End of Year Wrap Up

Hope that you're comfortable - this post is going to be kind of long because we have lots to catch up on!

Let's start with the big events

Growing Boys

Spencer is getting his first tooth! (I know, you thought I was going to lead with the holidays...that's coming). Spencer has been the king of drool and has chewed on anything and everything the last few weeks. Christmas weekend, he added extremely rosy cheeks to the mix and POP out comes the first tooth. No more toothless smiles from our baby boy. The next tooth isn't far behind. I'll try to get a picture when there is more to see.

In addition to getting teeth, Spencer is trying hard to get on the move. He's pushing up on all fours and doing early crawling motions. Right now, he can strike a plank pose that would make most experienced yogis jealous.

Jack continues to amaze us. For anyone that has been around him, he is very verbal (hey, at least he got something from his mom!). He is picking up more and more words and putting together bigger sentences. He's also answering questions rather than just repeating what we say. In the car, I told him that we were going to Mimi and Poppy's. Jack responded by saying "they have toys." It was super cute.

The Christmas Holidays

I could probably break this into a separate post, but that would be too organized. Instead, I'll use numbers. :)

1. Holiday photos
   In early December, I took the boys to a local photography place to have portraits made. Yes, I was seeking the perfect picture of the boys for our holiday cards, so my expectations were kind of high. The event started off a bit rough. Jack wasn't having anything to do with the process and did not want to smile. Fortunately, he settled in, started having fun, and his great smile began to shine. Unfortunately, I could not get both boys to smile and look at the camera (instead of me) at the same time. Regardless, we ended up with some great shots. I've included a couple here - more are available at this link.












The final product:



2. Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree - for $150? you're kidding me!
   This year marks the second time that Justin and I have laughed at the tree person when he/she told us the price. We had found a 6 ft frazier fir that had a lovely, conical shape. The price quoted was $150. We heartily laughed - at which point the sales guy said it was the neighborhood. Our response was that it was not the neighborhood, as we lived here, it was just an absurd price. Needless to say, we moved on and found another tree at over 50% savings! We were very pleased with the results. Pictures below.
   

   All lit up

   
   

   

   
   

   Family shot sans kitties
   

   
   
3. The Berkshires
   We joined our friends Rich and Lisa at a house in the Berkshires for the Christmas holidays. We had a great time, but we were worn out. Rich's Dad aptly described Jack as an "electric ferret". We're unsure why being in the house threw Jack off so much, but he was definitely a handful. Spence felt right at home as he ended up sleeping in the pack and play in the closet in our room. Regardless, Christmas day was a lot of fun. The kids opened stockings and presents. Jack's big present from Santa was a balance bike (these are little training bikes that don't have any pedals - they are pretty cool). The bike was hidden in a closet. We walked Jack over for the big reveal. When the closet door opened, he reacts "ohh". Justin pulls the bike out for him to see and Jack reaches into the closet and says "a vacuum cleaner". He was more excited about the vacuum than the bike! Classic. Anyway, we think the bike will be a hit when Jack is big enough to ride on his on. Overall, Jack really enjoyed the presents part. Maybe next year, he'll understand Christmas and Santa.
   
   Stocking time
   
   
   
   Spence's stocking stuffer
   
   
   
   Ready for Beale Street
   
   
   
   Concentration
   
   
   
   New bike!
   
   
   
   Ah! this is fun!!
   
   
   
   Our favorite Christmas present (though there were times where we wanted to ship him out in this box)
   
   
   Before heading out of town, I picked up some crafty activities to hopefully keep the little ones busy. I found a kit that had several foam Christmas trees that you decorated with foam stickers including ornaments and letters. The kids (and adults) loved it. The final products turned out super cute, especially when grouped together.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   We also cooked a delicious Christmas roast. The roast itself must have been close to 13 pounds. It was huge and it was good. At night, the adults worked on our 100-pin bowling and Frisbee golf skills. Almost inspires us to buy a wii.
   
   
4. Winter Wonderland
   Our friends Sophie and Bryce and their three girls were in the States from Australia for the holidays. We drove up to Bristol, VT to see them. Everything was fine until we were about 3 miles outside Bristol. Then the snow began. When all was said and done, Bristol received about 8 inches of snow. Given the conditions and the windy roads, we decided to spend the night even though we hadn't prepared.
   
   We made the most of our short time there. We took Jack sledding with Sophie and the girls. It was great except that Jack ended up with a face full of snow which completely freaked him out. Afterward, we had a fantastic dinner and Jack hung out on the couch watching Toy Story 3. At one point in the meal, Jack bursts out with a "HEE HAW" - it was kind of funny. Fortunately, Bryce's mom had room for us. The four of us slept in the same room (a first for our family). While it wasn't the best night's sleep (horrible actually), we did learn that the boys can sleep through each other's crying. Well, almost sleep through each other's crying...anyway, it gave us hope for moving them the same room once we got home.
   
   
   
   I kept saying "it's only supposed to snow an inch or two...or eight."
   
   
   
   Getting all bundled up
   
   
   
   Braving the elements
   
   
   
   Explaining that in fact he did not want to go sledding, but instead wanted to go back inside where it was warm. Note the house is only 30 feet behind him.  We convinced him (or dragged him) to the sledding hill anyway.
   
   
5. Mimi & Poppy's
   We spent the last two days of our trip at Mimi and Poppy's house. Jack wowed us by sleeping on a twin mattress in a separate room - with barely a peep! I have to say, it was so nice not to have a little one in our room. Fortunately, the boys slept well (and so did their mom and dad - passed out sleep!).
   
   We took the boys with Julia and Connor to Chuck-E-Cheese. Jack was a bit overwhelmed. He slowly settled in as Julia and Connor showed him how to insert tokens into the machines, collect tickets, and, most importantly, exchange tickets for prizes (prizes being a very generous term.) Once Jack understood the process, he had a blast. In the end, he walked away with a little tub of yellow playdough, a blue whistle, and a blue crazy straw (though Justin was way more excited about this prize). 

I've definitely left out a few things here. As I remember them, I'll update this post. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! On to 2012!!