C's baby photo shoot.

Well this was another one of those things that didn't work out quite as I envisioned. I have fantastic baby photos of N and e from Alaska, and I wanted to do the same for C. It didn't work out as planned for a couple of different reasons... mostly the photographer and I were not on the same page about what I was looking for. Also, C was six weeks when we shot these. The other boys had theirs done around three. Ah the third child. At least I got them done!

We did end up getting some good shots, but the process was quite painful... and there was a lot of photo shop involved. Here are some of the better ones!

Happy Birthday to me!

I had a real treat for my birthday this year. N and E made a cake for me. It was fun to watch them work together to make it... and it was my favorite, chocolate! (Which also happens to be N's favorite too... so I think he had another motivation!) Better taste it first....

Lookin' good. Thanks guys!

Daddy's helpers...

When C was born, we had to do a little rearranging in the house to fit everything in. We took what used to be the office / craft room / guest room (complete with E's flying stuff on the wall) and turned it into C's room / guest room (flying stuff still on the wall - he's a boy!) The office and craft stuff moved into to the playroom, which meant some of the toys had to move into the boys' room... which meant we had to make some more storage in there. Did you follow along? So we found these shelves to put in their closet for more efficient clothes storage. It turned into a fun little project for E and the boys to do on a cold English winter Saturday!

Just look at that concentration!

One down and three more to go... e was done, but luckily N and E got the rest built!

Thanks guys!

C at one month

Merry Christmas (part 2...)

A few days after Christmas Grandpa and Grandma L came to meet little C and celebrate a late Christmas with us. The boys thought two Christmases was great!

C thought Grandma holding him all day was pretty great too...

They brought this favorite gift for little e. It was a Toy Story set with Buzz, Woody, and a rocket. e still sleeps with Buzz most nights. They are very well played with toys. We love Buzz and Woody! The awesome fleeces for the boys were from Aunt D.

But we all agreed C was really the best Christmas present this year. Seriously, how cute is he?

Another great gift... you know you are the mom of boys when there is a soccer goal in your living room. I wish I could tell you that was just for Christmas Day only, but that would be a lie!

All the Christmas stuff is hard work for babies... and Grandpas!

Time to refuel with some Christmas chili. Apparently it's good!

It was great to have Grandma and Grandpa visit... but the trip went way too fast. Come back soon!

Merry Christmas!

So this Christmas was a first for us. It was the first time ever that we have spent Christmas just as our little family. No parents, grandparents, or siblings. Just our little family of five. While we missed our families, we also really enjoyed the (not-so)quiet time. It felt very cozy... although, Christmas Eve dinner just wasn't the same...

I tried to make as many of the family favorites as I could handle with a two week old! The boys helped me make Grandma rolls, there was oyster stew, faux potato bologna, Maurine's jello salad, Savage corn, and dairy free Christmas cookies for little e. Good enough!

After the family service in the Ely Cathedral (complete with a donkey in church, and lots of snow outside church) we got ready for bed. First we had to lay out cookies and milk for Santa. Hope he likes dairy-free cookies!

Then E read the Night Before Christmas to the boys.

(Notice the new Christmas pjs thanks to Grandma L!) In the morning the boys couldn't wait to run down stairs and check out their stockings... to see if Santa really did arrive! Since we didn't have a fireplace in England, we left the stockings hanging on the hall tree right inside the front door. Santa figured it out! (The boys were a little worried about this...)

N's big present from Santa was this HUGE lego set. He couldn't wait to put it together!

e's present was this really cool bike / scooter thing. You sit on it like a bike, but it has no pedals like a scooter, so it forces you to balance. Mom and Dad thought it was really cool and that e would love it... not so much. Well, even Santa strikes out on gifts some times!

After breakfast it was lego building time. All the boys at the table... building legos! Just check out that concentration!

This was our first (probably of many) really lego Christmas. N got his big truck / trailer set, and we each got a little car... and N got another car and an airplane. Lots of legos!

e's favorite gift of the day was "Hullabaloo," a super fun follow the leader type game. He played it all day long... often just by himself! Crazy kid!

And finally, the lego truck / trailer set. It took him all day long, but N did it almost entirely by himself. Yup, he's our kid! Merry Christmas!

Snow Day!

So, on the first day E was supposed to go back to work for his paternity leave (which was also the boys' last day of school before Christmas break) we woke up to this! An English winter wonderland!

No work for E and no school for the boys! Extra day of paternity leave and Christmas break. Snow like this is so unusual in England, that they don't even have snow plows. Seriously, they can't plow the roads. You just have to wait for it to melt. This creates an interesting driving situation, so they just cancel everything. Work, cancelled. School, cancelled. Never mind that it was just 3 inches of snow... Bring on the fun!

It took us a quite a while to locate all our snow gear to actually get the boys out the door. (I decided to stay inside the nice warm house with the 11 day old...) Notice that he is not wearing snow boots (not enough snow in England to warrant buying them) but Wellies with two pairs of socks on instead!

Our boys have never really spent much time playing in the snow, so we had to start with the basics... like how to make a good snow angel...

and how to have a proper snowball fight...

and how to make the "perfect" snowman! (Complete with hat and carrot nose!)

Brrrrrr... it's getting cold out there. Time to come inside for some hot cocoa and marshmallows. What a great way to start Christmas break!