Nicki And Adam's Family Blog

Each year the Wanta's, Ciriack's, Sayre's and some of Russ and Laurie's friends celebrate New Year's Eve together. In the past, we have done murder mystery dinners. We have always come in costume and have laughed the night away as we act out our various parts. This year was no different, although it wasn't a game that was bought, but rather Laurie and Samantha who wrote it. These two are quite creative and have a great vision on what will make a fun party. The theme this year was 1920's and we were a variety of characters. Adam was "Edward Haas" and here is a picture of him below: Edward is the son of a grocer and was really interested in "baking powder." I was "Mrs.Anna Haas"-his wife: I was a chain smoker woman from the 1920's. Eventually my husband invented the "Pez" candy which was suppose to help people stop smoking. The dispenser was in the shape of a lighter. Here are some more pictures from the evening: ...

We celebrated Christmas Day in West Bend. We start the morning off by eating eggs, homemade cinnamon rolls at Barb and Cliff's house. We do presents for the kids and then commence withe the adult "theme" gift. This year we picked letters of the alphabet. My letter was "S" and thus I gave: socks, silver earrings, soap and soap dispenser. Adam had the letter "R" and gave a variety of snacks related to the letter R. His gift was highly consumable. After that, we let Charlie nap and then headed off to the Ciriack's house for the 2nd Christmas. Above is a picture of Charlie opening up one of his gift from his cousin, Theran. We now pick names for the cousins. He got a play drill that he absolutely LOVES. He played with it for an entire hour without stopping. That is unheard of for Charlie. After the kids/cousins gifts, we opened the "Old Tyme" themed gifts. I must admit that ALL of the gifts were quite good this year. I ended up with ...

What a fantastic Christmas Holiday we had this year. It was outstanding. Charlie had so much fun and was very well-behaved for all of the days. It was awesome. We hosted Christmas Eve at our house. In attendance this year was: Elaine, Rhode, Barb, Cliff, Grandma Elizabeth, Bob, Gene, Jeanne-marie, Greg, Raelee, Emma, Maggie, Dan, Adam, Charlie and myself. It was a full house to say the least. We served Pasta Carbonara and Spaghetti Bolognese with fresh bread, a winter apple salad and cookies and grasshoppers for dessert. Of course, lots of wine and Old-Fashioned's were consumed throughout the evening as well. Here are some pictures of the evening: Some of the guests for the evening. One of my "chefs" for the evening...ala 101 Dalmations Style. Elaine and Greg Here are a few videos from the evening. The first is of our family singing "Joy to the World." We are not very good... The second video is of the "12 days of Christmas"-the dancing is the bes...

Our book club read "Room" by Emma Donoghue for our meeting in December. It turned out to be one of the highest rated books that our book club has read. I will give you a brief synopsis so that it will intrigue you enough to check out or by the book yourself. The premise: a 5 year old and his mother have been in a room for the past 5 years. The story is told from the point of a 5 year old (which can be both annoying and insightful at the same time). We talked, as a book club, about why the 5 year old had to tell it and we all agreed that it would not have been as powerful had the book from the point of view of an adult. This book seems so surreal, as if this could never happen, but if it can be imagined it can happen, and has happened. Pick this book up!!!!!!!

I never thought I would get this again. But, here he is, sleeping at 20 months old. Totally cute. Love this man!

I hate my Christmas decorations. I truly do. They are the tackiest items that people have "gifted" to us through white elephant gift exchanges. Yet, because I have nothing else, I put them up each year. I decided to take matters into my own hand this year and try to become "crafty." I must admit, I am not much of a crafter, but I gave it a valiant attempt with the help of Pinterest. (Check it out:  http://pinterest.com/ ) It is highly addictive and will take hours away from your life! Here is the first example. I simply took cheap ornaments from Menards and hung them on ribbon and used push pins behind the trim to hold them. So far, neither the cat nor Charlie have destroyed them. I think they look cute. My next attempt was a ornament wreath. Ultimately, it turned out, but not before some challenges. Here is what it looked like on the floor, just about complete: Beautiful, eh? Then I decided I should try to hang it up. Well, I made a poor choice of a piece of y...

Hard to believe that my child is now closer to 2 than he is to 1. What an amazing journey parenthood has been thus far. I have lots to learn, but am grateful everyday for the gift of being his Mommy. I love him more and more each day, and someday, when the good Lord is willing, would love to parent another. Here are his stats for 20 months: Weight: 24lbs (says my scale at home) Height: 35 1/2" (he is ALMOST 3 feet tall!) Sleeping: He is, without a doubt, a fantastic sleeper. We have worked very hard on this since he was about 5 months old and have never regretted a moment. A weekday looks like this:       Bedtime: 7:30-45pm and sleep straight through until 6:40 (when we wake him up!) Naptime from 12:30 until about 3ish (little more little less) Weekend:       Bedtime: 8:00-8:15 and sleep straight through until 7:30 or 8:00am. Naptime from 1 until 3:30ish. He has even gotten rid of the pacifier on his own. We cut the tip off about a month back ...

I forgot to take my camera to Madison to capture the festivities. But, I am pretty sure I can illustrate a decent picture in your minds just by my story: We headed to Madison on Wednesday evening despite Adam's cough and fever. Enough drugs can make anyone enjoyable. We took Maggie Mae with us as well and had dinner in Beaver Dam. She did a fabulous job of entertaining Charlie in the back seat. A normal Wednesday evening was experienced by all. In fact, a normal Thursday was experienced by all....until Russ (my brother) came over. For the past 4 years, we have "themed" out Christmas. Instead of picking names, or buying for everyone, we come up with a theme and create or buy a gift associated with that theme. Past themes have included "the year you were born," "colors," "create the gift around your favorite book," etc...It has been a blast seeing our creative juices put to the test. This year, another element, was thrown in. Bob and Gene...

I don't think I truly understood the joy of Thanksgiving until I became a mother. Sure, I LOVED the food, the football pool, Dan and Russ "picking" on each other and of course the card games. But, what was I ever "thankful" for? This year, I have a list that may make up for my other years of "not getting it." I am thankful for (in no particular order): -A healthy and beautiful baby boy who has turned my life upside down and made it the BEST it can possibly be. I never knew what LOVE was, until I had a child. I get it now! -An amazing husband who works so hard for our family and provides so well. Who treats Charlie like a million dollars everyday. -An awesome god-daughter, Jackie, who found out that she will have Urachal Cyst Surgery done and will now be PAIN FREE!  -Charlie's "best friend forever"-Maggie, who makes Charlie laugh unlike any other (she makes me laugh a lot too!) -Amazing Grandparents on both sides of the family. -Supportiv...

I made some pumpkin cookies to get in the spirit of the Thanksgiving Holiday. These are INCREDIBLE. Mmmmmmm.... 2.5 Cups Flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground clover 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 Cup Butter 1 1/2 Cup Sugar 1 Can pumpkin 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla Glaze for top of cookies: 2 Cups Powdered Sugar 3 Tblsp Milk 1 Tblsp Butter 1 tsp vanilla Mix all together (not glaze of course) and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

My friend Ann challenged us (being anyone who reads her blog) to a food challenge. This is NOT a diet, nor a supposed "fad" to help you loose weight. Adam and I don't care about that one bit. It is simply about eating a diet that is less "processed" than what you ate before.  Each week is suppose to build upon the previous week. To be honest, I am not sure we will be able to do that. However, we will give a valiant attempt at weeks one through nine. Of course, the weeks of Christmas and Thanksgiving are off....let's not be ridiculous.  As I have mentioned, we are going to stop at week 9, or do a modified week 9.  So far, we have done weeks 1 and 2. I LOVED week 1 and week 2 was absolutely NOT a challenge for me whatsoever. Making sure that 6 veggies/fruits are in a day is a great thing. Talk about flavor and feeling wonderful. Week 2-I don't drink much besides water and an occasional juice in the morning. Soda is almost NEVER a part of my diet (ma...

Charlie was a tiger this year. We "trick or treated" around the neighborhood. He was nervous at first, but about 3 houses in, he was "into" it. We worked on practicing our manners of "trick or treat" and "thank you." I know, we are lame parents.... Yup, that is all the help we got out of him. Just sitting there. We carved the pumpkin (daddy and mommy). Always fun to get pictures with the cousins. Kinda drunk? Samantha and her boyfriend Zach. I must have done something wrong, I could never get my HS boyfriends to wear an outfit like that! And the most fun, was just playing with all the candy on the floor!

We had a wonderful time on our vacation to Oregon. Here a few pictures of the highlights: Mommy and Charlie on the beach. Charlie had a blast throwing rocks and wandering around the ocean.  Grandma and Papa Sayre were vacationing out there as well. We all went through the tunnel to the other side where there was more ocean and rocks! During high tide, you cannot get to the other side unless by this tunnel. Momma and the baby and the Dada. Cliff, Charlie, and Adam, with the beautiful rocks in the background. Charlie "spelunking" in a cave with Daddy (not sure where he is...). Charlie playing ball with Brooks (the Jack Russell). Uncle Gene, Charlie and Uncle Bob posing at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Driving peacefully down the road. And then Charlie "steered" them off course....Charlie doesn't like going "straight." Hanging out in the sun at the Ocean House! Thanks Uncle Bob and Uncle Gene for hosting us for the week! We had a great time. Apparently...

Ah! We are back from our vacation in Oregon. We had a great time and I will post more about that later. But, before I dive into that, here is the "fun" flying stories.. Departure from Milwaukee: Arrive at airport with well-rested happy child at 1pm. I am promptly told by Frontier that my flight to Denver has been delayed by 6 hours and that I will miss my connecting flight to Portland. I tell gate agent that this will not work for me and my 18 month old son. I don't know how to kill 6 hours in an airport, can you say CRANKY!! An hour later, she gets me on ANOTHER airline (United) where we fly to Chicago, then Chicago to Portland. We go through TSA, which, in my case is ENTIRELY unhelpful. I have a stroller, a wiggly kids and two carry-ons, you would think someone (because there are about 25 of them) could assist me. But no, while trying to take my shoes off, balance a child, fold up a stroller to put through the xray machine, I whack my child in the head with the bar o...

Tomorrow, October 21st, Charlie and I embark on his 2nd airplane ride to Oregon. While out there, were plan to play and relax at Bob and Gene's Oceanside house, go to the Portland Zoo, see the Japanese Gardens and more. We are very excited for this. Barb and Cliff, Adam's parents, will be sharing part of our vacation with us, mostly on the Ocean. I am traveling with Charlie by myself as Adam left on Wednesday for a conference. I am a little nervous flying with an 18 month old by myself, but have my list of distractions ready to go (in this order): 1.) little trinket gifts for him to open (really cheap stuff like tape measure, coloring book, etc...) 2.) SNACKS 3.) portable DVD player with an "Elmo" movie if necessary 4.) Ipad with games, if necessary 5.) Benadryl, if necessary ( I am not scared to drug my child if need be ) 6.) Credit Card-to buy the neighbors around us a drink if Charlie is crying constantly. I hope to only have to get through number 3 or ...

Charlie had his 18 month check up today. Here are a few stats as to where he is at: Weight: 23 lbs 10 oz (50th percentile)-he has been steady at 50% his whole life. Height: 33 1/2" (85th percentile)-again, steady through his whole life Sleeping: Still a fantastic sleeper, except when he is sick, then he is dreadful. Our Dr. said don't be afraid to give 1/2 tsp Benadryl with the nose is a running and he just won't sleep. Luckily, our kid is one who reacts "normally" to benadryl and falls asleep. There are those out there who go bonkers. He takes one nap a day from about 12:30 until 3/3:30 depending on his mood. He never fights us to go to sleep. In fact, while playing, he often says, "night night" and walks towards the stairs. Sometimes we have to say "not yet" as it is only 6pm and NOT time to sleep. Eating: Definitely ranks on the "pickier" side of eating. Some of his favorites are strawberries, peaches (but has to be a ...

I love my book club. It is a diverse group of women from 30 (me) and upwards. We are all in different walks of life: first time parent, grandparent, parent of kids in elementary, middle, high or college and beyond. We all bring something different to the table. We finished and talked about the book "Paris Wife." It did not receive a high rating from this group of women. Probably 4 out of 10. That is okay. Not every book is a winner. Some women thought this book reminded them of the book "Loving Frank." For me, the first 100 pages of the book were the best. Then it got a little slow and didn't have as much "action" as I would have loved. Our next book is "My Name is Mary Sutter" by Robin Oliveira. During this month, I also finished "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Stieg Larsson. I LOVED THIS BOOK! I have loved both one and two of the trilogy. I will start three very soon. I am also reading "Love and Logic Magic for E...

My sister Jeanne-marie comments that Charlie "always smells like maple syrup." Well, for good reason. It is one thing he will almost consistently eat (drink?). Maple Syrup. Fabulous. So, if I am gonna feed him this, I might as well try to make it healthy. Therefore, in an attempt to find ways to sneak healthy stuff (hidden underneath maple syrup) into Charlie's diet and my husbands, here is a recipe (excellent) for pancakes. He truly loves these! 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (or regular..) 1.5 Tsp Sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 Cup Yogurt (I use a variety of flavors, kinds, etc....mixes it up a bit) 1-2 bananas (or any fruit you choose) 1 Egg 2 Tblsp Butter Mix all together and put on griddle.

I got the recipe from a co-worker. It is absolutely fabulous. And what makes it even more fabulous....I GOT CHARLIE TO EAT IT! Yes!! Here is a picture of the finished product:  And just to prove that Charlie actually ate it (and did not spit it out), here is proof. The reason I am so excited is because I cannot get Charlie to even try corn or beans. But, in this "dip" he will eat it all. Including the onions and avocado. Yeah! I probably shouldn't get so excited, tomorrow he probably won't touch it. Here is the recipe. Enjoy! 1 can black beans drained 1 can mexican corn drained 1 pkg. Italian Dry dressing 1 small red onion chopped 3-5 gr.onions chopped 2 avocados 1/2 C. Olive Oil 1/4 C. White Vinegar We use crackers or chips to dip with. Adam says it is so good that he can eat it plain!

One of Charlie's favorite things to do is dance. Enjoy!

We have a task to get all three cousins on the Sayre side of the family together for a photo. Easier said than done for a 13 month, 17 month, and 3.5 year old. I could tell you how it went, but I think I will just let you enjoy the pictures instead: This one is my favorite. Charlie is biting on his molars, Elizabeth is watching him, and Noah is flying off the bench like Superman. Fabulous. Below is the best one. We will try again some other day. Thinking photo shop may be the best idea yet!

We have embarked upon finishing our basement this fall. While the work is accurate, speed is something that the Sayre's (not me...remember, I am a Wanta) are not known for. Although we are very thankful that our help only requires Cheez-its and a beer. Here is a picture of the start of process. Hopefully the end will come before July :)