The First Christmas

We always travel for Christmas, and as our family has grown older and larger the logistics of it all have become more complicated. This year was a Seattle Christmas and flying with regular luggage for 5 people + snow clothes + presents would have been crazy, so we chose to open almost all our family gifts at home on December 8th. We did it so early because I wanted the kids to have time to enjoy their new toys before we left town the following weekend.

We were also supposed to be hit by the storm of the century that day (10 inches of snow in the forecast!), which would have been the perfect setting to stay home and celebrate, but instead the storm swung east before making it's way to Amarillo and we got nothing. Oh well. It did mean we were still able to attend our ward Christmas party that evening, which everyone was worried would be cancelled. The kids had a great time playing with friends at the party, we enjoyed a nice meal, and then Santa made a surprise visit at the end.

Our little tree. I am hoping to pick up a bigger one (10+ feet) on clearance next year. I was not sure if the kids could handle having presents under the tree, so I started with just a few boring ones (dishes, shoes, books) and when they left those alone, I slowly added in the rest. This how things looked on December 7th, our "Christmas Eve."

Since Sophie is our Chief Fairness Officer, I made sure each child had the same number and excitement level of gifts. From us they got a shirt, a book, a DVD, a plate/bowl set, one small toy, and one big toy.

Dave and I received his and hers ladders :)

Seeing Santa at the ward party

That weekend we also drove the neighborhood to look at lights. This 25 ft inflatable snowman was the favorite of the night. 

Charlie at 9 Months

Charlie is 9 months old now! He is crawling on hands and knees, exploring everywhere he can. His favorite destinations are Sophie's room, the Christmas tree, the dishwasher and the shoe basket. His most notable change is that he's no longer our chunky boy. We had noticed his growth slowing, and at his 9 month well child visit the pediatrician confirmed that he had actually lost a pound since his last check up, falling from the 80th percentile to the 38th. Part of that slim down is due to his increased physical activity, but mostly because he has been so resistant to eating solids.

We are not sure if he has a super strong gag reflex, or is just difficult, but it's hard to get food in his mouth, and once it's there he does not know how to swallow. Luckily we've seen a big improvement over the last few days! He's willingly eaten a few tablespoons of oatmeal and purees, which seems small, but we're moving in the right direction! If he keeps improving over the holidays, we might be able to cancel the "oral aversion" evaluation his doctor wanted him to have. Wish us luck!

Charlie at 9 Months

• 9 Month stats were 19 lbs (38%), 29 inches (77%) and an 18 inch head (72%). This is the first time we've had a baby below average weight, and hopefully we'll be able to fatten him up again soon. He is still wearing 12-18 month clothes and is now in size 4 diapers. 
• He loves to dance and will start rocking back and forth and shaking his head whenever music comes on. 
• His other top tooth grew in, so he doesn't have his signature "one tooth smile" anymore, and now tooth #5 is starting to break through on the top
• He's on a pretty regular nap schedule, which is great, but it does make it harder for us to go out and do stuff with friends now that we need to plan around his sleep. I miss the "sleep on the go" days. 
• We haven't given him a haircut yet, but will need to soon to clean up hair around his ears. It's gotten pretty long and could use a trim. 
• Charlie is normally a pretty calm, happy boy, but he can throw the biggest tantrums when you take something away from him. They're so dramatic it's almost comical. 
• He can't pull up on stuff yet (although he's working hard to learn how!), but he can stand well to play or look at things up on the coffee table or couch. 

At his check up, where he got busted for being a bad eater

He is probably wearing more food than he ate, but things are getting better! So far we've found that he tends to like savory foods more than sweet, and he seems to dislike anything apple-based. 

Trying to pull down the Christmas lights

First time in the car cart at the grocery store

Baths in the sink are still a favorite, especially if I leave the faucet running on just a trickle

Snuggled up for a nap with his blanket "Blue"

Christmas at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens

We had a short list of Christmas activities we wanted to do in Amarillo before leaving town, and at the top of our list was the light display in the Botanical Gardens.  It's not as spectacular as some of the displays bigger cities put on, but for here it's pretty good and it gives us a chance to see Santa! We went to the Santa station very first, before the lines got long, and were able to take some pictures and visit with him for a bit. Sophie put in a request for a CD player and music so she can listen to songs in her room. Davey asked for Paw Patrol toys. Charlie just stared, but at least he didn't cry!

After seeing Santa we walked around for an hour to admire the lights. We also brought some hot cocoa as a special treat, and to ward off any complaints from little people about it being too cold. We sure love this magical time of year!

Picture in front of the blue tree with my blue marshmallow baby

The kids remembered this Santa from last year and had a great time leading music and dancing with him (see video below). 

Davey loves all vehicles right now so we took his photo with this truck

These two are getting heavy for me to hold!

Video: Enjoying music with Santa at the gardens

November Roundup

November came and went in a flash. Even though the month just ended, I feel like I barely remember what we did. I look back at these photos and can't even think what to say about them. My poor mom brain.

Ironically, at the beginning of the month we talked about how we've had a lot of large expenses lately and this would be the month to get our spending under control.... Ha! Instead it turned out to be one of the most expensive months this year. We both got new phones (our birthday gifts to each other), both cars needed new sets tires (due to normal wear), our disposal got a leak and we had to have someone come replace it (happened right after Thanksgiving), and we did all our Christmas shopping for the kids and family. Maybe next month will go better!

Sophie and I were at the store by ourselves for a reason I can't remember, so we got a special treat to celebrate it being just us girls

The two boys and their blankets

Sophie came home from school one day and then immediately left for a friends house. Davey was pretty upset that he was left behind, so we went for a walk to distract him. It was a beautiful fall day. Then it snowed 5 days later!

Davey never lets me hold his hand anymore, so I was holding his shadow instead :)

We went to the Discovery Center after school one day so Sophie could come along. She was able to do this climbing wall with Dave's help. 

Charlie learned to escape from the Bumbo seat, so that is no longer a safe place to put him

Davey started to become a little pantry thief while I fed Charlie. One day he finished off a jar of gummy vitamins (neither of us can remember how many were in the jar). Another time he helped himself to the marshmallow cereal. I ordered a door lock that afternoon. 

When it's cold and windy out, the best place to hitch a ride is in daddy's coat

We started our advent calendars early since we will leave for our Christmas trip to Seattle only half way through December. My mom sent these chocolate calendars to the kids and they LOVE them. Davey ate more than one the first day, so they had to find a new home in a high cupboard. 

Charlie is crawling everywhere and we find him in all sorts of funny places now

He is growing up, but will still sleep in my arms on occasion

We went swimming at WT and brought Sophie's friend Emery with us. They had such a great time with each other, so we'll have to do it again soon!

November video clips, including Discovery Center fun, the famous Mickey-in-the-Box laugh, our snow day, Charlie wanting "mom mom," Davey's favorite decoration at Target, the Big Texan shooting gallery, and talking to Davey about the finished puzzle. 

The BIGGEST Puzzle Ever

I received a 3000 piece puzzle for my birthday from Liz. This was double the size of the largest puzzle I'd ever done and I swear the box weighed about 5 pounds. We started right after the Thanksgiving meal was cleaned up, and then finished exactly one week later, during which we had to eat at the bar because this puzzle covered the entire surface of our kitchen table. 

Because it was so large, we had very little room to work and found the best way make progress was to sortsimilar pieces into bowls/pans so we could take those "projects" elsewhere to have more room to work. Dave was the master organizer, and then I would take his collections, assemble the pieces, and then reinsert them into the puzzle. The kids were also surprisingly good a leaving the puzzle alone, although Davey would often stop by and hook a few pieces into random places, which we would later undo. 

After it was complete I left it out for two more days to admire, and then we broke it up again. It would have been a fun one to mount and frame, but the kits I looked at for a puzzle this large were super expensive! To make things easier for next time (if there is a next time) we put the pieces away into a few different gallon ziploc bags so we can work on it just one section at a time. 

The initial dump

All finished!

Some close up shots... one of the hardest parts of this puzzle was trying to figure out the scale. Things that looked right next to each other on the box would end up being four or five pieces apart. 

The elephants (aka massive grey blobs) were the most challenging and the section we saved for last, but they sure look pretty put together!

Charlie enjoyed swimming in the pieces after we first dumped it out. This could be why a couple came up missing at the end...

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6 - so close

Day 7 - All finished!! As you can see, our table was just barely big enough!