Oops, said I would post these and then didn't.

It has been brought to my attention, many times, that I forgot to post our Halloween Part II.  SO here it is.  These are the photos I took of Ronan and Owen (our good friends Dave and Heather's son).  Owen is almost exactly 1 month older than Ronan.  They were so cute together in their costumes.

"Dude, I don't get all this, do you?"

"I don't, but you look good."

"Um, you got a little something here..."

"CHEESE!!!"

"Dude, I already told you, it's right there.  On you cheek."

"Here, let me straighten that for you..."

"You didn't quite get it . . ."

"All better and lookin' good!"

Almost Forgot about Zoo lights!!

Can't believe I almost forgot about our annual Zoo Lights outing.  A whole bunch of us go - although you wouldn't know it from my pictures.  Apparently I took photos mainly of Ronan.  Probably because he was contained and I didn't have to chase him to get a photo.  We all had a blast!!

Christmas Morning with the Thomas side

Each year after we open our gifts, Cody's parents and siblings come over to our house for more gifts and family time.  This year Travis' sweet, sweet girlfriend Raquel was able to join us.  It's always a great time with Gramps, Farmor, Aunt Jamie, Uncle T and Raquel!!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was awesome!  The boys loved the gifts from Santa and from Mommy and Daddy.  I love to watch them get so excited.

Christmas Eve

This year our Christmas was a bit different . . .mainly for me.  I decided not to worry about getting photos of every little thing.  I didn't want to stress about pictures and helping the boys or missing something.  SO, I relied on others to get photos.  I got just enough to post on the blog I think.  The next difference was the timing of all of our celebrations.  This year we celebrated Christmas Eve with Cody's parents, siblings and Grandmom with a Christmas Eve brunch instead of dinner.  I loved it.  We didn't have to rush through anything in order to squeeze in church and get the boys to bed at a descent hour.  The only bummer was that Cody's sister Jamie did have to leave early to go to work.  Hopefully next year she won't have to.  This was one of the gatherings that I simply enjoyed and did not worry about pictures.  I let Gramps do all the picture taking.

Below is a photo of our cute little tree.  We decided to go with a smaller live tree do to the fact the all of the boys and the dog enjoy undecorating as fast as you can decorate.  I liked it.

The next few photos are of the boys already to go to church.  Jacob was not down with the idea of pics, so don't have a great one of all three.  Oh well, I sympathize with him - I always hate to have my picture taken.  Especially when I was a kid.

First Preschool Program

Jacob participated in his first preschool Christmas program on Dec. 16.  He did an awesome job!  A little unsure, but who wouldn't be!  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos once the program started.  Which I think was a great idea.  The kids are nervous enough and don't really need flashes going off and people moving around.  We were allowed to video tape, which is even better.  Except that I don't have the tape edited yet.  Oh well.

Today's nappers

Hmmm, that can't be comfortable, can it?

I guess I can make it work.

Snoozin' . . .

And this is how we found Aidan.  It took him a very long time to fall asleep and now we know why.  He was busy pulling all the clothes out of the top two drawers.  Ugh.

Good thing he's cute!!

I'm used to the kids stealing my place or hanging on me at not such great times.  Now I am readjusting to having a dog do that too.  Today while the boys were napping, I decided to catch up on some rest too on the couch.  I had to get up for a minute and when I came back I found this:

He looked so cute and comfy, I couldn't move him.

Then while giving all three boys a bath, Rowdy decided to make himself comfortable again . . .on my legs.  He probably would have stayed there for hours, but of course I couldn't.  Cute little bugger.

First Fat Lip

My poor little Roo.  Not only did we find out yesterday that he has a double ear infection, he also got his first fat lip and few days before.  It really wasn't too bad, could have been much worse.  I still felt bad for him.  My little man is such a trooper!!!

Another brother . . .

Last Sunday we added to our family once again.  This time with a new four legged friend.  We named him Rowdy.  Rowdy is a lab/boxer mix and is 9 weeks old.  Our first week at home has been great!  He really is a good puppy.  At night, we were keeping him the laundry room with a baby gate up.  He would whine most of the night.  (He was far enough away that it didn't keep us up, I just heard him while up with Ronan)  Yesterday I bought a pop-up crate, which should come in use for traveling and other things.  I decided to see how he would sleep in the crate, in our room last night.  Not one peep!!  He did great!!

I've also discovered that I have become one of "those" types of dog owners.  The type I always swore I would never be . . .one who dresses her dog!  Well, I don't think it will last.  One, Rowdy wasn't a huge fan, two - he's going to get pretty big and three - I really can't justify spending the money on dog clothes.  At any rate, I found this shirt in the dollar zone at Target, therefor could justify the purchase.

Ho! Ho! Ho!  Merry Christmas!

"AHHH Mom!!!  How could you?  All the other puppies are going to laugh at me!"

This will teach her to put embarrassing clothes on me . . .

"I am pretty cute though . . ."

Celebrating our boys!!

We celebrated the boys birthday's with family at Chaparral Park one afternoon.  It was the perfect day to celebrate with family.  The only thing I didn't plan well for was how early it got dark.  We ran out of daylight while opening gifts.  Oh well.  I'll try and remember for next year.  I think everyone enjoyed being together.

Luke and Jacob feeding the ducks and birds

Farmor watching Aidan play baseball with Uncle Les

Papa and Jacob watching the fun

Our boys are so lucky to have 3 Great Grandmas who love them!

Aunt Lori and Ronan watching the baseball game

Ronan trying on Papa's hat

Such an intense player!

You can always find Aidan at the food table!

Papa, Uncle T and Jacob playing football

I can play too!!

Having fun opening gifts

Aidan turns 3!!

On November 30, we celebrated Aidan's 3rd birthday!  Daddy had to work and Jacob had school, so Aidan, Ronan and Mommy just hung out together.  We picked Jacob up from school and went to Chic Fil A for lunch and then for dinner we hit Peter Piper.  After that, back home for cake and presents!!

One excited little 3 year old!

Here's what you get when you ask Aidan to smile

Huff and puff and BLOW your candle out

Jacob was super excited to help hand Aidan his gifts . . .he's off to get another one!

Our little Rock Star

Getting more help from Jacob

Aidan had wanted something Star Wars and a robot - this Star Wars play R2D2 play doh toy filled both requirements and then some!  He LOVED it!

"Hey, where's my gift?"

LOVIN' his R2D2

Jacob turns 4!!!

We celebrated Jacob's 4th Birthday on November 15th.  It's hard to believe he's already 4.  I expect to say that every year.  Our poor little 4 year old was sick on his birthday with a fever.  No fun to be sick on your birthday.  I think he was able to enjoy some of the day though, once the Motrin kicked in.  Needless to say, we spent the day at home and ordered pizza for dinner.

Trying to muster up the strength to open his first present.

His brothers come in to help him out . . .

Feeling a little better and trying out the new football

Opening another gift

Playing with his new dinosaur

Blowing out his birthday candles

"Oh yeah . . . come here you yummy cupcake!"

"Um, do I have something on my face?"