Cozy Bears

I took the boys out for a neighborhood wagon ride around dusk this evening. By the time we were on our way back home, a lot of the houses along the way had turned their Christmas lights on. We are planning on spending a few nights in Yosemite after Christmas, so we borrowed some cozy clothes for Levi from Cousin Forest who lives up in cold country, Montana. This was Levi's first time wearing mittens, and he was pretty curious about them at first. Luckily, he kept them on the whole time, along with Forest's fleece jacket, and was warm and toasty when we got home. I also got Parker a super warm and cozy jacket, which he loves, and which should keep him nice and warm in Yosemite. We definitely usually dress like beach people in the snow, so hopefully we will be a little bit prepared :) Although I think he kind of looks like he's going out hunting for caribou or something in the camo jacket...

Sick-Day Crafting

Welcome to winter--our family is deep in cold and flu season once again. Although I love Christmas time, and have always looked forward to this time of year, now that Parker is in school I'm finding that I miss summer more and more. Why? Because we are all miraculously healthy all summer long, and then once winter rolls around, all four of us stew in colds for months on end. Parker has been under the weather for a week or so now, and had his worst day yesterday. He is much better today, although I think he might have to miss another day of school tomorrow (sadly, because it's his last day before Christmas break). We did a little half-hearted craft this afternoon, since he was getting bored hanging out in the house although at the same time he's really not healthy enough to go out and play (and Levi is on his first super sick day of this round of illness). On the bright side, Parker did get to wear his apron that I made him a while ago out of a dish towel--he picked out the ribbon himself :)

Levi's First Word

Is "Ball"! 


Although he is quite the little noisemaker, and although he's made a few sounds that have seemed like words, I'm calling his most definite first word as ball. He says it whenever he sees a ball or a ball-like object, often and consistently. We're still waiting for a definite "Mama" "Dada" or "Parker," though :)

Hello?

One of Levi's favorite toys--which I'm sure we'll regret at some point--is the phone. He even puts it up to his ear like he's talking :) He also loves to push the buttons, so apologies if any of you receive strange phone calls!

Gettin' Saucy

Checking In With Parker

Parker and Rainbow Fish, a.k.a. Rainbowy, a.k.a. Rainbow, are best buds these days--Parker has been taking him everywhere with us, he sleeps with him every night, he makes costumes for him, plays games with him, talks to him, etc., etc. Parker even did a trial run on Monday to see if he wants to try to bring Rainbow Fish to school with him sometime--he brought a not-so-favorite stuffy (one he can stand to lose) and stuck it in his cubby in his classroom for the day, just checking to see how things would go. All was well with his stuffy by the end of the school day, so he just might be willing to risk it with Rainbow one of these days. We thought we lost Rainbow in Target last week, and I was truly panicked. I just might need to order a duplicate Rainbow Fish one of these days just in case...

A Mere Six Months Ago...

Jared and I were just looking through old photos on my computer, and came across this gem. Had to share it again...don't know whether to laugh or cry...

Lil' Goofball

Levi is so silly. He loves getting a reaction out of us, and will copy or repeat anything that makes us laugh. He went through about a week-long phase where he made this silly straining sound/face...it cracked us up, but we were also afraid that he might explode.

Christmastime at Legoland

Thanksgiving Baking

Levi got to lick the spoon when I made pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving :)

A Few More Thanksgiving Shots...

Thanksgiving 2011

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving! We spent the last few days down in San Diego, enjoying time with family and a big, bustling meal at Dee and Niki's house on Thanksgiving Day. The kids came home exhausted today, and both took long naps to recover from so much activity. We've had leftovers twice already, and have enough dessert in the fridge to last another week :) Thank you to Dee and Niki for all of their efforts and hard work, and for hosting such a lovely party in their home for all of us.

Dee modeling my first sewing project

Levi experiencing his first turkey coma--he literally fell asleep in his high chair at dinner! Too funny. He kept falling asleep in the strangest of places the whole time--maybe all of the new people and places tired him out?

Parker and Mimi

Alex treated us all to a musical performance

Parker was so busy running around with the other kids all afternoon that I was barely able to snap any photos of him. Here is one of the few. For some reason, he kept giving me this look whenever I saw him. Oh, how I wish I knew what really goes through that head of his.

Levi really bonded with his straw cup 

Dessert time--Jared and I compared notes, and apparently this was Round One for dessert for Parker--neither of us are sure how he snuck a Round Two in. I tried my best to micromanage his dessert intake, but I guess he slipped some by me...on a side note, Rainbow Fish accompanied him throughout the day. Maybe dessert Round Two was Rainbow's idea...

Levi peeking in on the guys watching the football game in the "Men's Room"

Grayson was really into this Pokemon book...he kept showing me different pages and having me take pictures of them...

My First Apron

Made the apron, bought the boots :)

Happy First Birthday, Levi!

Happy First Birthday, Levi!!!

Opening presents from Ian, Krista, and Forest

Pointing to his birthday banner

A one-year photo collage retrospective (we were planning to have a party for Levi's birthday, but both boys ended up getting sick, so we had to cancel. I had already made decorations, so we had to just go ahead and enjoy them ourselves!)

I learned how to use Jared's sewing machine to make these birthday decorations. I really enjoyed making them, and am now on kind of an obsessive mission to sew a bunch more projects. As long as I don't get too frustrated/discouraged, this might become my latest hobby. Warning to all friends and family: you might be on the receiving end of some of these projects...sorry! ;)

Pumpkin bread cupcakes after dinner to celebrate--Levi loved his!