Having some fun in the New Year!

Look at Brady...in his new high chair (well, one that has been in the box in the garage since his baby shower!)...he loves it!

What a big boy!
Here is Brady at Opa & Oma's house for New Year's Day dinner...

Lately, Brady has been sitting up in his crib for some "crib time" while Mommy puts away the laundry in his room, picks up his room, etc. Well, it looked so inviting, so I thought it'd be fun to join him. So, I crawled right up in there and started playing with him. Now, we do this almost every day and we both love it...Here a few pictures of us both having some "crib time." :)

He sure is lovin' this attention :)

And I sure love my little brother!

1/2 Way Mark...

Hi Everyone ~ We hope that you are doing well and enjoying the New Year so far. We have had so much fun. The last few weeks have been so busy, but so much fun. Mommy is feeling better & able to get around more, so we are enjoying that...and so is she! Thank you for your prayers! Enjoy the pictures...oh, and guess what? I (Averie) get to do all the narrating...

Well, guess who is 1/2 way to his first birthday? Yep, Brady. He turned 6 months old on January 2. Boy, time sure has flown by. And, Mommy knows that we are in the season of Winter, but she says she couldn't resist taking some of Brady's pictures with just the overalls on. We stayed inside the whole time :)

Brady goes to the doctor next Thursday, so we don't have any updated stats just yet. However, we know that he weighs around 21 pounds. And, he is one happy baby. He is smiling a lot, laughing a lot, and wanting to sit up all the time. No signs of crawling yet, but he has 2 little teeth in his mouth, and of course, everything goes in his mouth. He is eating lots of jar food, and in the next week, we'll start with some puffs and other "big boy" food. What a sweet little brother he is!

Doesn't he look like a little man? So precious!

Happy New Year!

From our Family to Yours...Happy New Year! May 2009 bring you lots of peace and joy as you draw closer to our precious Saviour!

The Karaffa Family ~ New Years Day ~ 2009

Just hanging out...

Well, here we are just hanging out at home...Daddy is in Tahoe right now skiing and playing golf with some family and friends, and he is having a great time. Before he left, I thought it'd be fun to wear his ski goggles...don't I look good and ready to ski? We sure miss Daddy, though!

And, here is Brady Boy...wearing a cute little outfit that Miss Hailey gave him when he was born. Mommy says that the clothes always seem so big when you get them when your baby is a newborn, but amazed at how soon they grow into them. She says we are growing up too fast, but sure are having fun doing it! :)

Thanks, Miss Hailey!

And, here is Brady playing with one of his new toys...a work bench! He is having so much fun...and all from a different perspective...sitting up!

Our Christmas Celebration

We had so much fun celebrating Christmas with our family. We are so thankful to have each other and to be able to celebrate Jesus' birthday. I (Averie, of course) was singing "Happy Birthday, Jesus" all the time...and I always looked forward to adding one more nativity item to my Advent Nativity calendar each day. There are lots of pictures (Mommy took over 200, so we did good to narrow it down this :) ), but they are from 4 different celebrations...Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, Christmas with the Karaffa's, and Christmas with the Van Wingerden's. Enjoy!!

CHRISTMAS EVE:

We attend our church's wonderful Christmas Eve service...filled with singing lots of Christmas carols. Then, we each get to open one gift (this tradition started with Daddy's side of the family...), which is always jammies (for Daddy & Mommy, it's a warm-up suit, etc.). We put on our new jammies and get ready for bed. This year, I got to do 2 new things...leave out my cookies and milk for Santa and stay up late to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Mommy's favorite Christmas movie). Daddy & Mommy thought for sure I'd fall asleep during it, but I didn't. I watched the whole thing. Afterwards, though, I feel asleep very quickly so that Santa could come...It was such a fun night!

Check out my new Jammies...

And, here is Brady opening his...

We put on our jammies and sat in front of the tree for a few pictures. Of course, Brady was more interested in everything hanging around him...especially the lights...and the candy canes...he is quick to grab!

Us in our jammies...

And, one more before Brady goes to bed...

CHRISTMAS MORNING:

I ran downstairs and quickly looked to see if my cookies were eaten. Of course, Santa drank all the milk, but he did leave some cookies half-eaten. So, without hesitation, I finished those off for him. That made Daddy & Mommy laugh. And, I noticed all this before I even noticed what he left for me...

...a big girl bicycle...Thanks, Santa!

I was pretty excited...check out that smile!!

Then, after we ate a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon (made by Daddy!), we read the Christmas story in the Bible, prayed as a family, and then opened our gifts. Here, Daddy taught me the art of "peeking" at a gift after only unwrapping the end of it. I thought that this was so fun, so I did this for most of my gifts...

Daddy & Me on Christmas morning...

I had fun opening up some really great gifts...

And, Brady had fun eating the paper...and smiling!

Brady also liked opening gifts...and playing with tissue paper. I don't think he cared what was in the box, but now he's having fun playing with his new toys!

Here, Brady was saying "thanks, Big Sister" for my fun toy that we can play with together...

Mommy & Brady...Brady's 1st Christmas!

Mommy & Me...getting ready to go through our stockings...

Going through my stocking was so fun. I got some great goodies...

Here, Brady is going through his stocking too. However, he was napping by the time we got to our stockings on Christmas morning, so once he got dressed and we had the chance, we let him go through his...I loved watching him open them...even if it was later! :)

A few pictures of Brady...

Merry 1st Christmas, Brady Boy!
CHRISTMAS WITH THE KARAFFA'S:
Around lunchtime on Christmas Day, Poppy, Nana, Uncle Blair, Aunt Brittany, and McKinly came over to celebrate Christmas with us. We had a lot of fun. The guys got some really cool helicopters that they were flying around, and we just enjoyed spending time together.
Here is Brady playing with our cousin McKinly...

Brady opening up a few gifts (now that he has had his morning nap, he had more energy to open gifts! :))
And, Poppy & Nana with their grandchildren...Averie, Brady, & McKinly!
That night, we eat dinner at Opa & Oma's house, but we celebrated Christmas a few days later...What a fun day!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE VAN WINGERDEN'S:

A few days later, we went to Opa & Oma's house to celebrate Christmas. I got a new stroller for my baby dolls from Opa & Oma, and I loved it! It's so much fun!

...and a Leap Frog Leap Pad...how fun!

Brady got some fun toys also...a choo choo train, Leap Frog toy, etc.

Here, Daddy is helping Brady open his gift from Uncle Abe & Aunt Cindi (they drew his name this year in the gift exchange. He got a cool parking garage for his cars!) Oh, and look at Brady looking at Daddy...isn't that too cute?

Uncle Michael & Aunt Courtney had my name this year, and they gave me a Bitty Baby American Girl Doll baby doll (who we named Karson) with a diaper bag full of goodies. I carry Karson with me all the time...taking her for walks in my new stroller.

Brady & Oma

Me & Oma
Me & Opa
Brady & Opa

We sure had a wonderful Christmas, and we hope you did as well. Thanks again for all your love and support throughout the year. May God bless you this New Year!

The Karaffa Family ~ Christmas ~ 2008