Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas this year. It was the most fun since we have had kids. Joshua really understood more of it & was able to talk to us about some things. Timothy loved all of it even if he didn't understand. We did more Christmas events than we have in the past. I didn't get pictures of all of them though. Joshua & I went with his preschool class on a field trip to a Christmas tree farm. We all went to Zoolight Safari. We did pictures with Santa (we have skipped this in the past....the waiting, as short as it was, made me almost wish we had skipped it this year since Joshua does so badly at waiting). We watched Christmas movies. We read the Polar Express a few times. We celebrated for 3 days....Christmas Eve with John's parents, Christmas Day at my grandparents', and the day after Christmas with my parents. We were exhausted after it was all over. The most fun part was that Joshua had just started talking. So, he kept talking about Santa & Baby Jesus. He could name Baby Jesus, the angel, Mary & Joseph! About 2 weeks before Christmas I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him. He said "pic, pics!!". He uses pictures at school to practice talking & to show what he wants & he calls them "pic pics". He also signed file folder (file folder games). Luckily Santa takes last minute requests! I will admit that I over did gifts for the boys this year. I bought gifts all throughout the year when I saw things on sale or when I had coupons. I ended up with way too much! I think it was overwhelming for them (& now for us trying to store all of it!). So we have a new guide for next year that I read somewhere (I can't remember which blog it was on): 4 gifts....something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. John & I love the simplicity of this! Thankfully we already had a deal with Santa to only bring 3 gifts each to the boys plus stockings. He loosely followed that :)

Here are some pictures....though they are uploaded completely out of order:

Santa brought Timothy a basketball goal which is loves.

Santa came!

Joshua with his "pic pics" on Christmas morning.

After opening way too many gifts with us on Christmas Eve morning, Timothy liked the air bags the best!

We gave Joshua a Super Why board game & he just likes looking at the game cards with pictures of all of the characters....one of his favorite gifts!

Timothy on Christmas Eve morning.

The Christmas Eve morning aftermath....I think we are still trying to throw out boxes!

Reindeer at the tree farm on Joshua's field trip.

Waiting in the "snow" to see Santa.

Look who I found in my Christmas tree!

Joshua with some of his classmates in Santa's sleigh.

16 Months

Catching up a bit here.....Timothy is sixteen months old!! I love this age! He is so much fun. He is also starting to get into a lot of trouble! He is way too curious & has no fear. He climbs on everything that he can. He is talking quite a bit too. He still loves cats & now he thinks there are cats everywhere...seriously! He looks in his sleeve & says "tat tat". He looks behind our headboard & says "tat tat". He reaches between couch cushions & says "tat tat". No idea where that is coming from! He also loves his big brother. Joshua has become pretty fond of him too (except when it comes to sharing toys). Here are a couple of pictures.

He pulled ornaments off of the tree the entire month we had it up. Sometimes he tried to sit them back on the tree.

This is a happy face. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. This is quite possibly my favorite thing that he does. He will stand in front of you making this face & reaching for you until you notice him. Melts my heart every time. I always drop whatever I am doing to hold him!

The Polar Express

This year we set up a Christmas tree upstairs just for the kids. Here's the Polar Express chugging around the tree.

Thanksgiving

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving week. My brother & his wife were in town so it was fun to get to spend some time with them. They were even brave enough to go to the zoo with us! We were able to spend Thanksgiving day at my parents' house with my brother, his wife, John's parents & a family that my parents are friends with. It was so nice out & the boys really enjoyed playing outside most of the day. I didn't even remember to take my camera, so I attempted pictures at home that evening. They were wearing matching outfits that I made and/or appliqued for them.

This was the better shot of Joshua....

....and this was the better shot of Timothy.

Timothy was done!

We put up the trees the day after Thanksgiving & Timothy was in love with them. This was while I was trying to decorate the tree downstairs. See him reaching for an ornament. All day he walked around saying "ball, ball, ball" except he is a bit southern so it sounds more like "baaaaalll". Please take note of how many ornaments are on the floor!

Caught in the act! He has gotten slightly better at leaving them alone but I still find myself re-decorating the tree daily. Good thing I enjoy it!

Bubbles

We loved all of the warm weather right around Thanksgiving. The boys LOVE going outside even though the yard is small! Bubbles are still a favorite for Joshua.

This was Timothy's first time to play in the bubbles outside. He seemed to like them too.

An airplane flew overhead while we were out there...he also really liked that.

Hilarious that he just laid down in the grass with all of the bubbles.

Best attempt at a picture together. Neither of them can sit still. I think Timothy was trying to pop that bubble with his nose...or maybe eat it!

Family Pictures

I thought I had already posted some of these but I guess I forgot :) We had these taken in October. Joshua was, shall we say, less than cooperative but they still turned out well.

More Appliques!

Here are a few things I have been working on!

This didn't turn out quite as well as I would have liked. I did a few things differently, so I have to go back & figure out what went wrong! But, it turned out ok...especially since he will only wear it once or twice. I wanted a white shirt but couldn't find on in his size. At least this color won't show stains as badly!

How cute is this little guy?? My friend actually did this applique on her machine to show me how to do it. I made the outfit though :) It is the Johnny pattern by Children's Corner. Glad I finally got it all put together so he could wear it before fall is over!

I'm not sure why this one turned sideways...oh well. I just wanted to try out a simple design on a onesie for Timothy. I just needed to practice. I think this one turned out really cute!

Halloween Part 2

Here are Timothy's pictures. He wore his pumpkin costume from last year. It was way too big last year but fit great this year! Too bad I forgot to get a full body shot!

Halloween

As you read in my previous post, the boys were sick the entire week before Halloween. We had planned to go to Boo at the Zoo on Joshua's birthday, but they were feeling so bad that we decided not to. They both seemed to be feeling better on Halloween, despite Timothy's double ear infection (he got an antibiotic injection that morning), so we went to the zoo that night for trick or treating. It was pretty fun...we just rode the train & carousel and did a little trick or treating. Both boys were pretty tired so we left after about an hour.

Joshua as Batman. I tried the costume on a couple of hours before we left & he was crying the whole time. I pulled out his Charlie Brown costume from last year, in case we couldn't get this one back on him! He put the costume on with no problem when we told him we were going to the zoo to ride the train if he would wear it :)

I am going to post Timothy's pictures in a separate post. I had posted them all yesterday but they didn't show up. Timothy's pics are cropped so I have to go through Picasa. Maybe it will upload them today!

5th Birthday!

The week before Joshua's birthday was pretty rough for us this year. That Tuesday, the nurse from his preschool called me to come pick him up early because he had a low fever & chills. He was acting fine when I got there, but a few hours later he was starting to really act like he didn't feel good. Timothy woke up with a fever a couple of hours after bedtime. By the morning, Joshua had a temp of 104 & Timothy's was 101. So, off to the doctor. I was afraid it was the flu....it had only been a week since they had gotten their flu shots. Luckily, it wasn't the flu, but they were still pretty sick. They both ran fevers for 6 days! Needless to say, neither of them were feeling really good on Joshua's birthday, but we celebrated with the grandparents anyway. Joshua spent most of the time going from one grandparent to the next & sitting in their lap hugging them. Timothy didn't want anything to do with any one except me & John. We were back at the doctor the next day for Joshua's 5 year check up & the doctor checked Timothy while we were there - he had a terrible ear infection in both ears! Both are doing much better now...just still dealing with coughing. So, I didn't get too many pictures this year, since the birthday boy was so pitiful!


I baked a gluten free chocolate chip cookie cake. Surprisingly, it didn't taste like most gluten free cookies that we have tried. Joshua didn't want any of the frosting on his though! I made a second one & sent to school for his party there.

Another Pumpkin Patch

My mom & I took the boys to the pumpkin patch that we have gone to every year in the past. We went on a Monday morning & it was perfect! There were only a few people there. Joshua wasn't very cooperative, but he ended up getting sick the next day, so I'm thinking he just wasn't feeling well & couldn't tell me. Timothy loved all of the pumpkins, as you can see!

I was trying to get a picture of Joshua. Right as I took this one, he fell off of the haybale he was standing on! Sadly, this was the best close up I got of him!

We have always taken Joshua's picture on this bench.....it didn't happen this year, but Timothy let me get his.

This was Joshua's favorite place. I think he jumped for 45 minutes - maybe longer!

Cutie

Look who learned how to climb into his toy bins! Such a little cutie!!

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Timothy & I joined Joshua & his preschool for their trip to the pumpkin patch again this year. It was impossible to get good pictures while trying to keep up with two kids, but here are some of the better ones that I got.



Timothy isn't so sure about hay...or grass or dirt for that matter.

He did however love the pumpkins! Joshua was more interested in what the people behind us were doing.

I am laughing because Timothy just rolled that pumpkin a couple of rows over in the field.

Joshua running through the hay with his classmates. Last year this was a hay maze but this year it was just a big pile of hay.

I think he is trying to figure out how to escape.

He loves riding horses!

So glad we were able to go on this field trip with Joshua!