Christmas

Paige and Cooper on Christmas morning showing off their new hats and such that Santa brought for them in their stockings.

Family photo on Christmas Eve before going to church

Wow, what a busy 3 days we had! The blessings of having our families close by means we get to see almost everyone, but we spend some time running from one place to another. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents, Christmas Day with Ryan's Dad's family; and late Christmas Day evening and part of Sunday with Ryan's Mom. Needless to say, the kids and I are staying home today to recover! Our daycare provider is off, so we happily are using the time to play with new toys and try to get some of the mess cleaned up. Cooper had a great first Christmas and was a super good baby--he handled being passed around and just smiled. Paige got lots of nice presents and really enjoyed the fact that her little brother is too small to open up his presents and she had to do it!

The third try. . .

I finally got a somewhat good picture of Cooper in front of the tree--too bad Christmas cards are ordered! The third attempt was the best; and I caught him right away this morning. Too bad he is losing all his hair on the right side of his head--he's going to have a mohawk pretty soon. He continues to be pretty 'smiley' and happy. Plus, he is starting to roll--or at least fall over on his side! Haven't had a complete 180 from back to tummy yet, but I am thinking pretty soon. He doesn't really like his tummy, so it doesn't shock me he doesn't want to hang out on it.

A Visit to Santa

So the time of year is upon us again. Santa is in town, waiting for the children to come sit on his lap and tell him their wishes. The photographer is there waiting to snap pictures of the cute kids. It could be a magical evening, especially if your 4 year old is super excited. She's all dolled up and ready to go. I could tell you the whole story, but I am sure you know how it goes. I'll give you a hint, one of my children sat on Santa's lap and one did not. One of them sat very nicely and smiled for the photographer, even with super tired eyes. Another hint, the one who sat nicely wasn't wearing a dress! She was glued to her Dad or I and sort of stood beside Santa, but was not going too close to him. Oh well, one out of two isn't bad! The plus side is she was excited and very cute in her dress and let me take pictures :)

Paige & Cooper

I am starting to see little glimpses of brotherly/sisterly love amongst my children. As an only child, I am intrigued by this and am so excited to see how they grow together. The minute Cooper hears his sister, he smiles and watches her. There can be lots of other people in the room, but he seems to know where she is and watches her the most. She loves him in return, and is such a good big sister. We've never had any negative comments about him from her; and she is starting to love to be a helper. She'll gladly run and grab a diaper, a toy, his nuk, etc. Yesterday, Gramma let her help feed him, which went over very well. I hear he stopped often to look up and smile at her, so it took a while--but the job still got done.

Cooper's 3 month photo--below is with the horse, above is with his sister. Either way, he is growing! And starting to be a mover--as noted by the blurs below.

Christmas card reject photo

So . . its hard to try to get a decent picture with a 4 year old who likes to become a ham when a camera is out and a 3 month old. We'll see if we actually get a decent picture of the two of them!

Christmas prep

We brought out the good old artificial tree for our first Christmas in our new home. This is against Ryan's wishes; however, his woodburner in the living room would kill a live tree in a matter of days, so its a compromise. Paige is so excited for Christmas and could hardly wait to start putting ornaments on the tree. She did a great job of putting hooks on, helping me 'fluff' the fake branches, put ornaments on, etc. 4 years old is apparently the prime age for Christmas. She's so excited for Santa and everything else that goes with it. She's been talking about leaving him cookies already (chocolate chip) and how he will still find her at Grammas if she's there on Chrismas. Cooper was a typical man and had limited Christmas excitement! Rather, he sort of napped and looked halfway interested as we decorated much like an older version we also have. Now that we are mostly done, he does like the bright lights everywhere.

A day to be thankful

Dad and Ryan carving the bird

Mom & I--a rare photo I am happy Bonnie took for us



My beautiful children on Cooper's first thankgiving.

My family

It has been a wonderful year for our family with lots to be thankful for. We have been blessed with our first home and our second child. We have wonderful families and friends who helped us with the challenges we faced with another baby and remodeling over the summer. Overall; it has been a wonderful year for our family and we are thankful for all the good things that have came our way this year. 2010 has been a great year for us and we are very thankful.