It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I've been going kind of crazy taking tons of fun Christmas pictures of my boys, and little miss Alyson. Yes, most (though not all) were Pinterest inspired. What did we do without Pinterest? ;)

Enjoy!

How I wish I had remembered to turn on the flash

Mesmerizing lights

Monthiversary Photos

Oh no! We're doing this again??

James is two months old today and I realized I never ended up posting James' first monthiversary photos! He turned one month old right in the midst of the Thanksgiving holidays, when family was in town, and when I came down with mastitis. All that meant a) the photos got taken a few days late and b) they never got viewed and edited! So here are one AND two monthiversary photos!

I wanted something a little different than Drew's photos for James, so instead of the blocks I found these cute monthly stickers. I really don't like the way his first month photos turned out... by the time I finally got everyone settled enough to do photos, it was getting dark so the lighting wasn't good. I was also fighting fussiness so these are the few that turned out decently, and you can't even see the sticker on his onesie very well. You'll also notice the rash. Can you believe that was a good day? Cameras never do good things for facial redness, I must admit, but still.... while he still gets red spots occasionally, it's nothing like it was before I went dairy-free.

I actually couldn't decide what I wanted to do for monthly photos, so I ended up with 2 sets. One set similar to Drew's with a solid colored onesie, a blanket, the boppy, and a "backdrop", another set in a onesie that my sister Laura bought for him. It's a 12 month size onesie; I thought it would be fun to watch him grow into (and probably out of) it over the course of the year.

I'm going to slay some dragons!

Second month photos were fun, but still a challenge. Somehow my own babies are a lot more difficult to photograph than other babies...

And...

Eventually I'll get around to creating James' own monthiversary page here on the blog, and I'll probably focus on one close-up in the blue, and one full body in the dragon onesie each month. But it's always fun to share some of the others along the way! :)

Old friends

My friend Marshall has a little girl who is only about 3 months older than Drew. She brought Grace over for a play date the other day. The last time we got the kiddos together they looked like this:

Funny how at that point in time 3 months seemed like such a HUGE difference! I remember Grace was crawling and pulling up on things. Drew wasn't even mobile yet. This time they enjoyed playing together.

They look like a little couple here ;)

Electronics are so fascinating!

The iPad helped warm them up to playing together, but once they got going they sure had fun running in circles, throwing balls back and forth, and they even put on a show for us!

Later that evening Jason asked Drew how his day was. Drew told him that Marshall and Grace came over to play. Out of habit Jason asked, "oh. How was that?" to which Drew replied "pretty... awesome!" I've never heard him say that before, and it made me laugh! He had a great time! Hopefully we can play together again soon. :)

In the meantime James is out courting girls of his own. ;)

James and Alyson

Video Overload

I've been taking plenty of videos... just never finding the time to upload them to the computer then upload them to the internet. I finally did, though, so enjoy some cute and fun videos of my boys!

First, just a cute video of a hungry, but half-asleep, baby



James loves to sleep, and waking up is hard to do!



Do you remember how Drew loved his soft blankie? Well, so does James! See how it calms him?



I've been trying to get photos of James' smile, but sometimes it's just easier to take a video! Of course I sound and act silly when trying to get smiles, which then apparently makes me sound incredibly mean, in comparison, when talking to Drew. Also, my house is a mess, what of it? ;)



More silly antics for smiles...



And some tummy time smiles!



I mentioned taking the boys to a musical story time. I thought Drew would love it since he loves music and instruments. He seemed to have fun, but did not want to participate in anything- not necessarily surprising for a 2 year-old, but surprising for mine since he goes to preschool and does this kind of stuff everyday. So here's a video of the kids all at the front singing Jingle Bells while Drew sits by me sort of ringing his bells (he does know the words to the song, btw).

Out and About

One thing my mom did for me while she was here was to encourage me to get out and about occasionally; she said she tended to feel a little trapped once she had two because it was so difficult to get out the door. It definitely IS difficult to get out the door, just ask my sister- we planned a nice outing while she was here; hours after we were supposed to have left we finally cried uncle. Once one child is ready the other needs to be fed, once one wakes up, the other needs to nap, once one is clean, the other makes a mess, once one has all his shoes and jackets on, the other has kicked his off. Still, I think it is good and healthy to escape the confines of the home every once in a while.

There are different scenarios for "getting out".

1. With both kids. This activity is best done with dual adult supervision. Getting out with both is hard, especially since one is completely dependent and the other wants to be. Drew hates walking. Even when I was 9 months pregnant Drew walked slower than me. He's not the normal toddler that you have to run to keep up with; he loves to observe his surroundings, take it all in, and touch everything (note for my father: you can go ahead and laugh). So getting out with both means I need a way to keep them both contained. Not to mention all the time it takes to get us all packed up and sorted out.

James in the moby wrap, Drew in the stroller

I did actually manage an outing alone with both kids this week. Believe it or not we actually made it there early! What is this world coming to? Drew and I enjoyed a Christmas musical story time while James enjoyed a nap in his stroller.

2. With 1 kid. When my mom was here she stayed home with Drew a few times so I could get out with my mommy friends. Now I go on days when Drew is at school. It is so nice to have other mommies to talk to, even if we do little other than feed the babies. (I wonder if anyone at this mall recognizes us as the 3 preggo mall walkers...)

What a sight! 3 breastfeeding women!
(Obviously I couldn't snap a photo of myself, too)

I'm really blessed that two of my closest friends had babies around the same time as me. No, it was NOT planned (yes, we get asked), but it worked out perfectly. I'm so happy to have them for my own sanity, but I think it will be great that the kids can grow up together. :)

I'm hoping to plan a few outings with just me and Drew eventually, too (once James is in a more predictable routine).

3. Without the kids. This isn't really a possibility yet as I'm not yet giving James bottles. Even when I do there's still the issue of having to pump, so there isn't a great way to really get away right now. But that's why my mom encouraged me to try things I wouldn't normally do with James, like taking him to the movie theater. Stacey and I love the Twilight movies, and have seen all (or almost all) of them together. This year was no exception! We chose to go early (11 am) near where Stacey lives (I would say the "boonies" but with new shopping plazas including Target, Home Depot, and a movie theater, I don't know that we can call it the boonies anymore) in hopes of there being fewer people to bother. Turns out we weren't the only ones with that idea- there were at least two other women with babies there!

Still, I avoid running many errands if I can possibly help it as the whole "wrestle with the car seat and drag the slow toddler" thing just isn't fun. But I am trying my best not to be a hermit!