Happy New Year 2013

New Years Eve Party

We began our New Years Eve by going over to my mom and Jim's house for a party.  They had so many amazing things to snack on.  My mom always does a terrific job finding new appetizers and delicious foods to try.  I brought along some hourly countdown bags for the kids to participate with during the party to keep them entertained (I love the ideas I get from Pinterest!!).  I decided that it would be a good idea to have something since we had 3 toddler/preschool kids and 3 babies at the party.  As it turned out, Makenna and her friend Brielle ended up playing upstairs with the quints dolls most of the time anyways so the bags were mostly unused.  After a little while the girls came back downstairs and we did open up one of the bags to make a special New Years hats and decorated them.  Wyatt showed up around that time too and so all three of the toddler/preschool aged kids made hats.

Kyler enjoyed playing with his little buddies Benjie and Teagan too.  Although he was only just figuring out how to get onto his hands and knees and rock while his friends could move around by crawling very well (good motivation).

We all celebrated with the East Coast midnight ball drop so that we didn't have to stay up late with the little ones.  Unfortunately, we didn't look for the ball drop television program early enough so we only saw the very end celebration, but the kids really didn't care.  We gave them musical instruments and they shook those noisy things to their heart's content.

Next year we will make sure to have the program on earlier so that we can see the ball drop and do the "official" count down.  Most of us headed home at that point to put our tired kiddos to bed.  Plus, we had an early morning wake-up for the Rose Parade.

Rose Parade

Since I had taken Makenna last year to the Rose Parade and she had so much fun, I wanted to make sure that we were able to go again this year.  This year it was my mom, Makenna, Kyler, and I that went to the parade.  We woke up early and drove down to the parade area.  We were really lucky and got a "close" parking spot; that is, closer that we had ever parked before.  That made it especially nice since we were having to carry lots of stuff and the kids (Ok...one kid could walk on her own but the other had to be held).  We arrived there later than we usually do so we had to go further down the parade route to find a place to set up our chairs, but we did finally find a spot.  Then we waited and waited for the parade to begin.  Makenna passed the time by playing on grandma's iPhone.

During this time we did have one total stranger come up to us and ask if they could hold Kyler so they could get a picture with him...to which my response was a quick NO!!  I do have to admit he did look pretty cute in his totally warm bear outfit.

It was cold out there, but not as bad as we thought that it would be and by the end of the parade we were even able to take off our coats and bear outfit:-)  Kyler was the most fascinated by the bands at the parade and Makenna liked the floats, horses, color guard, and the sanitation crew picking up the horse messes:-)  We weren't as impresed by the floats this year, but I am sure that the economy plays a role in that.  As the parade was close to ending we packed up our stuff and started heading back to the car before we had to walk along with the sea of people.  We had to coax/drag Makenna back to the car because she was so overly tired and just wanted to be held on our walk back but unfortunately our arms were too full to meet that request.  Our drive home was LONG...well let me restate that...our drive to get onto the freeway was LONG:-)  I think it took us about an hour to just get onto the freeway although it did allow the kids time to get in a 2-hour nap which was much needed.  And since we always jump at the opportunity to hang out with family and friends we went back to our house for a party which had already begun.

New Years Day Party

Toby had to set up the party on his own because I didn't anticipate that we would be so late getting back home.  We had some friends and family over to play board games, hang out, and watch the Rose Bowl  game on television.  Makenna loved playing with her cousins, as usual.  And Kyler was all about showing off how he could get on his hands and knees and rock.

The food worked out perfectly too because in addition to the snacks that we had planned for the party, my mom brought over all of the leftover food from her party the night before, which was way better then any of the stuff we had:-)  Makenna thoroughly enjoyed the desserts (And will totally hate me later for posting this picture).

Kyler, as at every party, went to sleep early from the over stimulation and the busyness of the two days.  Around 7pm we said good-bye to everyone and went to bed a little while later exhausted.  So much partying and so much fun!!

Christmas Extravaganza 2012

Wanna-Be Gingerbread House

We began our Christmas festivities with making a gingerbread house.  It wasn't really made out of gingerbread so I guess we should call it a wanna-be gingerbread house made out of graham crackers.  Anyways, I figured Makenna was old enough to be excited to make a gingerbread house so we set out to make one.  I used frosting to "glue" together all of the graham crackers and then we started decorating.

After we finished our candy masterpiece, we didn't get a picture because it collapsed:-)  Makenna was really upset that the masterpiece fell down after all of our hard work, but she got over the disappointment quickly when she found out that it just meant that we got to eat it.  And let me tell you, she thoroughly enjoyed it:-)

Christmas Eve

We get to host the Christmas Eve party for Toby's family now and have a great time doing so.  A few family members were able to come over early too and so we got to play some board games before dinner and it was wonderful.  We always have a delicious meal that everyone contributes to.  I will say that Renee's brussel sprouts and Clint and Zandra's shepherd's pie were the hit of the party.  The kids always have fun playing with all of their cousins.

Kyler had so much fun watching everyone and being held by relatives that he forgot that he needed to go down for a nap and so he was extra sleepy.

Then we had gift opening and the kids got lots of new clothes and fun toys.

Among Makenna's favorite toys was the cleaning set that she likes to use with the high heels (because that it totally how I clean the house...hehe) and the play vanity set.  Makenna even used her cleaning set to help clean up after the party.  Then we opened up Kyler's gifts for him since he had been so exhausted and had gone to bed really early.  Then was dessert time.

Everyone went home and Makenna opened up her new pajamas (as is our tradition), put out cookies and carrots, and went to sleep dreaming of what she would get from Santa.

Christmas Day

The kids surprisingly slept in a really long time (7:30am) on Christmas morning.  So my mom and Jim were at our house before both kids were awake.  We opened up our stocking gifts.

And while we opened them Makenna kept saying "It's my new ______!!" to everything.  We said she sounded like the announcer on the Price-Is-Right:-)  Then we opened up Santa gifts. Makenna had really been wanting her own glass tea set and Santa delivered along with a My Pal Scout puppy for Kyler.

Makenna was so excited about her Santa gift and exclaimed "It's my very own tea set!!"  Kyler thoroughly enjoyed his puppy dog too and thought it was pretty fun that it said his name and sang songs.  Then it was time for our delicious breakfast casserole, coffee cake, and the reading of the the Christmas story read by all of the adults.

Next it was time to open up the presents under the tree.  Kyler had fun pulling tissue paper out of the gifts, but lost interest after just a few.  He didn't really understand why he was supposed to be more fascinated with the gifts than the wrapping they came in; or rather eating the wrapping.

It was still really fun to watch his excitement on his first Christmas.

Makenna had fun opening all of her gifts too and wanted to play with every toy after she opened it.  She still doesn't quite understand that we open all of the gifts first and then choose which one we want to play with.

And again Kyler was exhausted from the events of the day so far and fell asleep before he and Makenna could finish opening their gifts.

After gifts we lazed around and got Makenna down for her nap too.  Then we got dressed and ready to go over to my mom and Jim's house for our dinner celebration with my family.

(Aren't they so adorable?)

We had another delicious meal; fun playing with aunties, uncles, grandma, and papa.  And then we had fun opening LOTS more gifts.

The kids were getting very sleepy by this time but we had one more fun festivity to attend before we called it a day.

We headed over to my aunt and uncle's house that live just 10 minutes away from us and were able to see all of their family and some of the rest of my extended family.  My aunt always makes the most delicious desserts that we really look forward to and thoroughly enjoy.  It was fun being able to introduce a lot of my relatives to Kyler for the first time.  And Makenna had a wonderful time playing with her second cousin that is a little less than a year younger than her.  After that we drove home sleepy, happy, with full tummies, and with many wonderful Christmas memories.

The Sleepover

My brother-in-law (Toby's brother) and sister-in-law had an overnight Christmas work party so we got the privilege of watching their three wonderful children.  Makenna always has such a great time playing with them when we get together for family events so this was extra special and exciting for her.  And, not only were they coming over to play, but they got to spend the night too!!  Makenna had never had anyone over for a slumber party. I have to say that four of the kids (Kyler excluded) played up on the third floor playroom for most of the time which was REALLY amazing as we are usually the ones having to entertain Makenna (she isn't one that plays well independently for very long).  So, not only was it great for Makenna but it was a really nice break for us too:-)  After playing upstairs all afternoon and into the early evening, we had dinner.  Then all the kids curled up on the couch together and watched The Polar Express movie.

At that point we lost one due to exhaustion (and it was only 7pm).

The kids were all getting tired so we set up the beds in Makenna's room (they all just barely fit in) and they all got ready for bed.

We did have to go in a few times and tell the two youngest to settle down and go to sleep, but that wasn't too bad.  Mostly, our little Makenna has never had anyone sleep in the same room with her so she was WAY too excited to sleep.  And honestly, she is used to singing at the top of her lungs for about 20-30 minutes before attempting to fall asleep on any other given night so it was out of her routine to have to be completely quiet right away.  They did all officially fall asleep around 9:00 pm which wasn't bad at all.  It was a lot of fun and we will have to do it again sometime.

Thanksmas

In December we got together at Rebecca's house to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas (nicknamed Thanksmas) with my dad's side of the family.  We had such a marvelous time talking with everyone and eating delicious food.  Rebecca did a great job preparing the meal for everyone!  And the kids of course always have a wonderful time playing and getting plenty of attention from all of the adults.  We look forward to the next time that we are able to get together with the family.

Kyler's 1st Food

When Kyler turned 6-months old we gave him his first "real" food.  He was definitely ready and eager to try food.  He had been longingly looking at us eating for a while and was excited that his time had finally come. He was so excited that he decided he would start with an appetizer by eating his bib:-)

His first food was pureed carrots.  We chose carrots because it was Makenna's first food too.  He wasn't completely sure what to do at first, but by bite number three he had already mastered the skill:-)

He barely spit any of it out like most babies do.  Now that he has been eating food for a few months now, he is loving it and makes a "mmm...mmm"  sound when he is eating and especially when he eats his bananas.  He has yet to turn his nose up at any food that we have given him.