December Leftovers

There were a few pictures I never got around to posting during December that I felt worthy of sharing! Happy New Year! We've had a fantastic two days of sledding and fun with friends which I'll share soon! Until then.. enjoy!

Caden and Cole now take to putting Rody into their big Tonka dump truck and riding them around.. often they will push (or pull) each other around. In this instance Caden was also wearing his new ski goggles!

Caden made a gingerbread house at preschool and really wanted to eat some, especially the candies on it. But the icing was solid and many of the candies could not be pryed out.. so Caden decided to just up and eat the whole thing. After a few bites he realized it was a bit too hard.

This is also a funny thing the boys do.. Caden gives Cole "rides to school" It's really great now that they play together so much more. Cole's vocabulary has exploded in the last two weeks and he speaks more in sentence form now which is exciting. Now if only they got along as much as they play together!

I was trying to practice with my new lens from my birthday and get some good Christmas tree light bokeh.. but my subjects are all loonies and wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get any good shots.. the tree looked great in all of them, but the kids were a blur. This is probably the best one I got.. and its of Cora crawling toward me after I plopped her down in the middle of the room.

Cora loves anything with buttons!

The boys dragged out the shark tent, and so far have had many hours of fun in it.. they have even spent the last 2 nights in it, and Cole is currently up taking his nap in it this afternoon.

Sleeping boys.. at 11 when we checked on them before we went to bed Caden was on Cole's side and Cole was practically underneath him! Soon after Cole woke up to go to the bathroom and decided it would be more comfortable without Caden smooshing him, so he went to his bed for the rest of the night. Guess we'll definitely be going camping this summer!

10 Month Sibling Comparison

2 more months of comparisons! Then I'll stop I promise! well.. perhaps an occasional yearly or semi-yearly one!

Cora continues to be a blend of her brothers.. mouth and forehead of Caden and eyes of Cole.. I think their noses are all the same at this point. However Cora and Cole share many of the same expressions as you can see.. Caden always smiled with his teeth showing!

Enjoy the comparison!

Cora is 10 Months!

I'm a bit late, I'm not sure why?!! Has anyone else been up to their ears in Christmas activity?!

Cora Cora... still a joy! SHe is still a happy girl.. as long as she's running the show! She tells her brothers who's boss! already into their business and being the "annoying little sister"

Cora LOVES buckets or anything that resembles that type of container, putting objects in and out, in and out.. keeps her busy for hours (or so it seems!)

Cora has a fetish for dirty socks?! Whenever she finds a sock, whether it is hers or her brothers (ew!) lying around (hers fall off, and the boys randomly remove theirs!) she likes to carry it around everywhere she goes.. and... ew gross.. chew on them. We try to discourage it when we do see it happening in case you were concerned!

Cora also is the best eater of the kids.. she may actually eat more than the two of them combined! Caden isn't even all that picky most of the time.. Cora is just that good! She mostly eats all table foods now, unless we are eating something un-baby friendly. Of course the bad thing is that she thinks everything she finds on the floor is food... leaf bits, lint, etc. but thankfully I think we have all the small kid toys under control. When she does have a foreign object in her mouth she knows it is wrong.. and she clamps her lips shut and won't let us in to retrieve it.. we do of course, but it is a struggle!

Cora climbs up to stand on everything, and now that she has her stroller walker she walks around.. as long as she's holding on to something anyway!

When she hears music, or even my off-key singing, she shakes her booty!

She often rolls around like a lunatic.

Interstingly she loves cars/trucks.. she loves to roll them, and she casts her baby dolls aside when handed them.

Cora is in constant motion.. much like her brother Cole, and we fear we will be in trouble!.. but she is also an excellent snuggler when she feels in the mood!

Cora has 8 teeth

She still sucks her thumb and puts her hand behind her head or pinches your neck while doing so.

Cora has mastered crawling with a dress on... stepping with one foot and dragging the other knee along behind.

She tries to mimic what we say sometimes.

10 months.. so soon before she turns one!! She is at such a fun age and developing a huge personality! She thinks she is a little ham.. and well, really I guess she is! We laugh with her all the time.

Happy 10 Months little girl!!

Christmas Day 2009

Surprisingly the kids all slept until 7:15! a first! They awoke to find their ornaments.. Caden came into our room very excited and let us know that Santa had come! Caden starts ski lessons next week and Cole starts soccer class, which he is very excited about!

Notice Cora's hairbow? Santa brought her velcro bows that can cling to small amounts of hair!

The year of capes!! The boys got super capes! This time Caden decided to try them on since Cole had one too.. We've decided his other cape will be his magic cape and he is very excited to do some abracadabras for us... once we get him a magic wand that is!

And Cora trucks around the room with her walker stroller... she just needs help turning it around... which is often!

It was a very happy Christmas!!

Christmas Eve '09

Christmas Eve was a busy day at our house!! First things first we baked Santa some cookies!! The boys love using cookie cutters, so we made shortbread cookies which I've learned are actually better than sugar cookie cutouts because they don't spread when you cook them!

We continued on to our next activity.. a gingerbread tree! We decided to try something other than a house this year. It was quite fun, and Caden did a great job turning the stars just so, so that they offset to form the branches rather than a stack of stars! I did the frosting, the boys stuck on the decorations which you probably can't see in the picture.. but it really looks nice!

At 4:00 we went to the Children's service at Church.. this service is great because it is specifically designed for kids! So it doesn't matter if you have loud ones! It really is cute. The Sunday school kids do some readings, and all the kids carry up pieces to the creche. We weren't aware that we knew anyone from town at our church since we don't go in our hometown, but one of Caden's "girlfriends" from preschool popped into our pew for a hug from Caden! It was super cute! He's way more popular than us already! After church we came home and had pizza then headed outside to sprinkle reindeer food on the snow, this helps guide Rudolph to our house.. or so they say :)

Next it is customary to take photos in front of the Christmas tree! Cora got away the first go at it, so I had the boys squeeze together for one alone before popping Cora back in!

Here she is!! Cole contains her so she can't crawl away!

And then the kids got to open their Chrismas Eve present! In sticking with tradition they opened up their Christmas jammies!! Once again.. Cole held down the fort... and then.. well the pictures tell the rest, but I will preface it all by saying the kids have been absolute NUTS this past week! Whether it's over tired from the parties, too much sugar from the extra Christmas treats.. or the general excitement that SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN!! whatever the reason they have all been a bit cuckoo!

Tackle #1!

Tackle #2!

Tackle?

Cora was just rolling around the floor, spinning, flipping? I don't even know! But she definitely did not stop moving for more than a second!

I was able to capture this split second moment!! Baby's 1st Christmas!

Tackle Daddy time!

Whoah!! And Cora goes over!

Split second #2, while she un-decorates the tree!

To distract from the pure chaos we got Santa's treats ready.. What more could the jolly old soul ask for? Cookies.. Milk.. and an ice cold beer to wash it all down with! And of course you can't forget the carrots for Rudolph and his mates!

'Twas the night before Christmas!

.... all the stockings were hung by the chimney with care (P.S. I finished Cora's last night.. phew!)

Santa came!!

Merry Christmas to All... and to All a GOOD NIGHT!!

Waterhouse Christmas '09

This weekend we travelled northward to Maine for the Waterhouse Family Christmas. A fun gathering the kids opened presents and played together while the adults had a Yankee Swap. Isn't Christmas just the best time of year? It's too bad it is only once a year, we need more excuses for parties!

Cora and Grampy

Caden and "his buddy" Uncle Brian

The kids would congregate to "help" each other open their gifts

Tea anyone? Cole really enjoyed Elizabeth's princess tea set!

Aunt Mary got the "boobie" prize.. really they were some pretty nifty baking dishes that just looked boob-a-riffic when held at the right height!

Cole and Elizabeth have a tea party

Hooray! for Christmas!! Who needs presents when you have pretty bows?

Grampy tries on Caden's cape! My cousin Marleina made him this really cool cape.. but he refused to try it on..

Catherine and Aunt Mary

Elizabeth and Marleina

And then Uncle Brian arrived with the entertainment! His 4-wheeler.. every little boys dream come true... and girls??! Even Aunt Mary gave it a whirl!

Show-off!

The kids watch from inside

Timmy

His Mom was quoted "Shouldn't they be wearing helmets?"

And the kids have a turn

Everyone needs an Uncle Brian!!

Another day closer to the big day! The kids are beginning to go a little bit nuts! Christmas morning is going to be very exciting around here! I just can't wait!