1st haircut!

We decided that Isaiah needed a haircut before Christmas, his first haircut! Ashley didn't get hers until 2 1/2, but Isaiah has a lot of hair and it was getting really long. Plus every time he woke up it was all over the place! He did really well, I was very impressed, especially since he's so busy! He sat up on the booster all by himself and only when she started to use the buzzer did he try to look around at what was making all that noise. The girl was really good and managed to cut his hair while he was standing and moving all over the place towards the end. He looks like such a handsome little man now, not a baby anymore.

Christmas Cookies

The weekend before Christmas we decided we needed to make cookies for Santa. So we used cookies cutters and baked our cookies before nap and then when the kids got up we got to decorate them! Ashley wanted purple frosting and Mama and Papa wanted red and green. We had so much fun decorating and making a mess. It was cute to see Ashley spend 15 minutes spreading the frosting on one cookie to get it just right and then dump the whole bottle of sprinkles on top! Just the way a kid should do it! Than she picked out FOUR cookies that Santa would want and wrapped them up to bring out Christmas Eve. She made sure to tell us that Santa was really going to like these!



He'll get to participate next year, but this kept him busy for about 2 minutes while I got one cookie decorated!

When they were done the entire surrounding area was covered with powered sugar!!!



Isaiah got bored and decided to play in the tupperware cupboard instead!

Brody won't go to sleep

Papa, Brody won't go to sleep...

... but I love him anyways!

Cutie Patutie

Gingerbread Houses

Grammy's birthday was on the 15th, so we decided to spend a day together making gingerbread houses. We had never done this with my parents before, so it was really fun to see them get into it as much as us. My Dad got creative with the licorice and candy canes for a fence and my mom had fun cheating by copying the picture on the box! Next year we're going to take it from her! Ashley got to participate this year, too, and loved it! She was in charge of gingerbread men... ate more candy than she put on, but at least she asked before she indulged! She's such a good girl! Isaiah was napping while our very messy project was going on, but as soon as he got up he wanted in! He helped a little, but next year will be better. When our gingerbread houses were done we had dinner and carrot cake for dessert (not that we needed any more sweets). I think she would say it was a very special birthday this year! She only celebrated for about 2 weeks! You are loved Grammy!

Ashley's gingerbread men. She was so proud of her "boot" she put on the one on the right.











Grammy's going to love this picture! Just wanted to demonstrate the mess we made.

"Rockin' around the Christmas Tree"

11 months!

How do I capture this last month in words! I think I said last month that Isaiah is a pretty happy little kid, well he is still that way but this month's been a rough one for him. He's cutting 4 teeth on top and they seem to be taking forever to come in. It's affected his sleep and then he gets tired and cranky and no one is happy! He's been getting very mad when we take things away or tell him no. I can't help but turn around and laugh because it's so dramatic. One thing that really makes him mad is when we take him away from playing in Brody's food and water dishes. He waits until he thinks we're not looking and then shoots over there as fast as he can. Luckily Brody is very good with the kids and could care less that they're near his food, but still it's not something we're not going to allow him to play with no matter how much of a fuss he makes. Diaper changes have also become a challenge and as I was reading back to Ashley's 11 month entry it seemed to happen with her too. Maybe it's something to do with this age? Distraction works for a short period, so we've gotten really fast! With this booming personality comes laughter as well. He babbles and head nods all the time. I would love to understand what he's saying. We've taught him baby signs and "please" is a new one. He still yells, though, to get your attention especially when you're not fast enough! He eats anything and everything in sight. No more baby food, he gets everything we eat minus the nuts and corn. He got his first haircut right before Christmas and doesn't look like a baby anymore. It makes me sad to see him growing so fast, but I'm excited to see the little person he's going to become. He giggles out of excitement when we bring out books to read and loves to give big wet kisses! I love you Isaiah and can't believe you're going to be ONE next month!

"Snoggy"

"Mommy, I can't see out the window because it's snoggy". Made us laugh so hard the other day, she cracks us up all the time. Oh, and there is at caccoon (raccoon) in the Christmas puzzle we're working on.

Santa we've been good this year

We dressed up the kids in their Christmas outfits and took them to see Santa last Monday to avoid the huge lines. I actually didn't think pictures with Santa was going to work this year because she had been at the mall with Brian the week before and when he asked if she wanted to see Santa this year a quick "No" came out. But... when I got out the Christmas decorations last weekend she saw a picture of her as a baby on Santa's lap. We started talking about Santa and she figured that if she did it as a baby (thank goodness she isn't screaming in that picture) she would be ok to see him again. So off we went after talking about Santa for days. We told her he has to wear that big red coat, boots and long beard because it's cold where he lives in the North Pole and that he has a big belly because he likes cookies, so that's why we set them out for him Christmas Eve. She thought that was pretty funny and pointed it out when we saw him. Both kids did great and do you know what Ashley asked for when she sat on his lap? "White gloves like you Santa" I guess all the talk about his outfit made an impression on her and she was really checking out his gloves and wanted some just like it!

Brother's not too excited about dressing the part