Christmas 2010

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Highlights from Christmas #2

I'm working on a slideshow with most of the pictures we took but here are a few until then...

Excitement builds as she turns the corner and runs to the tree!

Conner wasn't too interested in the toys, but he did want to eat the paper!

Santa brought Makayla a doll house with about a million accessories - she loves it!

We spent a lot of time playing with new play dough.

It snowed a little in the morning but melted away so we were able to take Makayla out to test ride her brand new big girl bike. Look out Lance - we could have a future Tour de France star on our hands!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and safe travels back home!

Christmas Eve

We had a busy but fabulous day today. A little last minute shopping, Christmas Eve church service, dinner, cookies, and final elf duties. We are ready for tomorrow - can't wait to see how excited the kids are! They are ready for Santa!

Doing nice things

One of the other things we have been talking to Makayla about is how we do a few extra nice things for people around the holidays. We had made more cookies yesterday so the first thing we did this morning was drop off a plate at the volunteer fire station just down the street. She carried the plate in and had a huge smile on her face (although she was glued to my side when she saw the fire trucks because she didn't want them to bother her....) We met Jason for lunch, then we were off to drop off two toys at the local Marine Corps Recruiting station for the Toys for Tots drive. I told her what the toys were for and she wanted to take them to go see the kids who needed them (so cute!) She was in charge of the play dough and took her job very seriously, making sure the bag got in the car, was right next to her seat, and then she proudly carried it in. I know we were quite a change from the regulars who walk through the door but the SSgt that was there did a great job talking with her - although I think he had his eyes on Conner for a future quota...

Adorable picture

Kelly snapped this one while we were at her house. What a cutie!

Conner's new seat

Conner is just about too big for his first car seat so one of the things he asked for for Christmas was his next carseat. Here he is checking it out - with his big sister checking it out too! Thank you grandma and grandpa!
He likes it! I think this seat actually makes him look small!

Four happy kids

Makayla and Conner had a great time playing with Julia and Matthew today!

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Christmas #1

We celebrated Christmas #1 with my parents, Erin and William this weekend. Makayla loved all the extra attention and I don't think she realized she was going to get any presents - but she was sure happy to see them! She became the official present hander-outer and then also opened everyone's present for them. She may be able to do that for Conner this year but I think next year will be a different story...
The first thing she opened was a unicorn Pillow Pet from Colleen. To say she was excited would be a HUGE understatement! She has carried her unicorn with her everywhere since she opened it - we could have been done with all gifts right then!

Makayla was a little freaked out when she opened this but she quickly got over that and it wasn't long until the squishy ball was being tossed all around the room!

Makayla gave my dad a bucket of cotton candy which of course he shared with her. This is her first taste and at first, she didn't like it. That quickly changed though and I think she ate at least half of it!

Makayla was also excited to get her first work bench and she was banging away all morning! Another item from Kelly's Christmas in a Box - awesome jammies!!! Conner has a set too, I can't wait to get a picture of them wearing the jammies together!

Getting ready for Movie Night!

Painting with Erin. I tried to stay away from this and only came back to the kitchen when it was all cleaned up...

A good picture with both grandkids cooperating - it's a Christmas Miracle!

Ski School

Jason was able to get home before all the snow melted to take Makayla out for her first ski lesson of the year - and she loved it! And if you look up the hill to the right, you can see the remnants of the sled tracks from this morning - she is a daredevil!



Fun in the snow!
Hanging out with my two favorite kiddos!

SNOW!

Yesterday we had our first real snow. Makayla was so excited when Conner finally fell asleep so we could go play outside!
When I asked her what she wanted to do, she said she wanted to shovel. And she did a great job, except for when she would dump her shovelful onto the part I already cleared... She thought she was pretty funny!

Looking cute!

Catching a few flakes.

After the driveway she had to go clear off her swingset!

One big baby!

It seems strange even calling Conner a "baby"... He had his 6 month appointment today and measuring 28.5 inches long and weighing 19 lbs 2 oz, he continues to top the charts! Everything checked out well and he is one healthy boy. We ended the appointment with a few shots which is no ones favorite part and usually brings me to tears which of course happened this morning, but not just because of hearing Conner scream. Makayla was standing on a stool so she could be right there next to him, patting his head saying, "It's ok budso, it will only hurt for a little bit. Your big sister is right here." How cute is that???
This was taken last night of these two chillin on the couch. When Conner sits up straight, he's not that much smaller than Makayla...

Christmas in a box

Last week Kelly and her family sent us "Christmas in a Box" full of a lot of wonderful things. One of the things we have really enjoyed is a kid-friendly nativity set and a book to go along with it. Up until then we had really only told Makayla about the Santa part of Christmas and we were really happy to have these things to teach her about the real story of Christmas. We were also amazed at how well she listened and the questions she asked. She is one smart kiddo!
Here she is checking everything out.
Then she traded out the people so they could all take turns in the stable. So considerate!

Fun Day!

Grammy and Papa arrived Friday night and Makayla was so excited to have new people to play with! They brought a gingerbread house to put together and decorate which she was very excited to do Saturday morning. She watched carefully as it was assembled...
Then she did a great job decorating and sampling the candy and icing!

After dinner we headed to a local park to see Christmas lights. It was pretty chilly so we were all bundled up but I think Conner was the warmest!

Makayla was excited! There were a ton of lights all along a walking path and she was happy to walk most of the way herself.

Conner had enough...

A quick family shot.

Makayla had a great time checking everything out!

A good shot of Mary and Ed, Makayla wasn't too happy to have her picture taken though...

Surprise snow!

Time spent getting ready to play in the snow - 20 minutes
Actual time outside - 15 minutes
Time to hang up clothes and clean up wet footprints - 10 minutes
Time to make, enjoy and clean up hot chocolate - 15 minutes
Being able to share the first snow (that was not in the forecast!) with my favorite little girl - timeless :)

It's never to cold for a swing! We also ran around and threw mini-snowballs at each other!

Conner was napping while we were out and we came in when he woke up (Makayla was NOT happy about that!) She was happy again when I told her we could have hot chocolate and cookies though.

We can't wait for it to snow again!

Coloring with Kona

6 months already???

It seems hard to believe but Conner is 6 months old today! He's such an awesome little guy and we have loved getting to know him! You can see by the pictures that he is adorable, but here are a few things you may not know about our little guy-
-He LOVES his sister. He laughs whenever she is near and she can often calm him down when nothing else works.
-He has the cutest laugh.
-He is ticklish. Mostly on his chest and under his arms, sometimes on his feet.
-He loves food. Right now he eats about 30 oz of formula a day and two "meals." He has tried oatmeal, applesauce, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, avocados, squash, peaches, pears, bananas, green beans and seems to like everything! I am happy that I have been able to make most of his baby food so far, but we'll see how much longer that lasts as he continues to eat more and more! He is very interested in everything we are eating and I think if it were up to him, he would happily trade in his mushy food for a steak!
-He is teething - big time. He drools everywhere and chomps down on anything near his mouth. We are hoping these first teeth appear soon and relieve some of his pain!
-He is a rolly polly. I am beginning to think he is going to skip crawling. He can be laying somewhere, see something he wants, and then rolls to it. Lately it's the Christmas tree that he wants...
-He is a bit of a flirt. When we go to the store, every lady that we pass takes a peek at him and he always gives a cute little smile.
-He travels well - thank goodness!!! He has been to many places and does pretty well in the car. He is also pretty easy going as I cart him around from place to place to run errands or take Makayla places.
-He's a happy baby. He usually wakes up in the morning singing and gets so excited when we go in to get him.
-He loves to snuggle with a blanket or a burp cloth. He often covers his own face when he wants to go to sleep.
-He's growing a lot! We have his 6 month appointment next week so we'll get his latest stats then, but his size 9 months clothes are getting a little too small...

Craft time part two

This is what happens when you give makayla scissors, glue and paper and tell her she can do whatever she wants... She had fun!

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Craft time!

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Eating is fun!

Conner is really liking all these new foods. Here he is enjoying his first teething biscuit. Now if only there was a way he could eat this without getting himself covered in it!

Catching up

How is it December 5th already??? We have been getting the house decorated for Christmas which takes a little longer with two "helpers"...

Erin gave us an Advent Calendar and we found the perfect place for it. Makayla loves checking it each morning to see what the little surprise is!

Last Wednesday I took the kids to get Christmas pictures taken and then we took a walk through the mall. There was no line for Santa and the kids were dressed up - I had to give it a shot! Conner was content to be wherever I put him, Makayla needed a little more convincing to get close to Santa. She agreed to stand near him when I told her she could have a candy cane after the picture. Once upon a time I remember saying I would never bribe my kids with candy...

Makayla was excited to ride the Christmas Train!

On Friday we went to a friend's house for a playdate. There were about 10 toddlers running around and these three little guys who also had a good time hanging out!

The kids rolled out and decorated sugar cookies. Most were happy to roll a little, cut something that looked close to the right shape, dump some sprinkles and take off to go play. But not this kid. She took her time to make sure the dough was rolled perfectly (by herself), then perfectly cut several cookies, and took her time decorating. I may have created a monster...

Friday afternoon we put together our tree. I was hoping that her initial excitement about "fluffing" the branches would last long enough to do the whole tree, but I was out of luck. After one branch she realized it's not a lot of fun so she "let" me do the rest.