Christmas is here!!!

First I have to show you one of Ty's favorite things to do. Standing! He loves to stand and be a big boy. When you stand him up, he gets this big smile on his face and sticks his neck out and his tummy out, as if to say, "I'm a big man now!". It's so darn cute. :)

So Christmas Eve arrived and after spending the day doing last minute errands, we attended the children's Mass at 4 o'clock at the beautiful Catholic church down the street. Here's Tatum taking a moment outside for some snack. :)

And I had to get a picture of my beautiful Cali in front of the tree. She has grown to love laying under the tree all day and will be sad to see it go.

After a delicious meal of lobster, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole and fruit salad, we got ready for bed and made sure to leave some cookies and milk for Santa.

Here's what it looked like in the morning. Santa came!!!

And here's Tatum with her very large pile of gifts. A few hours after she finished opening the last gift, she asked if we could open any more gifts. Oh, poor girl, the post Christmas depression had set in.

And here's Ty with his pile. He didn't get to open too many since his sister took care of that for the most part, but he loved watching and loved playing with all the new toys.

And here's Tatum enjoying a ride in her new wagon. Of course she had to get dressed up in her new clothes, new dress up skirt and a purse and high heels. The funniest was when we stopped at the neighbors house to get a candy cane and she had a hard time getting out in her heals. Of goodness! :)

Then on Saturday, my mom and I took the kids to the Del to see the skate rink and enjoy some yummy hot cocoa.

They have such beautiful decorations at the Del. Here's their beach themed tree.

And then we headed over to Sea Port Village to ride on the fastest up and down in town. Tatum said this one is by far her favorite!

All in all, we had a wonderful holiday together and we're just so blessed. Now just 364 days till the next Christmas! :)

Christmas activities

After a chaotic meal at Olive Garden, (gone are peaceful meals out) we drove to Christmas Card Lane where we walked around and saw the beautifully decorated houses...

On Saturday, we had Mandy, Adrian and Ellie over for dinner and then went to the Candyland celebration over at Poway Recreation center. My camera stopped working half way through the activity but here are a few pics of the fun.

They had real snow that the kids loved picking up and throwing. They also had sledding which we all enjoyed. Garrett and Adrian took the girls down first and they loved it so much that they wanted Mommies to take them down again.

This is Ty's face after I told him a plump jolly old elf squeezes down his chimney and leaves him presents on Christmas morning. :)

They also had a craft area where the girls decorated tiles. So much fun!

Before we headed back up to Irvine, Daddy made us a delicious meal of pancakes. Here's one in the shape of Mickey for Tatum!

Then Lee, Isaac, Tatum and I went up to see Jen and walk around Naples. So many pretty lights!

And last night we met up with my Godmother Shirley at the Spectrum and enjoyed delicious food at Cheesecake. Of course we had to get in a ride on the up and down!

Today is Jenny's birthday so we stopped by her house on the way out of town to bring her a cupcake. The girls exchanged Christmas presents and enjoyed a fun play date. You can see that Ty enjoyed the play date as well. :)

Winter fun

For a brief parent moment, here are two shots of us having a wonderful time at our neighborhood progressive party. We LOVE our new neighborhood and all the wonderful people we've met here.

And here are the neighborhood boys enjoying the extensive liquor selection out at the mobile bar. This is before Garrett took too many shots which led to a painful hangover the next morning. :) Oh, how old we are!

We were up at Grandma's last week and Tatum decided she wanted to set up her princess tent and sleep in it. She did a great job and slept there all three nights!

Ty enjoyed Tatum's old walker. He's secure enough with his manliness to enjoy a pink walker. :) He also, only at 4 months, figured out how to push himself backwards and travel around the house! I think he may be a bit more coordinated than his sister was. :)

Here he is at 4 months. My little man is getting so big! He loves to make noises and try to get in his point of view. It's hard with a talkative sister around. He also loves playing with toys as long as he can keep them away from his sister. :)

Then on Monday we met Grandma at Legoland and had fun checking out some new rides. Here's Tatum's favorite, the Beetle Bounce. We rode it 4 times and if given the chance, Tatum would have been on it all day. :)

And Legoland is decorated for Christmas as well. A tree made out of Legos!

Ty had his first play date with his new friend Colin from down the street. Colin is just 18 days younger than Ty and the two plan on being close friends for a long time. :)

Then yesterday we met Ellie and Mandy at Legoland and had a wonderful time. This Santa is definitely less scary than the ones at the mall. :)

Could the girls be any cuter?! They loved the airplane ride.

So much fun to sit together in the front! And Mandy enjoyed the ride as well. :)

What great friends. BFFs!

The girls loved the little people around the Christmas tree and Tatum picked one to give a hug to.

But Ellie went to each one and gave a hug. Such a lover! :)

Recap of the last few weeks

Since I left my camera at the Beaston's on Thanksgiving, I haven't been able to update the blog. So here's a quick recap: I had a wonderful birthday at Disneyland and then a delicious meal and a birthday cake with Grandma and the kids.

Then a fun night out with my girls, Shauna, Jenny, Leanne and me. Thanks girls!

Then we headed over to the Gordy's for Friend's Thanksgiving. Here is Ty with his new friend Wesley who is just over a month older. Look at these big, beautiful boys!

It was fun hanging with the gang and Tatum loved playing with all the kids.

Then we were back at Disneyland at night to see all the beautiful decorations and lights.

Look how bright and pretty It's a Small World looks! Our favorite part of the night was the Christmas parade, which I took a few pictures of but none really came out. Tatum's fav part was the princesses dancing and singing. So pretty!

In between all this, Ty is getting so big and here he is enjoying his first play time in the exersaucer. What a big boy.

Then it was Thanksgiving and we headed up to the Beaston's for the holiday. We had such a wonderful time with everyone and the food was delicious!

Tatum LOVED all the girls and enjoyed being a part of the action in the kitchen. :)

My favorite girl. :)

Ty also enjoyed all the attention and being held by everyone. This is a much better way to sleep than being swaddled and left in the back room. :) Thanks Beaston's!

Last week we went tree hunting and Tatum picked out a winner for us.

Ty didn't feel up to participating this year but I'm sure he'll be putting in his two cents next year.

Then it was time to decorate the tree (or a cute little baby). :)

What a sweet face.

And then we had a visit from our favorite Godmother who helped us put the house together and throw a housewarming party on Sunday. What would we have done without her?!

Tatum even wore a headband in her hair for the festivities.

I wish I would have taken more pictures but with over 60 guests, it was a bit chaotic. But I did get this shot of Tatum hanging with Kendal and Kylie in the new dresses they gave her and her baby doll Bella. How cute!

And here's Ty hanging with Jacquie. He loves her and always gives her a big smile and a hardy giggle. :)

And the boys enjoyed the fire pit outside (before the rain hit).

Lastly, we bought a gingerbread house (the one with the gingerbread already made and cut for you of course) and had a great time decorating it with Grandma.

Here's the finished product. What a beautiful little house! We'll definitely be making this a Christmas tradition. Whew, that was a lot to update.