Christmas #3

Since we missed the Christmas celebration for Steve's family, we opened the presents at our house on New Year's Eve. Stephen was excited to have more presents to open.

  

Wildlife sightings

On December 30, we went to Bass Pro Shops to check out their animal displays. Stephen enjoyed seeing the big animals.

Look at that big fish!

Hanging out with a bear

Mountain lion alert!

 

Christmas #2

My family traveled out to Colorado on December 26. Stephen eagerly anticipated their arrival. Of course, the kids jumped right into playing as soon as they got here.

Guess there was an emergency at the stable.

Grandma plays football with Stephen.

We took the traditional pictures in front of the tree and opened presents that evening. Paul slept through most of it but did wake up just in time to open his gifts.

Stephen, once again, crying in a cousins picture

Steve played princesses with Emily.

The next day we went to JumpStreet and had fun bouncing around.

Paul tells Monica good morning.

That evening we celebrated three birthdays - Amy, Emily, and me.

Stephen helps Clare set the table.

Instead of cake, we put candles into a piece of fudge.

The Children's Museum was our destination on Friday.

Stephen the firefighter

Playing trains with Amy

Paul the engineer

Paul the scientist

Stephen enjoyed exploring the bubbles area.

Paul had fun in the baby area.

Paul the rabbit

Stephen the veterinarian

 We played a game of Sorry in the evening. Playing a board game with a 7, 5, and 3 year-old is definitely an experience.

Stephen and Grandpa

Shooting hoops with Clare

Unfortunately, Emily got sick that night, and Jacob got sick the next morning. Megan wasn't feeling well either. Their departure was delayed a couple hours, but they managed to get on the road. Amy got sick on the road. So, not a fun ending to the trip, but we had a good time until then!

7 months old!

Paul is growing and changing so fast! He has become a master of the one-armed army crawl and is very adept at sitting and playing. His sleep habits still need some work, but he is a very happy, carefree little boy. I love his smiles and giggles and watching him watch Stephen. They are going to be quite a pair in a few months. He loves joining in on the wrestling matches with Daddy and Stephen. Paul loves eating and is starting to get the hang of picking up puffs and putting them in his mouth. I'm looking forward to watching the many changes that will be coming.

Paul James - 7 months old

Christmas Eve

After supper the boys got to open a present - snowman pajamas. After putting the pjs on, we got in the car and went to look at Christmas lights. Stephen loved seeing all the lights and kept asking to see "more Santa" and "more snowman." Unfortunately, I got sick on the way home and spent a good part of the rest of the night in the bathroom. :(

Christmas Day

We started our Christmas Day celebration at Mass with Grandma Rose. Luckily, I was feeling better. After Mass we went over to Grandma's house for breakfast. When we got home, unfortunately, Steve wasn't feeling well, so he hung out on the couch while we opened presents. Stephen had great fun opening his gifts and was more than willing to help Paul out with his presents. The rest of the day was spent playing with new toys, taking naps, and trying to get over our sickness. Since we weren't feeling well, we opted to not go back to Grandma Rose's house for the extended family celebration. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Grant stopped by to pick up our gifts and shared the exciting news that the boys will have a new cousin in July!

Stephen was a lot of fun this Christmas season because he loved seeing pictures of Santa and quickly learned that Santa says, "Ho, ho, ho." He also loved seeing baby Jesus and had fun playing with our nativity sets. Paul's favorites were the lights and wrapping paper.

Unfortunately, since we weren't feeling up to snuff, we didn't get as many pictures taken as we would have normally. Oh well. Here's the highlights...

Look at all those presents!

So much for getting a picture of both of them by the tree.

Cute bowtie onesie compliments of Aunt Megan

Playing with his new "laptop"

Riding the scooter given to him by our friends Keith and Pam