Christmas!

 This has to be one of the best Christmas's we have ever had.  Will is at such a fun age so he got into Santa and all things Christmas this year.  We loved our elf on the shelf Chippy and were sad to see him go, but oh my goodness did Santa come!  Will opened his first gift (Air Force One) and he said "I am so happy!"  That was really what he wanted and he would have been content with that.  It was so fun to see.  He wanted to open up the whole set and all the pieces before he opened up any more presents.  By the time we did the second Christmas with Ahma and Bapa he had the hang of things and knew the drill.  I think he will be sad when the tree comes down and when Christmas season is officially over.  I will be too - it was so fun to have such focused time with the littles and family.

Katie got lots of fun girly things - including her first dollhouse and two new dolls.  I am so excited to enjoy these things with her.  She also got 2 bottom teeth to accompany the one up top.  She is growing up so quickly! 

I can't image how fun it will be when both of them will be as into Christmas as Will was this year!

Christmas Eve Eve Shopping at Janie and Jack

Cheetos with Lovey

Will's fire chief outfit from Aunt Leen and Uncle Chuck

Katie and Andrew

Katie trying to do a no look steal of Will's pizza

Snowman Andrew!  4 months old

Chippy's last night

Setting up Will's new train set

Santa came!

Katie under the tree

Katie and her new carriage

So happy

Will opening his piggy bank

Loading up the bank

Putting together his plane with Granddad

One of his favorites - his new crane truck

Katie

Will holding Bapa's hand for Christmas #2

Katie and Ahma

Putting together Katie's first dollhouse

Flying his new helicopter

Helping Bapa put together his airplane

Katie pushing her new doll in her new stroller

Walking with Ahma

A visit to the Fire Station

 Yesterday was one of my favorite Sundays of the year.  We had Aunt Leen, Uncle Chuck and Andrew over for breakfast and then Will and I headed to the park while Chad stayed with Katie while she napped. 

We had a great time playing with the neighborhood kids and then they all headed home.  We decided to walk over to the fire station since Will really wanted to know if they had a pole to slide down.  I told him that if we saw a fireman we would ask.  Well, there were no firemen outside the firehouse.  We had seen a firetruck leave a while earlier, so Will decided we could just wait for it to come back.  Not knowing if that would be 5 minutes or 5 hours, I decided to ring the bell for assistance.  A fireman came down and told us that they don't have a pole anymore.  They used to, but when they expanded the garage to hold more emergency trucks, they had to lose the pole. 

While he is telling us the story, a firetruck and ambulance come back to the station.  They ask if Will wants to go climb in the firetruck.  I think that made his whole life.  His face lit up and he was in heaven.  They let him climb up into the drivers seat, turn on all the lights, and ring the bell.  He was just so happy.  He even later told me "I am so happy!"  It was so fun to experience this with him!

They gave him a fire hat and told us to come back anytime (I don't think they realize that would be daily if Will could pick!).  They were all so great with Will and you could see they do shared in his excitement.  How fun to see life through the eyes of a 2.5 year old!

Will in his fire hat.  When he wears this, he says "Look, I'm a REAL fireman!"

Learning how to turn on the lights

Ringing the bell

Back at the park

This serves as his park firetruck

Using his hose (stick) to put out fires

Spraying me with his hose (stick).  He has a great imagination!

He loved his hat so much he slept in it. Not sure how that was remotely comfortable but I am not sure he cared.

December Activities

 December is flying by!  We are having a great month filled with all things Christmas.  It is hard to believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away!

As for Will, he is still set on a reindeer and a hippo, both have been procured and will be waiting for him in his Santa bag along with a bulldozer and some other goodies.  This year has been extra fun - he is just so into everything.  He loves Christmas lights, our elf on the shelf Chippy, our Christmas tree, wreaths - EVERYTHING.  We have seen Santa twice, once with horror and once with success.  He must have told Santa at least 5x what was on his wish list. 

We went on a carriage ride to see the lights with friends.  Will was in awe and so was Katie.  She just kept pointing to the lights and chatting.  She seemed to enjoy it just as much as everyone else. 

We are going to do one more carriage ride with Aunt Leen, Uncle Chuck and Andrew.  Will asks everyday if today is the day we will go on the carriage ride.  He is just a little eager.

As for Chippy, we are loving finding him a home every day.  Today he is sitting in a martini glass in our display case.  Will got really close to him and asked "Chippy, are you comfy in there?"  He looks awfully contorted with his legs bent back and all so it was a really good question.  With questions and comments like these, I sometimes I forget he is only 2.5. 

Will is also really into doing the Advent Calendar with his dad.  Every morning, it is one of his first questions - "Can we do the advent calendar daddy!"  Who doesn't want a piece of chocolate before breakfast?  I think the advent calendar will be an annual tradition for him to do with Chad.  When he gets older, there is a Star Wars Lego version that I am sure we will own.

Right now, we are really into making "North Poles" for our Santas around the house.  Each Santa needs their own North Pole, so we build each their own.  One night I put them away hoping that he would forget and move onto the next thing, but instead we had to immediately build a North Pole for my favorite Santa (a wooden Santa I bought in Russia - who knew I would let my kids play with it???).  So, our coffee table is currently also where we keep our North Poles.  I assume it will be this way for a while.

Each day is fun filled.  Katie is now really playing with Will (i.e. taking his toys) but she isn't mobile yet.  I assume when that happens life will change a bit again for us.  She seems to be strong willed.  I have no idea where she got this.  :)

*Darling pics by Ali Wood Photography!



10 months old!

Hard to believe Katie is already 10 months old.  With the holidays coming, her birthday is going to sneak up on us!  This month Katie:

* started to point

* seems closer to crawling but still isn't that interested

* has no teeth!

* eats and drinks like a champ!

* her face lights up every time she sees her daddy

* is talking up a storm

* continues to bring a crazy amount of joy to our lives!

Santa Visit #1

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Snider Plaza has a Christmas Tree lighting event.  It is usually a lot of fun, but this year it rained which made it a little less fun.

However, the Santa pictures turned out just awesome.  Katie actually did fine until Will started crying, and then it was all over. 

Luckily when we went today, Will told Santa he wanted a Reindeer and a Hippopotamus.  He didn't cry at all.  Katie...well, that is a different story.  She took one look at Santa and made a face similar to her face below.

  

Andrew meets Santa

For comparison, here is a link to Will's solo picture with Santa last year.

Our Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is up!  The first thing Will had to do was to trim it.  He ran to find his play-doh scissors so he could help trim.  I love his understanding of language and it is fun to have the reminder of how many ways we use words that sound the same but mean something completely different.

This year Will gets Christmas!  It is so fun to watch him get excited about the holiday.  We are going to see Santa today and Will has asked that I tell Santa what he wants - a hippopotamus and a reindeer.  He isn't interested in talking to him directly, and I am not sure how well he will do on his lap.  We will find out in a few hours!

Dad holding Will up to trim!

Katie sitting by our tree so no one else gets it!

not crawling yet...but close!

more trimming... this time with ornaments and not scissors

he loves the jingle bells

Closer to crawling

 We spent Thanksgiving in Austin this year and luckily this meant we also got 2 thanksgiving dinners!  We had thanksgiving lunch at the Kerrs and dinner at the Forsbergs.  It was Katie and Andrew's first thanksgiving, and Lovey and Granddad are just so smitten with these two and of course with Will.  It was great to have them all together.

During our stay with Ahma and Bapa, Katie got a little closer to crawling as you can see here.  She has one leg out (just like Will crawled) but she cant seem to figure out what to do with the other leg.  Usually it results in her laying on her belly but I am curious if one day she will crawl.

 I just couldn't stop taking pictures of her with the beautiful natural light.  Her eyes just seem to sparkle!