Fancy Colin and Posh Max

Colin and Cousin Max both love shoes! I find them trying on any shoe that they find, and Colin is constantly in my closet digging out another pair. Today Colin and Max both went for a pair of Amelia's dress shoes that were lying around and they both got a kick out of stomping on the tile in them. Colin had trouble with the heels, but Max was an expert!

Mike Update

I just wanted to post a quick update on Mike's application progress. He recently heard from the University of Chicago (one of the top schools!) and is heading out there for a visit in March. He also got accepted at the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton). He visited Michigan and really liked it, but we won't know his status there until sometime in March. There are only two schools we haven't heard from yet: Stanford and the University of Washington.

Dinner Woes

The dinner time circus reached a new low tonight. After rejecting my delicious lasagna, Colin decimated his PB&J and made a new "hat" (he kept shouting that).

Hair Cuts

Amelia and Colin got their hair cut last week by Grandma Debi, then Grandpa Chin took them for a couple of hours so I could have mine cut. The kids had a great time, and Amelia loved her second hair cut and her trip to the park. Colin screamed for his cut, but loved the park time and the new basketball that he got. Amelia got a new doll with hair accessories, and she's trying them out in the photo. Colin is just happy to be going to bed in his photo.

Mike news- he was accepted by Illinois last weekend and now he's heading to Michigan this weekend.

Pictures from the Weekend

The kids were SO glad to see Mike again!

Colin ate ribs for the first time and LOVED it! Gross.

Amelia pretending to have red hair. It reminds me of a photo of me when I was little.

Amelia dressed up for church.

It's a BOY!!

Yesterday I had an ultrasound and we found out that it's a boy! I'm so surprised and excited! Mike and I have absolutely no ideas for names, so we have a little work to do now. Here are some of the pictures from the ultrasound. The first one is a profile of his head and the second has his head on the right and some of his body on the left. He was really sqirmy during the whole thing- his arms and legs were waving like crazy! Guess I should lay off the sugar.

School News

Things in Mike's application process have finally started to move! Last week he heard from the University of Michigan and the University of Texas, and last night he got a call from the University of Illinois. This means they liked his application and they want him to fly out for an interview. His first one is next week with Michigan. All of the interviews will consist of Mike flying out Thursday night, interviewing professors all day Friday, attending some kind of workshop on Saturday, and flying home Saturday night. Thankfully, the airfare and hotel are all paid for by the school. We still haven't heard from four schools, and we may not hear from all of them, but we've been told that three of them are the slowest movers and will be the last to call. It's exciting, but a ton of pressure for poor Mike, who is dealing with this on top of his worst busy season ever, and who is only two weeks into his seven weeks out of town. In a couple of months it will all be over and we'll know where we're headed!

These are some photos of the kids when we went to Joe's BBQ for Lauren's birthday. They have a yard outside the restaurant with grass and trees and the kids love to run around after we eat.

Copies from Sarah's Bog

These pictures were on Sarah's blog, too, but I couldn't help adding them to mine! The first is of Colin and cousin Max in some awesome matching jammies that Mom got them. The second is of the kids bundled up and ready for a walk in the wagon that Ginny and Jim gave us for Christmas. It's a little tight in there for three kids and 15 blankets, but they loved it (until they started fighting about 15 minutes later).

Park Time

We discovered a really cool park near our house. Here are some photos of the kids enjoying it. My favorite part of every visit is the swings. Amelia still doesn't quite pump her legs in time, and Colin grips the front of the swing in such a cute way.

Funny Day

Today we watched Max for a little while and I thought it would be fun to give all three kids a bath. Amelia was so excited! She kept telling me, "I'll help you Mommy!" and then she said, "I'll wash his tummy and face and I'll be SO GENTLE." She actually stayed true to her word and helped me wash Max, and thought it was so fun that she helped with Colin, too. It was awesome! Less work for me!

Also, when I got her up from her afternoon rest (calling it a nap would be incorrect, she won't sleep!) she was wearing a diaper over her clothes. I reluctantly agreed that Hello Kitty could wear one a couple of days ago, but I guess she decided it would look better on her! She's really a pro, she had it fitting perfectly!

Amelia now has several imaginary friends. She is always talking to them or narrating for them. Their names are Dorothy (like Elmo's pet fish), Jenny, Gaepa (don't ask me!), and today I heard about China. As far as I can tell, they're all girls.

Colin did something funny yesterday. Amelia stepped on something and was crying, and Colin heard her from the other room and ran to her yelling, "I'm sorry!" at the top of his lungs. He says nearly everything at the top of his lungs. It was such a funny thing. I rarely make him say he's sorry (he doesn't do much maliciously), but I guess he picked up on it during one of Amelia's many apologies to him!

Christmas Photos (finally)

I finally found the time today to post some photos of Christmas! Amelia was so excited about Santa this year. She got to sit on his lap twice, once when we went to a Christmas play with Grandpa Chin and Grandma Debi, and once at the mall. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone, and we got so many generous gifts. Mike was off for two whole weeks, which was amazing. Sadly, today is the first day of busy season, so we won't be seeing much of him until sometime in April!

Here we are checking out the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple.

Amelia nervously sitting on Santa's lap at the mall.



The kids looking cute.

Christmas morning and Christmas day.

Making our traditional german pancakes can get violent!

Grandma Russo

Today Mike's family is honoring the 10th anniversary of his beloved Grandma Russo's passing. She was a very important person in Mike's life and she is sorely missed. Here is a picture of her holding Mike right after he was born.

Accepted to Arizona

Mike got a call from the head of the department of UofA this afternoon and he's been accepted there! How delightful! He still needs to find out what other options he has before considering moving back to Tucson, but it's awesome to be accepted to two schools! Great job Mike!

Cousin Christopher

This picture is from our trip to Raleigh for Thanksgiving. Amelia was crazy about her darling cousin Christopher, who is a little more than a year older than her. They were so cute together, interacting and playing constantly. I know she misses him!

Amelia's flower and Colin's laugh

Here is a photo of Amelia all dressed up for church. She loves that flower! The photos of Colin are so funny to me because he always puts his hands (usually fists) on his face when he smiles and laughs. He just curls into a little giggling ball. I just love it!