Merry Christmas!

 This year was the best Christmas! My kids were so much fun! Maggie woke up before Corb so it was easy to hold off until both kiddos were awake. We took our annual Christmas morning picture; some years is better than others.

 Corbin got everything he wanted from Santa, a James train and vroom vroom, plus more.

He was so excited with every present he opened. He would rip the paper and yell "this," because he wasn't quite sure what the present was. When he opened his trains he was thrilled!

Corbin loved being able to help Maggie open all her gifts too. He really scored this Christmas, he got double the presents because he likes to play with Maggie's as much or more than his own. He gets pretty possessive of them though. She can't play with his toys, but can't play with hers either.

  He loved his camera from mom and dad.

 She loved her turtle, though she needs to grow a little to fully enjoy it.

 Overall, it was wonderful! I am so excited for next year when they are both old enough to realize everything that is going on.

Family Party

Christmas came so fast this year. With Matt not getting out of school until mid-December, we didn't do much to celebrate until the week of Christmas. My family party was the Friday before. It was a great one, complete with a snowball fight! Between a tired Corbin and an eight month old Maggie, Matt and I didn't participate in much this night, but the socializing is still the best part.

 

 

  The kids exchange five dollar gifts, and my parents give all the kids a toy. Corbin was hilarious when he opened his toy. He gave a little grunt then yelled, "Lightning McQueen, Mater!" The toy was a hit.

Bird Tree

 Our holiday parties started with the bird tree this year. I love this tradition of making a tree for the birds to put on Marianne's dad's grave.

 Corbin had a hard time leaving enough fruit loops on the plate to make a string for the tree. For every one that went on the string, three went in his mouth.

 

 Before we left for the Hooper Cemetery, Mark sat all the kids down and talked about why we do the bird tree and then said he had something to help them stay warm. These hats were a hit! Everywhere we go now, we get compliments on our kids hats.

Big Changes

There have been some big changes in the last few weeks with our church callings. I was released from Young Womens two weeks ago. That was bitter sweet. I was ready for something else, but maybe not what we got. I am now going to be teaching the four and five year olds in primary. I am super excited because I have never been in primary. The hard part is that Matt is now in the bishopric. I was not expecting that. We were planning on moving this spring, so I kind of thought we were off the hook. This is our bishops third counselor in the three years he has been in, kind of crazy. So I am less busy and Matt has one more thing to add to his full plate. He will do an excellent job though. I know we will be blessed for Matt's service in the bishopric, but it is still a little daunting. I feel older all the sudden. I feel like it should still be my dad or somone older in the bishopric, not my husband!

Santa Claus

Corbin went to see his first Santa Claus this year at the Early Intervention Open house. I wanted him to like Santa so I told him ahead of time that it was Ms. Linda dressed up as Santa, she was just pretending for the night. I explained that Santa will ask what he wants for Christmas. I obviously didn't explain very well that you ask Santa now and get the gift later. He sat on her lap, and did a great job, wasn't scared at all. When he got off her lap he looked at me, held up his candy cane and teddy bear and said, "No, vroom vroom." He didn't get the cars he had wanted. I thought it was so funny. I then had to explain that he will get them on Christmas if he is a good boy.

Maggie 7 1/2 months

 I just had Maggie's pictures taken at 7 1/2 months by Sierra Rose Photography. I am in LOVE with them! I couldn't even decide which to put on, so here is a large sampling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was excited for these because I knew she was happy, but they turned out even better than I was hoping!

Family Pictures

  My whole family got together for family pictures last week for the first time in like 15 years. I think they turned out pretty cute. It was hard with so many kids, but I am so happy we have these.

 

 

 

 

Sunday Afternoon

 Our Christmas tree is up and I wanted a cute picture of both kids in front of it. I didn't think that was too much to ask. This is what I ended up with. I guess with two kids I have to be a little more flexible on my definition of cute. It no longer means everyone positioned perfect, looking at the camera, and smiling, all at the same time.

 

 

 

 

So Tired

 I had to make cupcakes for Young Women in Excellence and now that Corbin doesn't nap, it is much more difficult to accomplish tasks such as this one. I decided the best way to keep him out of my cupcakes was to give him one. I let him eat one cupcake and then I told him I had special paint. He painted so good. When I was completely finished frosting my cupcakes I let him in on a secret that the frosting tasted really yummy. He looked at me then licked the very tip of his finger. 

 

 He was so excited. I looked over a few minutes later and he was falling asleep in his chair with his fingers in his mouth. He was so tired! He would nod off and then wake himself up. I asked him if he wanted to get down, but he didn't because he still had more frosting left to eat!

SNOW

Maggie loved her first time out in the snow! Even if it was only for a few minutes.

"It's a whole family of supers!"

 Happy Halloween!

This year we decided to dress as a whole family since it was easy to do when Corbin wanted to be Dash. So, we ended up being a whole family of supers, The Incredibles!

  Mr. Incredible, Elasti-girl, Jack Jack, and Dash (Violet is invisible.)

My favorite little super heroes.

Corbin loved Halloween this year. He didn't see anything too scary, so it was just fun. We went out to Plain City to do some trick-or-treating. We only went to five houses and it was plenty. Corbin had fun, got candy and hung out with his cousins. Halloween is much more fun with kids.

Carving Pumpkins

 This year was the first time Matt and I have ever carved pumpkins together and Corbin's first time. Corb wouldn't even touch the guts, he hated them. He used a spoon for a second and then just watched.

  He was set on having his own knife, so he had a plastic knife and he wouldn't cut right after Matt. He spent most of the time coloring his own pumpkin he picked from Grandpa's garden. 

 

The finished product.

Standing Tall

 I took Maggie to her six month appointment last week. She is 46% for weight, 16.2 lbs; 67% for height, and 75% for her head. I can't believe she is already six months and then I look at what she is doing and can't believe she is only six months. She is crawling all over the place and will not sit still. Her latest thing is standing up on everything and anything she can find. She is a skilled climber, but doesn't know how to get down. So she gets stuck on all the toys, stools, or whatever she finds and is always getting hurt. 

I love this cute girl! She looks so big standing up.

 

She is sleeping better, which is the greatest news of all. She can now put her self to sleep most of the time. The last two nights she has woken up multiple times, but I didn't have to go get her. She fell back asleep within minutes. So I have only been up once to feed her for two nights. Finally! We will cut out the last feeding eventually, but one is do-able.

She has her two bottom teeth. Let's hope the rest come in all at once because I don't think she can be much more miserable than she was getting two. She might as well get them all out in one shot and only be unbearable for a few days. If only . . .

Dash

Corbin's Dash costume is done! I have had it mostly done for a few weeks, but last night I wanted to finish it completely and try it on him, so I didn't have to worry about it anymore. It was really easy to actually put together, but it was a pain finding everything it needed. It really didn't save me any money either. The only reason I did make it was because the smallest Dash costume I could find to buy was a 3T and that would drown this little guy. Anyways, I am very pleased with the result. The only thing I would have done differently was not use felt. I put all that work and I can't even wash it and reuse it. Maybe one day I will switch it out for washable fabric.

 And he loves it! Which is the most important. He was ticked when I made him take it off. Maybe after Halloween he can wear it all the time and trash it.

Carnivore Carnival

 My family all went to Dinosaur Park on Thursday for the Carnivore Carnival. Matt had some homework, so I took the the kids. I wish Matt could have been there because Corbin was scared of everything. He was asking to go home in the parking lot before we even started because he was scared of the costumes. 

 He dressed up as a robot, yes, the same costume as last year. I am not too happy about it either. He wanted to be Dash, off of The Incredibles, so I made our whole family incredibles costumes and he refused to wear it. He better wear it on Halloween because it was a pain and ended up being a lot more money than I expected.

 

 They had the whole park decorated. There were vendors with games and candy. Beau and Corbin coloring their masks, just one of the art projects.