All Aboard the Youngman Express!

Uncle Jay is well aware of the many train enthusiasts in our family.  So, not only did he make sure he had a train looping their Christmas tree, he also took some time to set up their old train set in their basement.  Cade and Owen were in heaven!  We didn't bother taking the little boys down there, as we thought it might be a little too much for them at their age.  Here's a peek at our big boys enjoying the action.

I just love the look on their faces in the photos as they watched the train race by them.  Cade would say, "All aboard!!!"

One of our bigger boys thought he might get in on the conducting action in an effort to impress his wife.  I'm pretty sure all it did was confirm to her what a big dork he is.  That's what it did for me, anyway. ;)

A big thank you to Uncle jay for taking the time to create something so special for the boys!  I know my boy certainly loved it and can't wait to come back and play some more!

Christmas at the Youngman Home

After opening gifts at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we made our way over to Auntie Gaye and Uncle Jay's house for lunch, which has been our tradition for as long as I can remember.  The house was full of boys, until Miss Maddy came and sprinkled the room with a little feminine charm.  She and Josh came later in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, Angie was sick and Danielle couldn't make it.  We missed them!

Since I took so many photos and had a rough time narrowing them down, I'll just get right to it...

Auntie Beth and Logan, who is the spitting image of his daddy!

Our little giggle man

Me with my adorable Godson, Cash

Aunt Debbie and Logan

Beth and Aunt Debbie

Uncle Ry and Logan

Can you tell we're related? ;)

Matt, Jess, and Logan

Auntie Beth and Owen

All the ladies (minus the aforementioned Glodo ladies who couldn't make it)

Beth and Sarah

Grandma and Grandpa posing with their gift from all their kids.  Yes, my parents have a Wii.  Rumor has it that Grandpa can make you laugh til you nearly wet your pants while you watch him hula hoop on the Fit.

Owen and Cade got matching race car helmets and had a ball with them.

It's fun for all ages! ;)  This is Uncle Jay's dad, who is in his 90s.  I caught him playing with Logan's toy and thought it was so cute!

Uncle Josh and Logan

The Three Stooges

Maddy and Josh

A big thank you to Auntie Gaye for being such a wonderful hostess and making an awesome dinner.  We had such a wonderful time and, as always, were sad when the day came to a close.  Already looking forward to next Christmas!  Until then, I still have a few more cute photos from this Christmas (I bet you didn't think that was possible!) so stay tuned!

Christmas Morning

Oh my goodness!  Where does the time go?  I've been meaning to get back to this blog for days and finish up with photos of our time in the 'boro over the holidays.  We all got bad colds, we had lots of bad weather, and Cody went to Ohio for business for a few days.  Thus, I just didn't feel much up to blogging!  Anyway, back to the matter at hand...

We had, dare I say it, a perfect Christmas.  I really don't think there could have been much to make it better.  Cameron adjusted SO well to the travelling.  Much better than I ever thought he would, which was a huge relief to all of us, especially me.  (Not sure if you know this, but I tend to worry about nearly everything in my life. ;) )  We spent Christmas morning opening gifts at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Here are a few of the highlights...

Owen with his Collapsing Sodor Suspension Bridge from Santa.  Nearly everything this child got had something to do with Thomas.  At least he is consistent. ;)

It's a bird, it's a plane....No, it's Super Owen!  Santa brought him just what he asked for--a super hero cape complete with power cuffs and  mask.

Super Owen checking to see if Santa filled his stocking.

A Muhs Christmas is never complete without Bears gear.  Grandma & Grandpa got Owen an Urlacher jersey just like Daddy's.  I'm not sure who was more excited about that one, Owen or Daddy.

Seeing this face makes all the shopping and late nights spent wrapping worth it.

We can't forget our Cammer Jams!  He didn't want to have much to do with opening the gifts, but he fell in love with this tractor when Owen opened it for him.  All the animals make sounds when you put them in the wagon, it moves by itself, the Farmer sings "Old McDonald", and the horn honks.  What more could an animal-loving 2-year-old ask for?

This boy makes me melt when he smiles like that.  The car he's holding in his right hand is one of those you shake up and it goes by itself.  We got him an elephant and a gorilla and he LOVES them.  For awhile, he would just bring them to us to do it because he couldn't figure it out himself.  We kept trying to get him to do it himself but he wouldn't.  (Which is very typical for Cam.)  Last week he figured it out and we were so excited for him!  He shakes it up saying, "Shay (shake), shay, shay," sets it down and says, "Reh-y (ready), seh (set), yoooooo (go)!!!!"  Such a big step for our little guy.

I guess that wraps up Christmas morning.  Stay tuned for more of our Christmas celebration!  Maybe I'll get them in before February gets here!

Cash Turns One!

On December 20th, our adorable Godson, Cash, turned one.  Beth and Ryan had a few close family members over to their house to celebrate and we were so glad we were able to be part of the celebration! 

Grammy got him his very own chair for his birthday.  As you can see, he loved it!

I don't think any other two people are more excited than Beth and me about Larry's House of Cakes adding a bakery in Carbondale.  Look at the yummy cake they made!  It perfectly complimented the invitations she sent.  They also made a cupcake for Cash to destroy to his heart's content.

Clapping for his cake.  He did a lot of clapping that night! ;)

He wasn't quite sure of what to think of the cupcake.  But once he had a bite, he LOVED it.  Beth had to hold it for him though.  It was almost like he didn't know he could pick it up.  Then once he realized he could pick it up, he really went to town on it!  It was all so cute!

Cake Happiness

Of course, you know my children will find a DVD player if they are within a 1 mile radius of it.

Sing it with me now, "Sisters, Sisters!"

And here's the birthday boy giving Uncle Matt & Aunt Jess a kiss over the phone when they called and sang to him.  He was so cute listening to it.  He was wide-eyed and loved it!

Happy Birthday, Cashers!  Here's hoping the next year is as good as your first one!  We love you so much!

Showering the Youngmans

After our trip to St. Louis, we headed down to the 'boro for a long weekend. Beth and I shared hostess duties in throwing a baby shower for my cousin's wife, Jess, who is due with their first baby in August. Beth and I had so much fun planning this event! We had a baby carriage/green and brown theme and we just ran with it! We held it at Beth's beautiful new home and I think everything turned out great.

This is the diaper bag that we got Jess. Under that is the spread from Grammy Gaye--lots of essentials for the baby's new room. Jess had picked out these colors a while ago for the nursery, so we drew our inspiration from that.

We bought lots of different baby outfits in our color theme in varying sizes and used them as decoration:

The best part about these decorations is that they didn't go to waste! Jess got to take them all home to put on cute little Baby Y. for the next year.

We had green and brown M&M's on the tables, along with baby carriages that I painstakingly traced and cut out, with the help of my awesome Daddy. Thanks, Dad!

The spread. I loved these beautiful vases and flowers that Beth found, all in the right colors, of course!

The cake and favor table.

A close-up of the cake--it says "Baby Youngman is rolling in!" It is kind of a re-creation of the invitations we sent. It was made by a woman in Murphysboro, in case anyone there needs a new cake lady!

A close-up of the favors--brown and green M&M's in a little bag. The carriage says, "Baby Y. is rolling in, thanks so much for showering him!"



Beth, Jess, and myself

Only a few more weeks until we meet the newest member of the family! I, for one, am ecstatic and can not wait!!!