Gingerbread Houses

We made our standard gingerbread house kit this year. I have one word to describe the experience-MESSY!

This was Peter's first year to help, and he doesn't hesitate to get in there. You can see a good share of the frosting ended up in his hands and on everything he touched. All the candy he touched first went in his mouth. Some of it then made it to the house. Some it still was pulled off the house to once again enter his mouth. The candies were then once again put back on the house.

Peter definitely had his own ideas about decorating. He is responsible for the candy sticks on top of the house, his idea. It was also his idea to have them be somewhat perpendicular to the roof. When we tried to straighten them, he turned them back! Peter thought the gingerbread men that came with the kit were for eating. He ate one and let Eddie eat the other.

Eddie tried some of the candy, but he didn't like most of it. (Of course, that didn't stop him from picking it apart and trying different pieces the days after the house was done.) Eddie was curious why cheese was included with the kit (it was shredded coconut). Eddie took note and appreciated the different things Ben and I did to decorate the house. When we were done decorating, Eddie just went in and took a bite out of the side of the roof! Okay, I thought. Let's all do it for a picture!

We had fun, and everything/one got clean once we were done. The house, however, stayed looking rather messy!

Christmas Lights

We enjoyed the Christmas lights at a nearby park again this year. You can either drive or walk through the park.
Choo, choo!
riding in Santa's sleigh
Peter loved touching all the lights!
We are happy to be able to enjoy these beautiful lights each year.
Eddie's favorite part of the park.

Eddie could never get over the fact that the park wasn't as big as he expected it to be. He was sad each time we'd walked through or driven through it all and was convinced we were cutting it short.

Stockings

the Christmas stockings I made Eddie and Peter this year. They were an after-Thanksgiving project at my brother's house. They are really cute. Santa had to bring an extra stocking for each child, though, as they are kinda small for anything more than candy. I was planning to start making family stockings in 2010; I think I may still do that, though these will always be cherished!

O Christmas Tree

We set up our Christmas tree on Sunday, November 30. We were so excited to get it up! It was so much fun with Eddie and Peter!!! This is going to be a great season!Eddie liked hanging the ornaments up high so Peter couldn't reach them. Eddie also coordinated ornaments; he put a pink ornament by a pink light.
It was so precious to see Eddie's excitement at each ornament he pulled out of the bag. It reminded me of decorating the Christmas tree when I was a kid. Though he has no memories of these ornaments, they were all so exciting to him. Peter also found a couple of ornaments he was really excited about, a jingle bell and a Santa. It was fun for me to see all the memories we've collected through our ornaments over our small time as a family.
Christmas for a one and a half year old is very fun when you have a three and a half year old brother that's so excited. Peter can say Christmas tree, ornament, Santa Claus, and snowman (he loves snowmen!). He loves to see these things and point them out. He also loves pointing out Christmas lights.
Eddie put on his boots so we could decorate the tree because they reminded him of Santa Claus. His new favorite game is having us pretend to sleep, so he can pretend to be Santa and leave us a toy under the tree. Eddie also was adamant that we read every book we read under the tree. He lays so his head is literally under the tree!
Here you can see Peter and me hanging ornaments. Notice some of the gifts Santa has already delivered.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009 was spent at William's and Michelle's house in Hinesville, Georgia, a four hour drive from our house in Tally. Brent's family joined us from Pittsburgh(a decision made the Sunday before Thanksgiving).
Michelle, my sister-in-law, had the kids make these adorable placemats.
Eddie liked the rolls, mashed potatoes, and jigglers. Peter slept through the meal. Ben gave him a plate when he woke up. I missed it as I was on a walk. I feel very sad to miss Peter eating his first Thanksgiving food. Ben said he ate everything.

Cousin pics-I just had to put all these pics, mainly cuz Eddie is so adorable in every single one!
Eddie, so cheesy; Peter, so anxious.
E, still cheesy; Abs, "give me that bottle!"
I love Eddie! He just never gives up on smiling in this photo shoot.
Now we are beginning to make faces. If you keep looking, you will see even Peter gets into it!




We are a happy family, despite Ben's new horn.

I love my brothers. I am so happy I was able to spend Thanksgiving with them. This week just made me miss Mark, Tom, and Kaleb. And William and Brent, too, as I see them so rarely. I have the best family and I came from the best family! Who could ask for anything more?!?
Our first Christmas present.
Opening it together!

Peter, Peter

Peter's beautiful happy smile. (He's always holding one or two cars or trains).
He actually looks like he has a potbelly here, which is abnormal. I was taking pictures because his belly looked so huge during and after his bath.
I think he may have been coming in for a kiss. I don't remember, but he is cracking up. I see this happy little face all the time, and I want to remember it forever!

First Time to Fall Asleep on the Couch

I tried for over an hour to get him to sleep in his bed at nap time. He refused, and I was SO sick. I gave up. He fell asleep on the couch while watching tv.

Bathtub Pics

Just because my kids are so cute naked!

The Phone, the Phone is Ringing!

Pete-ch likes to pretend he is on the phone. He is adorable because he cocks his head to the side while he talks, though you can't see that here.
He is frustrated that I am taking a picture. It's hard to tell that he's not wiping his eyes. He is actually holding his hands to the sides of his eyes. He does this every time he's frustrated.

Chinny Chin Chin

Some nights Peter refuses to go to sleep at bedtime (or he goes to sleep just to wake up soon after). I try to get him back to sleep, but sometimes he refuses. Eventually I get him up when I am worried his screaming will wake Edison. I know he shouldn't be up, but Ben and I end up having a lot of fun with Peter. He really likes having his Mommy and Daddy to himself. We enjoy it, too. The night I took this picture, he was playing on our bed. He pulled the covers up and wasn't satisfied until they were under his chin. We love our fun and funny little boy!

Where's Peter?

The other night I couldn't find Peter. I'd poured him a bowl of dry cereal (great dinner, eh?), and I was going to put him in his booster seat to eat. While I searched the house, he found his cereal and took it with him to eat under the slide that had a blanket draped on top. Eventually he responded to his name, and I let him finish his dinner under the slide. My cute, silly boy!

Halloween Fun

Pinata at a Halloween party
Peter was first to go and couldn't figure out what he was supposed to do. He kept tapping the bat on the ground. By his second turn, he'd figured out the objective.

Maze at a pumpkin patch
Eddie successfully led us through twice. Here we are stopped at a dead end.

Picking out a carving pumpkin

We ended up buying these toys for Peter since he'd already put them in his mouth.

Carving a pumpkin
Eddie and Peter weren't all that interested in getting their hands messy. Peter tried putting his hand in the pumpkin once. Eddie wouldn't.
Traditional stew and breadsticks dinner

Costumes
Ben was a vampire; his was last minute. He only dressed up because Eddie said it would be fun if Dad dressed up as something scary.
Peter was Tigger. He initially didn't like wearing his costume. He didn't mind it by Halloween, though, and even asked to have it on after Halloween was over.
Eddie was a black cat, my idea. He liked it initially, though, the day of Halloween he kept mentioning other things he would like to be (a robot, a firefighter, something scary). I will let him choose next year. He's on a kick of wearing his rain boots everywhere! They go well with the costume!I was a black cat, too, cuz it's easy. Eddie was more excited about wearing his cat costume when he found out I'd be one, too.