We pray that all of you had a blessed Christmas and are enjoying the excitement that a new year brings. We found ourselves immersed in Christmas tradition this December as we prepared gifts, baked and decorated cookies, traveled, and soaked up our time with family. Here's a little photo journey.

Baking Mocha Shortbread cookies with Mommy. Yes, it is 10:45 and he's still in his 'jammers. He loves to wear 'jammers.

"An early Christmas" morning at Lolly in Pops with special guests, cousin Reese and cousin Ellis.
Baby's First Christmas!
Candleight Dinner
Finishing off the day by opening up our stocking before bedtime.Popping Poppers on Christmas Eve. A wonderful celebration hosted by dear friends after our worship service.We were able to make it to Memme and Grandpa's at there new home in Virginia on Christmas night and in time to still celebrate with the entire family only one day late. Rowan enjoyed jumping into life with his grandparents and cousins. From left to right, Connor, Kyle, and Tyler.
Evangeline came out of her shell the longer we visited and really grew by the time we left. At Memme's she proved she can roll and spin to get to her toys and even rolled from her front to back for the first time!
We did it! A rare shot of all of us in the same photo! Pintos, Sr. Rudnicks, and Jr. Rudnicks. Now it's time to start all over again with a new year - how fun!

These two are actually starting to bond with each other. Evangeline loves to laugh at Rowan and Rowan loves it when Evangeline grabs his hair and tickles his back. Rowan shares his toys (for now) and dances around till Evangeline giggles. The list goes on! Here's what things are starting to look like at around the house, two kids doing things together!

Out for a sleigh ride on Thursday.
Reading before their nap time today. Rowan even asked if Evangeline could stay on his pillow and under his blanket. How cute.

Some sitting pretty photos!

Evangeline 4 1/2 Months

Us Jr. Rudnicks got Christmas off to a proper start with our traditional Christmas tree cutting expedition. This year we visited West Galway, NY. We enjoyed traipsing through the trees with our friends until the rain came at which time the photos abruptly ended.

So many trees, so little time,...

With [play]saw in hand
With Sylvie and an awesome tractor!!!!
With Sylvie in the tractor bucket but not with his saw nor his left mitten (both of which we doubled back for)

Our sweet Evangeline is 4 months old now. She's 14.2 lb's and 25 inches long. We seem to grow them big in this house. She sleeps well, falling asleep on her own in her crib or drifting off in our arms, for 4-5 naps a day and for the most part is up only once in the night. Verbal and physically active she lets us know she's in the room or if we've left her alone too long in another room. I'm seeing a roll over in her near future as she pushes up on her belly well and twist and turns her hips like it's nobody's business! She grabs at anything nearby and holds onto my hair, face, and arms with quite a tug! It's hard to catch a glimpse of the real Eva in photos but these come close:

Sweet
Crazy
Serious
Goofy

Rowan really just wants to be like everyone else. I'm pretty sure he's over this "being a kid" thing and is diving into grown up world head first. A couple of those moments caught on camera include:

Sending his own car down the driveway,getting those pesky projects done around the house, and having his morning coffee. On this morning, Rowan heard me say I was going to make my daily morning latte and he insisted that he make my coffee. He brought over his coffee maker and two cups, waited for his to brew, poured some in both cups and handed me a cup.
Oh, what will you do next Rowan?

Halloween isn't just any weekend for us. We have the fortune of celebrating Rowan's and Alan's birthdays! Happy 2nd birthday to our baby boy and happy 29th to the handsome husband of the house. Our incredible family came to celebrate with us as well as some dear friends to join in the fun with Rowan.

@ Sunnyside Farms in Saratoga Springs
Every birthday party needs a little fun, so the kids (read parents) created happy hay people!Tractor Cake!Memme and Little Brown Cow
and the after parties...

Fall is a quick season up here and we're enjoying making the most of every day. Anticipating a cold winter we're outside everyday no matter the forecast! A family trip to the corn maze, playing in the leaves, daily walks, and a still-to-be-had trip to the pumpkin patch are some of these activities that keep our little ones in the fresh air and worn out by days end.