Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning is so much more exciting with little children. Kristen and Timmy were very excited when they woke up. I didn't expect it, but Timmy was very into opening the presents. I thought he might still be a bit too young to get excited about it, but I was wrong.

Snow and the Zoo!

Merry Christmas! I haven't been keeping up with the blog updates lately, so the Christmas photos will have to wait for another post. Last weekend we went to the mall to visit Santa and it snowed! Well not really, but they did have a snow machine and the kids were fascinated by it. Here are a few pictures.

Last Saturday we met some friends of ours at the Phoenix Zoo for Zoolights. We had a lot of fun, despite it being insanely crowded.

Kristen gets some of the most spectacular bedhead hair I've seen. I just had to share with all of you.

And finally, here is Kristen showing off her new dress she wore to Christmas Mass.

I promise more pictures from Christmas as well as our professional photoshoot will be coming soon!

Goodnight Gorilla

Watching this video makes me want to go pick up Timmy and snuggle him right now! Here he is reading his favorite book, Goodnight Gorilla. He loves the brightly colored pictures.

Playing the drum

Kristen and Timmy love playing with their drum. Grandpa Dave made this drum for Kristen for her 2nd birthday. Thank you Grandpa Dave!

Halloween pictures!

Ok, so I'm not that great at getting pictures up in a timely fashion. I can admit it. But here are our picturse from Halloween night. The kids had a great time trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.

Has there ever been a cuter Pooh pumpkin?

My gorgeous Tinkerbell

Trick-or-Treating!

Once again, Timmy demonstrates why it's hard to be the little brother to a 2 year old girl who loves dresses and all things pink.

The Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we made our yearly trip to the pumpkin patch. It as a bit hard to feel the fall spirit since it was almost 90 degrees, but we still had a good time.

Kristen modeling her pumpkin shirt before we left.

Here are Kristen and Mommy just after we arrived at the farm.

Here is Kristen measuring up.

Timmy had a good time too!

Kristen the scarecrow!

Navigating the hay bale maze.

So proud at the end of the maze!

This is the tractor that pulled our hay ride. The driver let Kristen test out the seat after our ride.

Our cute pumpkins posing in the patch.

A Few Fun Pictures

We have had a few very uneventful weeks. Mostly just playing, which is how it should be. I do have a couple of cute pictures though, so here they are!

Timmy had a lot of fun with his first adventure feeding himself spaghetti. I think he even got some in his mouth.

This is what happens when your 2 year old sister helps dress you. Timmy doesn't seem to mind too much.

Kristen all hyped up just before bedtime.

Apparantly, we were too slow getting her into bed and she decided to get herself all snuggled up on the couch.

Timmy found Kristen's new undies. I have a feeling this will be a blackmail picture someday in the future.

A Visit from Grandma

We were very fortunate that Grandma Robin was able to come out to Arizona and visit us for a week. She arrived just in time to celebrate Timmy's birthday with us and stayed for a week. The kids had so much fun playing with her and we love that she is able to make it out to visit as often as she does.

Timmy also had his 1 year pediatrician well check. We learned that his anemia is no longer an issue and he can stop those stinky iron drops. He growth is also slowing down a bit. He was 28 pounds, 12 ounces and 31 3/4 inches. The weight was off the charts still, but not nearly as far off the charts as before and the length was at the very top of the charts. So while he is still huge, he is no longer freakishly huge. I guess a future in the NBA may be in doubt.

Here Timmy is modeling his new Peyton Manning jersey and enjoying a grandma snuggle.

Timmy and Kristen with Grandma Robin

Kristen going "shopping". I love that she made sure to put her baby in the cart and her diaper bag on her back just like her momma.

My cute smiley guy

Timmy's Birthday Party!

We celebrated Timmy's first birthday this past Saturday. He had a train themed party with lots of friends and family. Thank you to all of the guests who came to celebrate with us! I also want to thank a few friends, April and Myra, who helped with some of the birthday preperations.

Here is the entryway to our home. We had cardboard and duct tape train tracks as well as a few signs.

Here is the adorable sign on the front door. April made this.

These cookies were individually wrapped and given out as favors at the end of the party. April gave me a lesson in working with royal icing as we made them together.

The birthday cake! This monster took 3 full cakes worth of batter and about 6 cups of buttercream, not to mention an incredible amount of time.

Here's another shot of the cake. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Cute little train made from juice boxes.

We also had caramel apple favors.

Here is the birthday boy having fun!

Kristen had a great time too!

Here we are opening presents. He was more interested in playing with the wrapping paper than opening the gifts, but he sure is having fun playing with them now.

Timmy loved getting to take his clothes off and going in his high chair. He knew that meant food was coming!

Here he is tentatively trying his birthday cupcake.

Then he got a bit more into the spirit.

Here is Kristen trying on Timmy's train conductor hat and bandana.

The kids also got to decorate their own cookies. Kristen created a marshmallow covered masterpiece.