Photo Shoot

Merry Christmas!

We had a Merry Christmas today, even with Claire coming down with a cold. Her voice is raspy; it sounds like she has laryngitis. She was really whiny tonight but being overly tired didn't help things.

She loved her new rocking horse. It's head & tail move & it makes neighing & trotting sounds.

She didn't want to open presents so she had a stack of them sitting at home all morning. She finally opened a few, along with Carter's help. There is still one under the tree for her tonight!

Carter made out with a good haul! He got 7 new Thomas trains! And he played with them a lot today.

Tom & Marci surprised us & came home from BYU! It was fun having them home!

Carter got to try out the vocals on Guitar Hero.

Tom & Cory on guitars.

Carter tried out his Better Batter Baseball that Santa brought him.

We had a nice day, but I am ready to get some sleep. Let's hope Claire will sleep well tonight!

Anticipation

Carter is SO excited about Christmas, he can hardly wait! I often find him laying under the Christmas tree. He loves doing his advent calendars, counting down the days! On the way home tonight we had the following conversation:

Carter: "Mommy, what are we going to do at home?"

Me: "It's time for bed."
Carter: "I don't want to go to bed."
Me: "Well I'm tired. I am going to go to bed. You can stay up if you want. (totally joking!!)"

Carter: "I am going to stay up & wait for Santa."

Me: "Well Santa isn't coming for a few more days. Why don't you go to bed tonight & then on Christmas Eve you can wait up for him. Do you think you will see Santa?"

Carter: "Yep, I will!"

I know that Christmas is not about Santa, but I also know that kids are so into him. I made sure that before bed we talked about the real reason for Christmas. I do love that he is so excited though!

Christmas Cookies

We have completed our deliveries of cookies to our friends & neighbors!

This year our cookie plates consisted of:

Peppermint Bark, Snowball Cookies, Peppermint Pretzels, Lemon Bars, Chocolate Crinkles,

& Fantasy Fudge. (I just used the recipe from the back of the marshmallow cream).

If you all lived close by I would deliver a plate to each of you!

Agena Court

We drove the kids over to Agena Court tonight to look at the Christmas lights. This whole court used to decorate their houses with millions of lights when I was younger. Now there aren't as many houses that are decked out, but there are a few that are really nice.

Our 2 favorites were:

We loved how they outlined everything
Carter loved this one because there was a train that went around the workshop. This workshop was on the front lawn. It was pretty cute!

Fudge Is Good!

I made some fudge the other day & as I was cutting it Claire came in the kitchen. She kept whining, like she wanted something to eat, so I gave her a little piece of the fudge. A little while later we were in the family room & she crawled back into the kitchen & reached up to where the fudge was. She wanted some more! A girl after my own heart; I love fudge! (as long as it doesn't have nuts!)

She was so proud of herself for standing without holding on to anything. She clapped for herself!

Another Visit With Santa!

The kids got to visit with Santa for the third time this month! Tonight was our ward Christmas party. There were appetizers, desserts & a little program. Claire did not want to sit still so I had her in the back of the gym crawling around for most of the night.

Here are the kids waiting to see Santa

Carter is telling Santa that he wants Thomas trains

Claire just doesn't know what to think of this man with the white beard that we keep sending her to!

Claire is really checking him out!

Claire's 1st Birthday Party!

Saturday night we celebrated Claire's 1st birthday with a few family members. OK, there were 22 of us, but that is actually quite small for my family!!

We had a fun time eating pizza, spinach artichoke dip, pesto parmesan crisps, cranberry pineapple punch & cake. I think Claire enjoyed her 1st Birthday party!!

She wasn't really in to opening presents so after a while Carter helped with that!

She likes the moolah!!

Having a fun time!!

Yes, she is a girl!! She likes the clothes!

The dessert table.

I borrowed this cake pan from a friend to make her gigantic cupcake cake!

I also made the candle out of chocolate. My friend told me that she did that for her kids since a one year old usually can't blow out a candle anyway. I was pleased with the way it turned out!

Everybody chose the regular cupcakes to eat, so this huge cupcake was left untouched that night!

Claire had her own "big sized" cupcake......

and she enjoyed it!!

Pre-School Christmas Party

Last Thursday was Carter's pre-school Christmas party.

A special guest came to visit:

and neither of them cried!

(Although it took a little convincing to get them up there!)

Happy 1st Birthday Claire Noelle

Happy 1st Birthday Claire!!

We can't believe you are already a year old, but we also can't imagine you not being a part of our family. You have brought so much happiness into our home.

You love to play with Carter. You love to make fishy faces & play peek-a-boo. You love being outside. You gave up nursing all on your own & now enjoy table food; especially grilled cheese sandwiches.....and ice cream!!

We hope you have a happy day!

We love you so much goobie gooberson!!

And now, a year in review.....

Your "birth" day

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months Old

4 Months Old

5 Months Old (somehow I didn't do an update for this month??!!??)

6 Months Old

7 Months Old

8 Months Old

9 Months Old

10 months Old

11 Months Old

What a fun year that was!!!

Modern Myrtle

You've got to check out this cute online boutique called Modern Myrtle. There are so many things that I love & would really be happy with! I love her handbags & the fabric choices she offers are amazing.

Look at what I am getting for Christmas:

LOVE IT!!

(My mom said it arrived the other day, but I am being good & not looking at it until Christmas!)

Ummmm Good!

Today for lunch I made Carter a corn dog. I know, healthy huh? He saw some frozen strawberries in the freezer so he wanted some of those as well. He didn't want to wait for them to defrost so he just ate them frozen. We gave Claire a few bites of the strawberries & she gobbled them up. When Carter was done with his lunch he left his paper plate on the table. Claire reached over & her finger landed in the ketchup. She tasted it & seemed to like it because she did it again. It just wasn't enough for her though. Check out her next move:

Yep, she licked the ketchup off of the paper plate!
Ummmm good!

Hi Dada!

All day long Claire goes around pretending to talk to "Da Da" on the phone. She uses whatever is in her hand as a phone. Sometimes she just holds her hand up to her ear & says "Da Da". She especially loves when we actually have Cory on the phone & she hears his voice; she goes crazy.

Today she had an old cell phone she was playing with & she was calling Daddy.