Isaac Turns 1

Yesterday was Isaac's first birthday-I can barely believe a year has gone by already! How our life has changed in the past year.  He is such a sweet addition to our life and one that fills us with laughter.  Peter was not quite sure what to do with his first birthday cake, but Isaac had no such inhibitions...he kept trying to take his cupcake from me while we were singing to him.

 And spent no time destroying it until he realized that it was edible.

 Peter enjoying the birthday treats as well!

I thought that Isaac would finally get his two top teeth by his birthday but he is still only sporting his bottom two.  This past month he has really picked up on signing and can now sign "more", "eat/drink", "down", "goodnight", "all done", "up", "lights"  and wave hi/goodbye.  He can also say "MaMa, DaDa, uh-oh and banana and apple.  He is becoming quite the talker, and boy does he let you know when he wants something or if something is not going his way.  Even though he and Peter still have their little tiffs, he still thinks his big brother is so much fun and loves to make him laugh or to laugh at him.  He is the best little cuddler and charms everyone that he meets.  He is a bit of a picky eater and lets you know that by tasting it and then throwing his food on the floor.  I sure it will not be long before he will be like Peter and have more important things to do than hang with mom, so I am enjoying this time as much as I can.  We love you Isaac, Happy Birthday!

Christmas Day

After opening our stockings we got ready for Church, here is our attempt at getting both boys to stay in once place long enough for a picture...they were so handsome in their new suits!

Peter with his frosty the snowman Rubik cube...(Santa thought it might be easier than the real ones, but it definitely is not...at least he likes turning it around)

Mommy and her little charmer.

After Church, naps and lunch we hit up opening presents.  Isaac's favorite part was tearing and trying to eat all the paper.  I was a little worried that "Santa" had not brought enough presents after having Christmas with both grandparents our gifts seemed pretty meager.  But to be honest, Peter would have been happy with just his tie ...

Cute new apron from my sister in law.

Alan opening his present from Peter, which was as you guested a tie...he was so cute in the store picking it out.  He was very insistent that dad needed a red tie for Christmas with diamonds...and think he was just as excited as Alan to open it.

Our adorable little present.

Look at that intensity...

Decmeber in review...part 2

We tried to keep the treat making simple this year since we had so much going on and we ended up making Carmel apples which is one of our favorites.  We tried a new  combination this year of caramel, pretzels and chocolate-it was pretty yummy if I do say so.  We also tried candied apples, which were beautiful but very hard to eat.  Peter sure did enjoy trying to though!

We spent the few days prior to Christmas at my parents house where the kiddos has a sugar filled afternoon decorating sugar cookies (and mostly licking off the frosting and sprinkles).

 Peter and Isaac got new Sunday suits and you would have thought that Peter was in heaven, he had to put it on immediately.  The cousins also enjoyed jumping off of the new art easel they received and going on wagon rides with Alan.

We spent Christmas Eve night and Christmas day at home.  It was so fun to create those memories with our children, learning about the birth of our Savior and his love for us and the fun childhood part of presents and Santa.  Peter was so excited to leave cookies out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  One of the first things he said when he woke up Christmas day was "Santa is here" and we had to go look and see if he made a visit.  He had been waiting for months to get his train tie from Santa and was not disappointed to see it laying beside his stocking. 

Here is our little OCD man, he lined up every item in his stocking on the couch as he pulled it out...until Isaac found it of course.

A few days after Christmas we got our first snow!  Peter has really been into snowmen this year and has watched Frosty the Snowman I don't know how many times,  he even started referring to himself as a snowman as he goes around quoting the movie and singing the song.  So we of course had to make a snowman even if it was a tiny little guy.

Here he is sporting his helmet while drawing on his easel...he kept telling Alan "thank you daddy" over and over for half an hour after he put it together for him...it has been a great outlet for his creativity.

December in Review..part 1

We started the month off with the decorating of the tree, Peter was SO excited! He thought that the stockings were a perfect fit for him and wore them The whole time that we was decorating the tree. I had to pry them off him to hang them on the mantle! Isaac was happy to try and eat anything that he could and loved taking each ornament off the tree that Peter had just put on. It was so cute to watch Peter's excitement and to see his little creative/organizational genes kick in. He would put each ornament in a very particular place and had them all arranged and sorted by color and shape...that is until Isaac would get a hold of them. The tree was also a source of entertainment the whole rest of the month since I think it daily was re-organized and decorated. Our decision to buy some cheap plastic ornaments saved our sanity!

The boys and I met up with some friends at the Edward Jones Dome for their annual Christmas Magic.  Peter and Isaac had fun riding trains and carousels, making ornaments, petting animals, decorating cookies, watching parts of the Nutcracker ballet and playing football.  Peter crashed in the car before we got on the freeway to head home!

Alan's parents came into town for his graduation and we tried to pack in as many fun things as we could while they were here without wearing them out too much! We heading to the transportation museum one day and after looking at some cool old cars and playing with some trains we headed to their discovery area for some hands on fun. 

Later that evening (before our trip to the ER with Peter) we opened presents.  The boys had a fun time and were so excited for their presents.  Even Isaac figured out the opening of presents if for no other reason than to eat the paper.  Peter's favorite present by far was his bike helmet.  You will notice in the following pictures it will make a grand appearance.  That is because he wanted to wear it everyday, all the time...his head would be a sweaty mess of curls by nap time!  Thanks grandma and grandpa for your generosity!

Saturday was Alan's graduation and it was a fun packed day.  In the morning was his college graduation at the Powell Symphony Hall which was very festive for the holidays!

Here is Alan and his classmates who have survived the last few years with him. 

Alan was so glad to be able to have his parents celebrate this exciting day with him.

His happy wife.

Later that afternoon we all attended his convocation with just his classmates.  It was a much more informal and personal event and was a great way to celebrate with everyone and their families.

Isaac and his little buddy Tommy who loved having room to roam and the big windows provided endless entertainment.

Afterwards we hit up a visit with Santa before heading to dinner.  (Notice Peter's Santa hat, when he couldn't wear his helmet he sported his santa hat for most of the month.  Santa was pretty impressed!)

We ended the day with a feast at Magianno's.  Great atmosphere, wonderful food and fun times. 

On Sunday after church we got in some sugar cooking decorating. I am not sure if more frosting went in Peter's mouth or on the cookies, but he had fun!