Merry Christmas!

Last night, on Christmas Eve, we headed over to Grammy and Grandad's. Here is Grammy finishing up setting the lovely table:

And here is the tree - look at all that loot!

This is of course little Charlotte's first Christmas - here she is sitting next to the tree with big brother Nathan.
And here she is chillin' with Uncle Mitch. Isn't she sweet? You wouldn't know it to look at her, but she had just been released from the hospital the day before after a 10 day stay for a mysterious illness. She is all better now - a Christmas miracle! A true blessing.

After a wonderful dinner, and a lot of present opening, we put the boys in their jammies and headed home. We had to get our own tree in order!


This morning, the first order of business was getting the kiddies fed. Luckily, their still young enough that they don't really understand what's going on and we don't have to fight with them to get them to sit down and eat breakfast. I suspect in a couple years time, that will no longer be the case!
Ah! Banana and Cheerios - breakfast of champions!!

Tyler prefers to casually snack on a pancake.

After breakfast, it was time to start opening presents. Again, since the boys don't really understand, it was a nice leisurely process - no mayhem!

I was impressed by how skillfully Tyler unwrapped his gifts - I didn't think he knew how! He must have been really paying attention to Nathan last night.

Evan is paying close attention now - he'll want to be prepared next year!

One of Evan's favorite presents is this funny little robot toy from some special Aunties:

The Aunties also scored with this Thomas the Tank Engine starter set for Tyler - he loved it!!

The boys even seemed to enjoy unwrapping clothes! That will change!

Another hit of the day were the Elmo Live dolls that Mimi got EACH of them! Now I have two talking little red monsters in my house.

Evan also thought it was pretty funny to wear this box top on his head.

Tyler is obsessed with the vacuum cleaner. Not if it's running mind you, then he's petrified. But if it is in the room, he can't keep his hands off of it. Santa got wind of this, and brought him his own "Dusty the Talking Vacuum". He immediately wanted to give it a whirl....



Did you get a look at his feet? Possibly one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Allow me to zoom in for you:
These slippers were a gift from Grammy (from Janie & Jack no less!!). They fit him perfectly, and he keeps them on! Practical AND adorable. Perfect indoor winter footwear.

Later in the afternoon, it was time to get the boys (and ourselves!) bathed and dressed to go to Daphne's for Christmas dinner.

Evan's hair gets a little fluffy after bath time!

Tyler was looking pretty darned cute too in his Ralph Lauren sweater, but he wasn't too keen on sitting still for a picture, so you can't really get the full effect.

For those of you that don't remember, Daphne is Ashley's mother-in-law. We were supposed to have dinner at Ashley and Richard's, but with all that was going on with Charlotte, Daphne thought it best to take the pressure off of them and host. We have had several Christmases past at Daphne's, and this one was as lovely as usual.

Charlotte slept through most of the festivities.

Evan took advantage of Ashley's arms being free and snuggled up for a bottle. He loves his Aunt Ashley!
He also had fun "walking" around with Grammy!

Tyler and Nathan had a lot of fun playing with toys and watching Christmas DVDs. They are both currently obsessed with Frosty the Snowman for some reason.

Here is a shot for Grammy - both of her children, with all of their children!

It was a wonderful day filled with joy and good cheer. I am very grateful for my family - immediate and extended.

Happy Christmas to all - and to all a good night!!

Party!!!

On Saturday, we had Evan's birthday party. Many relatives, friends and neighbors attended and it was great fun. I did about the same amount of decorating as I did for Tyler's birthday back in March, but I didn't take pictures of everything before the festivities started, so of course I feel guilty about that! I try to make everything even you know! In any case, you might be able see some of the decorations in the background of some of the photos. The most important thing though, is that Evan had a fun time, and there were lots of people here that love him to help him celebrate the completion of his first year here on earth!

Here is the birthday boy eating his lunch at the beginning of the party.

I was a little disappointed that the balloon people at the party store couldn't get Evan's name centered on his special personlized balloon....

Our little guy was so tired from the morning, that he didn't make it through lunch...

So we let him sleep there while everyone else made their way through the catered lunch! When he woke up,we decided that it was a good idea to do presents before cake, since we've already seen what happens when he eats cake!! We didn't think our guests would want to wait around while we gave him a bath!

So many fun toys!!!

"Hmmm... how can I play with two at once??"

"Yay!!! Mimi got me my own chair! Now I don't have to sit in Tyler's anymore!" I'm sure Tyler is happy about that too...

"Thanks for my party, Mommy!"

Now it's cake time!

Baby safari animals was the party theme. You can't tell from the picture, but the little blobs on the cake are little safari animal heads. Hmmm... now that I think about it, that's kinda creepy!! But the cake was delicious!

Here's Evan enjoying his cake - with ice cream this time.

It never made it into his hair, much to the disappointment of some of our guests!

Tyler enjoyed his cake too, but neatly, with a fork.

After cake, it was time for more hanging around and socializing,

And then the party was over. Phew!! What a day.

After all that partying and cake eating, it was time to clean up.

It was a great day. Thank you to all who were able to join us for the celebration!

Happy Birthday Evan!!!

Today, my sweet little (littlest) boy turned 1!!! It was a day of celebration, and a day to remember what was happening a year ago today...

Evan woke up in the middle of the night, at almost the same exact time that I went into labor one year ago. My second fondest memory came at about 9:00 a.m. as I remembered receiving my epidural... The fondest memory, of course, coming at 1:50 p.m., the time that Evan was born. Hard to believe it has been a full year - and that we have survived it :)!!

The day started with a birthday breakfast of bananas and cheerios...

And a first taste of cow's milk!

Unfortunately, we all had to go to work/daycare today, but the fun continued at dinner!

At first, Evan thought, being a big one year old now, that he could go ahead and take over his brother's booster seat!

But Tyler wasn't having any of that, so Evan conceded and moved into his own high chair for a delicious dinner of turkey sticks, sweet potato puffs, and green beans! He's really into green beans right now...

Here are the lame cupcakes I quickly frosted for us to enjoy after dinner. We'll have a cake on Saturday at the party...

And now, some documentation of the big event.

Tyler enjoyed his cupcake too,

But he especially enjoyed watching his brother eat his!

And then things got really messy.....

It was pretty darned fun - for all of us!!

Then it was time to clean up. The boys definitely both needed to take baths tonight! When I got Evan undressed, I found cake in his belly button! I managed to get him clean though...

Ah, much better!!! Here's a funny face:

Guess he was still pretty hopped up on the sugar :)!! But luckily, it didn't take too much effort to get him to go to sleep.

Happy Birthday, my sweet miracle baby. I hope you had a fun day and that the rest of your life is everything you want it to be and more! I love you!