Twenty One Weeks

I still can't believe how big Gavin is. When we unwrapped this sweater my mom sent for Christmas it looked pretty big, but putting it on him, the only thing too big was the sleeves. And not by much. I love our big boy! He is so happy all the time. As long as he is fed and rested!

Kaylee and Sophie

Sophie loves all of her cousins, and Kaylee is no exception. She came and stayed at our house for almost a month and we couldn't have asked for better house guests (although Max may not agree - he and Allison didn't get along). This is the last day Kaylee was with us. She and her family are off to Turkey for a couple years with Shane's job. What a great adventure. But Sophie will totally miss Kaylee. She loves her so much and they had a great time together doing everything. Everything from having sleepovers to coloring to playing computer to talking about the Jonas Brothers that Sophie now loves, even though she doesn't really know who they are. That's what big cousins are all about.

See you soon Kaylee!!!

Cats and Dogs

There couldn't be anything more fun to watch than these two playing together...

NOT

They Hate each other I think. Allison would steal everything from Max, especially his CARS, and Max learned how to hit Allison. Max would scream any time she went near any toys in the house and Allison would cry. One day we will look back on this and laugh about the whole thing. But not today. I have never seen two kids fight as much as they did. But they'll get along one day - right? Maybe. But she is so stinkin' cute, I hated to see her go. Even though it did quiet the house down A LOT!

Gavin's First Christmas

He was all smiles today. What a special day, and he missed most of it by sleeping, but I won't complain. His first Christmas! Almost 5 months old! He was almost too little to even enjoy the wrapping paper like most babies. But it was so fun for us to watch him today in his little Santa suit. Poor boy was too big to wear the matching hat. It squished his face in. I love this little boy! Merry Christmas Gavin.

Christmas Day

Peter with some of his new Playmoblie toys he got for Christmas.

Sophie, sure that there is just one more present for her hidden under the tree.

The kids hanging out and loving the day.

The kids sitting in the cool new car Santa brought for them to share. And notice Sophie's new penguin webkin. She was so excited.

How cool is this! They are going to be so excited and cruising around the cul-di-sac come spring! Santa really pulled it off this year!

There were 4 families in our house Christmas morning. This was on my mind for months before the actual day came and went. I wanted to find a way to let each family have their own space amidts the chaos. So I had this great idea to give each family their own tree in different parts of the house. It worked out great. Except for the fact that we were slow pokes at opening our presents and everyone finished long before us. Oh well. It worked out great and we spent the day snacking, sleeping, playing and watching new movies. Gotta love Christmas, especially when you can spend it with family.

Aaron and Matt

Seems that my kids aren't the only ones who steal my camera...

We all love Aaron and Matt!!!

Christmas Eve Nativity

Every year the Ford's have all the grandkids act out the nativity. This year there seemed to be such a large group together that extra costumes had to be made so everyone could be included. There were extra parts added too to fill in the story. We had the angel Gabriel, King Herod, and a real star (cute Shelby)! Along with a heavenly host of angels and a flock of shepherds. They did a great job too since Grandma was behind the scenes directing all of the kids. Of course Sophie was an angel and Peter a shepherd, although Sophie did go through a period of indecisivness where she wanted to be a shepherd because she ALWAYS has to be an angel. Sorry kiddo, that's the way the cookie crumbles when you are a little girl cousin. Max, well we decided it best not to disturb his happy mood and he sat with us. Gavin was going to be baby Jesus, but backed out at the last minute on account of sleeping in a classroom down the hall. We had our big dinner and family night at the church. There were 50 of us there!! I wish I had more pictures of the night. Like the cart full of pumpkin pie, or the 7 tables set up in a horse shoe and decorated with the little stockings full of silverware that JoAnne and I slaved over! And all that food! 2 turkeys and a ham. 2 pans of green beans, and stuffing, pitchers full of gravy, and a huge 11 layered jello, a huge vat of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, lots of salad and so much more! Sad to report that we did happen to forget to assign out rolls. So we were roll-less on Christmas. I was sad, and so was my addiction to bread. But my mouth is still watering thinking about it all over again! It was a great night. And then we came home to get ready for Christmas morning...

Rich

Rich is a pretty cool Chiropractor. He has some great patients. And at Christmas this year he got spioled by some of them. He got goodies, a hand made blanket, treats, and our favorite, this t-shirt! He may never wear it out in public, but it is hilarious!

"snappin' necks & cashin' checks"

Passing the Time

Well, the TV and movies were on WAY too much, but that's not the only thing the kids did. I found these pictures on my stolen camera after more than an hour of quiet from Sophie and her cousin Caleb. Not too bad for almost 6 year olds! They had so much fun!

Gingerbread Houses

The kids had so much fun creating their own gingerbread houses today. But, they were a little sad when I told them we were not keeping or displaying them anywhere. They were to be made and eaten all tonight. There is no where to keep 10 gingerbread houses out when there are 27 people sleeping in the same house!!! But how fun for all those cousins to have mass sleepovers every night??!!! I love Christmas traditions! Thanks JoAnne for the gingerbread houses! Peter. Who needs a house, all you need is candy.

Sophie - notice the lack of frosting. She hates frosting.

Claire, Sophie, Kaylee, and Sarah

Peter, Caleb, Justin, and Joe

Temple Square

Always a fun tradition to go and see the lights at temple square, and always a bitter cold night. We even had the kids bundled beyond belief with snow pants and all. But they were still so cold. The lights were beautiful and the sidewalks crowded with families out enjoying the spirit of Christmas on the last Sunday before Christmas. I loved the nativity scene in the middle of the reflection pond. And no trip to temple square is complete without a visit to see the Christis. The kids favorite thing to see and do. Max was mesmerized by how big it actually is compared to the small picture we have of it at home. But after such a cold night tonight, we have decided to cancel our trip to see Santa's Village outside in Ogden tomorrow night. One cold night is enough for me!

Twenty Weeks

Life is not so good in the sleep depatments these days. Gavin is in our room because of company and I hear him and he hears us and we have had several restless nights.

So Gross!!!

Sophie loves to play with baby Gavin. This time it went too far though! They were laughing and playing around until the next thing I hear is "Ewwwwww, help, MOM help me!!" I knew exactly what had happened, having seen the scenerio play out a thousand times in me head before! And what a good sport she was to hold the moment (with a smile) while I pulled the camera out to capture the spit up waterfall that Gavin poured out onto Sophie during a fun few moments. I was just laughing.

Dance Class

I loved being able to watch my little ballerina today in her parents preview dance class. She is so adorable! And she is so tender hearted. They did some ballet and then some tap. At the end they did a little dance number and Sophie missed a step and she bawled and bawled about it for a long time afterward because she didn't do it right. My heart broke for her. I didn't realize her self expectations were so high. It turned out all right after a while, and she is still going back to dance. I love my little girl.

Peter's knock knock joke

Knock Knok

Who's there?

Peter

Peter who?

Peter loves his mama!

Present for Dad

All the kids came together to do a present for Rich this year. But this afternoon Peter decided that he needed to give Rich another present. IT was all Peter's idea! This is how it went. And he was so proud of himself for doing this all by himself.

I don't really play with this toy (small ninja turtle) anymore mom. What should I do with it? I will give it to Dad for Christmas. Can I get some wrapping paper? Oh, this will work (the wrapping from goodies the neighbor brought over last nigh). I put lots of tape on it mom. And I bet Dad would like this piece of candy cane too(can you see it at the top of the present?). I'll tape it onto the present. Dad will LOVE this present, I just know it. He will be so excited!

Nap time...

This is the second time this week Max has emptied his diaper basket into his crib durning nap time. I guess that is a clue that I need to move the basket.

Words he says:

car, uh oh, more, mama, please, cheese, wow, nana (banana), go go, sucker, gee (binki), Gav (Gavin), gross, done, on, no,

Sounds he says:

oink, meow, woof woof, neigh, roar, moo, ho ho ho,

Tumbling Preview

I was the camera happy mom at parents observation day in Sophie's tumbling class. She LOVES tumbling, and she is actually better than I thought she was. I don't know why I doubted her. She practices every day, no every hour of every day. She cartwheels all around the house. It was too cute when this last week she has been working on her kick over. She wanted to be able to do it all alone for this parents class and she just isn't there yet. She was so worried she spilled a stream of tears over the matter. She even went as far as writing her teacher a note telling her she couldn't do it. I didn't get to read the note because she wrote it and sealed it in an envelope before I had the chance. I love my little darling. Keep on tumbling!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

With only a few presents under the tree, this giant one was bound to take some attention. The box was so big that Max thought it would be a great stepping stool! He was on and off of it for days. Dancing on it, sitting on it, jumping on it. Good thing it is a sturdy box with a durable present inside for Max. It has already taken a beating and Christmas is still a ways away.

Nineteen Weeks

Gavin found his sea legs. No longer jelly when you try to stand him on your lap. He likes it! Just another sign that he is getting stronger and bigger. But we all knew that. Holding him is like holding a ton of (cute) bricks.

On the hunt

Have you ever made your list, and checked it twice??? And then once you get to the store they don't have what you need/want? This was Christmas shopping at its finest on Saturday. Mostly done, but needed a few more (specific) items, Rich and I headed out for a 'quick' run to the store. It turned into a 3 hour extravaganza looking for two things. We quickly figured out that the hot toy of the year is a Penguin Webkinz. And we have a determined little girl that wants nothing else. They all said the same thing.
"we have lots of webkinz over there, but we're out of the penguin. Good luck finding one..."
And the other was a Cars spiral speedway. It has two twirly ramps with two little cars cars. Perfect for Max.
Well. 24 hours later we have to say thank you to ebay who had a penguin lil'kinz webkinz (that we paid too much for, but we have it) and a hard working late shift employee at Walmart who spent the night searching the stock room for the spiral speed way that the computer said was there but two other employees said was not there. Christmas is complete. Just need some candy. 15 days to go...

Eighteen weeks

Well Gavin has started to wiggle around. He no longer stays in just one spot when lying on the ground. I come back and he is sideways... And he lifts his shoulder and hip off the ground just a little. Just enough to know that rolling is coming... And I thought he would stay a baby forever. Silly me.

Lasting Lessons

SUNDAY
me - Hey Peter, what did you learn in church today?

Pete - Uh, I don't know...

...

Pete - Today my teacher told me that you pick it and you flick it, or you pick it and you stick it. But you can't pick it and then lick it.

me - speechless.

Pete - (lots of loud laughter)

TODAY
And now it is a regular saying in our house. Peter has the best teachers in sunbeams. They are a young married couple, and Zack can really get through to the wild bunch of boys. And now I know why. He can really get down on their level, and they love him for it. I don't know if the nose picking saying has helped curb the bad habit, or if it has only encouraged it for Pete because he loves the little rhyme... Gotta love church.