Merry Christmas 2010!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We didn't have quite the Christmas we were hoping for because, you guessed it, we were all sick! It was almost a repeat of Thanksgiving...only worse. The boys got sick on the 22nd and are still fighting off the stomach flu. Carter was feeling so puny that he was only mildly interested in all of his toys this year. What a bummer! Thank goodness we had our family celebration on the 24th, before the rest of us got sick.

A BIG thank you to everyone for the gift cards, money, PJ's, toys and books that you sent! The boys are starting to feel well enough to enjoy all of their fun, new stuff! I'm sorry we didn't get more photos to share, but this is the best we could do this year. Hopefully next year will be healthier! (And a little snow wouldn't hurt, either...)

Cousins

Sisters with cousins and one sick Carter

Christmas Eve

Kelsie Rae and a happy boy...you would never know he was sick!

Davis loved playing with Taylor

Sean decided to get festive! Ho, Ho, Ho!

Santa stopped here!

Miss Tonya

The boys and I have been going to a Holiday Music class this month and today was our last class. Miss Tonya, the music teacher, was amazing. She is so energetic and great with the kids...especially my two wild boys. Both boys loved singing, dancing and playing her instruments. What a great way to get in the Christmas mood! We loved Miss Tonya and will look forward to taking more classes with her.

Carter loved this snowman ball.

Playing with the other Reindeer...

My two little deer!

Do these antlers make my head look big?

Davis's favorite spot was standing right in front of Miss Tonya!

Reading the book we later got to take home.

Jingle Bells!

Santa and Snow

I took the boys to meet Santa (Carter says "No, Mommy! It's Santa Claus.") this afternoon and it went reasonably well. We had to wait about 20 minutes to get our turn, which made me nervous because at any moment someone could have been hungry or tired or needing to use the big boy potty. I gave Carter the option to go play instead, but he insisted we wait in line. Luckily, we survived the wait & Carter loved sitting on Santa's lap. However, Davis was not having it. He lasted for a few seconds and we were able to get a decent picture before the meltdown.

After Santa, you can walk through a cool Ice Castle snow globe at the mall. It was fun, especially since we have had basically no snow and it's only 10 days until Christmas. We'll take what we can get! The one downside was that the fake snow sticks to EVERYTHING and everyone in the mall just thought that we were a family with bad dandruff for the rest of the afternoon. A small price to pay for holiday cheer...

Brrrr...it's cold in here, Mom!

Davis trying to climb the mountain.

Carter standing under the falling snow (kind of hard to see in this photo).

Golden Parade

Since I had Friday night off, we decided to make the most of our Saturday and drive to Golden for their Christmas parade & festivities. The boys had a good time (Especially Carter, who got to show off his dance moves!) and we beat the cold by eating lunch at Woody's pizza--yum! We are really enjoying this Christmas season & hope you all are, too!

Date Night!

Friday night was Sean's office party. This year the party had a Hawaiian theme, so dressing up was encouraged. (I was surprised by how many people actually did!) I mostly boycotted, but Sean was very happy to play along since he had several "Aloha" shirts from his year living in Honolulu.

Kelsie came over to watch the boys (yippee!) and we had a fun night out, just getting to be a couple for a change. It was awesome. We were once again reminded of how fortunate we are that Sean works for such an amazing company. And the passion fruit daiquiris didn't hurt, either!

I lost count after three of these...yum!

Gingerbread House

We made a graham cracker gingerbread house this week. It was more mid-century modern than Tudor, but after it collapsed it was just a tasty mess that the boys loved sampling. I had to stop taking pictures because I was getting frosting all over our camera. It was a yummy afternoon project & one I'm sure we will be repeating!

Putting away my first graham cracker...


and second...

Oh no!! The roof collapsed!

putting down the foundation

Sprinkles make everything look better!

Mmmm...

Even though it fell down, that didn't stop Carter from decorating his house.

Santa's Spy

We recently welcomed "Alfie" the elf into our home for the holidays. Carter helped to name him. He came with his very own book and watches over the boys during the day so he can report back to Santa every night. Alfie helps us to remember that we need to be nice to one another if we want Santa to remember us on Christmas day. Each morning when we wake up, he is in a new spot! Alfie has been a fun addition to our Christmas season and one we are sure to enjoy for years to come.

One morning, we found Alfie sitting in our little tree!

Boys Being Boys

The boys have been WILD lately. I can't even blame it on being stuck inside due to the weather, because it's been unseasonably warm so far. Whatever the reason, I know Christmas is going to be crazy this year with these two around. I love it!

Two little monkeys playing on Carter's bed. They will jump and jump and jump and then hide under the covers. It's exhausting just watching them!

The Jeep tent continues to be a big hit. It usually gets taken away at some point during the day because they get too rough going in and out of it. Davis likes to throw himself through the "window" and shimmy into it that way, Dukes of Hazzard-style!

Giving Thanks

We had a very low-key Thanksgiving this year. Grandad and Grandma Nancy were supposed to come to our house, but were unable to make it due to the nasty stomach flu. We were so sad they couldn't visit (hope you both are feeling better!) and unfortunately, we were sick too! So Thanksgiving day was spent with just the four of us at home being thankful for our bountiful blessings that we tend to take for granted in our everyday lives. We are hopeful that next year we will all be well and able to spend the day with family.

We were planning to celebrate Davis's 1st Birthday on Thanksgiving with a house full of people. Since that didn't happen, we decided to have a special day today by going to the opening of Zoo Lights and coming home to leftover turkey and a Thomas birthday cake! He didn't seem to notice the lack of party-goers and loved everything from the turkey dinner to the birthday hat. That's my boy!

Bundled up for Zoo Lights!

Can I eat it?

Happy boy!

Happy 1st Birthday, Davis!!

Davis turned ONE on Monday! I think his first year went by even faster than Carter's, if that's possible. He is a very active little guy and we just love watching him grow and explore and learn. He continues to have a laid-back personality which is a nice contrast to his big brother!

Yesterday was his one-year visit with the pediatrician and everything looks good. He is just shy of 20 pounds, so I think we will wait awhile to turn his car seat around. He has a huge appetite these days and we are starting to introduce whole milk this week. So far, he's not really fond of it but hopefully his little tummy tolerates it and the taste will grow on him. I am ready to save some money and ditch the formula!

I will say that Davis is not as verbal as Carter was at this age (I really hate to do that comparison thing, but it's difficult not to), but the pediatrician said it is too early to be concerned & he meets criteria for his age group by knowing three words: "mama", "dada" and "baby". He did tell me that this is very common for second children (versus the first-born) because they have an older sibling who can "talk for them". We will see where he's at at 15 and 18 months. Since he started walking a few weeks ago, he is now practically running around the house and climbing like a little monkey. It's going to be a long Winter trying to keep these two cooped up in the house!

Davis is certainly a light in our lives and I cannot imagine life without this sweet little boy! We love you, buddy! Thank you to everyone for the birthday cards and gifts! What a lucky little guy! Here are some photos of the boys enjoying Davis's new toys:

This Jeep tent was the best $10 ever spent!

Pretty happy to be opening gifts!

Showing off my seven teeth!

Playing with my new racetrack.

Bedtime on my actual birthday--whew, what a day!