Christmas Round One!

Today, we headed up to Gettysburg to our Aunt Anne and Uncle Dave's to celebrate Christmas with extended family.  We ate lots of food, hung out with family, and opened LOTS of presents!  As always, our children were spoiled with gifts and lots of attention.  Andrew thoroughly enjoyed himself...which is not surprising at all:)  Paige was a little overwhelmed but did enjoy her new toys and exploring more Christmas decorations.  She is OBSESSED with Christmas trees.  She finds them everywhere we go and stretches both hands in the air and says "Ree" when she spots one!  Here is a glimpse of our first round of Christmas...

Andrew LOVED his Santa hat!

Paige focused on opening her presents:)

There were so many presents they didn't know which way to turn!

Paige showed everyone just how big she was...

And Andrew went around searching for hats.

Paige found another tree.

And they both loved watching Daddy load the car.

Except Paige liked Andrew's window better - see her hand shoving his head:)

And we all squeezed in!

Christmas is truly more magical with our two most precious gifts of all:)

It's The Most Wonderful Time of Year!

Last Saturday morning we had our big visit with Santa:)  We left super early with the hope of avoiding crowds and getting there right before they opened.  Even with our excellent planning and early departure, we still waited over 45 minutes!  But the kids were great in line.  And we got our picture.


Attempt #1



Attempt #2

 There were no smiles.  But there were also no tears!  Overall, it was a success.  Even though we aren't super thrilled with the pictures, they sure did look cute in their outfits:) And they were super excited to be festive...



Paige showing off her dress at lunch after!



And Andrew thinking he is hot stuff in his vest:)

We are so looking forward to Christmas with our one year olds:)

Entering the Toddler Stage

Where did our babies go?!!? Our teeny, tiny preemies now look and act like toddlers! Their personalities are blossoming.  They are talking up a storm. And we are really getting sturdy on our feet!  Andrew is definitely walking...EVERYWHERE!  Paige is just starting to be brave enough to take a few steps.  As soon as she gets the hang of it, she will likely surpass her brother as she has more patience and therefore, better balance.  All Andrew wants to do is run!

Paige officially has three teeth on the top and five on the bottom!  She has completely transitioned to whole milk and is eating almost everything.  Andrew also requires teeth brushing, with four on the bottom and four on the top.  They are both babbling like crazy and really try to imitate specific sounds.  They both try very hard to say "dog" when they see Kodi and Paige walks around looking for her "dolly."  They are truly a delight:)

Andrew did have some difficulty with his transition to whole milk and we eventually aborted the process and are now starting over with soy milk.  It seems as though his reflux recurred with nighttime discomfort and more vomiting than we've seen in a long time.  This unfortunately also set us back in our overnight progress and we are now getting up several times a night again.... Paige is sleeping in the guest room again as we try to work with Andrew on staying in his bed all night.  We're all exhausted but its so hard to get mad at that cute little face...even at 3am:)

13 months!

SO big!

Sunday afternoon shopping:)

Paige's first steps to Nana...and Andrew cheering her on!

Big kid car seats!

The hat Andrew refused to remove:)

Check back soon. Our holiday fun has just begun...and we have Santa pics!