The Baranko Family: 2012 Here We Come!

Happy New Year! We can't wait to see what 2012 holds for us, hopefully only good things for us and for all those we love.

Last week we took a couple days off of work to extend our Christmas vacation. It was fun to spend a day watching Luke play with all of his new toys.

Train conductor hat from Donna & Emil

Avocado face

On Wednesday we gave Emil one of his Christmas gifts, a private tour of what is considered the largest privately owned antique tractor collection ever. Matt's coworker happens to be the nephew of the man who owns the collection, and it is only 10 minutes away from where Matt's job is! This collection was amazing (even for me, who really isn't that interested in tractors!). Not only were there over 100 tractors, but there were also antique cars and trucks

The tractors were all lovingly restored by the owner Mr. Schaaf and his restoration team - each one is a labor of love.

The tractors were huge! Luke enjoyed weaving in and out of them while we tried to catch him.

Before we went to the tractor tour, we snuck in a quick visit with Matt's Uncle George and his family - in town from Washington DC. We haven't seen cousins Anna and Steven in years - they're so grown up!

On Friday Luke and I headed up to Wisconsin again to visit with my childhood besties Shelley, Andrea and Abby. Shelley, Rob and Alyssa were in town from New Jersey for a few days only so we could not miss a visit with them. Shelley is still in remission (yay) and looking great! She definitely deserves a wonderful 2012. And Abby is recently engaged and getting married next month - congrats to her and fiancee Omar! Anyway, we had an awesome playdate with the kiddos before heading to a very fun-filled dinner. Shelley's brother and sister in law came to dinner, Jeff & Jen, and so did Kristin & Cory. Seriously, we didn't want the night to end - it was so fun! With such great friends you don't need to see each other often, you can just pick right up where you left off. I do wish we could get together more frequently. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Mackus for watching the Lukers while I was at dinner.

Rob playing with all the kids- whatta guy!

Andrea's girls Isabelle & Josie, Alyssa's behind there too, and then Lukers. Josie and Luke are only 2 days apart, look how they're the same height!

Dinner at Asiana - the girls - Kristin, Kelly, Jen, Andrea, Abby, Shelley

The guys:) Rob, Jeff & Cory

Saturday night we hosted Kristin, Cory and PJ for a low key New Year's Eve celebration. We had a yummy steak dinner and a movie night while the kids slept. Not as crazy as years past, I'll admit, but definitely still fun.

Playing Barbies:)

Then Sunday and Monday we had pretty lazy days! So strange for us! In Luke news, we think Luke has been growing and/or teething. He's also trying to adjust to only one nap a day. He gets cranky a little more than usual, and is frequently pretty clingy and whiny too. What? What is this? This is a new phase for us, we're so used to him being basically angelic all the time. We're starting to realize that this is when the whole thing discipline thing starts. Boundaries are being tested and he knows when he's doing things he shouldn't be - consistency is key! It is hard not to give in to that adorable pouty lip though - look at that face!