TEAM LINDSAY

We arrived in Cali late last night, and we couldn't be more excited to be here to spend time with family and friends. This morning we went over to the Christopherson's for a quick visit. We hadn't seen them in 2 years, not since Max was brand new. He sure is cute, and growing up fast. He'll have a baby brother to play with in a couple of months, and we're very excited for Kelly and Adam to be joining the "2 kids 2 and under" crowd - it's FUN!

Then, this afternoon we had family portraits taken by a high school friend of mine. Even with 4 squirmy kiddos, I think we managed to get some great shots, and I'll be sharing them just as soon as we get them from her. I'm especially excited for the photos of my parents with all their grandkids!

It was cold today. We dressed Cora in her Daddy's old winter hat from when he was an infant, and she looked ADORABLE in it!

All that adorableness wore her out though...

After the photo shoot, we retreated to my parents house for a yummy dinner and visiting. The kids were so happy to see each other!

Addy was cute as a button in her portrait outfit (sorry, I couldn't resist...)

After a messy ravioli dinner (hooray for DeVinci's!), Cora needed a sink bath:

Then SOMEBODY thought it would be a good idea to treat 4 munchkins to TRIX at 8:00 at night.

That sugary sweetness was sure sticky...

After a sugar crash, Addy crashed:

And Uncle Davey taught the boys to play some cool game on his phone:

Stay tuned, there is MUCH more to come this week...

Lindsay Tradition: Opening Christmas stockings in bed in our PJ's on Christmas morning

Cora LOVED her new shoes!

James LOVED his new train (James, the #5 train from Thomas the Train)

Then we headed downstairs to see what else Santa brought...

(The kids made Daddy a back massage shirt, with Mama's help)

(Christmas kisses are the best kind)

CHRISTMAS SHIRT VS. SKIRT

I refuse to show an up-close photo of the cute Christmas onesie I made with Amy and Jason and Jay, because after they left and I had to sew the pieces together, well, let's just say that my applique technique needs some work. OK, a lot of work. Anyway, here's my little reindeer under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

(Those are her hand prints acting as reindeer antlers, in case you can't tell from the photo.)

So, since that outfit didn't pan out how I imagined it would, I decided at the last minute (on Christmas Eve!) to make Cora a Christmas skirt to wear on the holiday. The only picture I have of her wearing it is a grainy cell phone photo at the airport though, so this close-up will have to do. I made it lots longer than her other skirt (which she's finally outgrown, height-wise), and the waist a bit on the loose side, so she should be able to wear it next December. It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

(I also made Eli a pair of robot PJ pants for Christmas, but forgot to take a picture before I wrapped them up and mailed them out, so hopefully D&T can snap one for me next time he wears them. I hear they fit, so that's a good start. Thank goodness I have a same-size-and-build model in the house!)

"SING TO ME!"

TEAM LINDSAY WISHES YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

REINDEER FOOD

What is reindeer food? Well, from everything I could sleuth online, it seemed oats and glitter were the main ingredients. We decided to make our version fully edible though, so we used glittery sugar instead. And James wanted to add Cheerios. I thought some sunflower seeds might be yummy too, and provide a little more energy for those poor reindeer that have to fly thousands of miles all night long. And of course we had to add some Christmas colors. And the magic (the glitter sugar). James expertly stirred it together:

And sprinkled it in the driveway:

And just a few minutes ago, Santa stopped by the Lindsay household. He enjoyed the Peanut Butter Chocolate Krispies we made him, so hopefully the reindeer liked their food as well. Cora sure did...

AN AMAZON CHRISTMAS!

This morning the kids got to open their gifts from their Grambot and Pawpaw, and Uncle Davey and Auntie Taryn (we wanted them to have some time to play with them before we board the plane for Cali tomorrow). Amazon was definitely our most frequently delivered box this year, and we thought our tree looked pretty cool with all that gold and blue underneath. The kids loved every minute of the gift opening, of course! It was a Lego and Little People win, with playdough and the bug house as a close second. Thank you so much for all the kids (and our) gifts - we can't wait to see you all tomorrow night!

(Cora didn't think we were moving fast enough, so she started passing out gifts, and opening them, by herself!)

After presents, we made Christmas pancakes (and bacon, of course!) and us adults enjoyed mimosas and coffee. It's been a lazy, peaceful day (especially naptime!), and we're loving every minute of it! As soon as the kiddos wake up, it'll be time to bake cookies for Santa and make reindeer food to leave outside tonight. The holidays sure are extra magical with little ones around :-)

THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

He knows them all (he got this as one of his Advent books earlier this week), but here is a snippet of just some (since the song/book takes forever - believe me, we know, we've all been reading it all day every day all week long).

(Don't mind Polar Express in the background, he's been obsessed with it for the past 2 weeks. And we've been giving in to lots of movie time lately, since it's Christmas and all. At least he can multitask and listen to Daddy at the same time, right?)

2011 PHOTO CARD TREE

Our Christmas tree of photo cards is in full bloom!

Thank you to all who have sent us Christmas cards (especially the photo cards - they're our favorites)! We usually keep them up on the wall at least through the end of January. We love to sit at the table and see the smiling faces of our friends and family. Merry Christmas to you all!

Friday, December 23, 2011

BRING YOUR KIDS TO WORK DAY

Just kidding.

But with "Gamma" heading out and daycare closed and zero extra leave hours in the bank, we sure had a great excuse to bring the kids with us today. They were awesome. Until we took them out for a late lunch and fed them cupcakes. The sugar high and resulting crash, which occurred well past naptime, was painful though. Oh well, at least they got to check out our labs and the Christmas decorations and visit with some of our coworkers. And we got to leave 2 hours early, courtesy of our Chief. THAT was awesome!

CHRISTMAS WITH "GAMMA"

"Gamma" had to leave today, so we did Christmas gifts with her last night. At first, James wanted to "help" Cora open all her gifts, but he quickly got distracted by his own. And Daddy's. And Mama's...

Cora liked playing Santa, handing out gifts to the recipients:

James got some new movies for the upcoming flights. He said "Open it! Open it!"

Even Mouton couldn't resist the tree...

Cora's favorite was this little pull-along puppy. She walked it and gave it kisses.

Thank you Gamma/Mom/Jean (how she always signs her cards!), we're so glad we got to keep you for a week and we really appreciate you coming out to take care of our babies again!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

ADVENT SUCCESS

The Advent season is coming to a end. We have only a few books left to open, a few chocolates left to find behind their little doors, and a few more days until the holiday arrives. We have really enjoyed our "Advent calendar" of books, and will definitely be making it one of our family traditions for the month of December. The kids' favorite books this year have included "The Twelve Days of Christmas", "Away in a Manger", and a Thomas the Train story.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

STAPH SUCKS

Earlier this month, following 5 weeks of intense diaper rash that would come and go and never really heal, Cora was diagnosed with a staph infection. After a long round of antibiotics, she was finally almost fully healed, and it came back with a vengeance. We have tried everything, even keeping her in paper diapers for weeks and weeks. When we returned to the pediatrician today, she was stumped and decided to do a culture to find out exactly what it is that we're dealing with. In the meantime, it's another (different) round of antibiotics and the same cream we've been using for 2 months now. Our poor girl is in so much pain and we feel like we're pulling at straws. We honestly can't wait to potty train her...

UPDATE: She never had staph. It wasn't yeast. Nothing grew on the culture. Our only guess is that her skin is SO sensitive, that something she is/was eating has been changing the pH of her stools enough to cause a contact reaction. Honestly, she'd go from fine one diaper change to looking like she had a chemical burn the next. Quickly followed by red bumps, then sores, then bleeding. It was terrible, and we are SO glad to have finally found a "cure" (no more acidic foods, at ALL, and we changed diaper detergents).

James and his "Gamma" hung out in the foyer and checked out the Christmas decorations while they waited on Jay and Cora to finish the appointment.

Then they went to Catfish row to play and blow off some cabin fever:

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

ELF IMPERSONATORS

The kiddos performed in their very first Christmas program this morning, and it was unbelievably cute! It was also unbelievably impressive that they both stayed on stage and more or less followed along with the songs and whatnot. James didn't sing anything as far as we could see or hear (and neither did Cora, obviously, though she danced), but he did a lot of the hand motions and kept a smile on his face. We are awfully proud of them!

Here are the preschoolers' 3 songs (Cora and her buddy Julee Ann are on the far left with the daycare director, and James is center stage):

(When he was down looking below the stage, he was checking out all the instruments that the 4-year-olds were going to be using when they came up next. He was jealous. And if he hadn't missed most of the song rehearsals last week, he probably would have sung along. Maybe. He definitely enjoys singing these days and is starting to remember a few verses at a time.)

And here is their Christmas Alphabet (Cora and Julee Ann were the letter F for flower, and James was T and U for tree and underwear, the flannel variety - he had 2 letters because he was standing in for Manu, who is down in Mexico for his family Christmas):

(A was for angel, we just didn't catch it in time. I know you loved seeing Cora run after the director when she walked away. And did you see her point at me and say "Mama"? Perhaps the best part is the little guy who couldn't stand sharing his wagon any longer and stole it away to run down to the opposite end of the stage. Ah, toddlers...)

Moving on. The big kids (Kindergarten through 8th grade) did a great job singing and dancing and performing their "Elf Impersonator" play. We were completely entertained, and James loved every minute of it (and repeatedly asked me if he could go back up on stage with them).

Here is a short clip just so you can see what a group of Montessori kids looks like in the 'Burg:

(The kid who played "Elfis" is the oldest guy at school. Cora loves him. She also really likes the guy that played Santa. We actually know a lot of the older kids because many of them spend time in the nursery and preschool classes lending a hand. It's a very cohesive school, and we're finding that we really like that. Almost every kid there knows whose mama I am, which is quite convenient at the end of the day when it's time to round up munchkins or I need assistance corralling James and Cora into their respective rooms in the morning!)

Monday, December 19, 2011

PRACTICE AND A PARTY

The kids' daycare is doing a Christmas program, and every single child old enough to walk has a part. Yup, even Cora. Today I watched in amazement as the chaos of the dress rehearsal unfolded. To her credit, Cora participated, even though it required my presence at her feet. And James? When he wasn't running in circles, climbing the bleachers, or trying to play the drums, he stayed in place and followed along with all the other preschoolers. And despite the chaos, I'll admit that it was darn cute and entertaining to watch my kiddos try to "perform"...

Here they are doing a song about a pine tree:

Next came a song with jingle bells. Cora was really into this:

After rehearsal came the Christmas party. And since I stuck around, Cora got to go eat lunch (and mostly treats) with the big kids. She especially liked her cupcake. And the weird barrel of "juice" they gave her:

But she got tired quickly, so I relocated her back to the nursery while James enjoyed the preschool gift exchange. He was quite pleased with his Cars cars:

Saturday, December 17, 2011

CHEHAW FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

To end the night (and the trip), we took the kids to see the Festival of Lights at the Parks at Chehaw. For this adventure, we turned their carseats forward-facing (so they could see the lights better). They were not impressed. Check out these "What the heck?!" looks on their little faces...

They liked it once we got into the show though. Especially the "tunnels" of lights. Then we hopped out of the car and waited patiently for our turn on the train.

(It was COLD!)

Look, there's the train!

Both kids enjoyed the train, though Cora disliked the lap belt that kept her and I securely in our seat. James alternated between mesmerized and overwhelmed/scared (that whistle was LOUD). As soon as we got back, he told us he wanted to go again though, so we know he had a good time.

And in case anyone is wondering (like you wouldn't have assumed, I'm sure), we turned the kids back rear-facing before we headed back to the 'Burg. And no, they didn't mind one bit. They snuggled in with their blankey's and monkeys and snacks, and we were off!

Monday, December 26, 2011

CALI FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Sunday, December 25, 2011

CHRISTMAS MORNING