Christmas, farewell 'til next year

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and it was spectacular. I was so excited, even the night before Christmas Eve, that I had trouble sleeping. I coudn't wait to give the kids their gifts, and to catch a glimpse of Santa. Ewan recieved lots of Transformers, and has been transfixed by them. His behavior has been better, and we have a new theory that he really gets so bored, that his mind and hands need something to challenge them, and that's why he acts out. Fynn wasn't really all that impressed with anything other than the baseball glove and baseballs he got. He sleeps with them both. I'm glad and sad it's over, but now we go on to prepare for Corgan's blessing and Fynn's 2nd birthday. I'll let the pictures tell about the rest of our Christmas.

I had to throw this one in, just because it is so darn cute.

Our pitiful Christmas tree, after falling victim to young children that repositioned ornaments, and cats that ate Christmas light cords.

Sorry to subject you to this, but we needed documentation of Bryce's blue tongue after Missy's yummy train cakes. I can't figure out why I don't have other pictures from our time with the Saunders. Visit the link for Missy's from that day.

Let's just say my dad is no fan of Obama. This was our gag gift to him. Unfortunately, all the pictures of my mom were very blurry, but we'll get some up soon.

Puppies and babies.

Ewan's Transformers from my parents, all lined up for Santa to see.

Cookies and milk for Santa, and some cheese for Santa Mouse.

Fynn hit the chocolate first thing. Must have been a rough night.

Bryce's mom and dad, Jerry and Mary Ann.

Fynn carried that baseball around all day long. He slept with it. And for fun, a glimpse of my favorite shoes.

Ewan found other uses for the butterfly net from Grandma Taylor.

Fynn and his rad Uncle DJ.

Ewan's loot.

Fynn's loot.

Santa didn't forget the littlest Taylor. The fun stuff was in the stocking.

Reading a new book.

Fynn's present that he picked with Daddy's help. I've been talking about how I want to buy myself a Barbie just so I could brush her hair and look at her. She comes with a kitty.

Ewan's gift to me, which he picked out all by himself. A toucan can opener.

Bryce ordered these really cool custom-made books directly from Apple. They lost the first order, so he redid it, and we ended up receiving both of them, slightly different from each other. They are bound and covered with a dedication and are awesome, full of pictures of the kids, sisters, my kitties and just all the things I love.

The dedication says, "No words are needed to show how much Kelli loves her family and children. This is a dedication to her love and care." I guess I'll stick with him.

Christmas Eve with friends, sisters and babies

Today was a very good Christmas Eve. The Saunders came over for lunch and the boys had lots of fun decorating train cakes and running around. Tonight we headed over to Ashley's house for a little family party. I was so excited to get to see Jonah again, and to see him next to Corgan. They are exactly one month apart to the day. Jonah is so cute, and gave my dad some really great giggles. Babies have always loved my dad; he has a magical touch. It was great to see my nieces and nephews, but especially my sisters. I love them both so much and it's always a highlight of my day when we can be together. Here are a few pictures Amy sent to me from her camera. I'll post some more later when I download ours and I know Ashley will be posting more as well. Ewan was running around most of the night, so no pictures of him yet, but I know Bryce got some. Now at our house, Santa has come and gone, Bryce is crashed on the couch, and I am probably more excited than the boys to get up in the morning and see their little faces and open their presents. I won't be getting much sleep.

Big giggles for Grandpa from Jonah.

Fynn was stationed here for a lot of the night.

Corgan on the left with Jonah on the right. Too much cuteness for one room, I say.

Jonah and Corgan, looking like they've been on a bender.

Swapping babies.

There's Chloe!

Ashley, me and Amy. I'm actually not that tall, I was wearing my "Hollywood shoes."

Ashley seeing what it's like to be Angelina Jolie.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Card

Any given year, I am incredibly lazy when it comes to sending out cards.  Some years I do them all, some years I give up halfway through.  It's not that I don't love and appreciate you all, I'm just plum lazy.  So this year, with a new baby in the house, I laughed at myself when the thought of even trying to send some out entered my head.  So here it is, my Christmas card.  Imagine this image on the outside (thanks for the ornament, Mary Ann) and open the card.  Inside it will say:  Have a very Coca-Cola Christmas.  Love, the Taylors.

More pictures, and stockings!

Corgan is a much more needy baby than Ewan or Fynn were. He wants to be held, very tightly, constantly and it has been a difficult factor in our transition to a family with three small children. But I have found a solution that works sometimes. I put him in his bouncy seat and he wants that blanket all up around his face and resting against his cheeks. I just love it and think it is so stinkin' cute.

Admiring his mommy. Note the poor kid's receding hairline.

Fynn watching Wall-E. He constantly calls out, "Wall-E! Eva!" like they do in the movie.

Ewan is very much into "inventions" lately. These consist of whatever random objects he can find and stacking them in interesting ways. He has very elaborate explanations as to what each invention does. Too elaborate for me to remember, but he really wanted me to take a picture of this one.

I finally redid Bryce's and my stockings. I just kept them very simple and tried to make them with personal touches. Bryce has a deep love for music, all music, except country. He comes from a family of very talented musicians. Then a basketball and golf ball. The little blocks at the bottom say, "Daddy."

Mine. A fairy swinging on a moon, a sprinkling of pretty little iridescent balls and little blocks at the bottom that spell, "Mommy."

Stockings

Last year, I posted this about our stockings. Those who know me know that I am NOT crafty. I might be able to enjoy it if I was any good at it, but I'm just not. Case in point being Ewan's stocking, which I made his first Christmas, and as mentioned in the previous link, I think I was smoking crack when I made it:
Go ahead, laugh. You know you want to. I mean, wow, there's a lot going on there. A LOT. It was my second attempt EVER at making something by hand like that. (And let me clarify "by hand." I bought blank stocking and hot-glued stuff on. By the way, you should see the ones I made for Bryce and myself. I won't even embarrass myself by putting them up.) I've never really liked it; the stuff on there has nothing to do with his interests. He doesn't care for sports or dogs, and it's covered with both. My dislike grew even more last year when I made Fynn's and it turned out pretty cute (and a bit more minimalist.) Today I bought the stuff to make Corgan's, and again, totally cute. Seeing them all hung up together, I felt like burning the one I had made for Ewan. Instead, I took out the one I had made for Bryce on his mission, took a few things off and custom-made it for Ewan. I added a penguin on there because right now he wants to be a "penguin helper" in an aquarium someday.
Granted, I'm not a pro like Ashley, Sarah, or Shannon, but I think they turned out okay. They certainly look better in person. Their names aren't that crooked, it's just the way they are hanging. I may not be crafty, but I can glue in a straight line. (In case you are wondering, that's a cute little red mitten on Corgan's.) Next year, I'm TOTALLY redoing mine and Bryce's. Unless Ed McMahon shows up at my door with a big check, and I might make a trip to Hobby Lobby...

Snippets

Ewan's take on Thanksgiving:

"Mommy, I thought Thanksgiving was more fun stuff instead of just eating."

and

"Mommy, you don't know how to make stuffing."

The holiday was good, we had the Bowers over for Thanksgiving, and seriously, all the food we made was some of the best food I've ever eaten (even the stuffing.)  Then I took a nice, long nap with the baby and afterwards we visited with my parents and my brother with his girlfriend.  Then we headed over to Bryce's parents' house and saw his uncle from L.A., some cousins, and Bryce's brother D.J. and girlfriend.  Ewan loves D.J., and he's such a great uncle.  Now Bryce has gone to San Angelo with Ewan and Fynn for his great uncle's funeral.  I've had the house to myself since yesterday at 9:30.  I haven't done  much:  watched movies, eaten pie and bonded with Corgan.  Then I did a TINY bit of shopping and lunch with Sarah.  It was a lot of fun.  The best part was finding GOOD movies at Target for only $3.98.  Can't beat that.  I'll be alone all day today, too, probably until 6:00.  More movies are in store for me.  Oh, and naps.

Side note:  Can anyone tell me why the addition of one wee baby to a family makes laundry shift from manageable to nearly impossible to keep up with?

An Illustrated List of Unconventional Thankfulness

I am not a person who can get sappy publicly. Trust me, I have nothing against sap, I just can't express it. It makes me squirm and fidget. Needless to say, I am extremely thankful for my family and our home and all the things I discuss with Heavenly Father. I love my family more than anything in the world and am beyond grateful for my life. I'll leave it at that. But there are other things I am thankful for, like:

Creative solutions.

Winning contests:

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Vacuums and mops.

Therapy.

Cats. Most of the time. This picture was not taken during one of those times.

Okay, I'll get as sappy as I can, if you insist:

I am thankful for pictures of my squishy, sweet baby by a great, talented friend.

Carpet picnics with these guys (heck, for that matter, I'm thankful for McDonalds):

And even this guy. He takes good care of me. Even if he did skin Elmo.

And I'm thankful for many more things, including all of you. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

"HOW-WEEN!!!"

*The title above is from how Ewan would say "Happy Halloween" when he was about 18 months old.* Unfortunately, our Halloween this year turned out to be a bit of a bust for the boys. Since I'm still recovering, and since Corgan is still so tiny, we decided I would just stay home and not pass out candy this year. So he and I sat on the couch and I watched several episodes of "How I Met Your Mother." Bryce and Keith met up to take the kids trick-or-treating in another neighborhood. Apparently, Ewan should have taken a nap that day because he threw so many fits and was acting rude and ungrateful to the homeowners, that Bryce snatched him up and brought him home. I couldn't believe it when they walked in the door and only had about ten pieces of candy between the two of them. Bryce felt a little bad, but we can't and won't tolerate Ewan acting that way. We made up for it a bit the next night, but before that, some pictures from Halloween:

Corgan wearing the t-shirt I thought he'd be wearing in the hospital.

And later in his "costume" that Aunt Ashley bought. The cutest kitty I've ever seen, and I've seen some cute kitty-cats.

All three boys in their costumes: Optimus Prime, Giraffe, and Kitty-cat.

I still need to get this on video, because it's hilarious, but here is a still of Ewan "transforming." Sound effects and everything.

The next night, we were suffering from cabin fever but couldn't really take the baby anywhere, and we still had our intact pumpkin, so we decided to carve it. I made cookies and we watched the Incredibles with all the lights out while our Jack-o-Lantern shone from the table in the living room. We had tons of fun and the boys don't even realize they missed real trick-or-treating.

Fynn wanted nothing to do with cleaning out the seeds, so...

...I let him color on his mini-pumpkin we bought at the pumpking patch.

Ewan's hands were covered in Halloween "guts" and he kept cracking us up by asking Bryce every few minutes to scratch his cheek or forehead. He ended up carving most of the pumpkin himself with special safe tools.

The final product.