We ventured down to Cedar City for the annual Christmas Tea and Recital. But before that could happen, we had to have an End of the World party. You know, the Mayans. And their calendar. We figured if it really was the end of the world, we had better eat like there was no tomorrow. Jeff dipped some fries in lard.
Carson bonded with Grandpa.
Bacon injected hamburgers, lard fried french fries, fried bacon, fried candy and grilled cheese sandwiches served as hamburger buns. We could feel our arteries closing with each bite.
I caught a picture of all the grandkids!
As we finished up our party, someone special made a visit.
Eli F-R-E-A-K-E-D out. He screamed in glee for roughly a half hour.
Carson took an odd liking to jolly old St. Nick. I think the fur coat helped.
My favorite picture of the year:
Santa brought the boys flashlights! They love them.
I didn't get a picture of Eli with Santa because I opted for a video instead. For how excited he was about Santa coming, he sure was hesitant to sit on his lap.
Second favorite picture of the year:
The next day the cousins had a little Christmas party. They played "Don't Eat Pete" and had a blast.
We started a new tradition this year to do a cousin book exchange. I looooooved it. We always need more books!
Carson was really thrilled to get Billy Goat's Gruff.
See.
Next up: Christmas Tea and Recital.
David and Carson had a little more bonding.
Mary led a fun song.
Jeff cuddled with the newest Excell family member -- Barkley.
Our kids were grouchy and went to bed early, but the rest of the kids opened their hand crafted Christmas pajamas! So cute!!
The next day was time to go home, but David and Mary had a few gifts for us before we left. Eli scored some awesome trucks.
Carson got a fun new toy.
Jeff and I got new pants.
I made oven mitts for Mary and we gave them a family picture.
The babe has turned eight months old. Right before my eyes. I can't even believe he's already so big. Here's his latest:
Pulls up to standing all the time.
Started trying to wrestle with Eli. He loves climbing all over people.
Takes a 10:00 and 2:00 nap for 1 1/2 - 2 hours (Hooraaaaay!)
Typically wakes up once at night either at 10:00 or 2:00.
Was waking up regularly at 5:00 in the morning, but just started sleeping in until 7:30-8! We've made big sleep strides this month.
He was sick most of the month and had a hard time falling asleep. We bought him a sound machine to cue him it's sleep time which he resisted at first but now it seems to help.
Starting to refuse baby food and mostly wants table food.
Crawls everywhere. Loves climbing up stairs. He can't go down stairs yet, and he doesn't really try to get down them.
Says Mamamama when he's whining.
He is a major mama's boy. He has to be touching me for roughly 98% of his awake time.
He is very skeptical of strangers. If a new person even catches eye contact with him he will sometimes burst into hysterical crying.
Some favorite foods are bread, carrots, sweet potatoes, applesauce, pretzels, puffs, chicken.
Doesn't really like bananas or peas.
Only likes his binky to sleep. Probably because Eli steals it anytime he tries to suck on it while he's awake.
Loves to head bonk.
I think he started waving a couple weeks ago. For a few days he flapped one arm every time someone walked in the room or if he saw himself in the mirror.
He loves himself. When I'm looking at blogs with him on my lap, he gets the biggest smile every time he sees a picture of himself. Cracks me up.
Has six teeth.
His favorite toys are cell phones, remote controls, and plastic cups/bowls.
His other favorite toy is hair. He pulls hair every chance he gets. He's particularly fond of Eli's hair.
He also bites a lot. Loves biting my shoulders.
He's a cuddle bug. Eli never was, so we appreciate our baby cuddles with Carson.
He is on the move. Into everything all the time. (He has a diaper on hidden by the belly overhang.)
He learned how to stand up shortly after his seven-month birthday. This has provided additional getting-him-to-sleep problems because all he ever wants to do is stand!
Cheese ball. Love him. (Notice the stolen binky lurking in the background.)
Looking for Santa. This may be my most favorite picture of the boys.
Babies and stairs. Why must they love them so much?
My family recently started taking advantage of group texting. The constant texting has wasted many of my afternoons. For example, one day we were competing to see who had the fattest baby. This was the picture that put Carson in the running:
Looooooves the dishwasher.
:)
Brother pictures never get old. They are so sweet together.
He is handsome. And he knows it.
First matching shirts! Melts my heart.
Mr. Smiles.
We love Carson. He's such a doll. I want him to stay frozen at this age forever because it's such a fun, cute stage. I'm soaking up all his adorable babyness while I can!
My Mom has this super adorable goose that kind of doubles as a cookie jar. One year, she requested that all of us write down the funny moments throughout the year and store them in Goosey Goose. Her grand plan was to read a year's worth of hilariousness on the following New Year.
It was a cute tradition that sadly only lasted one year.
Despite the short-lived tradition of Goosey Goose, its legacy lives on. When Eli said a hilarious thing a couple minutes ago, I had the urge to whip out a sticky note and jot the note down for Goosey Goose to keep safe until the New Year.
I was disappointed to come to the realization that I didn't receive a Goosey Goose as a wedding gift, so I'll just have to satisfy my recording urge through the blog. Here you go virtual Goosey Goose:
Eli was playing alone in the next room. Suddenly we heard him dramatically yell, "Mom! MOM! You don't give me time out. No Daddy! You don't be funny. My car's in trouble."
I love so much seeing Eli's little mind work and put things together. Lately he's been totally surprising me with his creativity. Perhaps we've been cooped up in the house too long, so he's been forced to turn all the everyday things he sees all day long into new, awesome things. Or perhaps he's working on that imagination of his. Either way, he cracks me up!
If he ever notices the bottom part of the dishwasher is empty, he rips it right out of the dishwasher to play "monster truck."
Not many people know that a clothespin ripped in half is actually an airplane. (He played with that thing nonstop for an entire day.)
This is a train if you couldn't tell.
I didn't get an explanation on this one, but laughed when I discovered it. (That's a Mr. Potato Head ear.)
Fishing with a tape measurer.
Never before have I mentioned princes or princesses in front of him. Nor have I ever heard any of the TV shows he watches talk about royal families. So I was completely baffled when he found this party hat today and said, "My have to get my prince on." I died.
Then he proceeded to stand behind the baby gate and tell me he was a prince in a castle. Do little boys innately know about princes like little girls innately dream of princesses? Apparently!
He was being a little too quiet this morning, so I went in to check on him and found this was entertaining him. No explanation, but I am guessing the toilet paper is the road.
I love seeing the adorable, creative things little minds come up with! Makes me wish I still thought that way.
Radio: Do you see what I see?
Eli: I see... thinks for a second.
Eli: BINKIES!
Eli has this obsession with traffic lights lately. He tells us to stop or go at every traffic light - except he doesn't know his colors and he always mixes up whether the lights mean go or stop.
I was taking him to the bathroom today and he didn't want to go:
Eli: No. No. No. No! No! NO! GREEN MEANS STOP! GREEN MEANS STOP!
Found out he didn't need to go because he had already had an accident. Super.
