Count Down to Christmas

This month continues to be crazy and fun as we get closer and closer to Christmas.  It is amazing how much we can pack into a few weeks.  

Mia is getting better and better at sitting.  

Yep, that's Buddy the Elf riding a T-Rex that is eating a bunny.

We got to attend Brandon's work party.  It was bowling and pizza again.  We all had a great time.  Alex especially loved bowling.

Mia enjoyed being passed around and doted upon by all of Brandon's co-workers.

We also got our pictures taken with Santa again.  This year we had to go to the Dicken's festival to find him.  Mia smiled and giggled the whole time while Alex seemed to forget how to smile.  The pictures sure turned out cute though.  

Pretty good for three babies under one!

We also attended our Ward Christmas party.  The Relief Society was in charge of it this year so I got to do lots of running around.  It was a great success though.  

And Alex got to see Santa one more time.  He was very thoughtful about this and asked if this Santa was just one of Santa's helpers.  He didn't look quite as "authentic" as the Santa we saw earlier in the day.  

 Mia moves all over her crib during the night.  She doesn't cry but usually when I come in to get her she has several limbs sticking out of the crib. The doctor assured me this is better than having her sleep with a bumper.  She is so crazy.

I'm not even sure how to caption this.

We also got to attend Alex's preschool Christmas program.  After last years program we were slightly mortified by our crazy kid.  What a difference a year makes.  Alex did such an awesome job.  It has been so much fun to see him mature over the year while keeping his hilarious personality.  We sure love him! 

The kid who was supposed to be Santa was sick so Alex was asked to be a last minute stand in.  He nailed it and his facial expressions were killing me.

Finally this week we got to visit with Grandma and Stephanie.  Alex is always excited to see them.

December so far...

I knew I would need to keep up on my blogging this month because there is so much going on.  It is only the first week and we have already had so much fun.  

Alex got an early present from Maryann and Stephanie.  It is his own Christmas tree with lego guys on it.  He has been mesmerized by it ever since he got it.  

Mia started eating rice cereal this week.  Unlike Alex who just let it ooze out of his mouth, Mia gobbled it down.  She loves it.  She has been a little fussier this week, however, so we are not sure how her tummy is handling it.

This week we took a trip with Grandma and Grandpa Clements to see the Zoo lights.  We hadn't been in a long time but I thought they were so cool.  Alex loved them.  He loved running from place to place, there was so much to see.  There weren't a ton of animals out but the weather was great and it wasn't very crowded.  It was a lot of fun!

The next day we checked out the trees at the Festival of Trees.  This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.  It was nice to go during the day when it wasn't very crowded.  Alex liked checking out the trees and eating yummy scones.  

This was probably Alex's favorite tree.  The Star Wars tree.  We tried to walk away several times and he would ask to look at just one more thing.

Mia really enjoyed the trees as well.  She slept the whole time! 

Mia also turned 5 months old this week.  She is breaking my heart.  She is such a happy delightful baby I just don't want it to end.  It is exciting to see her grow and learn new things however.  She is constantly rolling, playing with toys, and working on sitting up.  She sat for a few minutes while we took some pictures but isn't very stable yet.  We love our little bug! 

                             

                               

November

Our family had a great November that was topped off by a great Thanksgiving.  I'm sure thankful for my sweet family.  Here are the highlights from our month.

Mia and Claire had a "play date."  They had a great time checking each other out.  They even held hands!

Checking out Grandpa.

Warning:  If you steal my phone and take pictures of yourself I will post them on the internet!

Alex helped me do a little crafting this month.

Alex reading to Mia.

Alex has been begging us to go out for ice cream lately.  I'm not sure what put this in his head but we finally did it.  You can see there is more candy in his bowl than ice cream.  

This Thanksgiving was extra special because for only the second time in our seven years of marriage Brandon didn't have to work the whole day.  He did have to work the first half of the day though.  We started the day by watching the parade and having a breakfast picnic on the floor.  It was a lot of fun and Boo only ended up stealing a little bit of bagel.  

The excitement, however, was too much for Mia.  

I cannot express how grateful I am for these two.

After Brandon finally made it home we headed to Grandma Clements to eat and play some games.

Cousin Love!

Then we headed to Grandma Hettinger's for dessert.

More cousin love!

The day after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas decorations.

And Mia discovered how delicious her feet are.  

What a great month.  Bring on December!