Christmas '09

This is my favorite picture of the boys together.

My sweet little niece and nephew.
They are so beautiful but I'm a little
partial.

The crew.

This is a sweet picture of all of them. We
are just missing our little Ethan (my other
nephew)in this one. I'll post a pic of him soon.
He's getting so big!!

Okay so, Christmas eve we exchange gifts with
my family and then we come home and let
the boys open a few gifts from Mommy and Daddy.

We love these Hulk hands (stronger guy is
what Trev calls him). I think John and I like
them more than Trev. I beat John up so bad
with my stronger guys hands.
Okay, maybe I exaggerated just a little.

There about as big as he is.

This is the present I could ever ask for.

My boys

Not a good pic of me but those boys sure are
handsome!!

Cookies for Santa and Jesus

One of our family traditions is to have a birthday
party for Jesus on Christmas Eve. It is very
important to us to teach our kids why we are really
celebrating Christmas. It's not just about Santa and
gifts. This is the day we celebrate the birth of our
Savior. Trevor and I baked some cookies for Santa and
Jesus' birthday party. This is most definitely one of my
favorite things at Christmas.

So T and I were decorating our cookies and I
looked up to see how he was doing and that little
turkey was already chowing down on one. His cookie
had almost an entire tube of icing and about a 1/4
of the sprinkles. Look at that mouth!! So cute.

Sneaky little guy! He just cracks me up.

Mommy had to make a cookie for Cruz.
I am such an amateur.

Here is a close up of T's pretty cookie.
Doesn't it look delicious? He is taking orders
for next year!!

After we had a talk about Jesus and his birthday
we sang Happy Birthday to him and blew out the
candles. Notice T's cookie, he couldn't take that cookie
sitting in front of his face any longer and during our
share time about Jesus he took a sample bite. We love
our sugar.

Look at that face. Trynity loves her cookie.

I mean, what can I say? He's so silly!

Cruz just slept and swang during our party.
This is my favorite face he makes when he
sleeps. His little tongue sticks out just a bit.

A letter to Cruz

My sweet little baby. You had me from Hello! I knew you were perfect for me in every way. You were so different from Trevor in the womb. You were so active. I felt you move all the time. I'm not sure you ever slept in there. I would worry if I hadn't felt you move in like 10-15 minutes because you were constantly moving. I'm not sure how you had room to move at all as big as you were. When you were born it was one of the coolest moments of my life. You always had your hands and fingers in your mouth. You were very content with Daddy and I, you would just snuggle up with us and sleep so sound. You are the perfect addition to our family. Bringing you home was a lot of fun. Big bo showed you around your new home. You just fit right in. I could not stop staring at you, in fact I always had a crick in my neck from looking down at you all the time. I was is awe of God's power and love. You would make this really funny little noise right before you got upset as if to warn us, okay guys, I'm fixing to get upset,you better do something about it. It was cute. You are a very happy baby and started smiling very early on and haven't stopped since. You love to be tickled, wiggled and talked to. You just smile and laugh, which makes my whole day. The crazier we are with you the bigger the reaction you give us. When you smile, your eyes smile. They just light up. You talk (coo) all the time. You learned to blow bubbles at 10 weeks old and do it all the time. You still love your fingers and hands, they are always in your mouth. Your a huge fan of your baby Einstein videos. You get very excited when you watch them. You started sleeping through the night around 11 weeks old. We feed you around 11:00-11:30 and you'll sleep til 5:00-6:00. Your so good. You are pretty much always happy unless your fighting sleep. That is your new thing. You fuss to keep yourself up. Your daddy and I laugh at you all the time. Your funny and you don't even mean to be. You love to watch big bo and you smile at him every time see him. He is your favorite form if entertainment. You two are already pretty close. I think your going to be Daddy's boy. You found his voice first, and you smile and talk to him all the time. I have to admit, I get jealous sometimes. I can tell already your pretty independent and a very fast learner. You are the apple of my eye and I love getting to know you better each and everyday.

A letter to Trevor

My sweet first baby boy!! I had such a connection with you before you were even born. I knew your personality and little quirks way before I met you. You were startled very easily, and you still are, you were very laid back and that rang true until you turned 3, you always did this little shake of your foot in my rib cage, the first time I held you after you were born and all swaddled up, you shook that little foot as you were falling asleep. I was so excited that it was something you continued to do after you were born. You still do that on occasion just before you fall asleep and I get teary-eyed every time. You were the most laid back perfect baby in every way except sleeping. You never slept through night. I didn't mind though, I considered it our snuggle time. You loved to snuggle until you discovered toys were way more fun than me. You always fell asleep in your high chair when you were eating. I have lots of video. You started this high pitched squeal at 4 months old that Daddy and I called your joyful noise and you haven't stopped since. I always say God didn't give you an inside voice. You are very loud but I love it. Then you started snorting at 6 months to get people to laugh at you, it worked. The snorting went away but your ability to make people laugh did not. You have the most out-going fun personality. You were a very early talker at the ripe old age of 15 months you could speak in sentences, sentences that you could clearly understand. You could say things like "I want up" or "I want down" or " I want juice". People were always amazed at how clear your words were at such a young age. You didn't' start walking until you were 15 months old though, probably because I carried you all the time. I love your sweet fun personality and getting to know you better the last 3 years has been the best years of my life. I write down all the funny things you say in a journal so you can read them as you get older. There are a lot. All kids are funny and say cute things but because you could talk so early and hold a conversation so young, it made you the cutest thing ever. You are now becoming a little boy and not a toddler anymore. You are into super heroes and playing board games and games on your dads I-phone. You can work that thing better than I can. You are very aware of the world around you and very curious as well. You are very quick on your toes and you love to see what you can get away with. You have an excellent memory and love being around your family and friends. You are pretty much the life of the party, in fact your KDO teacher once told me "the dynamics of the room change when Trevor is here". I asked her "like in a good way?". She said "yes, he gets all the other kids going and playing, he's fun!" That is pretty much you in nut shell. You love junk food!! You do anything in your power to get chocolate but that has come in handy on many occasions. You talk and laugh in your sleep which I adore. Don't getfor (that is how you say forget) are silly kisses we give each other. The hot rod, fishy kisses, and old man kisses. These are my favorite kisses ever!! My favorite thing lately has been watching you become a big brother. You rock!! You are so sweet to Cruz. I can tell you really love him. You already stick up for him and teach him things. You kiss and hug him all day and your very good at calming him down if he is upset. I love to watch the two of you together. I could go on and on about you. Your smile means the world to me and I will to anything to see it. Your a mommy's boy through and through and I hope our bond and relationship continues to grow forever.

Random pictures

Choo Choo

We rode the Christmas train again this year.
It's like the polar express train. You wear your
jammers, get hot chocolate and sing carols
and see Santa himself. We had to be in the pic
because Trev didn't want to be with Santa by
himself for some reason but it's a good family
picture. We had a good time riding the train.

I wanted to be in the spirit for the Christmas
train and John and I wear our jammers too!
John, not so much. He said we would be the only
parents to wear jammers but I didn't care. I convinced
him we would be the cool parents and sometimes you have
to get on your kids level so you can really bond with them.
I eventually talked him in to joining us and we had the
best time. I wish I had more excuses to wear my jammers
in public.
P.S- We were the only adults in P.J's. lol

This is a little backward but, on the way back home
the heater went out on the train. We made the boys put
their coats back on and bundle up. The condensation on
the windows froze inside the train. I was scraping ice
off the window so we could see out. Trev does not like to
wear his coat so he wasn't a happy camper about it. He
also wouldn't open his eyes for pics once the lights went
out because the flash of the camera hurt his eyes. Pretty
funny.

Told ya.

Cruz has a lot of fun on the train. He smiled and
talked most of the time. He is laughing in this picture.

He is so sweet. I love his personality. He is always
so happy. All we have to do is look at him and he's
smiling at us. He talks already and I know you will
think I'm crazy but he coos out "I'm good" all the time.

Trevor was waving at the cars as we passed them. He was
so excited!!

Finally, proof that Trevor is my child.
Everyone says he looks like his Daddy
but I think he look like his Mommy too!!

How precious!!

Deck the Halls!!!

We picked out our Christmas ornaments for the
year. This is one of my favorite traditions we have
made for our family. Trevor picks out his favorite
one and puts it on the tree. John and I pick one out
together every year and of course got to pick one
for our sweet new baby boy this year. We (or I)
chose the little baby booties for Cruz. They are
precious!!

Trevor is really into Batman all the
sudden. He picked Batman as his ornament.
Last year he picked out this old brown car.
He loves the demolition derby and this old
ugly brown car looks like a derby car to Trev.
I tried to show him all the cute cartoon ornaments
but he was dead set on the car. It was really funny
and represents the stage he was in at the time.

We had to play with Batman just a little
bit before he put it on the tree.

Trevor had to ask Daddy for help
him get his ornament in the perfect
spot. He is pretty picky just like Daddy.

Hanging up his first Christmas ornament.
It seems just like yesterday.

I LOVE this smile!!!!!