Beginning of February

One morning Tristan took the boys out to burn some energy and when they came back I found out what they were up to...I'm surprised we haven't had more trips to the ER with these crazy boys!

 Going to McDonald's and playing on the toys has become one of our go-to inside playdates.  I kept trying to get a good angle on them, but my boys and the Marlatt boys were undercover in their makeshift treehouse!

 Ashton turned 4 months old at the end of January, so he was probably about 4 1/2 months in this picture.  Such a sweet boy.

 I introduced him to his light up play gym and he really liked watching the lights and the music.

 At this point he was still getting up 3 or 4 times a night to eat and tended to be pretty needy during the day.  I'm sure glad he's cute!  That makes it worth it! :)

 He wasn't letting me get too far out of his sight!

 One afternoon I was making some cookies and Carter was "patiently" waiting for them--with his nose almost on the glass.

 This was funny.  I was cleaning the kitchen and Ashton was starting to get fussy, but I wanted to finish so I was just letting him tough it out for a few minutes.  When I came out of the kitchen I found that Ethan had spread the newspaper ads out for him to look at.  He even used the bin to lay them over so Ashton could see them from a laying position.  Ethan is such a good big brother.  He is always willing to try to entertain Ashton if I'm busy.  And Ashton really loves Ethan.  Ethan doesn't have to do much to get a smile out of him.

 We got more snow one evening.  I had a baby shower but when I got home and picked up the boys I decided to let them go out and play in it in their jammies even though it was kind of late.  I just wasn't sure it would be there in the morning.  They only stayed out for a few minutes before they got cold.  But we accumulated a couple of inches!

 Luckily, it was still there in the morning.  So I bundled them up and sent them out to play.  They had a blast!

 And Ethan got a chance to REALLY demonstrate a snow angel to Carter.  Carter wasn't interested in laying in the snow and trying it.  :)

 At about 5 months we decided to introduce Ashton to cereal.  He watched us like a hawk whenever we ate and kept grabbing at our food and silverware so we decided to just go with it.  Here he is all strapped in and ready to go in his high chair!

 First bite.  Not sure about that texture.

 After a few bites, he gobbled it down.  He is not scared to try pretty much any food we will let him.  And I think he wishes we would give him more!

 We also pulled out his excersaucer.  By this time he already was trying to wiggle out of his Bumbo and it just wasn't working well for him anymore.  He loves standing in it and being able to have a good view of those crazy brothers running around!

 Ethan got to prepare for his first Valentine's Day celebration at school.  He wanted to sign his name on each one--he was so focused!

 Another funny example of Ethan trying to entertain Ashton.  So I got them these toothbrushes that had suction cups on the end and they flashed when you pushed on it to let you know how long you needed to brush for.  So when I was getting the boys ready for their bath and Ashton was fussing, Ethan turned the flashing on and stuck it to the arm of Ashton's bouncy chair!  I cracked up when I turned around and saw what he had done.  Such a creative solution!  I'm grateful for my helper.

Happy New Year!!

Tristan had to fly out super early in the morning on New Year's Day.  So our New Year's Eve was an early one.  We played games as a family, ate lots of munchies throughout the day and had fondue for dessert before turning in early.  Then it was back to the real world!

Sorry for the blurry picture.  It was from the iPod and didn't take well, but I thought they were such goofballs at church that I needed a picture.

 One day I pulled out all my old stamps and stamp pads.  This is still one of their favorite "crafts" to do. They love playing with all the stamps.  Good thing I kept them after I stopped teaching!

Christmas 2014

Christmas morning is always exciting.  Gratefully, our kids still don't wake up at the crack of dawn.  In fact, they slept in!  Once they were up, though, they were excited and ready for action!

 Ashton was ready, too!!

 Playing with the balloons left by the tree while I get breakfast going

 For some reason these posted out of order, but Santa brought them a play kitchen this year and they were very excited about it!

 They were almost just as excited to get the Planes DVD!

 So each year I buy an ornament for each of the boys that reflects what they are interested in or something significant in their lives that year.  Well, Ethan told Santa TWICE that he wanted a wagon ornament for Christmas...Do you have any idea how hard it was to find a WAGON ornament?!  I finally found one at Hallmark on Christmas Eve.  Phew!  That was close.  But he loved it and it was worth the endless searching!

We took our time opening and enjoying our morning as a family.  It was nice to spend time with our extended family later in the day and feel the spirit of Christmas.  It was a busy, fun Christmas this year. We are looking forward to a new year with new celebrations and memories to be made!

More Pre-Christmas Fun

I guess I was better about taking pictures than I thought, because I found some more!  I try to keep the boys as busy as possible when Tristan is working because it makes the time pass more quickly (for all of us).  So one afternoon we made some suncatchers for their grandparents.

About this time, we started trying to get Ashton more used to his crib.  As you can see he was super interested in his mobile, just like his two brothers before him!

Normally I would try to do some fun Christmas treats, but with a baby it was time for shortcuts!  I bought these precut cookies that had pictures on them so all I had to do was bake them.  The boys were super impressed.  Thank goodness for Tollhouse!!!

I also found this game at the dollar store that they loved.  It has a little ping-pong sized ball that it pops out.  I think you're supposed to play catch with it, but my boys just like shooting it all over the place.

Ashton liked his Bumbo seat from the minute we put him in it...He enjoyed sitting and watching the boys be crazy.  Too bad gravity works against us in the drool department when he's sitting up!

Ethan had a "Winter Program" at preschool that we went to.  He had both sets of grandparents plus his Aunt Desiree and Tennille there, so he had quite the cheering section!  He was being shy and this was the best picture I could get of him before the program.  It was fun seeing him in school and interacting with his teachers and friends!

We got a light dusting of snow one night, but it was still enough that they wanted to bundle up and go play in it.  Ethan took the opportunity to teach Carter what a snow angel was!

Look at that silly boy!

Ashton opted to nap inside during all the excitement...Look at those chubby cheeks and lips!

Tristan got in just a few days before Christmas so we spent those days doing all of our last minute preparations and enjoying the end of the holiday season as a family!  We sure love all of the time we get to spend together, especially during the Christmas season.

Pre-Christmas Festivities

The Christmas season was kind of a blur for me this year.  It's always like that when there's a little baby in our home.  But we did manage to fit in a lot of fun, although we didn't get pictures of it all.  We like to get our tree up early so we can enjoy it as long as possible.  So the day after Thanksgiving Tristan put the tree up and strung the lights and then on Saturday we hung ornaments.

Carter with his ball ornament from his second Christmas

Ethan and Carter finding the perfect spot

Carter seemed to think that the ornaments were toys (Ethan was guilty of that, too).  So they got a lot of playing with this year...most of them survived to see another Christmas!

Our elf was busy getting into all sorts of fun places this year.  I didn't take many pics, but Tristan had lots of good ideas this year.

So we usually go to The Barn to see Santa and this year I spaced on when he was there and when he wasn't.  I got the boys all pumped up to see him and then we got there only to find out he wasn't there that day.  They were so sad.  Then the next day I found out Santa was coming through our neighborhood on the firetruck.  We bundled up and ran out fast to catch him.  The boys stood in the driveway and we could see the trucks coming.  Then all of a sudden, they flipped on their lights and turned around and headed off to an emergency call.  The.  Boys.  Were.  Devastated.  I was sure that after two days in a row they were going to be traumatized by the thought of Santa.  We went back in and explained the best we could, but they were upset. 

  As we were reading stories, I heard the truck coming back.  So we raced out there again (this time armed with fire hats).  They were so excited that Santa made time to come back and see them.

 The truck finally made it to our house!

 This was the best I could do for a Santa picture this year.  So grateful for our local fire department.

A better view of the truck

 We decided to do gingerbread people for our decorating this year.  These are Ethan's and Carter's.  You may notice that they had already enjoyed some treats off of their gingerbread boys...

 These are Tristan's and mine.  Tristan's cracks me up.  Bloodshot eyes...grinding teeth.  Can you tell a dad who isn't getting much sleep made this one?  LOL

 I even found a little baby gingerbread boy for Ashton!

 These pictures of the boys in their Christmas jammies crack me up.  This is real life, folks!

 Enjoying candy canes from the fire truck visit.  I should say we caught the fire truck a second time when we were at my mom and dad's having dinner a few days later.  The boys were thrilled to see Santa again!

We also did our annual drive and look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve.  We love enjoying family traditions while celebrating our favorite time of year.  We are so grateful for the joy that comes as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.