Christmas 2009

A little late posting, but better late than never!

Here are some pictures of Christmas with Owen and Eric, backdated so it is in the right month. :) On Christmas eve, the boys opened their presents from Mom and Dad -- isn't it funny how they always like the wrapping paper, box or instructions? Eric climbed into boxes, frying pans, and anything else he could sit inside during this holiday. :)

On Christmas morning, they got to see what Santa had brought them while they were sleeping.

(Yes, we believe in Santa at our house -- I don't mind giving him credit for the presents, plus I think you only get to experience a little magic when you are young, so why not enjoy it all without having to face reality for as long as possible, right?)

Finally, we dressed the boys up for Christmas day, but it was a little tough to convince them to sit still for a good picture. Here's the best we could do!

family cruise

I'm sorry for the long delay in posting this -- I've backdated it to when we returned form the trip so that everything will be in order. :) Vacationing just before the holidays makes it awfully difficult to get anything done! We haven't even sent out our Christmas cards yet! Of course, that probably means we'll never get them out! ;-(

Here are some pictures from the cruise we took just before Christmas. It was really fun, but I think cruising is definitely more aimed at kids that are in the 6-12 range rather than 0-6 range. Owen was especially excited to sleep in his "bunkin' bed" as he called it. He LOVED climbing up and climbing down, over and over and over again, and now he is asking for a "bunkin' bed" for his room, too. :)

Christmas prelude

For the 3rd year in a row, we have visited the same Christmas tree farm in early to mid-December, chosen and chopped down our tree, and vacuumed up very stubborn pine needles from our carpet. :) This was the 2nd year that Owen has understood what we were doing, and so he remembered last year's tree and the place we go. It was really neat to see him get so excited, and he keeps asking both Shea and me, "Is Christmas the next day?" which is his way of saying tomorrow. :) As for ourselves, we keep saying, "I can't believe this is Eric's first Christmas and he is already so big!" Owen was less than 2 months old for his first Christmas, so this is quite a change for us!


















Owen has also really gotten into the idea of Santa delivering his presents, and has REALLY taken time to explain to Santa what he wants. In the several pictures preceding this one, Eric is crying almost continuously, while Owen ignores that completely and tells Santa, complete with gestures, all about the transformers he also wants for Christmas (that he forgot to tell Santa about on his first visit to another Santa a few days before this). :)

Growing up

I can't believe how fast they grow up...

I made mini-pizzas (from Costco) for Owen and myself today. I put 4 pieces onto his plate in alternating order of cheese and pepperoni slices. He started to protest that he didn't want to eat, so I pointed out how I gave him half of each kind (which he asks for a lot but I don't always do because sometimes I only make one pizza for him), and that I had put them in a pattern.

"Pepperoni, cheese, pepperoni, cheese," I said.

He grinned really big and said, "No! Cheese, pepperoni, cheese, pepperoni!" Then he laughed.

When did he get so big that he could make a joke about viewpoint like that!?! I just love him so much! :)

Eric - not walking yet

Eric isn't quite ready to walk yet, but we often find him free standing while playing with his toys, and he definitely cruises around holding on to the furniture as he plays. Here is a video of him taking a few steps closer to walking. He's growing so FAST! :\

Owen's 4th Birthday

Owen had a Blue's Clues themed birthday party this year. The above picture was take a few weeks before his party at a children's museum. What luck that they had a Thinking Chair for us to take a picture! We made a poster of this pic for decoration at the party. :)

Blue's Clues has been his latest obsession, lasting for at least the last six months now. Below are some pictures of his party. His friends were very interested in helping him open his presents this year -- that was pretty cute!