Christmas 2011

Asher got a guitar, candy, and a camera! He and Collin got a slide to share.

Collin got a rocking horse, candy & Professor Z (from the movie CARS 2).

Sethie got diapers and new bottle tops. (Figured we could get away with that this Christmas!) All 3 boys got some new books & DVD's.

We loved having Tara & Jace with us that morning. And we loved this baked french toast:

Seth at 3 months

Oh sweet Sethie! 3 months already! Although he has felt 3 months for a while now...he feels like an older baby. Mostly because he so social & smiley. One of our nicknames for him is Guy Smiley. (do you remember him from Sesame Street?) The minute anyone makes eye contact with him, he's all grins!

Anyway, Seth has got to be one of the happiest babies I know. And that is quite the feat seeing as he has had constant ear infections/fluid in his ears since Thanksgiving. That has been a problem for sure. Seth went from sleeping 7+ hour stretches to being up a lot & not feeding great either. Breastfeeding has turned into a frustrating battle of wills. Fortunately our pediatrician is proactive and will let Seth get tubes after 3 months of persistent ear issues. 1 month down, 2 to go!

He can reach out & swat at things he wants. He likes sucking/gnawing on his fingers. He likes standing up. He hates pacifiers and is picky about bottles. Seth is a BIG boy- close to 14.5 lbs! One of his Aunts commented that, "Seth is one of those babies that makes people WANT to have a baby!"...we couldn't agree more!

Oh I love this picture so much! Reason #1- it reminds me of Chris Farley doing "fat man in a little coat" and Reason #2- he's just so dang cute!

"Happy Holidays!"...

...is what terrorists say.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love, Asher & Collin

 and Sethie too

Advent: Days 17-24

Day 17: Read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Our stockings are hung by the ::bookshelf:: with care. :)

Day 18: Drank Apple Cider. The boys prefer this to hot chocolate.

Day 19: Watched this video...I've cried watching it everytime:

Day 20: Christmas art project: paper snowflakes. We glued sparklies on them too!

Day 21: Made sugar cookie dough. Cut-out & Baked cookies

Day 22: Decorated Christmas Cookies

Day 23: Celebrated Mom's 28th birthday. I had the most wonderful day! It ended with Sushi & Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes, then board games at the Cleggs.

Day 24: Christmas Eve with lots of family...

Advent: Days 13-16

Day 13:Watched The Nativity & talked about why we celebrate Christmas. It feels difficult to explain to such a young audience the importance of the Savior- why we need Him, what He did here on earth & what that means for each of us. In the end the boys seemed to grasp onto the thought that Christmas is a big birthday party for Jesus & that He loves each of us. That will have to suffice for now :) ... Have you seen this new video? I loved the British accents because it reminded me of my BBC flicks!

Day 14: Snow art. It was food coloring + water in squirt bottles. (Idea compliments of pinterest.)

Day 15: Made neighbor gifts (another pinterest idea)

Day 16: Delivered the "root deer"

Advent: Days 9-12

Day 9: Christmas art project...these are Collin's feet & hands. Asher preferred not to get paint on himself.

Day 10: Buy a Christmas tree. We loved that Uncle Scott joined us. The boys were interested for about 2 minutes in the task-at-hand before they discovered the parking cones...

Day 11: Watched Frosty the Snowman...

Day 12: Decorated the Christmas tree. Aunt Tara occupied the boys while Nate & I tried 3 times to put lights on the tree. Finally, all was ready, we turned on the Mannheim Steamroller & got to work!

*photos via Instagram...you can check mine out @cortygirl