Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year!

Here is our attempt to get pictures of the boys with the tree Christmas Eve.

This one looks like Zach is tackling Austin, but in fact, he is just dutifully doing his job of holding him while he was wiggling to get away.

I was a little worried about Austin with the tree this year, but he was really good about it. He liked to steal the ribbons from the packages and drag them around the house. And if the ribbon wouldn't come off, he'd just drag the whole present!

I think I may have been more excited about Christmas this year than Zach. So fun!

Christmas morning... we had at our house.

Dig in!

This "red spy glass" was THE only thing Zach asked for. It was always followed by "for Dad," but I thought Santa had better get it for him anyways. He pulled it out of his stocking, excited, played with it briefly, then said, "Here Dad." Funny boy.

I decided Austin's gift to me was that on Christmas Eve he started babbling. I LOVE it! He now says Ya ya ya ya, ba ba ba ba, ma ma ma ma, aaack! (I think he's trying to say Zach), and bop!

Santa brought Lincoln Logs for Zach- he thinks they're pretty cool. I loved his glowing wild hair in this one.

That afternoon we headed to my parents' house for a second Christmas.

Bouncy Austin with his Tigger that Nana made him.

Fireman Zach.

We hope your Christmas was as fun and joyful as ours!

Little Things....

...That make me happy.

Bath time has been really fun for the boys lately. Austin loves the water coming out of the spout and splashing and is loving not being in the blue infant tub (in the picture below) anymore, so he can crawl around. In fact, anytime we are upstairs, he heads straight to the bathroom and stands by the tub, pounding on it. He would be happy if bath time were 5 times a day.

Zach likes it most nights, too.

These two are buds.

Austin has 2 cowlicks on the back of his head, going opposite directions. It's going to make for some awesome hairstyles when it gets longer!
It looks like a heart. Can you see it?

Big brown eyes!

Funny faces.

Zach helps me watch the stairs so Austin doesn't fall. Especially the 3 steps going down from our kitchen to our living room. I rarely put up the gate there. He yells, "Mom! Austin's headed for the stairs!" and laughs really hard.

Crawling. Fast!

Standing (holding onto something). Playing. Laughing.

Cream cheese monster.

I was on a walk with the boys in the double stroller and looked down to see this:

Loving books already.

Even if it is mostly to chew on them.

What wonderful little things.

Christmas Tree "Chopping"

Tradition dictates that we cut down our own wild Christmas tree up in the mountains. We have done this as long as I can remember and I just can't imagine it any other way. Some people thought we were a little crazy for taking our little ones up there, but it's always a lot of fun. The first weekend of December we headed up to Winter Park to find the perfect tree. We were lucky and had really mild weather and not a ton of snow- no snowshoes this year. Zach wasted no time in wallowing in the snow. He did lots of snow swimming this trip.

Austin was happy to get out of the carseat and crawl around in the back of the car.

For the tree search I carried him in my wrap, to keep him close and warm.

This is the emergency shovel we keep in the car, but Zach thinks it's his, since it small.

We got to try out an early Christmas present made by Grandad Cal. Zach was excited. No big hills this time, just getting drug on the road. Still fun!

Pretty nice, huh? I love the snowflake.

A little blurry- me trying to take a picture and not let him fall out of the car!

No sledding for Austin, but some sled pictures, of course. He was pretty curious about the snow.
We really haven't had much yet at our house this winter.

No pictures of the tree this year, strangely. I forgot my little camera, and didn't want to lug my good one around...

What a fun tradition!

The Last of Mexico

I know this post is long past, but I wanted to post these pictures anyways. More for us to look back on than anything. So here are more Mexico pictures... in no particular order, because I'm feeling lazy.

Bananas poolside. Nice!

Austin trying a little boogie boarding.

I remember taking a picture just like this of Zach's toes on the same beach in the same swimsuit.

Cal playing in the waves with the boys. Zach especially liked to go out with one of us and jump in the waves. Austin seemed almost indifferent about the ocean and sand. He'll love it when he's a little older.

The boys.

Austin in the pink hippo floaty. He wasn't too fond of the floaties we had for very long.

There were a couple pools. This one was great because it has a shallow end just perfect for young kids to play in.

Oz loved to be motored around the pool Especially by Dad on the kickboard (not in the picture). On the trip he figured out how to really splash and had a great time doing that. He still LOVES to splash in any water he can.

Flip-a-rooskie.

Oz on the beach. When we spent the middle of the day on the beach, he just played on a pareo in the shade. It was wonderful to be able to come down for a bit, then run him up for naps, then back down... The beauty of a resort.

What a wonderful trip and wonderful time with family!