Aunt Nikki Turns 30!

Aunt Nikki came to Toronto, for the first time, in late January.  While showing her around the city, we helped celebrate her 30th birthday!

A trip to the St. Lawrence Market filled our Saturday morning and fueled the birthday cooking and baking to come.  

On Sunday, we drove to Niagra Falls.  It is about an hour from our house.  The last time we visited was in the Spring, so this was a totally different experience.

 The falls are remarkable in the winter if you can brave the cold.  The area closest to the largest waterfall is covered in a a layer of thick ice and the wintery mist is absolutely beautiful. 

We're so glad that Aunt Nikki came to visit-  we hope that the trip made her 30th Birthday especially memorable!

It's A Boy!

One of the most memorable moments of the new year, so far, was learning that baby #2 is a boy!

We bought a gender reveal cupcake for James Robert which proved to be hilarious; he was a bit confused at first:

But eventually, he realized that the frosting in the center was indeed blue.

We couldn't be more excited to welcome another little boy into our family. 

December 2015

We made it! This will be the last picture collage for 2015.  It was so fun to do one each month and served as a wonderful way to recap the year.

December 2015 was filled with the magic of the Christmas season.  Our family was touched to be involved in the celebration of Advent with our Church community, we embraced new Toronto traditions and enjoyed wonderful time with Family in D.C. It was the perfect end cap to a particularly memorable year. 

James Robert's Preschool Christmas Party

James Robert's school had an adorable Christmas party this year.  The children spent weeks creating artwork that told the story of Christmas around the world. He was so excited to show off his work, visit with Santa and have Daddy come to his school! 

Christmas 2015

Please forgive me for being so behind on posting.  I had every intention of getting these Christmas pictures posted before the New Year and now we're well into February!  The best part about getting caught up is remembering all the wonderful memories made in the past month or two.

Christmas this year was spent in Washington, D.C. We celebrated with extended family from near and far- 7 kids in total this year made it especially fun!

The weather was unseasonably warm, so we enjoyed dressing up for Church without jackets this year. How nice!

Christmas morning was magical watching these three discover all the goodies Santa brought them.  The looks on their faces when they saw the tree was priceless.  I think they all wished that the trampoline was theirs, but Lena was such a nice sport and let everyone have fun with her new toy.

We also enjoyed the most delicious Christmas breakfast.  I think a new tradition has been born- Eggnog Overnight French Toast with all the fixings was delicious! 

The kids table was full this year- I can only imagine next time with another baby in the mix.

And here's one of the whole gang! 

Big Brother + Baby's first picture

I can't believe I neglected to update our family blog with the wonderful news that James Robert will be a big brother in June of next year!  We are so very grateful for our growing family and can't wait to welcome another baby into our lives. 

We have had two ultrasounds so far and the most recent one at 12 weeks was especially exciting. Baby Leanderson was full of movement and the ultrasound tech even caught the baby sucking it's thumb.  

Santa Picture 2015

While it may not be our best, it certainly is our funniest Santa picture yet! 

previous picture here!