Christmas with Lauren

Today we went to the Neil's house to visit and let the kids play. Lauren is crawling around the house like crazy and she'll be walking any day now. We told Andrew to take a lesson from her on sitting like a big kid, crawling, clapping and waving bye.

While we were there, we decided that the kids needed to open up their Christmas presents!

It didn't take Andrew long to figure out how opening presents worked!

Yep, we put a bow on Andrew's head!

Trying to get them to both look at the camera wasn't working so I gave up completely and was happy with them just sitting still long enough to take a photo!

Andrew and Santa

Brian's work had their family Christmas party last night and Santa made an appearance! Andrew loved Santa and told him that he was a very good boy this year.

Splish Splash!

I decided that Andrew needed a new bath tub. His infant/toddler tub was just not cutting it anymore so we upgraded to a bath seat! One of our friends at playgroup was giving it away so I decided we would give it a try. I am so much happier with the new tub. It holds Andrew great and he can sit and play in the tub without me holding onto his arm with a vice-like grip!

Andrew sporting a mohawk in his new seat!

Andrew made the nice list!

Looks like Santa is going to make a stop at our house this year!

http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/29316-mwing_528/

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

The Christmas Season can not be complete without a viewing of Charlie Brown's Christmas. Much to my happiness, it was on TV tonight! Now it's officially Christmas time.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

This weekend we decorated the house for Christmas. It was so much fun and I can hardly wait for Christmas to be here. Andrew watched in amazement as we decorated the house and kept bringing more and more boxes in. I got most of the decorating done while he took his naps so each time he got up, he would have something new to explore. We're so lucky that he isn't crawling yet because then I would have to be a little bit more careful about what I put out and how low it is to the floor!

Quick funny story:

Me: Brian, which way is East?
Brian: Why?
Me: I just need to know.
Brian: Why?
Me: Because the 3 Wise Men came from the East.
Brian: So.
Me: I want to make sure I put them in the Nativity Scene coming from the correct direction.
Brian: Are you serious?!
(Note to Katy: notice that Baby Jesus isn't out yet!)

Since we don't have a fireplace to hang the stocking, I have to get creative every year. This year, the fish tank looked like a good place for them to go. Don't worry, I didn't forget about Bella's stocking, it's on her crate.

Andrew checking out the outside lights

Brian put the lights on the outside of the house.
This year we have energy efficient LED lights.
(Brian's idea, not mine!!)

"Mom, what is this thing?"

Our Christmas Tree

"Mom, where are the presents!"

The Williams Visit!

Last weekend, Brian's cousin and his family came up to visit. They live in Southern California and we haven't seen them for two years. It was great to be able to spend the night with them. Gracie thought that Andrew was fantstic and she was a great little helper. She played with Andrew and even fed him dinner!

Karen, Richard and Brian

Gracie feeding Andrew
Andrew and Gracie watching a movie
Gracie, Andrew and Eva