Little Climber

Calvin's new thing is climbing onto anything and everything. He climbs on boxes, toys, couches, beds, the door of the dishwasher, into the tub, and anything else he can pull himself onto. Here are some from today.

Then he fell and cried...

...and then he started again.

Post-Christmas Potluck

Just because you have not yet seen enough pictures of our Christmas experience, here are a few shots of our day after Christmas family dinner. We had a wonderful time, and again ate way too much.

Family at the table.

Andy with the tiny new baby. He looks so good with a baby, it makes a girl start to think...

Time for Presents...

The little princess castle Andy and I got for the girls.

Carrie and her new tea time books.

Maria hiding from the camera.

Calvin, Curtis, and Aysha kicking it in the corner.

Jared resting for a minute in his work attire - he doesn't even get time off for Christmas.

Snow Tubing

Santa brought Calvin and Andy snow tubes for Christmas, so Saturday we called my sister to find out about the fun place that they always go sledding. They offered to take us, so we bundled up and drove the few minutes up the canyon to the slope. The first time we went down the hill, Calvin just looked dazed, like he couldn't figure out what had just happened. The second time down the hill, he smiled vaguely. The third time down he had tears streaming down his face from the wind stinging his eyes, and at the bottom he started to cry because he was cold. So after about 15 minutes tops on the slope, we turned around and went home. A very eventful tubing excursion.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning got off to a rocky start. I'm not sure what is so upsetting about a tree full of presents, but Calvin didn't like the deviation from his morning schedule.

I gave him a bottle and let him sit and watch Daddy and Mommy open their presents.

He eventually started to warm up to the idea.

And then he finally realized that yes, it IS the best day ever!

The boys at Christmas dinner. We had a turkey and all of the fixings. It was delicious.

It was a wonderful Christmas day. We received some very fun presents, and also some great practical ones. It was so much fun to watch the enthusiasm of a child as he essentially celebrated his first Christmas. We are grateful to all who helped to make it such a magical holiday season.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house with all of my local family. For some odd reason, we've always had the tradition of eating Nachos the night before Christmas, so we went for the food and stayed to play some games and just hang out. Here are some of the pictures:

Carrie, Maria, and Calvin playing with Christmas bows.

The best little present ever!

Uncle Curtis bought Calvin the cutest little John Deere beanie and long sleeve t-shirt. He looks like a darling little thug in the hat, but the shirt is for when he's a little bit bigger.

A close up of the cuteness.

Merry Christmas!

We're grateful for this time of year to celebrate the birth of our Savior, to spend time together, and to remember friends and family. We feel very blessed this holiday season and wish you all a very merry Christmas!

New Kids

Here is my new niece, Miriam Christena, who was born on Dec. 15th. She is 7lbs 4oz and seems so tiny that it's scary to hold her. Calvin went to the hospital to see her and he loved holding her (with help, of course), but when I held her he got a little jealous. He ran across the room screeching and tried to push her out of my arms. Somebody may have a few issues if he ever has a sibling come along. Miriam is adorable, and mother and baby both look great.



Also, my sister sent this picture of her little guy. Isn't he sweet? I'm totally jealous of this picture because that's the look I was going for last year when I got THIS:

...and More Snow

I'm sorry if you're tired of hearing about snow, but when you can't go anywhere because there's a foot of it outside and the roads are icy death traps, there's not much else to tell. I shot a few more pictures today, and these were my favorites:

Look how deep it is on our back deck.

Calvin was watching his dad out the back window, and every time Andy would throw a shovel of snow over the rail, Calvin would laugh and laugh.

Bonding.

I finally got him ready and let him go out for a couple of minutes. I know you're thinking I'm a negligent mother because he has no coat or gloves, but he was only out for a second. Also, he loves feeling the snow with his fingers, and he can't do that with his mittens. Just look at him concentrating, trying to figure out what this crazy stuff is.

Taking his hat off and throwing it on the ground.

Trying to put his hat back on.

My two rugged outdoors men.

Snow Boots

Today we went to two different places looking for snow boots because Calvin always wants to go out when Andy shovels the walks. Both places were sold out. I guess we should have been a bit more prepared for these Utah winters. We ended up with these little boots that are waterproof and have great traction. He loves running around in them and they are perfect for the outdoors.

Little Mischief

This week we have enjoyed the following incidents:

Tuesday:
It was very important that Calvin take a nap as we had a date scheduled to meet his new cousin Miriam. An hour into him sitting in his crib talking and playing, I went in and gave him a bottle (which was a sacrifice since he's currently being weaned) just to coerce him into sleep. 15 minutes later I peeked in to see him "driving" his bottle along the sides of the crib, making truck noises. 45 minutes later, I peeked in to see this:
He never did go to sleep. As soon as I put him into his car seat, however, I glanced back to see this:

Later that day, I came into the kitchen to see what he had done to my work laptop:

Wednesday:
Figured out how to climb on top of his school bus:

Thursday:
This one speaks for itself:

Friday:
Christmas presents came in the mail today. I removed the goods and left the box to deal with later. When I walked into the room later, the boy had taken it over and was creating his own snow storm by throwing the packing peanuts into the air.

Calvin's impossible to keep up with, but at least life is never dull. I wouldn't change him for anything.