A Great Christmas!!

We really had a nice Christmas. The kids were spoiled like crazy. We try to keep it pretty calm at home because the grandmas really just can't help themselves no matter how hard we try.

It's great when they are this little. At 3 months old, Joseph is too little to know and definitely does not need anything, so he only got two little gifts from us. Also, most everything was on sale, secondhand or free. We bought Tim's scooter half-off at Toys R Us and Carolina's came from a thrift store for $3. They also received Target clearance toys, yard sale finds and even a truck from a freecycler. We also gave them stuff that they need anyway (socks & underwear) and called them gifts. I had fun buying for them because I try hard not to give them treats throughout the year, so this is one of my only opportunities.

After spending a couple hours at home we went to my parents' house for a few hours and then to Ben's family's house. It made for a long day, but it's great to be able to see everyone. That's why we're living here in Maryland.

Merry Christmas!

It's really neat enjoying the Christmas season with the kids as they are getting older and more aware. We've really been working on our Christmas traditions. Here are some: (share yours so we can add to our list!)

1. Putting the tree up the Friday after Christmas

2. Reading about Jesus from the scriptures each night
(okay, not every night, we spent some nights catching up).
We used the reading chart from the December 2008 Friend.

3. Sitting on Santa's lap at the ward Christmas party

4. Driving around to see Christmas lights

5. Messiah Sing at the stake center

6. Opening up one present Christmas Eve (matching pajamas).

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!

Santa pictures

The kids did great with Santa. If I was a kid I'd be scared of this Santa :)

She's Two!

My little Carolina girl turned two yesterday! Here are the top 5 facts to know about her:
1. Her best friend is Timothy. They are practically joined at the hip -- it means there is nearly always a little trouble brewing, but they really love to be around each other.
2. She is considering the nicknames "Lina" or "Carly." She goes back and forth.
3. Her favorite colors are pink and purple.
4. She has never had a haircut and probably won't until the front gets to a nice length (thanks for the advice, friends!)
5. She is seriously super-sweet (except when she's not)

Some recent crafting

Check out the "craft" blog for a play-by-play of the reincarnation of Tim's quilt.  

One good kid

It's so interesting how three kids can be so different -- yet I can still they're siblings. Timothy was such a handful when he was an infant (some of you out there remember all the CRYING). I'm pretty sure I haven't completely recovered yet after 3+ years. So, we had Carolina nearly two years ago and I thought she was a really good baby. I thought to myself, she's the kind of baby everyone should have...

Until we had Joseph. He is awesome. I'm almost thinking we should stop now because it definitely can not get any better. I also think that if everyone had babies like him we would totally have a global population problem.

He's 2 1/2 months old and nearly sleeping through the night. He slept the other night until 5:30 a.m. after his last feeding around 8:30. Excellent! Timmy and I have decided that he only cries if he is tired, hungry or he wants to hang out with us.

Oh...and he is super-cute!

Picasa 3 has a new feature where you can take a snapshot of your video. I learned that to get the best timing, you should pause it first and then take the snapshot. So, here he is sneezing and then a happy face right afterwards. I love baby sneezes!