Christmas continues

This is what it looks like when you attempt an impromptu photo session with four children:


And if you stick reindeer antlers on them, you might as well hang it up.


Christmas morning pictures were so terrible, I tried to recreate the moment today with a small amount of success (better than what I had, for sure!):




Not sure why Thomas feels the need to show me his belly...

And this one is so typical Parker:


This one is so off center:


Thomas is having fun with his cousins, especially Katherine (who is seven weeks older):


He asks her about 100 times a day, "You wanna see my bed?" This would be the aero bed he is not sleeping in, by the way.

Thomas is also enjoying spending time with everyone else, including his Papa:


And driving his Jeep:


And while none of the kids have been doing great with all of their naps, once Thomas falls asleep, he is sleeping just fine in the Pack N Play. The other day I found an example of the difference in Mommy and Daddy rules. Mommy's rule is no large or noisy toys in the bed at naptime. Dadddy apparently doesn't have that rule. This is what I found the other day after Thomas' Daddy had put him down for a nap.



That would be his new garbage truck, the one thing he wanted Santa to bring him. Funny.

It's so much fun watching all these children together and I look forward to all the time we will spend together in the future. Now if only our California family members could come see us more often!

Christmas celebration #3

This is the year to celebrate Christmas with my family. Two years ago, we had two 8-9 month olds and my younger brother was newly married. This time there are two nearly-three-year olds and two 8-9 month olds. It's a bit chaotic at times, but mostly it's a lot of fun. Thomas loves having a constant playmate (though his sharing skills have not been the greatest) and it's fun for me to see my brothers and my sisters-in-law. We arrived on Christmas afternoon and my older brother and his family came in from California later that evening, just in time for dinner (and since I had not seen them since Thanksgiving last year, it was a great reunion). Here's some of the group after dinner that night:


Eliza (or "baby Eliza" as Thomas calls her) enjoyed her first Christmas:


Since it was a balmy near-80 degrees on Christmas, some folks wore shorts...


Nannie thought maybe Thomas would be ready to sleep on a "bed" like his cousin Katherine, but instead he just likes to ask people to come see it, and then he jumps on it. Sometimes he invites Katherine to jump on it, too.

(Katherine is laughing, not crying, there.)

Christmas night we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and Thomas & Katherine blew out the candles on His cake:


Then Thomas got his first taste of the delicious banana cake we eagerly anticipate each holiday! I always have to make sure Mom has her order in for this most scrumptious dessert. Thomas liked it (but didn't eat it all):


We decided to wait and open presents the morning after Christmas when the children were refreshed. Eliza was excited about it:


Thomas was lost in presents:


Katherine was extremely impressed with her Aunt Molly (I love her "I'm not going to smile for you no matter how silly you act" face.):


And Parker just tried to get a moment with his gifts before his brother stole them away!


Nannie modeled Katherine's tiara to show her how to wear it...


Parker loved his new superstar stage:


Katherine wowed us all with her fabulous puzzle skills:


And Parker, well, he just smiled.


Last night Thomas took Katherine for a spin on the Jeep, but she quickly showed she was the better driver and she put him in the passenger seat:


How cute are these cousins?


They had a blast.


Since it was a bit chilly outside, Parker just watched from his cozy little warm spot:


Christmas really is for children. And it's so fun seeing all of ours together.

Oh Christmas trees!

One thing I love about Christmas is seeing all of the pretty Christmas trees. It took us a while to get ours decorated, and we still have years of ornament collection yet to go before ours is a bit more impresive, but it's a start. And this year was the first with ornaments made by Thomas. That is a fun part, indeed! But here is our tree in all its glory:



And here was the tree at Nana & Umpa's house, Christmas in Chester:


And the tree at Nannie & Papa's house, Christmas in Pinopolis:


It's a shame we only get to enjoy them for such a short time. I love Christmas trees!

Christmas day in the morning

In planning for Christmas, like a good Mommy, I made sure to find the perfect Christmas pajamas for Thomas & Parker. In my mind, on Christmas morning they'd wake up and I'd snap the perfect picture of the two of them on their first Christmas morning together. Things always work out better in my head. Reality, of course, looks something more like this:


Thomas refused to get near Parker, and Parker did not want to sit up at all (I got the Boppy after he threw his head back onto the floor with quite a thud). So since this was the best of the small bunch, I'll have to try and recreate the moment again. Oh well.

When Thomas came down, he was most excited to see that Santa had granted his wish and brought him the garbage truck he eyed at Target (it's actually a recycling truck, but to him it's a garbage truck and that's just fine!).


He walked right past the easel (that, as you can see, is a gift for both of them), but later thought that was cool too. But really, all he wanted was that garbage truck:


He was interested in the stocking until he found the candy and then that was all he cared about in there!


And then we told him we thought we saw something on the porch that Santa left for him there:


That was a big hit, too!

Santa also left some presents for Parker too (in addition the house and easel, which were for both boys). Parker was just thrilled with his stash:


By 11 a.m. both boys were napping (Thomas usually doesn't nap until 1:30-2!) and I'm sure that's a sign of a Christmas morning enjoyed. I should have snapped a picture of that, but I was afraid to wake the sleeping babies while we were furiously packing for Christmas celebration #3, which is the next blog post to come!

Christmas celebration #1

Last Sunday we enjoyed our first celebration of the Christmas season when we visited Nana & Umpa. Extended family members came by and we enjoyed the fun and fellowship with everyone.

The boys weren't interested in posing, but I tried!


This is what Trey calls Parker's "Dorf" pose. Fans of Tim Conway may know the reference:


Actually, this is a better shot of it:


Mark was down from chilly Chicago...


And Bear & Mary Reames helped Parker open his gifts. The Gloworm was a big hit!


Parker enjoyed all the willing hands to hold him...


I don't think he touched the floor all day long!

Thomas was thrilled and overwhelmed (in a good way!) with all his gifts and toys (seen behind him here):


But he mostly just wanted to play with this cool Cars car carrier that Nana & Umpa gave him:


And the Jeep, of course!






He kept telling us, over and over again, that he needed to "Check the battery":


We all enjoyed our Christmas celebration and a great time was had by all!