Christmas Festivities

Although we spent most of the day yesterday baking with Aunt Tin and Dre, we saved what I consider the best for last. Peanut Butter Blossoms. Connor invited Rita and her mom to come over this morning to help bake some cookies. Rita and Connor took turns adding each ingredient to the bowl, and even took turns turning on the mixer. Jennifer and I rolled the balls, but Connor and Rita rolled them in the sugar. While the first batch was baking, the kids unwrapped the Hershey kisses. As usual (for Connor at least), for each kiss that went into the bowl, another went into their mouths.

The kids decided when they were done and moved out of the kitchen, leaving Jennifer and me to finish the rest of the cookies. Once we were done, the kids did a gift exchange. Rita even had a gift for Riley. Connor was kind enough to help him open it. Connor's gift happened to be wrapped in an empty diaper box. When he unwrapped it, he looked at it and said, "Is there another present for me?" We explained to him that he needed to open the box, that there weren't really diapers in the box. Inside, he scored BIG TIME. He had been driving me bonkers every time we stepped foot in WalMart to buy a Spiderman trash can. Lo and behold, he found one in the box from Rita. He also got new sheets for his bed. He wanted to make his bed right away, so I had to explain to him that I needed to wash them before he used them.

















When they were done opening their gifts, they thanked each other profusely and gave each other a big, huge hug. It was adorable. They continued to run around and play a bit more. Before long though, it became apparent that it was time for naps. We said our goodbyes, ate a quick bite of lunch, then tucked Connor in for his afternoon nap. While he was sleeping, I ran his new sheets through the wash. He was ecstatic when he woke up to find them folded at the foot of his bed, and said he can't wait to sleep with them tonight. Maybe he'll actually stay in bed when I tuck him in tonight!

Preparations

Growing up, Christmas was always a time for lots of baked goodies around to munch on. Grandma and Aunt Tin have always done a lot of the baking. We decided to get in on some of the action this year. We invited Aunt Tin, Dre and Lexi to come over and make goodies with us. Connor soon became a pro at dipping pretzels in caramel and chocolate, then adding the sprinkles. While we were all busy in the kitchen, Riley and Lexi played in the family room. Something as simple as that really brought in the Christmas spirit.

Visiting Santa

Each year The Children's Hospital holds a private fundraiser event the first part of December. Remarkably, Santa Claus makes a special visit to see all the kids that come to the event. Rita's mom happens to have connections, and was thoughtful enough to invite us along this year. Since it was first thing in the morning, Daddy came straight from work and met us there. Unfortunately, on his way into the parking garage, one of the tires on the car went flat. He was in the process of changing it when we pulled in. He was adamant that he didn't need any help, so we went ahead and joined Rita and her mom inside. At this event, you have the option of seeing Santa first or eating breakfast first. Wanting to avoid standing in line for too long, we headed for Santa right away. It went smoothly until I sat Riley down on Santa's lap. I later learned the best way to introduce a baby to Santa is to back them in, so they keep eye contact with you instead of focusing in on Santa. Not knowing this great tidbit of info beforehand, the inevitable happened. Riley screamed and screamed and screamed. I thought maybe having Connor sit down next to him would help. It didn't.








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After picking out a stuffed animal for each boy, we left Santa behind while his hearing was still intact and headed to the breakfast buffet. It was about this time that Daddy finally made it in. He was a little disappointed he didn't get to see the kids on Santa's lap. He asked Connor what he asked for Christmas, and Connor nearly broke into tears when he realized he forgot to tell Santa what he wanted. Surprisingly, there wasn't a long wait to see Santa, so I told him I would take him in again. One of the hostesses of the event saw us standing in line, and knowing how it went the first time around, told me they would retake the pictures of the kids for no charge since Riley had been such a stinker. Her daughter happened to be standing in line ahead of us, and shared the info about backing him onto Santa's lap. It worked like a charm the second time around. But it wasn't long before Riley realized that if I was standing across from him, it wasn't my lap he was sitting on. He twisted his body around to see who it was, but didn't seem to mind this time. Connor, on the other hand, looked like he was being tortured. I made sure Connor remembered to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas this time. Santa said, "Yep, a Spiderman toothbrush" as he pretended to shoot a web from his hand. I have no idea where Connor got the idea to ask for a toothbrush for Christmas, but I'm not complaining. Once we were done with Santa a second time, we headed back to our table.
We sat around, nibbling on more goodies while we waited for the raffle to start. Connor and Rita entertained themselves as usual. We were able to interrupt their antics long enough to take a few pictures of the two of them together. It was just too cute when we asked them to give hugs, meaning to each other. But they took it literally and hugged themselves. They got it figured out though and gave each other a big, huge hug. Santa made another appearance and began the raffle. Rita ended up winning a prize in the raffle. Connor was pretty disappointed he didn't win anything, but soon forgot all about it. The party ended with all the kids up by the stage with Santa, singing some Christmas carols. All in all, we had a great time. It definitely beat standing in line at the mall, waiting to see Santa!

Trimming the Tree

As I've done in past years, I frantically tried to get the tree up while Connor was down for his afternoon nap. It's a fun surprise for him when he wakes up and gets to help decorate the tree. Leave it to Riley to throw a wrench in my plans though. He woke up from his nap early, and wasn't about to go back to sleep. He was being very vocal, and I was afraid he might wake up Connor. I brought him downstairs and let him "help" me get some of the decorations out. He got ahold of Daddy's Barry Bonds ornament and ended up biting his foot off. (I'm telling you, he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.) When I told Daddy, he said Barry got what he deserved. Well then. I hit gold when I found some Christmas stuffed animals, one of which is a dancing/singing dog. Riley loved it and was entertained long enough for me to finish putting up the tree.

Time Well Spent

Unfortunately, Rea hadn't been feeling well on Thanksgiving and wasn't able to join us for dinner. After we had the family pictures taken, we ate dinner at a great mexican restaurant, then headed over to Rea's to spend some time with her. She was feeling much better than the day before. I took the opportunity to get a "generation" picture of Rea, Nanny, Julie, and Abbey. Riley had us in stitches when he first attempted to eat Rea's walker, then gave "kisses" to Nanny. His kisses consist of him opening his mouth as wide as he can, then sucking on your cheek or chin, whichever happens to make contact with his mouth first. As messy as it is, it's very sweet. The highlight for Connor, and very probably Rea as well, was when Rea gave Connor a ride down the hallway on her walker. Although we missed having her with us on Thanksgiving, this extra time with her was extra special.

Picture Perfect

The last time we had family pictures taken with Daddy's family was three years ago, when Connor was just 6 months old. With the addition of Riley to the family, it was the perfect time to update the family picture. Not only had Connor changed drastically, but so had Caleb and Abbey. I can't believe how much they've all changed in three years!

Another First

Since Riley is such a big eater, we were all pretty excited to see how he would handle his first Thanksgiving. As of now, the only food he has refused to eat is green beans. However, even with that said, he'll eat them if they're mixed in with something else. When it was time to sit down and eat, we handed over one of the turkey legs to Riley. He stared at it briefly, gnawed on it a bit, moving from one end to the other, then set it down and moved on to Nanny's yummy sweet potatoes. He loved those. I think he ended up with 3 helpings. Before he was done, he had relegated the turkey leg to the floor. We all ate until we were stuffed, then lazed around in tryptophanic bliss. That night, most of us played a rousing game of Chicken Foot (dominos). Much to his delight, Connor even got in on the action and helped Nanny play. I think he was surprised he didn't have to beg or plead. Of course he had no idea how to play, but he felt pretty special being able to play with the grown ups.

As for me, I realized not long ago that we don't have very many pictures of our get togethers. Therefore, I insisted on taking candid pictures while everyone else played the game. We made it an early night since we(the girls) were getting up before the crack of dawn for our big shopping day.

Together Again

Unable to get away sooner, Derrick, Julie, Caleb and Abbey arrived this afternoon. We had not seen them since last Christmas, so it was great being together again. Just like her mom, Julie had to whip out the boys' Christmas gifts early since we wouldn't be together for Christmas, especially since this is Riley's first Christmas. Of course the opening of his very first Christmas present had to be well documented. As with most babies, I think he was fascinated more with the wrapping than the gift. He loved the tissue paper! The gift was a little dog that is supposed to bark when you pull the string and make him walk. However, as Derrick quickly pointed out, it sounded more like the dog was passing gas than barking. Connor was absolutely thrilled to get a superhero memory card game featuring his favorite web slinging Spiderman. He barely took a breath before exclaiming that he wanted to play it. Luckily, Abbey came to the rescue and played a game with him. She also came to the rescue with taking care of Riley. It gave me a much needed break to just sit and relax a bit.

Endless Entertainment

After a long day in the car, we arrived in Amarillo this afternoon. After being cooped up in their carseats all day, the boys needed to stretch out and expend some pent up energy. Although we brought some of the boy's toys along for our stay, of course Nanny couldn't resist getting a few new ones for them as well. One was a Curious George jack-in-the-box for our Little Monkey. Riley took a break from "cooking" long enough to check it out.

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Although Riley lost interest in the jack-in-the-box after seeing Curious George pop out of it a few times, he resumed his previous task of cooking. Connor, however, seemed to get endless enjoyment out of it. Over and over and over again.

Play Time

We love having Lexi come over to play. It not only gives her parents some time to themselves, but it also allows her and Riley time to play together. It's been fun watching the two of them the past few months as they socially develop more. Lexi is kind enough to show Riley the ropes every now and then.

Whatever It Takes

Rather than just play the piano with his own fingers, Riley likes to use various objects to get the job done. It turns out Mr. Incredible is quite the pianist.

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Busted

Daddy told me a story today that had me laughing for a while. Apparently, the other night he saw Connor hanging over the back of the couch.

Daddy: Whatcha doin' there bud?
Connor: Looking at all the papers.
Daddy: What papers?
Connor: The papers from all the candy I ate then hid.

No wonder our stash of Halloween candy disappeared so quickly!



(Just a small sampling of what we found under the couch.)

Gramps

Riley has recently started making a face that Connor has affectionately dubbed "the old man face." Connor thinks it's absolutely hysterical. Riley won't do it on demand, of course. He seems to do it most when he's crawling around, deep in thought on what trouble he can stir up next.

Halloween Festivities

Connor's daycare has held an annual "Treat Street" the past 8 years. However, at the last minute, the fire chief put a stop to this year's plans. It had something to do with the decorations covering the walls from the floor to the ceiling being a fire hazard. Rather than modify the decorations, they chose to cancel the festivities altogether. It was quite disappointing for the kids, and didn't make too many parents happy either. However, in an effort to make it up, they decided to do different themes each day of Halloween week. One day was crazy hair day. Daddy picked up colored hair spray on Tuesday night, and in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, I coifed his hair into a mohawk and sprayed it stiff. Today was their Halloween parade. All the kids sat in the hallway while each class took a turn marching through the school to show off their costumes. (I'm pretty sure if the fire chief knew about this, it would have been canceled too.) I stayed to watch the parade with Riley, Grandma, and Mischa. After the parade, each class held a party. We snuck out for a few minutes to snap a picture of Connor with Rita. Her mom, Jennifer, is brilliant when it comes to Halloween costumes. She makes them herself, and keeps it an absolute secret from everyone, even Rita. This year Rita was a toy soldier and was absolutely adorable. After we got some pictures of the two of them, we returned for Connor's class party. We stayed for the party, then Grandma loaded up all the kids in her car while I headed off to work. After a few hours, I headed to Grandma's house to pick up the boys and bring them back to work with me. At the last minute, my office had decided to do a "Treat Street" for everyone's kids to attend. It went better than expected, considering neither boy had taken an afternoon nap. Of course Connor had to bring his Halloween flashlight along to scare people. I think they were more amused than scared, but he enjoyed it regardless. Riley was quite taken with a little stuffed dancing monster. I think he really just wanted to eat it.

We had to cut Treat Street a bit short so we could get Riley to his 6 month doctor appointment. He checked out just fine of course. The doctor confirmed yet again that not only is he a chunk, but he's also adorable. We made it home in time to eat a quick bite of supper before the doorbell began ringing. Connor loved handing out candy to all the Trick-or-Treaters and was not shy about sharing his opinion on each costume. He also waited to hand out the candy until he was sure each kid had actually said the words, "Trick or treat." If he didn't hear them say it, he asked them to say it. I'm not sure what he actually enjoyed more - handing out the candy or stealing a piece for himself when he thought I wasn't looking.

SIX MONTHS

Riley has been a natural poser since I first snapping pictures of him with my camera six months ago. But these pictures show what a photogenic kid he really is. Just too cute! I especially love the baby boobies. I'll definitely be using this photo for blackmail later in his life.
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