Christmas of Aught Nine - The Big Day

Our Christmas (all of them) has come and gone, and what a wonderful year this was for all of us. Today we were able to spend the day together, just the four of us, for our Christmas. We were really looking forward to having this time to ourselves, especially since this year Skyler is really getting into the whole process of Santa and presents. He, and we, were hyped up for Christmas morning and the appearance of presents left by Santa. Andy actually had to refrain from waking Skyler up to see his reaction to the bounty. Rule number one in the parenting handbook, never wake a sleeping child. Skyler and Mason woke up on their own and we started in.

Skyler really appreciated the car themed gifts he got from Uncle Brian

And Mason appreciated that we didn't make him unwrap his presents, the result of a wrapping paper shortage on Christmas Eve (Santa Fail)

As predicted Skyler showed the most appreciation for the cheapest of his toys, a spinning toy sucker

That is not to say that he did not immensely enjoy the big toy of the day: a rideable Lightning McQueen

His grin doesn't get much bigger

Mason looked on with speculation

I think he just preferred the warmer indoors and the toys he had at home

We had a very fulfilling Christmas and are so very grateful for all that we have and were given. Our boys are everything that we could ask for and we also are quite fond of eachother. I really can't heap much more sugar on it, today was a good day. Merry Christmas to all of you, I hope the holidays were as good to you as they were to us!

Christmas of Aught Nine, day two

Day two of Christmas-palooza was a very long, and very good day. We started out the day at Nana and Pa's. In Skyler's case he started out by helping Nana put the finishing touches on her apricot scones, yum.

Skyler and Mason enjoyed their new *matching* jammies. Personalized pajamas are pretty sweet, but long john pj's with monogrammed butt-flaps really takes the cake.

And then the gifts came pouring in. Skyler didn't object.

Mason was more into the company than the gifts.

Meet Cowie Green Truck, the very first name he has ever given to any of his belongings. Skyler is in love. Though we were reminded that love hurts sometimes as Skye has already tried to dismember this particular toy.

Still loves his park ranger hat, lucky for him it's so versatile.

Mason tried to get in on the accessorizing action but quickly realized that he was dealing with a product of inferior quality. He was most displeased.


After an attempted nap (50% success rate), we moved on to Gamma and Pa's house for our tamale making tradition. Skyler spent this time parked in front of the tree with his train.

We finally made it back home with just enough time to put out some cookies for Santa and a few carrots for the reindeer. Hope Santa doesn't mind week old sugar cookies.

And while little heads were resting, Santa came. Now we wait...

Noche Buena, third annual

Today we had our third annual making of the tamales for Noche Buena. I am really excited that we have continued to keep up with this tradition, it's fun to think that this will be a part of Christmas for the boys as they grow up. Per usual we held it at Gamma and Pa's house as their home provides the best kitchen (and space!) for this endeavor.

I personally didn't participate in any of the preparation this year, my job was corralling and cajoling the kiddos. Surprisingly after a long day that started at Nana and Pa's, and no nap for Skyler, both of the boys kept up a really great attitude. Skyler has been very sweet and affectionate lately, today was no exception. Methinks he is really soaking up all the extra love and attention from all the family members.

The tamales turned out wonderfully and provided us with some hearty fare to help keep us going for the work ahead. After we finished up here Andy and I returned home to play Santa, with all the assembly and wrapping that this entails.

Feliz Noche Buena!

Thank you (Thank you, Thank you!) Santa

Seeing as this blog is powered by my ability to take and share photos of our family with you all, it seems only fitting that my (early) Christmas present get a shout out here. Say hello to my new friend, the Canon Rebel XSi/EOS. Hopefully this little guy will help me improve the quality of said photo content here. Thank you to everyone who helped bring him into my life :).

Christmas of Aught Nine - Day One

The madness has begun, Christmas started on the 23rd this year for us. We are fortunate to have (almost) all of our immediate family here in the metropolitan area, so holidays are significantly easier to coordinate than they used to be with us in Spokane. However, there is still some footwork necessary to get us from house A to house B, in time for C and still allow for D (read: naptime). Today, day one, we started out at my parent's house for a little Nochebuena prep and a little gift opening.


We will see just how long the boys will put up with my dressing them in matching holiday outfits, let alone ones that contain sweater vests. I know boys are generally less picky about their clothing, but something tells me that the tide has to turn sometime.

Mason got lots of love time from both Gamma and G'Pa. He is much more user friendly at this age and it's such a joy to watch him be the sweetie pie for others that he is (generally) for me. That and it is nice to be able to hand him off and give my poor arms a break without worrying about immediate tears.

While Skyler really focused on the toys Mason enjoyed something I recalled from Skyler's first Christmas: wrapping paper! Trust me, at this age they are almost happier with the wrappings than what might be contained.

After a stopover at home base for naps we got up and moved on for part two of the day over at Andy's parent's home. Aunt Jessie and Uncle Zach were both there as well. We all enjoyed receiving our annual set of Christmas jammies. The boys got some particularly cute ones this year, expect photos of that tomorrow.

We are so very fortunate to be able to spread this holiday out for the boys, especially with the promise of gifts each day. These kiddos are extremely lucky to be so well cared and provided for.

Enjoy this little clip of Skye playing with his new train set (courtesy of Gamma and G'Pa). Mason wanted in on the action too...

The man behind the presents

Santa! We took Skyler and Mason to see the big man in red today. Unlike last year we left this task right up to the last minute, and paid for it. There was about a half hour long wait to get this photo, fortunately both boys held it together and were still in a good mood by the time it was our turn. Skye has been very anxious about meeting Santa since we have been building up the whole Christmas story in his head. Anytime Santa was mentioned Skyler would ask when we were going to go see him. He has really surprised me by being so inquisitive about the Santa story, asking me where Santa lives and what he does. Mason of course had no idea what was going on or who he was seeing, but was quite amenable to giving us smiles. For some reason he was smiling off into the crowded line instead of the camera, oh well. Skyler was starstruck I think, he really enjoyed seeing Santa but couldn't pull together a smile while still trying to hold it all together and ask Santa for what he wanted. This also happened to be the exact same Santa that Skyler saw last year, so if/when he starts getting curious about consistency at least we will be able to show him he was dealing with the same guy :).

MM: Month Six

Dear Mason,

Happy half birthday kiddo, you are officially six months old! Both your father and I agree that six months is definitely a golden age for babies. You are really showing your little personality, you are just the sweetest little bug ever, and you are really starting to demonstrate your desire to learn and grow. In short, you are pretty awesome right now.


We are so amazed at your gains in physical independence. In the last few weeks you have really mastered the ability to sit unassisted. You are still prone to tip over if you lean too far forward or back, but generally you can sit on your own for quite a while before tiring of the exercise. Then today you completed a full roll, starting from your back to your tummy and then to your back again. That's a first! If you are anything like your brother you will soon be using this skill to roll your way around the room.

We have also pushed you into another little piece of independence, one that has been slow in coming but needed to be done. You are now in your own bed, in your own room. The last (almost) six months of co-sleeping were lovely, but the last month of it really contained enough broken sleep (for both of us) to demonstrate the need for it to end. We even put it off for a couple of extra weeks when you started cutting your first teeth (your lower fronts), but now it's done. We are all sleeping better. You still have your bouts of crying when you aren't quite ready to give up my warmth for your own cozy crib, but that's improving.

What else, what else? You are eating three meals of "solids" a day now. You seem to like bananas, zucchini, and avocado the most. You have shown a definite dislike for carrots and didn't really care too much for squash, which is funny because those were your brother's favorites. You like to grab our faces and nom on our chins. We play a little game where we pretend you are eating our nose which you think is hilarious. You are a sweet, chubby, lovey little monkey and we all love you so much. On to the next half of this first year!