Christmas 2009

I have so many pictures...but have narrowed it down to a few (ha!) of my faves to share:

~Christmas Eve~
These are the loves of my life.

~Christmas Morning~
This one makes me laugh bc I have no idea what they are ALL finding so interesting.

I love this one bc you see Buzz Lightyear behind Bowen?
Well the grandkids were going berserk, fighting over him just minutes earlier then he was abandoned...
and along comes Bo, snagging the remote looking sneaky.

"Wii, Wii, Wii" - that's the reaction Santa was hoping for!

And this is why kids amaze me...he wanted this helmet for months so I told him to tell Santa. I waited until it went on sale and saved it for Christmas. Then what does he ask Santa for?
A red remote controlled helicopter ...what!?!
Luckily he was still completely excited to see it under the tree :)

This little guy gets more excited over pat-a-cake than any toy.

Apparently, we have a Christmas curse...this makes the 3rd year someone has been sick.
It was Brinley's turn. She woke up not feeling well, opened her presents then went back to bed only to get up, vomit then oddly enough go about her day perfectly fine.

No more borrowing Ben's skates!

And we got some Christmas Eve snow - it was already melting away the next day though.
Little family fact: On each of my children's first Christmas vacations in Texas (not always exactly Christmas Day though) it has snowed!

And I've decided to declare 2009...

the year of the Snuggie!

And this is why we shop, wrap, hide elves each night, and stay up late assembling all kinds of stuff...

The look of pure joy.

It's Snowtime!

I'm going in reverse, but decided to post snow pics before Christmas...such a rebel, I know ;)

So this is what we came home to - 3 days AFTER the snow storm!
I'm so glad Bryce took time off and we left earlier in the week,
because we would have definitely been stuck!

*thanks for all the shoveling so I could park in the garage, honey*

Not to mention this...

Lots in the back yard too.

And yes, that is snow piled up to Ben's chest!

My snow bunnies :)

With Brinley doing her "thing" - looking away yet forcing a smile, lol.

Bowen ~ 10 months

I've decided to bring the bear back!

"hey...long time, no see"

Unfortunately, my attempts to get a picture ended up like this within seconds...

But I managed to get this one :)

Here's what my baby boy is up to:

• has 6 teeth
• he "dances", sooo cute.
• stands independently...no steps yet.
• enjoys bathtime - so long as he's in the big tub by himself.
• he's on his 2nd round of antibiotics for an ear infection :(
• still no words - not mama, dada...nothing but "Ga"
• can be spotted each morning standing up in his crib, favorite blue blanket in hand.
• has discovered how to open drawers & cabinets...his favorites are the ones filled with dvd's and the one in the kitchen with plastic containers.
• he is teaching mommy how to play fetch ;)
• he really like balls...and he's been so good that Santa just might bring him one!
  
  
  

My little reindeer

Ben's Christmas program & party were this morning...

and now he's out of school until next year!

Here he is with his teacher - he later confessed to being really nervous because he was the first one to walk in.

My little reindeer, ringing his jingle bells and singing away :)

...not sure what he's looking at though, haha.

And, from the archives, my little reindeer in 2005


My present....

he was so excited that I had to open it in the hallway.

So sweet!

Soaking up some Christmas

Saturday afternoon we headed to the North Pole Adventure - just a little something I discovered at the one of the community centers.

Everyone was dressed for snow!
And that was our first stop, the "snow" room, filled with peanuts.

They loved it.

Bo sat in amazement at the activity around him.
And when Ben sat in front of him, he peered around him afraid to miss something I guess, lol.

Maybe "sat" is the wrong word because I don't think Ben was still the entire time!

Snow Angel!

(please forgive the color, my setting was obviously off)
Onto the pottery room...

And the science show

We also enjoyed finger painting, popcorn, balloon animals and candy stick making before...
seeing Santa!!!

thanks Ben, for actually looking at me :)


Then we had a night out in OKC -
dinner with friends, a Christmas ride and a stroll around Bricktown.

Brrr....
We kept it brief -

Cause somebody was ready to go ;)

Oh, Christmas Tree...

Saturday we ventured out to cut down our Christmas tree.
This was a new experience for us (as a family anyway, don't get me started on my & Bryce's first tree!) and I love dragging my family out for fun, no matter how cold it is ;-)

The kids running through lot 2, which I knew was our lucky lot, don't ask why.

We found our tree!

And we let the "worker" cut it down since Daddy was on the phone (just a little down fall of being on call, but at least he was there with us) and I had 3 kids to tend to.

And Lowe's advertises "fresh cut trees" ~ ha, whatever!

And just in case you're wondering...that tree stand is fantabulous!
We've had it since our first Christmas (when we had to invest in a larger stand to accomodate the tree that we're not discussing) but it will make any crooked tree stand straight!

Which was the case with this tree.

And, oh the decorating - our favorite part!!
Brinley, looking for an ornament that dropped.

Ben, driving me nuts because he loves the ornaments, just not on the tree!

Bowen, standing! and checking it out.

Our tree is not elegant.
But every ornament is hand picked, made, or given to us by someone special.

Some people may say a seahorse is a tacky ornament, but to us it's the perfect reminder of our year we lived in Corpus Christi on Seahorse Ave.

Our tree is real, just like us.

News to me

Brinley would not go to bed last night so she finally joined us in our bed (which I don't mind because she's small, and sleeps without kicking or moving much at all really) about 10pm and the 3 of us are laying there quietly and she says "turn on the news".

Well, we didn't but here's the news...

We enjoyed spending time with family over Thanksgiving but would you believe I don't have any pictures to share?
I went to see New Moon with my mom and am sooo looking forward to the next one that I might have to just read the book because I'm not sure I can wait 6 months for Eclipse.
I went to a Matilda Jane trunk show the other night, new to me & I loved it!!! The clothes are too cute for words.

Bryce is working away, pitching in a lot around the house and preparing for his Half Ironman Triathlon in April.

Ben is doing great - loving school, loving Star Wars...in fact, his bedroom is getting a Star Wars makeover this week. And..drum roll please....he no longer wears a pull-up at night, YAY! I've been looking forward to that for a couple of years but some things cannot be rushed and it was a decision he made all his own.

Brinley's rebellion/attachment phase is improving. She has even asked to go back to gymnastics but I think we'll wait a bit longer ;)

Bowen went in for his 9 month check up and we discovered 3 things: He hasn't gained much weight, he has shrunk (an obvious measuring error, grr) and he has a double ear infection!! I felt so bad - I didn't have a clue. I've never had a baby with an ear infection so I assumed they cried and screamed...turns out they don't. Apparently they eat & sleep like normal. News to me.