Christmas

We had a nice Christmas with both our families. We're so grateful for all the time we got to spend with everyone and the kids are so excited over all their new toys. We got a box together of old toys for kids at Goodwill-Nate was so cute, he would put things in the "this is for another boy" box.

We're 90% done with the playhouse, yay! We need to get a few more things and then it will be officially done. We love it. For me, I love that it's in the shade some provided by the fruit trees we have-and that we can reach them right by some windows :) Nate's in love.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday-Happy New Year!

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Holiday Fun

We sure have been busy since we got back from San Diego, doing all sorts of Christmas activities. I can't believe Christmas Eve is only two days away-I could sure use another week to wrap, cook, clean...and hubby could use some more time to finish up the playhouse. I'm not sure that it's going to be fully done by Christmas Day :( Oh well, thats what happens when you get busy! On to the pictures...


A little arts and crafts

Our nearest mall hosted a breakfast with Santa. You got to see him, Mrs Claus read a story, had breakfast and then decorated gingerbread cookies. Decorating the cookie was Nate's favorite part!


Longest line of cookie decorators that I've ever seen!




One Saturday Nate went to a holiday class-he sang songs, did crafts and got to meet Frosty! (his new favorite holiday character)



Still in love with his "jingle bell" necklace!




Ok, so Nate is having an off year with Frosty too...though he likes to watch him

A local shopping center had various days of Storytime with Mrs Claus. We did a craft, listened to a few stories/sang songs, had snack and left with a goodie bag. Fun!






Super intrigued by Mrs Claus' glittery,shimmery, bright red lipstick! Wowee!




One night Nate, Aaron, mommy, Nana and Pap-Pap visited a local farm for "Moo-ey Christmas". Animals wore hats, there was a hayride with Christmas lights, s'mores by the fire, hot chocolate...we had a great time.



Chilling on a tractor with Pap-Pap



Spirited animals









Cutie



Getting ready to ride!


Easily entertained




Waiting for the s'mores


This past week Nate, daddy, Grandmother, Granddad, Uncle Ben and cousin Autumn visited a railroad park in Scottsdale. They had a bunch of Christmas lights and both a train and carousel to ride.



Choo-choo!



Bunch of trains


On the train with cousin Autumn



And finally...we again went this year to our local Polar Express event-Santa reads the Polar Express story and then gives each child a bell. There's also snacks and crafts.


Outside the room




Cookie time!


Can't forget little brother




Crafts


Storytime



Always the same expression of wonder :)

Merry Christmas!

7 Months

Time just keeps passing...Aaron turned seven months old this week. Cuter by the day too! :) We were told this week that he should hopefully have six,possibly nine weeks tops left of him wearing his doc-band. Every visit he is improving.

At seven months, Aaron...

Still is unsure about baby food. I'm almost starting to think he's particular about the brand we use. I find that if we use Earths Best, he's been eating those vegetables...but when I used Gerber, he'd spit everything out. Hmmmm.

Still LOVES his oatmeal. Earths Best that is.

Finds lots of joy with his older brother and dog. Well, he giggles and puts his hands out to any dog...he enjoys their kisses! He thinks Nate is the greatest.

Not yet sitting up/fully crawling. For the moment he's doing a swimming in place sort of action on the floor. He's got his feet kicking and arms waving, but the torso remains in place for the most part :) I'm not worried-I'm thankful that I don't have to vaccum and mop everyday as I otherwise would!

Likes to play in his crib. We'll find him in different corners when we go in. I don't mind-as long as he has his paci and his super comfy monkey blanket, he soothes himself to sleep. Yay!

Continues to sleep well. Now that his stuffy nose is gone, he's back to sleeping through the night. We also eliminated his "dream feed" that he usually had at 9pm as we found he could sleep through without it. Now he goes a full 12 hrs without eating-bed by 7:30 and doesn't wake until 7-7:30. Woohoo!

For the most part takes good naps. It's ranging now though between 2-3 naps a day, depending on how long/well they each last. What I love even more about my little guy-he seems pretty happy regardless. You wouldn't know sometimes that he hasn't had good naps, but I still strive to be sure we're home for most of them.

Loves kisses on his cheeks. He smiles from ear to ear!

Does NOT like being left alone in a room. If he knows you're doing something/having fun in another room, he wants to be included!

For whatever reason, when we're eating salads, always tries to pick up the lettuce. Doesn't bother our food much otherwise but has something with the lettuce!

Loves to take off his socks and eat his toes.

Tries to talk in his own language :)


Happy 7 months little one!
Big bro wanting to help with oatmeal


Loves Lily!

San Diego

Wow, is it over already?! It's really too bad that vacations go way too fast. We had a great time away. We're lucky in that the boys make for pretty good road trippers. For being a baby, Aaron did really well. I remember Nate's first trip to San Diego when he was eight months old...and I remember him screaming some of the way, on the way home in particular! We visited the beach, Legoland, an aquarium and did Sea World for a few days. While we had a blast with the kids, I'm relieved to be home in the area of rest and sleep :) The kids woke each other up so I'm happy for all of us to be home in our own rooms and beds! On that note, there was a few things I was thankful for and things I learned...

1. Hefty ZooPals plastic cups rock! They come in a box like bathroom cups would. There were cups, lids and straws included. MUCH better than worrying about bringing our own cups and having to clean those. Granted, we did have to bring Aaron's bottles and wash those, but the less we have to do the better! Super convenient.

2. On that note, thank goodness to the people who have come up with the idea of disposable bibs, spoons and forks. Disposable anything was greatly appreciated!

3. If anyone ever goes to Sea World San Diego and need to know where all the potty facilities are, ask me! At closing time of course Nate needed to use the restroom. He apparently needed to go so bad that he asked me to carry him, run, and hurry! However...he can be picky about the potty he uses. I ran around the park as fast as I could to different facilities...looking for "the" potty. Nate doesn't like the ones that flush automatically for you. Nope, must have a handle. Well, some family and handicapped stalls have those. But again, it had to be "the right" potty as well. Finally, we discovered that if the right potty isn't found, the floor will do just fine. Luckily this event didn't occur in the middle of the park in front of all the guests!

4. Aaron is the womanizer and charmer of the family. Young or old, he'd stare at a woman of his desire until they returned his glance back. I think hubby's next project after the playhouse will be to put boards on his windows! Yep, he's going to be the one we'll need to worry about in that respect.

5. When driving in CA (and on the freeway in particular!) if you "think" a distance will take X amt of minutes, don't forget to multiply that amount by five! Coming back from Sea World to our hotel, it was 5:30pm, and it took us around an hour to go ~15 miles. It was good the kids were tired that evening and both fell asleep on our way back. Taking the roads the next night was MUCH better.

6. The first week of December is a great time to travel, during the week probably even better. Both Legoland and Sea World were dead. It was awesome!

It's neat now that Nate is older that he has been able to appreciate this trip more so than others. He still hasn't stopped talking about the ocean, whales and "the big elevator" (see photo album :) ). Great time, now we need to catch up on some zzz's!

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