Happy New Year

We hope everyone has a blessed and happy 2009. We had a great 2008 and appreciate all the time we were able to spend with family and friends.

Tonight we are celebrating the same way we did last year. We have some of our other "married with children" friends over. The kids tear apart the basement and the parents talk and play Rock Band. Yup, the members of this group have become pretty lame 30ish people, but we have fun together.

This photo if of Emma and her good friend Ella. Ella brother Kale is also in the photo. See you in 2009. This is the year of the Cubs!

Daddy/Daughter Day

Today was Daddy/Daughter Day. I took Emma to the toy store to get new blocks to replace her baby blocks. Then we went to Happy Joe's. Later we went to Jungle Bungle to let Emma play. We both had fun and now Kelley and I will be heading off to celebrate Kelley's birthday.

Christmas Slide Show

We've posted several Christmas photos on our blog. Here is a slide show of many of our photos. Sorry for the picture quality. These were taken from my phone. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Kelley (Ryan too)

Christmas day was Kelley's thirtieth birthday. It was also her twin brother Ryan's birthday as well (funny how that works out). Since celebrating properly on Christmas day is difficult with this little known holiday called Christmas happening at the same time, we are going to go out Tuesday night. I'm going to take Kelley to the Bass Street Chop House. We are then going to either go to the new piano bar in Davenport or to a movie. Help us out here. If the piano bar is not open, what movie should we see? If there is nothing worth seeing right now, let us know that as well. We don't get out that much, so give us your ideas of what to do. Our two year-old has made us socially awkward. Please post your suggestions.

Ryan's Holiday Hoopla

Kelley's twin brother Ryan just purchased a house in North Liberty, Iowa. To "break in" the house, Ryan invited several friends over for a party. The party went well and Ryan had a hard time not showing off his break dancing skills. This photo is of him refusing to get a picture taken of himself break dancing.

During the day, the weather became considerably warmer. Once dusk began to fall, the temperature rapidly fell to below 30 degrees. The result was a sheet of ice everywhere. To make matters worse, snow and sleet came on top of the ice. This caused Kelley and me to stay at Ryan's for the night instead of trying the journey home. The highlight of waking up in the morning was to see how Ryan's friends had decorated his tree.

Dinner is done

We just finished dinner. As the adults cleaned up, the kids got to watch a cartoon. Emma and Hannah watched a cartoon the same way a moth is attracted to a flame. Next comes the gifts.

A sea of presents...part 2

Emma and Hannah can't wait to get their hands on the Christmas presents.

DeBaene Christmas is starting

We just got into Noni and Papa's house. All the gifts are under the tree and Noni is finishing dinner. Emma and Hannah are hard at work playing.

Christmas greetings from Emma and Hannah

Emma and her cousin Hannah have a Christmas greeting for everyone.

Baby Jesus is her homeboy

We went to Christmas Eve mass tonight. As with most of the masses we attend, Emma tends to get a little restless if the mass goes too long. On Matt's iPhone is a bubble game that keeps her entertained when she is restless. While she was playing with Matt's phone, she decided to stop playing her bubble game and pretend she is using it as a phone. She puts the phone to her ear and says, "Hello Mary? Hello Joseph? Hello baby Jesus? This is Emma." Everyone around her could hear what she just said and our section for mass started laughing. Emma is always entertaining...even when she doesn't mean to be.

Sledding

Kelley and I woke up this morning grumbling about having to shovel snow again. Not Emma. Emma is now familiar with the snow and knows it is a chance for sledding. After sledding today, Emma learned how to make a snow angel. Emma took this new skill and tried to apply it inside the house. We didn't have the heart to tell her it does not work without snow.

Dah dah dah dah (Monday Night Football Theme Music)

I just saw one of the greatest Bears games I have ever seen. Monday Night Football, Bears versus Packers. It was the coldest game on record for the Bears. Luckily I was prepared and had several layers of clothes on. I felt like the little brother on a Christmas Story ("I can't put my arms down!"). The game had a playoff atmosphere. Knowing that the season would be over for the Bears if they lost made every play matter. I cannot say the Bears played the best football, but they got the job done. Even better to beat the Packers.


Kelley and Emma went to stay with Emily and Dave on Monday night while I was at the game. Hannah and Emma played very well with each other and got a trip to Chucky Cheese (worst pizza ever). On Tuesday morning, Kelley and Emma picked me up in the city and we went bumming around. Emma got to go to the American Girl store for the first time. It was cool seeing her wonder through the store with the look of joy and amazement of everything around her. She loved it. Emma brought her doll Courtney and found a ballerina dress for her. Emma said she got it for Courtney for Christmas.

Gifts are opened

All the gifts are open. Out of all the toys, they still go to playing
with a box. Thank you to everyone for their gifts. Please note that Emma is wearing a ballerina dress a second ballerina dress. Emma's favorite outfits are pajamas and ballerina dresses.

A sea of presents

Emma is having a blast working through the sea of presents. She got a ballerina outfit and quickly put it on.

Nicholson Christmas

We are in full swing of the Nicholson family Christmas. The stockings are done and we are now on to the gifts.

Santa taking a bath

While Emma was playing in the bathtub, she put bubbles on her face and started saying, "Ho, Ho, Ho."

Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer

Emma is expanding the number of Christmas songs she can sing. Enjoy the video of her singing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. For anyone wondering, we have no clue where she came up with the idea of saying, "whew" while singing.

Sit on Santa's lap

Last night Emma ate dinner with Noni and Papa. Between bites of bread, Emma asked Noni what she wanted for Christmas. Noni said things like lotion, slippers, etc. Emma then asked Papa what he wanted for Christmas. Papa said, "A new motorcycle. But I won't be getting that." Emma looked at him and said, "You should sit on Santa's lap."

A new holiday classic

We got Emma a new Christmas book today. It is written by Lemony Snicket and is called The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming. The book is about a latke that runs screaming out of a pan of oil and through the town. Along the way, the latke runs into different Christmas items and compares Christmas and Hanukah. It is a cute book with a good message at the end. Emma loves it. Of course, Emma loves that throughout the book she gets to scream AAAHHHH! along with the latke when he hops out of the frying pan.

Emma sings Jingle Bells

Emma loves to show off her singing skills. Enjoy the video!

Frosty and me

One of Emma's favorite things to do is to begin singing a Christmas song and then a quarter of the way through the song, switch to a different song (Barney, ABC, etc.). The song she likes to change the most if Frosty the Snowman. Here she is with the man himself.

Gearing up for Santa

Our household has been buzzing with coming of Santa. Emma is very excited and can tell you all about the Santa and Rudolf. She sings songs, make crafts, and talks about Santa coming down the chimney. Emma is concerned every time we have a fire going because it might burn Santa. This year, Emma wants everything pink from Santa...pink camera, pink pony, pink ballerina, etc. Emma swears she has been good and is looking forward to Christmas.

Recently, Emma has figured out that Christmas and Kelley's birthday are one in the same. The thought of a Christmas and birthday party together is almost too much excitement for her. Emma got Kelley a Christmas gift last week and then told Kelley what it was the next morning.

Here we are!

Before we become bigger than the Partridge family, we thought it would be fun to start a blog for you to keep up with the nonsense of our every day lives. To set the tone for things to come, here is a picture of Emma.