Decking the halls...sort of

I've always wanted to be one of those super-creative and crafty people who redecorates their entire house for the holidays. You know, like down to having snowman hand towels in the bathroom, holly berry adorned garland covering every possible surface, 2 or 3 beautifully decorated trees, and a gorgeous elaborate wreath for every door of the house. And of course, an amazingly beautiful light display on the outside of the house. But I am not quite there yet. In fact, this year, the mere of act putting up the tree and decorating the mantel took me almost a week, and I was so frustrated in the process that I decided not to do any additional decorating (such as putting out my Christmas village or decorating our table top tree.)

This is not the year that super-creative and crafty Jessica will emerge, I'm afraid :) I'm pretty much just doing the bare minimum!!

I've always enjoyed the holidays, and it's not that I'm not in the Christmas spirit this year, because I really am, but this was the first year that decorating felt like a chore. I sure hope this feeling doesn't last! It might have something to do with it being the 4th consecutive year of having a crooked tree. I am SO over my tree I can't even look at it. The tree itself is very pretty, but the stand broke last year and the replacement we bought for it does it's job of securing the tree, but it still leans to the left. Alot. (You will see a pic below.) Then, of course, the standard issue of almost all my lights not working. I guess these problems could be solved with buying a new tree and lights, but since I just came off of 3 months of maternity leave, I am being extra frugal this year so any extra money can go to the kids' gifts, and I figure the crooked tree doesn't bother them nearly as much as it does me :) I also am the kind of person who won't buy a tree unless it's the one I really want. So until I can afford the $400 tree, I will keep the crooked one!! Makes perfect sense, right?

Okay, well enough rambling for now. Here are pics of my very minimal decorating this year and the one part I did enjoy, the boys' new ornaments and stockings! Ayden chose Toy Story for his ornament this year, and I found one for Ethan at Hobby Lobby and personalized it myself. I did splurge a little on personalized stockings for all of us and I love them! They will last for years!



Our mantel

Dad and Mom stockings-makes me feel so grown up! lol

The boys' cute stockings and a Baby's first Christmas for Ethan :)



The crooked tree. Told ya!

Ethan's 1st Christmas ornament!

Ayden's ornament

Somebody loves his baby brother....

Ethan loves his crib--not for sleeping (ha!) but to hang out and look at his mobile. So I put him in there in the mornings while I get Ayden breakfast and have my coffee. This morning I was looking for Ayden, and I found him in Ethan's room, complete with a step stool so he could see his brother. I stood and watched him for a couple minutes before he knew I was there. He was singing and talking to Ethan, and playing peek-a-boo with him. So very sweet!! I just love watching their ever-increasing interaction with each other!

And somebody loves his BIG brother too! :)

Picture time!

Me with my little pilgrim :)

Actually enjoying a little tummy time!

Trying out the bumbo seat

Dressed up for Thanksgiving

SO cute!

chunky little monkey!

watching cartoons at Memaw and Pappaw's house

happy little man :)

Ayden's report card

We are taking Ayden's behavior issues one day at a time...and today was a GREAT day! I am a proud momma!

Here is his report card. In case you can't read it, it says he was happy and helpful, rested quietly, and then his teacher wrote "Ayden had such a good day! He listened and obeyed very well and showed lots of affection. He said he is thankful for Jesus :) "

In addition to being more strict with him when he disobeys and has fits at home, we have been using lots and lots of positive reinforcement for good behavior and it seems to be working. It makes me heart smile to see my boy behave and act like the absolute joy that he is!

Pajama pals!

One of my favorite things about having 2 boys? Matching clothes! I'm just a nerd like that, I think it's precious!! If we ever have twins, watch out! Anyway, I bought these jammies back during the summer, and have been so excited about seeing the boys wear them! These pics turned out so cute! I have already bought their matching monkeys-wearing-santa-suits footed Christmas jammies--they are so cute I can't stand it!! I hope they will forgive me someday! ;)

Ayden's outdoor adventures!

Ayden wakes up every morning asking when he can go outside, and weather-permitting, he stays out most of the day! He even eats his lunch outside! He has so much fun, gets filthy, and always goes straight to the bathtub when he comes in! I open all the windows that face the backyard and can see and hear him playing. Here are a few shots of all the fun this little boy has in his backyard!!

The Flores girls come to visit!

Sunday and Monday we had the pleasure of of my best friend Melissa and her two beautiful girls coming to visit us from Houston! Lily Kate and Ayden took right up with each other as they always do, even though it had been 9 months since they had seen each other. And Isabelle is now a walking, talking, precious little one year old--so different from the 5 month old baby she was when I saw her last! Mel and I had a great time catching up (usually while nursing our little ones!) while our big kids played! I SO wish they lived closer and so we could spend more time together, but it goes to show how strong our friendship is that we can pick right up where we left off and remain so close on an average of seeing each other twice a year! We looked back at a picture of Ayden and Lily Kate when we visited them in Houston in April of 2008 and got very sentimental at how much they have grown up, knowing Isabelle and Ethan will be their age before we know it! Here are some pics of our sweet babies!


Ayden and Lily Kate having breakfast

and now it's snacktime!

playing with baby brother

Ethan loving some floor time!

Sweet Isabelle and Ethan

playing outside!

Isabelle showing Ayden some love!

pretty in pink!!

Mel and I with our babies!

Ayden age 3, Lily Kate age 4 (almost 5)

Ethan age 2 months, Isabelle age 13 months

This wasn't an easy picture to take--but it turned out SO cute!

Look at these 2 sweethearts!

Such big kids now!

And when they were babies--Lily Kate age 2, Ayden age 7 months

Apples!

Okay, so this is not a "traditional" childhood milestone, but at our house it's a VERY big deal: Ayden now loves apples!! Most of you know how hard we have tried to get him to like fruit, ANY fruit, since he started rejecting it between 15 and 18 months old. Before then, he regularly ate bananas, oranges, apples, pears, and avocadoes, but then decided to develop a major texture aversion to any and all fruit and has gagged and vomited at the sight of it ever since! We have continued to offer him fruits (and sometimes clean up the vomit as a result-usually with grapes) but just a couple of weeks ago, he surprised me and started eating apple slices like he had been doing it his whole life! Little stinker! He likes them with peanut butter, dipped in yogurt or just by themselves. Yesterday he even pushed away his pizza at lunch and asked for more apple slices! I plan to slowly introduce a new fruit each week (we are going to shy away from grapes for awhile though!) Up next is oranges. I'll let you know how it goes! ;)

Ethan's 2 month stats!

Ethan had his 2 month check-up this morning. He weighed 11 pounds 8 oz which is the exact same as Ayden at 2 months! He was also the same at birth and 2 weeks so they seem to be growing on the exact same curve, ironically enough! He was 23 inches long. Both his length and weight fall into the 50th percentile. He also got his first round of immunizations, poor baby! He cried SO hard, but just for a minute, and then he was fine. So thankful to God for our healthy boy!!

2 months old!

Toys for Ethan, courtesy of Ayden :)

Our sweet baby boy is 2 months old today!! He is getting so big and changing so much everyday. Just in the last few days he has started developing a little bit of a routine and staying awake a lot more during the day. The last month he has been having issues with being gassy and fussy but it seems to be getting better (knock on wood!). He spends a lot of time in the Moby Wrap, whether we are on the go, or just around the house. He falls asleep and will sleep very soundly 2-3 hours in the wrap! It has been a lifesaver--the combination of his fussy periods and of having an older child who needs momma's hands to be free--the wrap has been perfect! (Thanks, Melissa, for loaning it to me!)

Ethan nurses about 8 times during the day and takes a couple of supplementary bottles, and nurses 2-4 times at night (although a couple of those are extended sleep/nurse sessions because he sleeps in the bed with me). If I didn't have to return to work at night in 3 weeks, I would be beyond thrilled with his nighttime routine. I get 5-6 hour stretches of sleep and he is finally big enough that he can nurse while laying down so I can continue to doze--so all would be good if I didn't have to worry about how on earth his daddy will get him to sleep when I go to work for 12 hours! He will take a bottle with no fuss, but WILL NOT go to sleep without nursing. He also currently refuses his binky, but we are being persistent on him taking it because I think it will help greatly on those nights when I'm working. Ayden was about 4 or 5 months old before he would take a binky, so I am holding out hope :) I am requesting to go to dayshift on the weekends so hopefully Chris won't have too many sleepless nights before this happens! :) Ethan will nap for short periods in the swing or bouncy seat, but will not sleep on his back in a crib for more than 15 minutes. Ayden was the exact same way until he was probably 6 months old! He finally enjoys bathtime; he HATES being put in the carseat (just like Ayden did) but once he falls asleep will usually stay that way for 1-2 hours.

Ethan is starting to smile and coo some, it is so sweet! He saves his biggest, flashiest grins for his daddy when he gets home from work. I am only slightly jealous ;) He also loves to hang out on the floor, propped up on his boppy pillow while his older brother entertains him. Ayden LOVES floor time with Ethan, it is so sweet! Yesterday he kept Ethan entertained for almost 2 hours! (See Brothers post below). I love watching them interact and get very excited thinking about the day when they really can "play" together!

Ethan's 2 month check-up is Tuesday, stand-by for his stats!

Happy 2 month birthday Ethan Jeffrey! We all love you very much!

Brothers

I pretty much just can't get enough of these two..... :) :) :)