Family portraits

This year we did family portraits for both families.  They turned out great!  I know the trend these days is to hire a photographer and do more photojournalism/action/catch-a-special-moment shots - something I love and am working at learning.  But there is something I still like about getting a family group together and doing a sit-everyone-down-and-smile-in-front-of-a-plain-background picture.  (Wow, I'm using a lot of hyphens.)

Of course I won't go super old-school with the double exposure portraits like in the living room of Napoleon Dynamite:

Although, we did make a few jokes about posing with something billowy...

Ok, here are our faves.  I fully expect to get a call from Baby Gap and Gap Kids in search of their next models.  hehe.

My fam

David's family

Christmas celebrations

We had a fun time celebrating Christmas - first with the David's family on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, then with my family in Dallas the week after.  We sang happy birthday to Jesus and had a cake.  Caleb's eyes lit up in wonder, and ordered us to sing it several more times - a preview, I'm sure, of his birthday coming up next month.

Here are some fun pics:

 Caleb enjoyed opening gifts - he got lots of books.

Daddy helped open the big gift, and Caleb watched in anticipation.

Sitting with Grammy.  Yes, you see toilet paper 

on the side - an essential gift given each year.  :)

 Reading new books with Aunt Sarah.

The boys had matching jammies, but Nathan got a reindeer 

outfit that was too cute not to put on right away.  Ha!

On his new 4wheeler from Uncle Danny.

He was timid to ride it at first, but now loves it.

More opening presents in Dallas.

More books!

 Look who got an iPad!

 No, Dad, I don't think that is how you use it...

 Nana

 I think David enjoyed some of Caleb's presents more than Caleb.

Aunt Susie got a new bouncy ball from us!  (Long story...)

Aunt Susie reading with her boys.

Nathan was tired from all the fun.

Nightly reading routine when Nana puts Caleb to bed.

Love that smiley face!

We had great Christmas celebrations with both families.  Now I'm just getting caught up on laundry, sorting toys, and taking down decorations.  :)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We are so thankful for all of our blessings during 2010.  What a year!  Growing our family has continued to fill my heart with joy.  I can't imagine life without these precious boys.  And I'm so thankful for David and his constant love and support.  He is such a wonderful dad and husband!

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating Jesus' birth!  We are looking forward to all this new year holds.

Life before and after kids

Before having kids, I could just grab my keys and head out the door if I needed something from the store.  Now things are a little different.  My mental checklist goes a little something like this:

• Are both kids fed and changed?  (If not, this will add 10-30 minutes to our leave time)
• Evaluate if our outing will have us back in time for naps and feedings
• Get shoes (and possibly jacket) on kid #1
• Put kid #2 in car carrier
• Make sure I have pacifier for kid #2
• Grab a snack and/or toy for kid #1 to keep him busy in the store, but don't let him see me grab it or he will want it now.
• Walk out to the car and put kid #2 in car seat.  (Kid #1 will probably be following and end up playing on the back patio or try running down the alley.)
• Wrangle kid #1 and put him in car seat.  He'll probably start requesting stuff he sees on the car floor - cars, ball, book.  Figure out what he's asking for and make sure he's settled in.
• Go back to house, grab purse and keys, lock the door.
• Get in car and head to store!

I think this is one of the causes of "mommy brain".  What was once a simple task, now involves 10+ more steps, so I'm lucky if I remember anything else.  Which is why I always have a fear of losing my keys or locking them in the car.  I'm always hustling and distracted.  That would be a nightmare! - to be done grocery shopping with a full cart, two kids who are ready for lunch and naps, and no way to get home.  So I obsessively check to make sure I have them.

So things definitely take longer these days, but I love this phase of life.  I wouldn't trade being a mom to these kids for anything.  It's the only job in the world I would do for free!  Unless someone was hiring a massage tester and had me to go around to all of the spas and try them out...I would do that for free.  hehe.

Picture time!

 

Finally - family pics

It's taken awhile to get some pictures of the four of us.  Our friends Jeremy and Heather came up with a great idea for us to snap some photos of each others families.  Somehow we were able to get everyone fed, cleaned, wearing nice clothes and out the door in a timely manner to meet them at a park.  Whew.  That doesn't always happen.  And we got the most perfect December weekend.  Sunny and cool.  Here are our faves:

Love love love that smile!

This is what happened most of the time - us chasing after Caleb.

Ah, wrangled for a nice family pic.

 The picture we chose for our Christmas card is yet to be revealed.  Coming soon...  :)