Our Christmas Card

Many of you have already received our card this year.  But it is worth posting for those of you who haven't.  :)  How cute is that face?  Not a spec of Photoshop on these sweet faces either.  The only adjustment was putting the words "Santa Baby" on the bottom.  

I AM going to post some of the outtakes though.  They are too funny!!!  Stay tuned...

Hurry down the Chimney tonight!!

BIG news from our LITTLE guy!

Grant was so funny tonight.  It was a BIG night in his world.  He climbed the stairs to the second floor twice on his own.  The whole flight!  And he has almost mastered climbing down, too.  (Just needs to work on flipping onto his belly and not stopping to look over his shoulder as it makes him wobbly.)

He was so proud of his accomplishments - which came right after tubby time - that he couldn't go to sleep.  We let him stay up with us for awhile and during that time he was all about being a BIG boy.  He was cruising the furniture like a pro and trying to climb up onto the couch.  He even grabbed the remote control and aimed it at the TV and changed channels.  Clearly he is starting to feel more independent!

This little guy is super smart.   We are constantly impressed by his ability to communicate his needs.  And that is probably why he is such a laid back, relaxed little guy.  He isn't frustrated.  :)  And based upon his cruising today and tonight, Kevin and I are both betting that he starts walking before his 1st birthday.   Congrats to Grant on such an exciting day!!

Whistling and clapping!

This morning Grant surprised us by crawling up to Cole on the couch...pulling himself up...and clapping!  It was so cute.   Another trick he's been doing for awhile now is whistling.  (He is whistling right now as I type.)  One funny thing he does is whistle when he goes out in the cold.  The moment we step outside...he starts.  Totally random...but it makes the boys crazy as they are still trying to whistle!

Grant's new moves!

Grant's best buddy at playgroup is a little boy named Thomas.  Grant is still doing the army crawl thing, but his buddy has mastered actual crawling.  Well yesterday, the two of them were thick as thieves.  :)  They were chasing each other around and exploring together -- Grant army crawling and Thomas crawling -- just so cute.

So don't you know that tonight during story time in the boys room -- Grant just plopped off the bean bag and started crawling around the room like a big guy.  :)  He was so proud of himself!  Tommy, Cole and I sang him congratulations songs and cheered for him.  Clearly his buddy was giving him some good pointers yesterday!  Thank you Thomas!!

OUR SUPERSTAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My heart could burst with pride!  Tommy is our superstar.  :)  This year, the boys were asked to sing with their Spanish School at our towns annual Christmas celebration.  They practiced during classes for two weeks (they go twice a week) and Friday night was the big night.

I had NO idea how large a crowd there would be.  (This was our first time attending our town's Christmas celebration as the boys were always too young...or I was pregnant, etc.)  There had to be 1500 plus people there...it was insane!  And they were all tuned in to the stage.  With bright lights...set high above the crowds...microphones...I would have been intimidated!!  Cole decided he didn't want to sing after all - but Tommy?  He didn't miss a beat.  Up he went...without his brother (a first) and sang his heart out.

The kids actually sang several songs in Spanish.  I have some video that I'll upload.  I was SO proud.  You can't imagine how it felt to see his sweet face up there singing.  And the best part?  At the end...when I saw him...he leaped into my arms and was so proud of HIMSELF.

Pre-concert -- Cole has decided not to sing and you can see the relief...and Tommy has decided to go for it.  You can see his excitement!  Cole was very proud of Tommy.

Close up of his sweet face on stage.

Here they are between songs.

The group on stage.

Grant was wearing his Christmas outfit!

This is just a taste of HOW many people were downtown.  It was crazy!  These crowds went on for blocks.