Trying out the video camera

Mom bought us one of those nice little digital video cameras for Christmas. I took this as in indicator that I need to capture video of her grandchildren! I have some great ones so far, but this is the only 30 second blip I have; and I am not quite sure how to edit the other ones I have so far. When I do, I will post more. I have a great one of Paige singing. Thanks for the new toy Mom!

A few pictures

This is now one of Cooper's new activities--chewing on anything he can attempt to hang on to and get in his mouth. He can't quite pick up stuff or grasp it all that well yet; but I am thinking that is going to be a skill we get down very soon as its leading to a lot of frustration when he drops what he's chewing on.

Cooper's first time in the bouncer. Paige spent hours in this when she was little and loved it. I don't have a great doorway for it here; it works well downstairs when we are in the playroom. Cooper thinks its pretty good, but he gets pretty tuckered out in it.

The new pink guitar. Paige thinks its awesome. Mom doesn't think its nearly as annoying as she was thinking it was going to be--bonus.

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!