Christmas

We stayed in AZ for Christmas this year and had a wonderful, low-key family Christmas. We ended up missing the Christmas Eve service at church as it was too full so we were turned away. (This was the 3rd year in a row our church has been packed out so if any of our LOCAL friends want to recommend their church for next year we would love to join you there!). We returned home to hot chocolate, christmas carols, reading the nativty story - and letting the kids open 1 gift each.

We never set any ground rules for Christmas morning for Ben as we figured we would just see what played out. Well he nicely slept till 7 (his usual time), and then headed out to his stockings. We were in the kitchen and when he didn't come say good morning I went to locate him - and discovered him sitting by his stockings opening them up :) Luckily he had only opened 1 item and was happy to be redirectd to the kitchen for breakfast before opening anything else. He was like that all Christmas day - happy and amazed at every single thing he got. After each item he opened he would sit there and play with it for 5-10 minutes. It made for a very slow morning but since we had no plans we let him set the pace (and luckily we had decided not to give a ton of gifts, or this may have stretched into days...). Mae didn't care much for her gifts and just preferred to go take his :) I think it was 1 of our favorite Christmas's here in AZ. When the gifts were done we spent the day playing together as a family and it made for some very happy children and parents!

Holiday Playdates

On 1 of Benjamin's days home over the holidays, we did a playdate with Pierce and met his new baby sister (a future playmate for Mae!). Benjamin had a wonderful time driving Pierce's car with him in the backyard. Mae just happily followed the boys around.

We also did a biking playdate with Jonathan. Both boys have stopped using training wheels so we let them bike to the park with us Moms (and younger siblings) trailing far behind them! I have to say I love this Arizona Christmas weather for all these playdates!

Benjamin's PreK Christmas Show

Once again I am extremely behind on the blog :) Before Christmas Ben's PreK class put on a wonderful Christmas Pageant and Benjamin had a major role!! Of course we had NO idea that he had such a big part until we saw him in it. I'm thinking this is just a sign of things to come in future years at school. He did wonderful and I'm hoping this posting of the video works - as the pictures don't do justice to his performance!


Below is Benjamin with his teacher Ms. Tina.

Batman

It was finally cold enough for Ben to wear his batman jacket. And that has resulted in lots of lots of photo sessions outside - per Ben's request.

More Mae

This next picture is the reason I can't have the dishwasher open for even a minute if Mae is around. And I definitely can't turn my back on it when it is!!

Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving Ben's PreK class had a parade and football game (their class against the other PreK class). They had been practicing for the football game for a month and singing their cheer ("We are the gold team, the mighty might gold team...") over and over and over for that whole month! I have zero idea who won the game but it was cute to watch. Ben spent most of the game not paying any attention and happily running randomly around the field.

Ben October & November

At the end of October Bens school had a harvest festival with a pretend farm where they milked a pretend cow, collected fruit, etc. They also had a petting zoo and hay ride.
This next shot is Ben with his end of season soccer trophy.
Mae was wanting to go in the weagon, Benjamin was wanting to go on his bike.....so that resulted in Sam tying the wagon to the bike and Ben pulling her around the block.
The below picture is why we don't do parks very frequently. At least not until Mae stops eating everything!
We did a playdate at a park with Ben's friend Pierce and Mae had a wonderful time following the boys around (and eating woodchips).

Halloween

Ben was home sick the day of Halloween. However, even with a fever he still seems to have energy so he & I made a paper mache monster to display.
By night time his fever had broken so he & Mae went out trick or treating. Here in AZ since it's so gorgeous out everyone tends to just camp on the driveway to hand out the candy so I was planning to do that with Mae. Mae did not like that plan at all and just wanted to take off and follow all the children walking around. So she went trick or treating with Sam & Ben (and some of our neighbors) instead :)

Ben's Glasses

Benjamin has been randomly going cross eyed for the past few months. We didn't think too much of it, assuming he was doing it on purpose. Then in late September his left eye crossed and stayed that way for a week. Earlier in the year we'd taken him to the optometrist and were told his eye sight was fine. When it crossed for the week, we went again and were told he was slightly farsighted, but not enough to cause his eyes to cross and we needed to take him to a specialist. After a month of worry and lots of prayer, we got our appointment with the ophthalmologist and were told that while it's rare for such a weak prescription to cause his eyes to cross, it was the reason for Ben (accommodative esotropia). So Benjamin now has 2 pairs of glasses and we have only had 1 eye crossing incident for the past month of him wearing them. He also never fights wearing them as he is so happy to not see double any more and he proudly tells the kids that ask that he wears them so that he doesn't go cross eyed :)

You can see his crossed eyes in this picture where he is demonstrating his 'spinner'. These spinners are inventions the boys make at his pre-k class and he talks about them ALL the time. They build them, spin them, and crash into the others.
This next pair are his sports glasses. He picked them out himself.

Mae - October & November

The following are just random photos of Mae for October and November.

Mae - 1 Year

I am so very glad Mae is 1 and I can be DONE taking monthly photos. I've decided this was not my best idea :) Trying to get her to sit still in the chair for photos just became more and more impossible as she got older. So these were my best attempts for her 1 year:
I also had to post a 1 month old photo to show how much she's grown & changed:
At her 1 year checkup Mae weighed in at 18lbs (5th percentile) and was 30" tall (75%). Her low weight constantly surprises us as she eats as well and as much as her brother did at that age. In fact if we don't have her breakfast ready fast enough she will scream at us until we start shoveling it into her mouth. She has 4 molars in, 4 top front teeth, 2 bottom front teeth and is working on a 3rd. She has progressed from walking to running - especially if she thinks she has something she shouldn't have and you are coming to get it. Or if she sees the dog lying down. She just loves to run over and climb up onto Maully's back as though she is a horse. Our poor old dog just lies there and sighs. Her other favorite activities are going through the house and dumping/making a mess of anything she can find (and she's fast at it!!! We have had to child proof cupboards we never had to for Ben) and chewing anything in sight. She doesn't swallow the items, but if she can fit it in her mouth (dirt, rocks, crayons, pens, batteries, bens toys, toilet paper, carpet pad from under our rug, etc) she will and just walk around chewing on it. We have given up removing a lot of the items and have just decided to accept it.

Mae's 1 Year Birthday Party

So I figured I had better catch up with blog posts before Christmas comes and I get even more behind!! For Mae's 1 year birthday we just celebrated as a family. Benjamin chose the cake (ice cream of course!), helped make it and decorate it, he helped decorate the house (table) and wrap her gifts. He was VERY excited for her!! Which was a good thing since she didn't care too much about the gifts - just wanted to eat them and the wrapping :) She did love the cake Ben made!