Cute Pic Post -- December 2013

December was a busy and fun month for us. Graham started walking this month which was AWESOME and much-anticipated. Austin's started being quite a bit rougher with Graham, though, and we're not sure exactly why, but it's been a challenge to keep him from doing serious damage to him. They've started interacting a greater degree which is nice to see.

Graham loves making this wide-open-mouth face. He's not screaming or making actually any noise, just loves having his mouth hanging open. Austin loves wearing his Halloween Superwhy! costume around the house.

Graham only goes to school once a week while Austin goes two days, so Tuesdays are our time together, usually involving a lot of errands. Always so happy to ride around with Momma.

I have this habit of accidentally dressing us all in the same color. I had a friend take a picture of us one day at BSF when I realized we were once again dressed alike.

I love watching the boys play with the Little People Nativity. Austin kept saying "The angel goes on top! The angel goes on top!"

He knows how to push it correctly, but seems to enjoy pushing it sideways better.

He's a climber and a destructor, for sure!

Someone got really sick early in the month and then everyone was sick and it was awful. But the sweet cuddling is nice.

You know what's not fun? Spending four hours at the doctors/hospital, getting diagnoses of two double ear infections and two cases of bronchiolitis plus two adult colds. At least it was a Saturday and Seth could come with me.

 Austin had two breathing treatments in office and Graham had one.

 And then they sent us to get an xray and they insisted I try to get him to wear a mask.

 Cute gown for xrays.

It's become Seth's job to vacuum once a week and the boys love "helping" him!

Caption this:

Austin requested this picture. He was proud of his tall Lego tower.

Gotta love sweet baby sleeping pictures.

We got to get dressed up for Seth's work party. I love that dress; I feel like a movie star in it.

Austin's friend Eric conveniently also has a baby brother, Mattijs. At the last playdate, Graham and Mattijs started interacting quite a bit and it was adorable.

I got this box in the mail and thought "um, ok? How should I open it? fire? teeth?"

I'm LOVING my Rodan + Fields business, and while reading this magazine, I found out that Britney uses Rodan + Fields, too! These products are amazing--even Britney chooses them!

Love cuddling with my middle man.

This bear sings the "Night Before Christmas." Gran gave it to us last year and the boys LOVE it, Graham especially. It felt extra special since we'd just lost her a month earlier.

Austin wanted pancakes and insisted on the face pieces--eyes and nose. And then he insisted on me taking a picture of him with it.

Clammering around.

There are no words. I found them like this one morning.

I took the picture for Nonnie who gave us the shirt, but I loved the smile he gave me.

Thanks, Nonnie and Gramps, for this amazingly quiet present. lol

A run-in with the remote controlled car that Turner got for Christmas left a pretty nasty mark on Austin's lip.

Christmas Season 2013 -- Gifts, Decor, and Card

This post is about the rest of the Christmas season stuff that's not already been covered.
Here is an example of the mini facials I gave out as gifts.

Putting together gifts for the boys' teachers...

My Grandma LaPean always sends a cheese box and it was amazing as usual!

This is my favorite gift from Kim and David--I was able to sell my Kitchen Aid mixer and had this to replace it.

I'm also super excited about these bowls!

My parents sent the boys gifts and we opened them one morning a few days after Christmas. They weren't wrapped, but it's still a big ordeal of getting them out of the box. I LOVE that we have a Case tractor now. It's not the pedal tractor I've been asking for, but still Case.

True to form, he sat on the box.

Austin's gift was a farm set, complete with cows and hay bales and big truck he's named Mac.

He loves climbing aboard and scooting around.

And then there are the decorations... We added a few things this year and also purged a few things. I'm glad we've simplified a little, but it's still several tubs of things to put up into the attic!

This is our house at night. The lights on the pillars are new this year.

Anyone see anything wrong with the tree? (I look forward to the year we buy a really nice tree.)

Stockings... 5 because Georgia gets one.

An addition this year was these pictures of the boys on their first Christmases. Sheala gave me the idea of framing a picture and bringing it out each year as a decoration. So excited for this!

Love the new wreath! I bought a string of lights and stuck in it because I love the wreath lit.

The only time of year I actually like this thing is when we can make good use out of it. New this year was hanging ribbon across and using clothespins to hold up the cards.

After the tree was fixed and all the presents were wrapped.

I use lots of Christmas-themed books on the built-in.

Seth was playing around with the settings and I love this one! This is coming in from the front door.

What's your favorite Christmas decoration idea? What's the gift you got that surprised or pleased you most?