our Elf came!  The boys named him Henry.  I am not sure they understand what the Elf does but they are excited!

Blake is very into dancing these days!  He is so cute when he dances so we love to watch him and video him!

Just a video of boys being boys.  It was all fun and games until Grant got too strong!

Grant is getting good at riding his balance bike!  Still needs some work but slowly figuring it out.

The boys had a blast playing in the snow!

We made a gingerbread house and a gingerbread train!  I think they liked eating the candy more than the actual decorating!

Another video of Blake dancing.  See, I told you we love watching him dance so much so we keep videoing him!

We got the Wii out again for some more activities to keep our boys busy. They love the boxing game.

Surprise!  We found out I was pregnant in middle of November.  My period was a week late and so I went and took a test.  It came back with a very faint line.  I took a test a few more days and it kept getting darker!  I went to get an early ultrasound just to make sure and baby was in there!  Greg had to stay home because Grant was sick so he got to see it over facetime.  It was still too early to hear the heart beat but we got to see that there was one baby in there and baby was in the right place.  I will go to my OB in a few more weeks.

Grant and I decided to do a little Christmas baking!  He is such a great helper.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to make some cookies with them.  We got up early to go there and make pancakes too! Grant decided to make them multi colored pancakes.  They loved helping Grandma and playing with Grandpa!

Some more silly pictures with Mom and Dad in the basement.  We spend so much time down here and we love it!  We will have to end up finishing it next year with the arrival of our new baby but it has been great for us this winter.

I made some salt dough ornaments with the boys to paint and give to family members.  They loved painting the ornaments!

DMGCC did not have Santa's last night so we went to Glen Oaks for the 23rd.  It was different than normal with Covid but still a good start to the Christmas chaos!

Christmas eve morning we opened presents at the Chaliks.  The boys had a blast opening presents and then doing puzzles with Aunt Nicki and Nana.

I was very sick and tired over Christmas so this was the best picture I got of the boys in their Christmas clothes.  They had fun posing for this picture though!

We went to Aunt Randi's on Christmas eve and heard Santa's sleigh bells.  We saw where Santa was in the sky on his way to our house.  We can't wait for Santa to come tonight!

Santa came!! The boys loved their presents.  We opened then in only a few minutes and now we have all day to play!

We went to the Young's for Christmas dinner.  Great Grandpa Dale was there and we had fun with our Grandparents and cousins!

The boys had to try out their scooters from Grandma and Grandpa right away!  They took a little to get used to but I think the boys are going to love them!

The boys are very into the movie Sing and are now putting on performances for us daily.  Dad even makes a special appearance in one of the shows.  It is so fun to watch them perform for us!

Greg took the boys to the dollar store and Blake picked out this hat for New Years Eve.  We met Grandma and Grandpa at Hickory Park to celebrate Grandma's birthday.  They boys did great!  Blake was all about Grandpa. Grant even got to help Grandma blow our her candle!

This has been a year filled with lots of up and downs.  We sold our house, built/moved into our new house, Greg turned 40, Covid, Cal's diagnosis, a new baby and so much more.  It has been a year of the highest highs and lowest lows.  Next year will probably be filled with those high highs and low lows also.  In the next year we hope for a lot of quality family time, happiness and we are excited for the arrival of our new baby!