2011 - Our Year in Pictures!

There is no doubt that 2011 has been an amazing year for us! We have so much to be thankful for and we are truly blessed with great people in our life! Here is a look back on our year in 2011;

January
Gavin started snowboarding for the first time!
February
The Packers won the Super Bowl!
We got ready for our bundle of joy to arrive! March
My amazing friend gave me a Vintage Toy Baby Shower!Grant Michael Vander Velde arrived! April
Dave & I celebrated our 3rd Wedding Anniversary
We celebrated Dave's Birthday with friends! May
We had Grant dedicated on Mother's Day! I chopped my hair and donated it to Lock of Love! June
Grant got to meet his Great Great Grandma!We finished our brick patio! Gavin started Tball! July
We went Cottaging with great friends! My sisters Garden Themed Bridal Shower! August
Gavin started soccer!We went to Indiana for the Weekend with family! My sister had her Bachelorette Party! September
Gavin started 4K!I gained a Brother-In-Law when my sister got MARRIED! October
We celebrated Halloween with a Pirate and his Parrot! November
November was a Month of Celebration!
We celebrated babies!!And Birthday! We had our family pictures taken! Dave took me to see Phil Vassar! December
Gavin turned 5! We celebrated with a Pirate Themed Birthday Party! Grant had his very 1st Christmas!
We are really looking forward to 2012 and excited for what it brings!

Christmas - Part 2 & Baby Joshua!

We drove home from Neenah on Christmas Eve night. We always want to make sure that we are in our own home for Christmas morning! That evening we set out cookies & milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Dave also went outside and sprinkled reindeer food (Gavin made it in school) all over the driveway! Gavin woke up around 6:30am Christmas morning, raring to go!
This year we started a new tradition; Santa only brings one gift for each boy. The rest is from Mommy & Daddy! Mainly because Christmas isn’t about Santa; it’s about Jesus and we are really trying to stress that and explain to Gavin that we are able to get gift because of Jesus! It worked out well and I am excited to continue it. Plus, Santa can’t get all the credit on the gifts :) This is how Grant likes to open presents;Everything goes to the mouth! One of my favorite Brand of toys are; B. Toys from Target! Love them. Grant got mostly B. Toys for Christmas this year, along with essentials he needs, like nuks (I feel like I get new nuks for him every week!), snacks & food, new spoons & forks, sippy cups, etc...Santa brought Gavin Beyblades & accessories this year. He also got Clothes, Dagedar, lots of games, pj's, etc...After we did our thing on Christmas Morning we headed to Mom and Dad VV’s for the rest of the day! It was the perfect way to spend Christmas Day! Dad VV got some great pictures of us when we got there! I am in love with them;
We got amazing gifts this year, once again!! Sorry I didn't get any pictures from the day & the ones I got didn't turn out well :(
Gavin got- a snowboard, Race Tracks, Knex, Marble tracks, snowboogie sled, snowball launchers, movies, etc…
Grant got- TONS OF TOYS, a really fun rock, roll, & ride trike, baby essentials, & really neat F.A.O. Schwarz toys from The Erfurth’s.
Dave got – a key pad for our garage, state park pass, an ipass (we really needed one!), a spare propane tank for our grill, money, etc…
I got – an ebelskiver filled pancake pan (I LOVE IT!!!), an ebelskiver cookbook, ebelskiver pancake mix, a cake stand, new robe, slippers, Coffee for our Keurig, a new simply shabby chic blanket for our bed, etc...
I used my ebelskiver pan the other night. I didn’t make any fancy ones from the cookbook, but the ones I made were delicious!! I just used regular blueberry pancake mix and put strawberry jelly in the middle! Grant LOVED them, of course!
Yesterday one of my BF’s (April) had her baby, Joshua!!! We went to visit them at the hospital last night and fell in love. He's is so precious!
Caleb is so sweet, he's going to be such a good big brother!
The Britto Family;Proud Mommy & Joshua;Support Crew :)

9 Months & Christmas - Part 1

Today Grant had his 9 Month appointment! He was all smiles the entire time. Stats;
Height – 29.13” (77.17%)
Weight – 17lb 9oz – (7.59%)
Head – 46.1cm – (72.29%)
Long and Lean! I thought he would be a little heavier, he eats SOO MUCH! Anything and everything we give him he will eat! He eats more for breakfast than Gavin and I! He’s a growing boy!
Christmas 2011 has come and gone!! We had such a great Christmas; we are so blessed with two amazing families. The boys were spoiled, and so were we!! It makes me sad that Christmas is over, I really do love all the hustle and bustle that the Holiday season brings, but and I am glad to relax and have a few weeks to ourselves! However, I am NOT in the mood to take anything Christmas related down, it gives me a headache just thinking about it!
We headed up to Neenah on Friday afternoon. That evening we went out for sushi with my BF from High School; Jen & Brandon! They are expecting their first child on July 5th! Words can’t describe how happy I am for them!
Saturday, Christmas Eve Day, we took Grant to get a haircut that morning. Usually Dave or I would just give him a haircut at home but I forgot our scissors and it NEEDED to be done! That afternoon we had Christmas with my family. Santa came, once again! This is Gavin’s favorite. Santa even brought Gavin “real” shaving cream, along with some transformers!
The afternoon was a little hectic so before everything began Nana & Grandpa thought they would give the boys an early present! Gavin got a LeapPad from my parents with 3 leapster Explorer Games that he can play in his Leapster Explorer & his LeapPad! Grant got this Zany Zoo! I always wanted one of these for Gavin when he was little and we never got one. I am so glad Grant has this to play with! He LOVES it! Santa came around 2pm! This was the first time Grant has ever seen Santa! We didn't make it to the mall to see Santa this year, so I was really anxious to see his reaction when Santa arrived! He kept staring at him and was pretty calm the entire time!Until we sat him on Santa's lap all by himself! He was okay in the beginning, and then Santa touched his face and well...You can see in the pictures below;Gavin got Creepy Crawlers from Nana & Grandpa too! Dave had one growing up and his parent's still have it! A few months ago they brought it out and Gavin made some creepy crawlers! In fact, his creepy crawler maker is heating up as I type! He is so excited. He also got a lot of clothes (Thank goodness, he needed some new stuff!) & some shoes! As well as a lot of other wonderful gifts! We all got wonderful gifts this year! Here are a few of Dave's; LL Bean slippers, he is in love! He also got Snowshoes, now we need snow! As well as clothes, gift cards, video camera, socks, etc...Grant got clothes, a ton of toys, gift cards, and two of the cutest Classic toys that I remember from when I was younger! We have a lot of them already, but he got the record player and clock for Christmas! LOVE.I finally now have a TV for my kitchen!! And, I needed a new nicer winter coat; I am in love with the one I got!! I also got clothes, gift cards, sewing stuff, a camera bag insert, games, etc..My mom got surprised with this lovely COACH purse! All in all we have a wonderful Christmas with my family!!
I'll post Part 2 of our Christmas tomorrow!!