How did he hear me?

We hung out with some friends last night whose boy is 6 months younger than Grant. Well after the boys were in bed, they told us lately their boy cries in the night and they bring him into bed with them. Derek and I (being pros) told them to turn off the monitor and let him cry.

So when Grant started crying that uncontrollable type - where it takes his breath away - at midnight (just 30 seconds after Abby went into a deep sleep), I most definitely did NOT go into his room to console him. And of course I did NOT rock him. And he is NOT sleeping on my side of the bed right now with Derek, leaving me to the guest room.

Such a pro. ;)

Abby's newborn photos

Abby's newborn shoot was on December 18th. Once again, Jesse Leos did an amazing job! Abby was so cooperative and slept most of the time. Some of my favorites:



YEP - all of the above were "Christmas card worthy", so you may have seen them before!

The above was Derek's favorite.

Christmas morning!!

On Christmas morning, most kids wake up early to play with the toys that Santa left. But our kids are still too small to understand all that. So we started off the day with breakfast at the Motos! We went in our PJs and had a great time!

When we got home, we tried to get Grant to open his gifts from us. It was awfully close to nap time. Can you tell?!

BTW - I still maintain that crying babies are cute and funny.
Grant eventually warmed up and opened gifts.

After his nap, we went to Big Gaga's...

No Santa this year

Santa missed our house this year. Well - not entirely. He dropped off gifts but didn't set anything up.

To his credit, there wasn't an hour that passed in the night without SOMEONE being awake. Abby has a cold and is so congested that she seems to only breath easy when she is held. She can't breath well laying down or even propped up in the vibrating chair. It is heart breaking! She slept in her daddy's arms 12-4 and now she's in mine.

I tried to lay Abby down in her chair but her breathing was so labored that I just couldn't leave her. I hope this passes soon. Until it does, she will be held or sleep in her car seat.

All I want for Christmas this year is 2 healthy children. And 3 more hours of sleep. :)

In other news, Abby rolled over from her stomach to her back earlier for the camera. She rolled over the first time at 2 weeks - the first time we did "tummy time". But last night she showed off while I had a camera near and while we were watching A Christmas Story (which you can hear in the background).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-w2qK_Ous0

Paxton Christmas

Our next Christmas adventure was with the extended Paxton family. We had lunch and a white elephant exchange. Grant started out the day as a passenger on the John Deere toys, but ended up a (wreckless) driver.

Abby slept through most of the gathering but when she was awake, Derek and I watched over the little ones by the standard "divide and conquer" method.

Gotta sneak this photo in - we are clearly having a conversation!

And before we left, we were able to get some family photos. Grant wanted to give his sister a kiss!

We then headed home to wait for Santa to come! And we sure weren't done with Christmases yet!!

Christmas with Grandma Rose & Papa

Yesterday we had Christmas at my parents' house. On the way down there, we taught Grant to hold his hands under his chin and say "Thank youuuuuu". He failed to do it at Christmas but has been doing it ever since.

The boys ran all around the house. Even a few falls and collisions (bottom right) didn't slow them down. *Note - why is Grant the only one with his shirt off? One word - lasagna.*

Grant did get a little distracted with Lola (that's who he's smiling at outside the door).

I really like this next photo of Uncle Steve with Abby.

Next came PRESENTS!!! Grant loved his sock monkey jack in the box from Aunt Carrie. The photo also captures Matthew's reaction to a lego set in the background. Love it! I also love the background of the second photo - Tia with her 'nog and my baby!

The young boys all got cowboy hats and John Deere boots!

Once the presents were opened, Grant played in the hat box and ate his stocking stuffer. Lots of people eat their stocking stuffers... when it's candy! *sigh*.

Grant went to bed and we put on the Wizard of Oz. Carrie's boys know the entire movie and reenact it or dance the whole time. Carrie and I sang every word like we used to at Gaumy's. It was so fun!

We were all wiped and went to bed mid-movie. That was a good thing - each of Carrie's boys was awake at some point during the night (and may have woken up other people too). And Abby was so congested that she needed to sleep on one of us. Oh - and she decided to party from 4-7 am. The Motos stayed in the game room and as soon as they heard about our overnight adventure, they called the game room for the next 5 years. Thankfully my favorite sister held my congested baby in the morning and I got a good nap!! It was a good thing too because next up was the Paxton family Christmas...

Abby's stump

Abby's stump came off today. Our last connection is gone... Except that she's constantly attached to my nipple. So glad it's off before her first photo shoot on Sunday.

SANTA!!! I know him!!!

Grant and Abby actually went to see St. Nick twice this year. The first time we went with Julie, Clara and Nathaniel, but the photos weren't great. The second time was a little bit of a fiasco (with all the cousins we had to wait longer because of a broken camera), but the photos turned out pretty good. Here are the best shots:

COUSINS!!

My babies!
And a couple photos from our first visit. Clara is so darn sweet, you could eat her!

These are the times

These are the times I will always cherish. Rocking my baby to sleep at 2 am. How she looks up at me begging me to stop her hiccups. And the way I can keep her feet warm by holding them both in one hand.

I've turned off my usual early morning accomplice (the tv) so I can take this in. Soak it up. I want it etched in my brain forever because these times are fleeting. That's why the tears flow so freely.

And right now I'm grateful for this blogger app that lets me write as I rock so that I always remember these moments.

Grant's First Haircut

Grant had his first haircut today. Our family of 4 went all together and only 2 of us cried - Grant and me! I cried even before we left the house. I'm blaming my post-partum emotions. His tears certainly weren't helped by the fact that we discovered when we got home that he had a little fever.

Oh - but the best photos are DURING the haircut: