Random

We went to visit Aunt Laura in Columbia to watch the last gymnastics meet...the kids had so much fun! Chase danced and sang to all the music, and Maia really liked watching the girls do flips! But the most exciting thing about the whole day was Truman the Tiger. Neither kid could keep their eyes off him...Maia wanted to give him hugs and "big fives" and Chase wanted to make sure he didn't come within 10 feet of him.Chase wouldn't stop staring!

Yesterday, Cerner had an Easter egg hunt for the employee's kids. There were so many people there. It was Chase's first time hunting Easter eggs (he was a little to little last year).

Chase discovered his new favorite sport. He could really throw that ball, even though it weighed about as much as he does!

Maia got her face painted...she just had to have a butterfly!

Maia took this picture of us...not too bad. However, this was her 6th attempt.

So cute!

SNOW!!

Maia and Chase finally got to use their Christmas presents from Santa! The kids LOVED their new sleds! Chase was so bundled up that he couldn't really move, but he was perfectly happy getting pulled around in his sled and watching Maia fly down the hills on hers. Maia also decorated our front lawn with snow angels...it's heavenly:)

UPDATES

Maia and Chase got their hair cut this week (I'm a horrible mom, and forgot the camera). I told the kids if they were really good while getting their hair cut, they could have a special treat. Maia decided her special treat would be to go to "Old McDonald's". I was a little nervous about taking two little kiddos to McDonald's by myself during the lunch rush, which was also nap time, but they were so good!

Chase has a few new tricks up his sleeve these days, too. He found out what a nose is! The only problem is that he sticks his finger up his own nose when you ask him where it is... I guess he's just about as accurate as you can get! He has also been adding quite a few new words to his vocabulary. His first word was "ball," followed by "more, Maia, cat, bye, dada" and just today has been saying "baby" when he holds Maia's dolls. Soon he'll be talking just as much as his big sister!

CHEEEESE!

Happy Birthday, Chase! Not too sure about the birthday hat.

Some of his birthday toys...he was a VERY lucky boy!

Chase went to the doctor yesterday for his 1 year well-baby visit. Poor little guy got 3 shots...Maia was so concerned. She held my hand and kept asking "Is him ok?" He was 29 and 3/4 inches, putting him in the 50th percentile for height, and he weighed 21.14lbs, putting him in the 25-35th percentile for weight. His weight has really slowed down since he started walking, and the stomach bug over Christmas set him back a few pounds, but the doctor wasn't the least bit concerned...saying he'll catch up no problem. According to his evaluation, he is doing some 15 and 16 month old developmental tasks! I can't believe our little boy is 1 already!

Merry Christmas!! The kiddos celebrated Christmas 6 times this year (they might be a little spoiled). We opened gifts at our house the Saturday before Christmas. Friday night, Maia helped me bake cookies for Santa. We spent the weekend relaxing and playing with our new toys before the big trip around Missouri. We left Wednesday morning for St. Louis, where we celebrated Christmas with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Laura, Uncle Matt, and Shannon. Then, we went to Aunt Linda's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Kohne Family, where Santa gave presents to all the kiddos. The Bucks came over to Mom and Dad's on Christmas Day. Friday night, we celebrated the Bieg Family Christmas, and saw Santa again! Saturday morning, we left for Mountain Grove, battling 70-80 mph winds and rain, to celebrate Christmas with the Gaddis Family. And, finally, we arrived in Morrisville to celebrate our final Christmas with Bart's parents Saturday night. It was such a busy week, and it was so good to see everyone! Unfortunately, I don't know that everyone was happy to see us, as we left unpleasant surprises everywhere we went. Poor little Chase wasn't feeling well all day on Christmas, it hit Grandpa Buck and Bart on Saturday, Grandma Buck and Laura on Sunday, Maia in the car (yes, in the car) on Sunday, and Grandma and Grandpa Gaddis on Monday. Somehow, Uncle Matt and I avoided the rath of the little "germ bugs," as Maia calls them. We are so sorry to all of you that received our Christmas present this year! Glad to hear you are all feeling much better. We will be spending the rest of the week disinfecting!Christmas at the Buck's

Santa visits the Kohne Family every year on Christmas Eve, and each family has their turn for pictures. Maia stood up in front of everyone this year and made one final plea to Santa for a cow...for those of you who didn't know, that's all she wanted for Christmas. Chase still doesn't like the man.My Mom and Dad hosted Christmas Day at their house. The food was delicious, and the decorations were beautiful :) Maia and her first cousin-once removed, Micheala, had a good time eating dinner at their princess table, and playing dress-up.

Chase walks across the room!

Kodi likes ChaseChristmas with the Gaddis family Saturday. Grandpa Gaddis and Maia leaving to pick out her cow.

She picked one of the red ones, and named it "Horsie"

SANTA!On St. Nick's Day, we took the kiddos to visit Santa. We were very interested to see how they would react. (Maia still wasn't too fond of the jolly ole man last year, and this was Chase's first time meeting Santa.) At first, they were a little confused. Then, Maia decided she REALLY liked the man who told her that he was going to bring presents to her house, and who gave her a candy cane. Chase wasn't a big fan of the big white beard!

Chase has been really trying to walk lately! He takes 4-5 steps pretty regularly, now. We caught some of them on video. (You'll have to ignore the outfits...or lack thereof. We were somewhere between bathtime and princess dress-up time.)

Chase walking

After family pictures last Sunday, we spent some time at Chuck E Cheese's. The kids LOVED it! Maia went down the slide about 30 times. Chase had fun on the Marry-Go-Round, and enjoyed watching all the kids.

"Happy to you, Mommy!"

Here are some random pictures of Maia and her best friend, Carson. Our friends, Jen, Ryan & Carson arrived in France today, where they will be living for the next year!

Jen, Ryan & Carson, we'll miss you!!