Christmas Eve and Christmas 2013

I think that we've made it an official tradition to drive around and look at all of the Christmas lights on Christmas Eve... this would make the second year in a row.  We put dinner in the oven and left to look at the lights.  There were a lot of really pretty lights this year and the one that stood out the most was one of those light shows with the music to go with it.

So I thought I was being smart with my camera and didn't put the flash on... turns out it made all of those ones blurry... so here are the "best" of them.

Lena was so excited about her new "piggy" jammas.

The official "Santa has come" scene with everything ready for the kids to wake up.

Lena was so excited about the three little hello kitties in her stocking.

Randy has officially taken on the role of "Santa" aka, the person who divies out the presents.

This was the ONE thing Lena wanted from Santa... she was so excited and I think she's worn them a total of 3 times... maybe one day she'll wear them more. :)

Walter and his new sippy cups!  I just love how happy he was. :)

This was the second thing Lena asked for from Santa... a hat (specifically fadora)

By far Walter's most favorite gift!

He would walk as fast as he could with the thing until he ran into something... then he would whine until someone turned him around. :)

Lena displaying her play food... so serious. :P

Trying out her new bike. :)  It was too cold to try it out outside.

The official haul of the kids.

Randy's haul. :)

And this was my favorite gift... a bluetooth speaker that works REALLY well AND it's white like I wanted... I'm impressed that Randy was able to find a cute white one for me to display on my shelf. :)

Ten Months

My little Wally Bear is now ten months old!  He has been up to so much this last month.  One of my favorite things he started doing is poking things (like little foam puzzle pieces) so that they will fly up and land somewhere else... then he crawls over to it and pokes it again.  He has also really started imitating everyone he sees... including waving. :)  He started pulling himself up on December 1st and is now doing it like he's always known how to.  Another one of his favorite activities of the month is pulling the wipes out of his wipe warmer... I can already tell he's going to be a mess maker... in fact, I think now he makes more messes than Lena.  We took him into the doctor this month because he was sick and found out that he is now over 17 lbs.  (Lena was 17.5 lbs at one year).

Here are some pictures I've taken of him on my phone this last month:

I love seeing them play together. :)  Of course moments after this Lena insisted on "kissing" Walter excessively, driving him crazy and causing him to squeel and cry in annoyance... thus is life.

I let Walter have one of the sugar cookies we were making for Santa... I know, I'm a terrible mother... but he seriously loved it!

First beater to lick. :)

Standing up!

We hung out with Rosie, Alex and Jimmy one day and Alex and Walter happen to be wearing the same shirt. :)  AND they have matching heads too. ;)

Walter discovered that he could fit between the couches... it was so cute to see him explore in there.

More standing up... he also dances now too!

Cute hats! :)

He LOVES the bath and always wants to get in when he sees it.  This is one of the first times he stood up.

Yay for bath!  This particular time he discovered how to spit with his tongue poking out and did it the whole day long!

I love that they can take a back together. :)

Walter loves chocolate just as much as I do!  I cannot eat chocolate in front of him or he will SCREAM until I share with him.  He knows whats good. :)

Making Cookies for Santa

Lena really wanted to make cookies for Santa like two weeks before he would even come... so... that's what we did... now there is a cookie in the fridge for him that will hopefully still taste good for "Santa" tomorrow night. :)

Preschool Christmas Program

Lena's preschool teacher is so awesome and is so good at putting on cute programs of the kids.  Lena was so cute singing the songs and even got to sit on santa's lap.  Lena loves singing the songs she learns at home and even makes up songs all of the time!  I love how much she LOVES preschool.

Standing Up In His Crib

Today was the very first day that I found Walter standing up in his crib. :)

Christmas Decorating

Well here is Walter having fun with his music table before the decorating began... it was too cute not to include in this post.

And now he just looks ready for a nap.

Walter helping us get that tree box open. :)

Lena was so cute about putting decorations on the tree... most of her decorations ended up in one clump.

Like this one... this is the "Walter can touch these ornaments" clump. :)

And then Lena decided it was time for a break to play in the snow!

Walter and I watched her from the warm house. :)

So cute!

Look at those rosy cheeks!  What a cutie!