Happy New Year!

2009 dawned bright and chilly for the Sanders clan. We welcomed the new year with our traditional lucky black eyed peas. Everyone, excluding the little guy, heartily consumed. Hopefully providing the whole family with lots of luck! To start off our year, I decided to give a little description of each member of our family.



Nathan, aka Daddy, Papai, Honey, Mr. Sanders

Is, currently, weathering the financial storm. And by weathering, we mean holding on for dear life. He's still enjoying his job even in this changed climate. He's planned for some serious bike riding this year (multiple group rides/races and peaks to conquer) and is thrilled to have set up his rollers in the basement as he realized black ice and bicycles are a dangerous combination.

Erin, aka Mommy, Mamai, Honey, Mrs. Sanders

Is embracing all things mommy and generally, loving it. She does find that she spends most of her days, cleaning up, putting away, attending to, fixing this and that, and wondering where the time goes. Hobbies, ha. Although, she does plan to have a repertoire of Christmas carols to bang out on her new piano come next December. She wonders where the Arizona girl went, when, yesterday she said, "Sure, I walk the kids to school if it's above 20. The fresh air is good for them."

Maddie, aka Mado, Sweetheart, Tiger Lily, 5 3/4

Is loving kindergarten. She skips off to school each day with a smile on her face. She is extremely loving and gentle with her brothers, rushing to attend to them when they are sad. She loves art, games, dancing, pretend play and snow. We love finding her special creations on our nightstand with a specially written I love you note. She is very excited to start ice skating this weekend and not too excited about Spring soccer.

Theo, aka T, Sweetheart, little buddy, 2 1/2

Is our happy boy (actually we have two of those!). He loves to be silly and make us laugh. He's very easy going and fairly easy to distract if he gets upset. His favorite phrase is, "Then I'm going to scream" said when he does not get his way. It was cute at first... He loves trains, games, Elmo, his friends, school (a music and art class we take together), swimming, and he's getting much better in the cold. He loves to talk and we can hear him talking to himself throughout the house. He too is very sweet with his siblings, and will share his toys with Gabriel.

Gabriel, aka Gaby baby, little person, Sweet Pea, Abriel (what Theo calls him), 6 months

Another happy boy. Though he does have a bit of a temper, I can already see what 2 will be like! He is such a sweet baby, sleeping fairly well, a good eater (though not a good weight gainer), and rolling all over the place. His latest tricks are to sit up (supported with his arms) and push up on to all fours and rock. He talks a lot, laughs at funny faces and is very very ticklish.

Happy 2009!