3:15am – Twas the morning of Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring except our baby girl, apparently.
3:00am – Water broke. On way to hospital probably in a few hours.
So much for the quiet Christmas at home, eh?
Finally a smattering of other pictures… I believe these are from November 29th…
Ian did give us that “first glimpse of the tree this year” face, but really this was just finding it decorated. See this image larger.
I love that look… he’s in awe! See this image larger.
He’s a pretty funny kid, seriously. See this image larger.
This dog is from his first Christmas… it has taken on the persona of “Dug” from Up. If you haven’t seen the movie Up, you owe it to yourself to see it, if for nothing else for Pixar’s masterful animation of a cartoon dog. See this image larger.
November 28th… and it is time for some fun in and around the bathroom… See this image larger.
Ian tries on some spiky hair! Surprise!!! See this image larger.
*What does a dinosaur say, Ian?* See this image larger.
Our family really enjoys laughing and making each other laugh. It is good for all of us. See this image larger.
Alright kid, your hair is a mess… See this image larger.
Should we do something about that? See this image larger.
Here comes the brush!!! See this image larger.
Whoa! That was quick! See this image larger.
Let’s see those teeth. See this image larger.
brusha brusha See this image larger.
Alright buddy, off to bed with you, good job! See this image larger.
Given that Ian periodically stops napping for days on end, I figured we’d never again see that look of wonder as he falters down the stairs, the one we get when he first gets a glimpse of the tree… as it turns out, I was sorta wrong — but you won’t get to see that shot yet. See this image larger.
Anyway, as I said, I figured I wouldn’t get a good face like that, so instead I had Ian help me build the tree. He was a fantastic help, and a very-well behaved listener. I’ve got a great video that I’ll share someday. Here Ian adds the first “ornament” on November 23rd. See this image larger.
November 24th, and the lights are on, and the camera is out! See this image larger.
My camera loves to focus on Christmas lights instead of the subject in front of the Christmas lights. Someday I’ll figure that out. See this image larger.
Dangit, blurry again. See this image larger.
Great smile! See this image larger.
Running around, again! See this image larger.
This is either “shy” or “itchy diaper.” See this image larger.
Well, a lot of time has passed since Thanksgiving, now, and we have a lot of catching up to do. Most of the time has been spent with Melissa, Ian and I all being sick with symptoms that are only beginning to clear up now, almost a month later!!! So we’ll play catch-up after this one final Thanksgiving 09 moment!
The final part of our Thanksgiving extravaganza, the Christmas fashion show! I should probably just let these speak for themselves, but suffice to say there was a stairway, and bed-jumping shoot. And I also want to say thanks again to everybody for driving out to see us, and that we had a great time! Thanks also to Connor for playing games with his uncle D.
Somebody cue up Christmas fashion show music! Sing along if you know the words as well as I do… Go!
*O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree…* See this image larger.
*something something branches* See this image larger.
*O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree*See this image larger.
*hmm hmm hmmm mmmm mumble branches*. See this image larger.
*Your something Frankie Valentine* See this image larger.
*is something something, Frankenstein* See this image larger.
*O Christmas tree O Christmas tree* See this image larger.
*again that thing about branches.* See this image larger.
Finally, our two bonus pictures: Ian puts on the Sorting Hat and is chosen for Griffondor. (About 10 people got that joke.) See this image larger.
Ian already misses his cousins… Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving! (Isn’t this a great smile?) See this image larger.
On to the 15th!
Big cubes… built Connor-tough! See this image larger.
*Hi, I’d like to borrow these if you don’t mind.* See this image larger.
*They look like they’d make good drums.* See this image larger.
*Or a chair!* See this image larger.
Hundreds of years in the evolution of weaponry, have turned this classic, non-compound bow design into something as deadly as it is delicious… the marshmallow bow. I’m not kidding. It shoots marshmallows. See this image larger.
Video games. Engaging young minds since… well some time ago. I’d look it up but, I’m watching video games… See this image larger.
Our little angel, after many hours of play with his cousins. This nap courtesy of Grampa Ray! See this image larger.
Next entry will wrap up this holiday! Stay tuned for Part VII!!
Here we are back in the action. If I’m not mistaken this should be the last entry for the 14th of November… Here Kaylee reads a story to Grandma Barb and – she’s great, she’ll talk on and on about what happens in the book — she almost sounds like she’s actually reading it! See this image larger.
At some point, the pipe insulation we use as baby-bumpers on some of our sharp corners became weapons of mass destruction, and then look out! Doggie pile! See this image larger.
The little cousins win this battle, but not the war! See this image larger.
Yup, somebody loves his cousin… hehe! See this image larger.
It was like watching a pirate swordfight, only without the clang of steel on steel. See this image larger.
It was more like the wap and thud of foam on skull, now that I think about it. See this image larger.
Mommy smiles as the battle rages on. I wish we could get that top button to stay buttoned on Ian’s pajamas! See this image larger.
Connor faked a fall-down at one point and while Ian circled, Kaylee saw weakness and struck quickly! GETTIM! Aunt Melanie got a lot of this on video, and I have a copy of it… I’ll try to get some of it on the site someday. See this image larger.
The gang heads indoors… You have to admit that it was pretty nice that we could go outside in the middle of November in Michigan, though, right? Here there’s a fun game of “get Kaylee’s ball from Ian.” See this image larger.
Ok so it was fun while we recognized that it was Kaylee’s ball… sigh… Ian, give it back. See this image larger.
You’re going to see a lot of “jumping up and down on the bed” pictures in this Thanksgiving, trust me! Mostly I admit to either telling them to or letting them. You get some good smiles that way. See this image larger.
Just then the ghost of mattresses past arose from the comforters… See this image larger.
Ooop. False alarm, it was Connor. See this image larger.
I swear nobody got hurt… at least nothing permanent. See this image larger.
He’s going to learn to keep that tongue in pretty soon, the hard way. See this image larger.
The boys get some air with their trucks. See this image larger.
Kaylee got stuck trying on clothes… har har! See this image larger.
*Hey kids, what are you watching? Hey, kids? Um, hello?* See this image larger.
*Connor can you check on those kids and find out what they are watching? Hello? Connor? Kids?* See this image larger.
Part V coming soon!
The 14th continues… around here, or maybe a bit earlier, the ladies left the boys all alone with the kids so that they could go shopping. I know this might sound like punishment, but believe me when I say, the shopping that was going on benefits everybody… or at least that’s what I was told to say. (I’m kidding.) See this image larger.
Connor and Ian checked the sandbox for fun and found a little inside. See this image larger.
Rare photographic proof that somebody else was at this gathering other than the three stars of our show, pictured here riding a plastic turtle! See this image larger.
Ray took these with his camera, and managed to pull this shot off, which is great considering how long these three squirmers were willing to hold still. See this image larger.
Sitting on the deck, kinda. See this image larger.
Really they’re sitting on a big hunk of plastic that wasn’t meant to be sat on, is that comfortable Ian? After this it was time to come inside… I think we’ve only got another 2-3 entries for the 14th of November!! :O See this image larger.
