Only 363 days until Christmas...

Payton getting an early start on his "Thank you notes"

Kellen watching Payton try out the new wagon

Kellen's Glowworm

Payton loved his new tent, now the question is where to set it up in the house! For now its in the living room because he likes to sit in it and watch Elmo
He loves crawling through the tunnel

The boys opening up their stockings. Payton ate an entire thing of Orange TicTacs (a holiday tradition instead of an orange) in about 5 minutes. Good thing Christmas isn't every day

Kellen was very smiley in his new Christmas jammies

Abby and Payton resting after a lot of hard work opening gifts

Look at all those presents

Kellen and Grandma

Abby Cadabby

What a patient dog!

It will be fun to see them all grow up together

At almost 9 weeks I think she weighs as much as Payton!

Here is our new puppy Abby. She is almost 9 weeks old. She was born on Oct 23 so she is 3 days younger then Kellen. She is a Lab/St Bernard mix. She is named after Elmo's best friend on Sesames street who is a fairy in training. Payton loves the Sesame Street Abby and so we thought it was a suiting name for this little girl.

We got her this afternoon. A few days ago I saw and add for the puppies in the paper and jokingly said we should check them out. Gregg liked the idea. We wanted to get a puppy but were planning on waiting until spring when the yard was fenced in. Gregg went and looked at them after he got off work today and came home saying she was the cutest thing ever. Of course after we took the boys and went and looked, there was no way we were coming home dogless. Well so much for my clean new house.

She is actually a pretty mellow dog and the owners said they have had previous litters with these two dogs and they are much mellower then labs. She is so patient with the boys pulling on her. I love her already!

Kellen - 8 weeks

The busyness continues... with 2 boys, a house (which is finally put together) and a bunch of Christmas stuff. Since we have moved in I have had a chance to host a lot of events including a Christmas dinner for our small group, a baby shower for a friend, and a Women's Christmas Party for our church. I love being able to have a place I can do this. It has been fun to decorate! Payton and I made a bunch of snowflakes the other day and have them hung in the window and on the cabinets. He got to try out scissors for the first time and he is getting the hang of it, but most of the time tries to do it with 2 hands. He is growing so much. He can say pretty much any word and has got quite the sense of humor. We have been using timeouts as a way to help him obey for the last month and they are working out surprisingly well. He sits there with his hand over his mouth for the whole minute and then comes and gives us a kiss and tells us sorry while we talk to him about why he had timeout. He has really become much more obediant and we don't have to use it as often as we did at first. He is very loving to his brother and has become much better at being gentle with him. He loves dancing in front of him and watching him smile and is super thoughtful bring him his pacifier or a toy when he cries.

A little brotherly love (why is Kellen crying in most the ones of them together?)

Payton opening his present in the gift exchange with our friends

Kellen laughing - He now is "talking" and smiling voluntarily a lot
His new warm outfit from Aunt Lisa

Kellen is growing quickly taking after his big brother. I will be interested to see how much he has grown at his 2 month appointment, but due to Christmas that is not until Dec 30th. He is really strong and can hold himself up on his arms when he is on his stomach for a long time. He is sleeping a 7 hour stretch at night from about 9:30 - 4:30 which is awesome for me and then he goes back to sleep until after Payton and I are up for the morning. I have loved watching the boys interact and know they will more as time goes by.

Wearing his new hat and blanket that my mom's Aunt Marilyn made him. They are the most beautiful blues and greens. They didn't show up as welll in the picture. I LOVE them!

Christmas time is begun!

This year we went out to cut down a Christmas tree with 2 other families. All together there were 6 kids 3 and under and we had a lot of fun.

Here we are getting all bundled up

In front of our Christmas tree before we cut it down.

Kellen enjoying the day

Payton getting ready to start. He ended up walking most of the way.

Payton and Olivia

Payton helpin his mom pull the sledThe end result

My boys Perfect baby skin

Sleeping under the tree

Smiling

Payton feeding Kellen his first bottle

Big eyes

Mommy's boy

Kellen 6 weeks - Payton 84 weeks (19 months)

Bubble bath Helping mommy make pancakes

Nice shoe Payton! Payton loves to give his brother Kellen kisses

6 weeks old today and so strong!
Sometimes his eyes look brown and sometimes they look blue

This is what Payton does when you ask how old he is. When you ask how old Kellen is he puts all his fingers down and make a fist.

Moved in...kind of!

My closet (pre-clothes)

Entry way/Living room

Boys' Bathroom

Kitchen Master Bedroom Payton's Room

Bar Master Bathroom We moved into our new house last weekend and have been busy unpacking and setting up. It has been a lot of work especially with 2 little ones but we are getting close. Here's what it looks like so far. As soon as we have pictures of Kellen's room, the mudroom, and the office, I will put them up.