Brotherly Love......

It has been neat for me to see the change in Silas since we have had Nathan. At first, he was very protective of him, but scared of him in way. He didn't want anyone to hold him, but when Nathan would cry, it would scare Silas and oftentimes make Silas cry also. Then, as time progressed, I think he realized Nathan wasn't going anywhere and there was some jealousy. He would sometimes tell me "Nathan down" when I was holding Nathan and Silas would want me to do something. Well, now that Nathan is up more during the day and can sit in his "seat" or be held more upright, Silas is paying more attention to him. I sometimes find him bringing Nathan a toy or trying to get him to smile or laugh. However, there have been times that he has intentionally pushed Nathan or taken a toy away from him, so hence....brotherly love. I think maybe Silas realizes that this might be the only time he is bigger than Nathan at the rate Nathan is growing!

Here are few pictures of the boys....

The boys hanging out on the new chair. Silas likes to hold Nathan's hand, so if you can see it, he's holding it.

Here's the "big guy" himself. Yes, we are approaching 3 chins, but doesn't he look so happy! Once you get him giggling, there is no stopping that guy. It is so funny!

Silas holding Nathan's hand again. He loves that Nathan grips his fingers.

There is the brotherly love that I caught on camera.

Daddy and Silas playing our new game, Hungry, hungry Hippos. Silas sometimes wakes up saying "play hippos" at 6:00 am.......

Odds and Ends

It has been a somewhat rough start to the New Year as we have been battling quite an illness around here. Silas got sick at the end of our Chicago/Iowa trip and hasn't been able to kick it. We were hoping to avoid the dr's office, but we ended up taking him in because the severity of his cough and his breathing. The dr indicated it is only a virus and prescribed some steroids to try and open up his airways to hopefully heal him quicker. Now, of course, Nathan has it also and it is very hard to see such a young baby sneezing and coughing, but I guess that is the nature of the beast! Oh well, this just reminds us of how thankful we should be when we are healthy! This also helps me to be even more thankful that I can be at home with them instead of trying to figure out who has to stay at home and how many days can be missed at work, etc. I'm doing my best to get them healthy with naps, feeding and much rocking.

This brings me to the next topic. We got a new chair! Yeah! I've always wanted a rocker/recliner big enough to hold two kids and comfortable enough to hold a sick child all night if needed. As much as I love hand me downs, garage sales, craiglist, you name it, I really hoped to be able to get a new chair so that I knew who had sat in it, cleanliness, etc. Well, as a late Christmas gift, we purchased one. First of all, we paid all of our January bills all ahead of time (yeah for us!) and then looked at where we were at and then looked at the amazing after Christmas sales and went for it. I don't regret it one bit! It has come at the perfect timing and what a blessing. I have been able to feed Nathan while reading to Silas and we all fit perfectly. Now Silas asks, can we rock and read. I say "anytime!"

I will attach a few pictures of us enjoying some Christmas gifts. Silas got a Thomas the Train puzzle from Grandpa and Amma Shippy and he really enjoys having us help him put it together. My favorite...I mean Nathan's favorite gift...is the Bumbo seat. When we are playing on the floor, he sits right up in it and likes to watch Silas and I play. Aunt Carla introduced us to the tray that goes with it and so if I put toys on it, he enjoys looking at them. It won't be long until he's grabbing for them and playing with them. He's changing by the day!

Silas being goofy and Nathan just hanging out.

Daddy and Silas working on the puzzle.

Daddy trying out the chair.

Mommy w/ her boys.

Nathan enjoying his bumbo seat.

A Recap of Christmas.....

We had a wonderful Christmas, so I'll share a bit. We flew to Chicago on the 23rd to spend some time with Kurt's family. The weather in Chicago included much snow and freezing rain along with temperatures that were frigid!!! After over 3 hours in O'hare airport, we finally got to Grandma Aichele's completely exhausted. We had a wonderful time in Chicago spending much time with family. Silas had a fun time with his cousins and continues to talk about them. Nathan, well...he slept and ate.

On the 26th, we drove to Iowa to surprise my dad along with my two sisters. The weather did not cooperate, as my oldest sister's flight was delayed and driving was tricky at times for us. We met up with my middle sister in Iowa and then headed to my Dad's. We had many different options on how to surprise him, but we ended up meeting at a restaurant nearby his house and with Mary's (my step-mom) help, she convinced him to come there. Surprise! I wish I would have gotten a picture of the look on his face as he saw all of his girls and families there. Anyways, the rest of the time in Iowa was spent hanging out with my sisters, having the cousin's play together (all 9 of them), seeing my grandparents, and one of my cousins was able to come with their children, and we got to see all of my aunts on my mom's side, which was nice. Again, the weather was very cold and snowed, but since we stayed in a lot of the time, it wasn't too bad. The downfall was that we all got sick and are still under the weather, but that happens.

We finally got home Dec 31st after a delay at O'Hare and so we missed our flight in Denver and had to get the next flight, which was also delayed. So we got home later than anticipated. When we arrived, we were still bundled up like it was 10 degrees out only to walk outside to sunny 55 degree weather. Oh how it was nice to be home!

Here are a few pictures. I didn't take too many, but hopefully Kurt will post some also.

Kurt and Nathan hanging out.

Proud Grandpa.
My sister Carla and her twin boys with Grandpa Shippy.

Kurt and Darrell were watching the kids.......

See what they are doing. Here is Ann-Marie.
That was Alec.
Evan in mid air.

Silas taking his turn.

And, the wonderful wait at O'Hare. We were so thrilled!

Merry Christmas (early!)

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. This year has been very special, as Silas has started to enjoy opening gifts and understands more. I was able to do the toddler party at church this past Sunday. We had a wonderful time. We had a Happy Birthday Jesus Party with cupcakes and played Pin the Star on the Manger and did some stories and activities with the nativity scene. Although they may not fully understand, it is a delight to be able to see some "lights" turn on when you talk about baby Jesus.

Anyways, we hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday season. I will let you know how our holiday went after the first of the year!

Merry Christmas,

Love,

the Aichele's

First "semi-official" day at work

Kurt's last day at the YMCA was Thursday. On Friday, we spent some time as a family and then we went over to watch a fencing competition that is being held here in Colorado Springs. Wow, it is much different then what we are both use to. I think the most unique aspect is that all ages can compete in fencing. We watched some veterans compete and some had to be in there 60-70's. I love seeing people still actively competing in sports at that age. Then, Friday night we were able to get a babysitter for Silas so Kurt and I could have a date night. We took Nathan since he is pretty easy on a date still. We went out to eat and did a little shopping, but were home by 9:00 pm.

Today, after seeing the fencing competition yesterday and realizing maybe Kurt should wear a suit, we had to purchase a suit. Yes, with all of the interviews Kurt has had these past two years, he doesn't own a suit. He has always gotten away with a nice blazer, but we realized yesterday he is going to need a suit (maybe even 2???). So we took advantage of some Christmas sales and purchased a suit for a very reasonable price. (Thank goodness!).

So with that being said, Kurt has now left to go to the competition to be announced as the new Executive Director of USA Fencing. After that, he will go out to eat with the Executive Board of Fencing. He "officially" starts this position on Monday. I will attach a few pictures of him getting ready.

Notice the toddler at his feet "helping" him get ready!

All but the jacket on so far, as it was 50 degrees here today, not bad! Doesn't he look handsome!

Big bear hugs before leaving.

Big, Healthy Boy

I continue to be amazed by how Nathan is growing so quickly. We had his 2 month appt yesteday and realized just how big he is. He now weighs in at a hefty 14 lb 14 oz which is the 99th percentile. His height is 24 in which is the 86th percentile. I got out Silas's information from when he was 2 months just to compare. At 2 months, Silas weighed 11 lb 3 oz which is 25 percentile and his height was 23 in which is 35% percentile. I looked at Silas's 4 month appt and he still wasn't even 14 lbs. Amazing how children from the same genetics can be so opposite on the scale. Oh well, I'm just so thankful they are both healthy and might be sharing the same size clothes soon!

Proud Owners......

We are "proud" owners of a ...........................mini van! Yeah! I can't believe I'm excited about driving a minivan, but oh so functional! Anyways, now we have two vehicles. See, we have been down to one vehicle for just over a month, so I have been somewhat housebound. With having two young children, I must admit going out too much doesn't even interest me, but there have been days where I wanted to go somewhere or do something and I couldn't.

However, I knew it would be worth it in the end and it was. We were able to pay cash and immediately own the vehicle and we do not have any car payments! For those of you that have known how difficult these past few years have been financially, I finally feel like we are getting back on track. Kurt and I are now a team, trying to be wise with our finances, consulting with others before making big purchases and tracking every little penny that we spend!

I am so proud of Kurt! He was leaning towards another direction which would mean car payments and I was biting my lip trying to decide how to submit to my husband, yet kindly tell him, NO. So, I asked him to consult with a friend from church and see what they said while I prayed hard for wisdom. Sure enough, Kurt called back to say our friend along with Kurt didn't feel like that was the wise decision. Praise God for answer to prayer and much wisdom. I'm very thankful for Godly friends that are willing to speak truth into our lives even when it isn't easy!

So with that being said, we are going to continue with what we budgeted for in car payments every month (which we don't have to use now) and save that for car repairs. Our minivan is a 2002 Dodge Caravan with 109,000 miles on it, so we know there will be repairs, but we're hoping it will get us a long time and then we can have saved up enough money to purchase another car with cash. Our next step is probably purchasing another 2nd car since Kurt's car (1990 Grand Am) will probably die soon.

Kurt and I were so excited about our purchase that we even went out Sat night with the kids to cruise around. Haven't done that in awhile. We were like teenagers again! God has taught us so many lessons this year and I wouldn't trade it for anything! I'm just glad it was with Kurt. We had to laugh that although it has been hard, we're glad we were in it together! Oh the stories we will share w/ our children!