Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014!!

We put up our Christmas tree a week before Thanksgiving, so by the time December came around; we were already in full-on Christmas mode at our house. It is such a festive and wonderful time of the year; we all enjoy it immensely! As I sit here and type on December 31^st, our house looks a little different now, as we just put away the last of all the Christmas decorations. Always a sad day!!

This month started out with the first visit of our elf, Budget.  This is the third Christmas that Budget has been with us, and it is super fun to see where Budget will turn up on a daily basis!  Budget was pretty clever this year…he roasted marshmallows on the fire, hid Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus from the nativity, cut out snowflakes, colored pictures, made Santa hats and beards on the kids pictures, took a bath in Barbie’s bathtub, and baked cookies.

Carter learned how to climb out of his crib finally. I was waiting for this to happen! He was not very graceful at first. He sort of would plop out of his crib, and we could all hear the loud thunk. I ran up there to find him rubbing his head. “I banged my head, Mama!” Now he is very graceful, and we don’t hear him. I was afraid that he would get out of bed at night and fall the stairs or escape into the night, so I put a child-proof lock on his door. HA! That lasted about a week. He rips those right off. We have them on the basement door, the laundry room door, and the pantry door, and they are pretty much worthless if he is really determined. Just a small deterrent is what I would call those locks!

Gabrielle and Carter went to a Christmas party at Castaway. Always a fun time! They also spent one of the days that I had a professional development day with Grandma-they went to Kensington to play and feed the birds out of their hands at the nature center.  We had Gabrielle and Carter’s cousins, Cadyn and Aili, over to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. They turned out great! We made a trip to the mall to see Santa too. Carter was not too happy with seeing Santa this year. The highlight of the day for him was his discovery of the automatic hand-sanitizer machines in the mall. Let’s just say his hands were very clean and sanitized. He was much more interested in playing with the one in the Santa line, so when it was his turn to see Santa, his tears were from being pulled away from the machine rather than seeing Santa! HA!

Grandma got to volunteer in Gabrielle’s classroom for the Christmas party, which was really nice because it would have been difficult for Adam or I to make it in. (I did the Halloween party and Adam did the Thanksgiving party, so it’s a whole family affair!) On the last day before Christmas vacation, we had a SNOW DAY(!!!) which is always very exciting and very welcomed, however, Gabrielle didn’t get to have her Gingerbread decorating party or wear her pj’s to school. I actually had to make a trip into my building to straighten up a little and pick up my papers to correct, as well as my school bag, and my shoes that I left there the day before!

We celebrated Christmas a few times this year. On the 21^st, we had the Sulkowski Family Christmas. On the 24^th, we hosted a small Christmas Eve gathering at our home with a traditional Polish dinner. Christmas morning was really fun this year as this was Carter’s first year that he figured things out. Both kids tore into their gifts from Santa. Gabrielle got the Barbie Dream house and the dolls from the movie Frozen, which she was thrilled about, and Carter loved his Jake and the Neverland Pirate Ship. Later on the 25^th, we ventured to the big family Christmas party at Aunt Tui’s, and on the 26^th we went to a Boxing Day party with the same crew! It was all very nice, but the kids and I were beat!!!  I am, after all, 27 weeks pregnant, and now in my third trimester! Wowie!

On December 30^th, Gabrielle lost her first tooth!! I was not ready for this, so her tooth hung on by a thread for a few days so I could wrap my head around the fact that my baby girl was now about ready to lose her first tooth. She wanted me to pull it out, so I finally mustered up the courage and reached in with a tissue, but totally could not do it. I turned the job over to Adam, but no sooner than I turned the job over the Adam, Gabrielle pulled it out herself! She’s a tough kid—and brave—much tougher and braver than I was at her age! The tooth fairy brought her a glittery dollar and a little certificate for her first tooth with a message on what a beautiful little tooth it is. She has another one that is about ready to come out too. I would expect that one in the next week or so!

Gabrielle and I are making a sugar cookie clock in honor of New Year’s Eve today. That is our big plan. We are not night owls over here, so we will all be lucky if we get to see the ball drop tonight!!

Here’s to a wonderful, happy, healthy 2014 to you and your family with lots of love from all of us! Sheesh-this was a long entry, please feel free to scroll down next time and just look at the pics!

North Pole breakfast to welcome Budget

There's Budget in the middle of the table!

Bat Boy with a binky. Carter is all of a sudden really into Super heroes!

The kids love riding their Strider bikes in the basement. Carter took to his bike like pro. 

Playing outside at G/G Sexton's house

Our tree!

The Dream House! (Not so dreamy to put together, however. A word of advice, DO NOT attempt on Christmas Eve should you ever buy this house in the future! It took Adam 3 hours and he ain't a novice when it comes to putting parts together!)

Carter ripping into his presents. Another favorite gift--a giant rescue helicopter!

A balmy 40 degree day!

The Sulkowski Family 2013

Twas the Night Before Christmas!

Cookies and Cousins!!

Gabrielle's Christmas Party at school

Carter loved the Dream House box as you can see:)

Happy Thanksgiving

November was complete craziness.  We had so much going on—it was ridiculous. For those of you that know me, while I like to get out and do things, I do not like to be busy. I try to enjoy a slower pace of life, but November was not going to cooperate! And how do full-time working parents enjoy a slower pace of life?! I was so busy at work—I had 6 meetings scheduled (outside of my regular schedule including two nights of conferences) and between the 4 of us, we had 5 dentist and doctor appointments.  I also was able to volunteer twice in Gabrielle’s classroom, and Adam was able to volunteer for her Thanksgiving party.  We were even able to squeak in a date night, which is pretty unbelievable! I definitely think that I get 10x more things done now that I am working and actually have to manage my time….

At the very beginning of the month, I took the kids to the open house at the new Livingston County Airport where the U of M life flight helicopter was on display as well as the life flight airplane. Carter went absolutely crazy. Literally.  He was running all around, taking cuts in line, getting into the helicopter and airplane, and enjoying every minute of it. I really had a hard time keeping up with him! Gabrielle was a trouper—she was interested to a certain extent, but Carter was having the time of his life!

A few days later, we had our 20 week ultrasound and found out some very exciting news.  We are having a BOY!!!! The ultrasound looked great, and baby boy looked very healthy. I was pretty much convinced from day one that we were going to have another boy, so it wasn’t a big shocker to me. While I am not sure how a new little person will fit in exactly to the family, I am sure that after he is born we will not be able to imagine life without him! Gabrielle was a little disappointed with the news, but being the princess and not having to share her toys is pretty appealing. The only toys of hers that Carter likes to play with are the princesses’ carriages, so that isn’t so bad!

Other highlights of the month include the birth of our newest nephew and my godchild, Kyle! This was especially fun for us because our niece and nephew, Aili and Cadyn, got to spend the night with us and have a sleepover party! This was Gabrielle’s first sleepover with someone other than me, so she was especially delighted! The next day we ventured to Southfield, MI, for a Laurie Berkner solo concert. We splurged on tickets and got a meet and greet with Laurie, so that was super fun and special!

Another funny thing this month is that Adam and I both got new cars.  He got a Cadillac and I got a mini-van! LOL!  Adam thinks the mini-van is awesome. “Drives great!” “So utilitarian!” “I could drive this van!” “What great mileage!” “Wow! All the seats collapse!” I, on the other hand, think it is completely average and a bit clunky at times. I think I’ll get used to it. I think it is great for this summer and our umpteen trips to Houghton Lake because it has two drop-down DVD players with Bluetooth headphones. That’s pretty cool. But his Cadillac is way cooler. BUT he has to drive 2.5 hours a day, so he does deserve something better than my old Jetta. He is more than welcome to take the mini-van anytime he wants before baby boy comes in March….

How cool to be able to sit in a real helicopter?!

IT'S A BOY!!! Look at those excited faces:)

#Selfie

Love this monitor. It has a walkie-talkie like feature on it. Carter will say in the morning, "Mama! Need you on speaker!"  I then talk to him and find out if he wants me to get him....

This was so fun...meeting Laurie Berkner!

Carter likes to get into small places such as the top shelf of the refrigerator in the bonus room!

Gabrielle's Thanksgiving party at school

This is what Adam and Carter like to do...visit C&C Sports to look at and play on the quads and other ATVs.

Our newest addition to the family! Our nephew and my godson, Kyle

Awesome October!

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love October in Michigan. It is a lovely month, and for us, we were a month into our new routine, so everyone was doing pretty well! Nothing like good old routine, huh? We tried to have lots of fun on the weekends, so for Carter, we hit up both the Brighton City Fire Station Open House and the Howell one as well! Carter is pretty much obsessed with anything with tires and an engine and he especially loves fire trucks and ambulances.

Northwest Elementary had a fundraiser night at Castaway Café. We hadn't been there in about 6 months, and what a difference 6 months can make. Carter owned the place. It was really hard to keep up with him, and at one point I thought he escaped. It was very scary. What I discovered is that he doesn't care if those giant inflatables are filled with 10 year olds because he tries to play like it’s nothing. However, a rambunctious group of 10 years olds really scared Adam and me, so we had to keep him off while the big kids were on… Adam took a day off from work and had the opportunity to go on a field trip with Gabrielle. He even got to ride on the bus! They went to a really fun farm in Williamston called Norfolk Ranch. I think I may have the name wrong. Regardless, it was a great field trip full of fun and games, rides, and holding baby bunnies, which was an awesome experience for Gabrielle! I am so glad that Adam got to go too because as long as one parent can represent, it doesn't matter to me who it is!

Halloween was especially fun this year because Carter actually “got it” for the first time. He wanted nothing to do with pumpkin carving (too messy), but he was all about trick-or-treating.  I took a couple of comp hours off from work and went to Gabrielle's school to see the parade, and got to help out in her classroom with the party. It was great that I could work it into my schedule. Being in the kindergarten classroom is fun. Every single one of the kindergartners is cute and precious.  While I am not sure I would want to teach it, I think teaching 7th grade poses it's own set of challenges... I always jump at the chance to earn comp time because I know I can use it to run up to her school. Northwest Elem. is literally a 2 minute drive from Highlander Way-thank goodness I don't have to drive clear across Howell...

Carter was Scooby-Doo this year and Gabrielle was Merida from the movie Brave. We decided to trick-or-treat in Jammie and Grandpop’s neighborhood which was a great idea because it is a very manageable neighborhood. Nobody trick-or-treats in our neighborhood; they all go to the one next to us that has 1000 houses, and it is so crammed with people that it’s a little much for us! Anyway, Carter walked the entire way (in winter boots!) and carried is pumpkin bucket the entire time as well. The rain let up just in time for trick-or-treating, so that was really wonderful seeing as how it rained ALL DAY.

What a great month!!

Brighton City Fire Dept. Open House

 Look at these cuties at the Howell City Fire Dept. Open House! They could all pass for siblings, but Gabrielle and Carter are with their cousins, Cadyn and Aili.

Holding baby bunnies-life doesn't get much better!

A popular resting spot:-)

 Happy Halloween!

Check out my skeleton baby...

The Money Shot-will be framing this one for next year!