Christmas Tradtions & Looking forward to 2011

I love love love the Christmas holidays! The anticipation of Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning are the best! I treasure our old and new traditions:

Our old traditions:

Listening to Christmas music all month long on Sunny 99.1. I am obsessed with Christmas music! It makes me so happy. It also reminds me of Sam. You'll remember that we played Christmas music at his funeral, so every time I hear "Little Drummer Boy" I think of Sam. Mom and I joke that Sam knew what he was doing when he asked us to play Christmas music at his funeral - that way we would always think of him when we heard the songs play. Christmas was Sam's favorite holiday! We miss him dearly and enjoy the memories we have with him during this holiday season.

Watching Love Actually I absolutely love this move and I watch it every year. Last year we could not find my copy, so Mom bought me another one. Then of course we found it so I now have 2 copies. However, this year my DVDs were packed, so I rented it for $2 from On Demand.

Christmas Eve Mass We always attend Mass on Christmas Eve. It is always the most crowded and you must arrive at least 30 minutes if not an hour before because everyone attends this mass. Now, if we could just get on a more regular attendance schedule throughout the year!

Spending Christmas Eve & Morning at Mom's house We always enjoy Mexican food at Mom's house after Mass. Grandma makes her famous enchiladas! Yum! This year we will stay the night and wait for Santa Claus to visit us. And for Christmas Morning we can't forget the bubble bread - Sam's famous recipe - which we eat every year. We are still trying to perfect his recipe - he always gave it just enough goo. Next year, we will celebrate Christmas Morning in our new house!

Spending Christmas Day at Pat's house After a fun morning with Mom and Grandma, we all get ready and head to Pat's house to spend the day with Matt's family. This year we will hang with Pat, Aunt Sharon, Chris, Scott and Lauren. This will be our first Christmas without Matt's dad Joe. I am sure Joe and Sam will be having the best time celebrating Christ's birthday in heaven with Him.

Our new traditions:

Reese's school music celebration Her class invited the parents to join for a sing a long music celebration. Pat and I went and had a fun time. Pat took lots of pictures which I will come back and add. Reese was bit shy and didn't participate much; I guess because I was there. We still had a great time singing Christmas songs with her music teacher and her friends. Afterwards, we enjoyed pizza in her classroom.

Driving around Houston looking at Christmas lights This year, Matt and I decided we had to start a new tradition of driving around to look at Christmas lights. We went last Sunday around 7:30 p.m. Our first stop was at Starbucks for a hot chocolate for Matt, a mocha for me and an apple juice for Reese. Lane decided he was thirsty too, so I sat in the back in between Reese and Lane and fed him a bottle. I love the lights in Houston and I'd missed seeing them since I am on leave and therefore not driving home after work or out late shopping. We drove through the Galleria (love the trees on Post Oak) to Downtown (love City Hall) and back through West U (love all the houses). We told Reese that we were going downtown and once we got there she kept saying, "Are we downtown?" I kept replying, "Yes, we are downtown, see the tall buildings!"

Our future traditions:

Making Christmas cookies Sam always made homemade sugar cookies decorated with icing. He would make dozens for his students (aka kids) and they were delicious! We had planned to make some this year but just ran out out of time with Lane being sick and all of us being tired. But rest assured we will make them next year! Reese did get to ice cookies at school.

So you see all the wonderful things we love about Christmas time. It makes me sad to think the holidays are almost over, so I think about all we have to look forward to in 2011:

- I will be returning to work on January 6th. It will be bittersweet as I will be sad to leave Lane especially now as he is getting more interactive, but I will be happy to see my work friends and challenge myself with projects. Lane will be in excellent hands with Grandma Ruth and I will be working 36 hours. The plan is to work 8 hour days and 4 hours on Friday.
- Reese's 3rd birthday on January 21st! We are planning a party at Pump It Up with her school friend Saige.
- New T.V. seasons begin. Lame I know, but I do love my T.V. Not that I have much time to watch it which is why I love DVR - can record it and watch it during those late night feedings.
- We will love watching Lane and Reese grow and change this year.
- Matt will be traveling less and less for his work - Yay, more family time and Mommy will get some help from Daddy. We really miss him when he travels.
- And the biggest event of the year - finishing the house and moving in!
- Well, this may top the new house - Matt and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage this coming year. Here's hoping we get to take a nice and relaxing vacation if we have any money left to spend after the house and if we can twist the grandmother's arms to keep the kids for a week.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful New Year! Our New Year's Card/Lane's Birth Announcement will be in the mail to you all soon!

Love,
The Sicinski's
Matt, Adrienne, Reese and Baby Lane

A Visit to Santa Claus

This year Reese has been very interested in Santa Claus. I think she learned more about him at school because she came home talking about Santa. She was very excited to go and visit him. I kept promising her we would go, but we had to postpone twice before we finally made it. The first time on a Friday, I had to take Lane to the doctor instead of taking them to see Santa. Reese was very nice when I told her we would go another time. Then that Sunday we went but the line was way too long and we were all hungry for lunch. Finally, on Monday at 9:30 a.m. Reese, Lane and I made it to Memorial City Mall to see Santa Claus! It was well worth the wait as he was a very good Santa and it only took 20 minutes in line to see him.

Reese waited patiently although she wanted to jump ahead in line. I told her we had to wait our turn.


She was not afraid by any means. I was so proud of her! She and Lane sat in Santa's lap so well. Reese told Santa she wanted a Dora Doll House.

After all the anticipation, she was a little shy, but just so cute sitting with Santa.

I got her to give me a goofy smile.

And the pros got her to give me a wonderful smile (which I got to take home with me on a USB drive for only $35). Lane looks so sweet too!

We can't wait for your visit this year Santa! We'll be at GiGi's - not the rent house!

Oh and one more thing to note - Reese didn't give me any trouble getting dressed to see Santa. She wore her pretty snowflake sweater and skinny black jeans, but before we even left the mall she said, "I want to change clothes Mom." So we headed home and put on her comfy cotton pants and a t-shirt. ;) She is her father's daugher!

Lane ~ 9 weeks

Lane had his 2 month appointment on December 23rd. He weighed in at 13.2 pounds (76 percentile) and 24 inches (87 percentile). His head is 44 percentile. His doctor was very happy with his eating and sleeping habits and reassured me that it is completely normal for him to still be eating every 2-3 hours (taking 4-5 ounces of pumped breast milk) and sleeping at 3-4 hour increments. I expressed my concern that he is not sleeping longer at night, but she thinks he will get there very soon. With the sickness and hospital stay, Lane has been through a lot, but he'll get there. It may not be before I return to work, but it should be soon. He got 3 vaccinations and was so brave! Our sweet Lane is so laid back with the doctor - let's hope it stays that way - unlike Reese who would cry when I placed her on the scale for her weight. Lane did cry when he got the shots (and I forgot the sugar water), but he recovered quickly, finished his bottle and slept for 2 hours. Matt and I treated ourselves to breakfast at Buffalo Grille and took a tour of the house while Lane napped in his carrier.

At 9 weeks, Lane is cooing and responds when spoken to.

He loves to kick in his bouncer and in his bath.

Lane really enjoys his bath time. It's a fun bonding experience for the two of us. He is very calm during and afterwards while I dress him.

This week Lane began talking to his mobile and Grandma swears he laughed in his sleep.

An Astros day at Minute Maid Park

Last Saturday, the 18th, Reese was invited to attend a birthday party at Minute Maid Park where the Houston Astros play.

Here is a picture of Matt and Reese in the Diamond Club.

Matt and Reese walking onto the playing field.

Matt and Reese walking along the warning track.

A good picture of the stadium with the roof open.

Matt showing Reese the train in left field.

Matt and Reese sitting in the dugout.

Matt and Reese contemplating a call to the relief pitcher.

Time to call in the relief!

One more look at the train in left field.

Reese and her classmates making faces in the dugout.

Family picture with the train in the background.

Mommy and Reese taking a walk.

Playing!!!

Learning how a baseball is made.

Always observant and a good listener.

Reese, Daddy and Junction Jack!

Time for snacks!

House update as of 12-17-10

I think the phrase we have heard most often is, "It is a really big house!". It is bigger than some in the neighborhood, but what makes it look so big is:

1. It is tall - we built it as tall as the City of West University would allow. This gave us the ability to have 10 foot ceilings downstairs and 9 foot ceilings upstairs plus attic space.
2. The big side trees (ash and pecan) are gone. We will replace them with new trees.
3. The brick wall is not up yet, once that is built it will help balance everything.

Matt's side of the master closet.

Lane's closet - the shoe/toy/sweater shelf.

Lane's desk. Reese has one exactly like it in her room.

The kitchen - a brick arch will go around the range in between the cabinets.

The mudroom/entry from the garage.

The kitchen - this is the opposite side of the range and it looks into the great room.

The trim guys expect to take 4-6 weeks to finish the cabinets, baseboards, window trim, etc. They are making nice progress!

Lane ~ 2 months

At 8 weeks, Lane weighed in at 12 lbs 12 oz - the boy is growing! It's no wonder he still prefers to eat every 2 hours for half of his feedings. We see the doctor on Thursday for his official 2 month appointment, so we will see where he stands amongst his peers.

I took these on his 2 month birthday...

Not loving his tummy time!

Such a sweet and round face!

Catching up to bunny real fast!

Last week, Reese asked if she could feed Lane. She was really interested in it and while feeding him she told me, "I am a really good helper!". If I tried to help her and support the bottle, she would say, "Uh uh Mom." When she got tired she would say I could have a turn. It was a really sweet moment.

It is obvious she really enjoyed being a good helper. What a good big sister!

I found Lane sleeping on his side last week.

Daddy - the photographer

Matt has a knack for taking neat pictures of us...Enjoy!

He inspired me to take a few of him and Lane.

And back to his photos - I have one like this of Reese at 2 weeks. Lane is 6 weeks here.

Reese had been talking about riding the see-saw all week and she finally got to with Daddy.

And I took a few more because he inspired me again! I know, I am constantly taking pictures, but these are a bit more creative.

Our beautiful babies! Love these moments together.