Lately

Well, we lost our camera cord for a week so I haven't been able to blog, but we found it! What have we been up to this week? Well, last weekend Juli flew down to visit us, we had so much fun!
We made a big batch of tamales (15 dozen to be exact!) to eat on Christmas Eve. Rachel and I went to buy the supplies and we were the only white people in the store and the lady making the masa (who didn't speak any English) gave us the weirdest look when we ordered 20 pounds of it. I kept saying "veinte" but she was talking very quickly and gesturing, but finally a man standing next to us interceded and told her to just give us the 20 pounds. She must have thought we were crazy, since all of the real Mexicans were only ordering half as much as us, but she just shrugged her shoulders and gave us the masa. Rachel and I laughed the whole way home. Then we put on some Christmas music and spent several hours making the tamales. Whatever we're going to do with 15 dozen tamales, I certainly couldn't tell you, but we definitely won't go hungry ;-)
We also took the boys swimming, it was a little colder than it was last summer, but they still loved it!

Cullen just lounged around most of the time

Here's Cullen eating cereal on the kitchen floor.

Jack didn't want to put down his spoon, even while he was drinking his bottle, he had an iron grip on it!

Bathtime! They get soooo many baths at Nana's house.

Playing peekaboo with tupperware

Jack is getting really, really close to standing and walking. He can sometimes stand for a few seconds on his own if you help him to balance initially. And he just LOVES to walk up and down the hallway holding onto somebody's hands. Here are some pictures of him trying out his new skills.

Sometimes he gets so excited that he forgets to balance, starts waving his arms wildly, and throws himself backwards

Here he is standing on his own

Brandon flew in on Thursday night and I am SO GLAD he got out of DC before the snow started falling. Most flights have been canceled and the people stranded there might be stuck until after Christmas. I am just thankful that Brandon made it out in time, it would have been terrible if we had to spend Christmas apart. Thank you Jesus!

Disneyland

We took the boys to Disneyland for a few hours yesterday afternoon between their naps. The whole place was decked out for Christmas! We just walked around and took some pictures, ate some snacks and went on the Carousel.

By the time we got to Mickey, the boys were thoroughly distracted. Jack just wanted to touch the strange creatures standing next to him.

Santa was at Disneyland too so we took another round of pictures. These turned out a little better, they weren't quite as frightened.

Mrs. Clause just adored the boys! She begged us to hold them for a picture!

Cullen wasn't a fan of the carousel until it started moving, then he loved it.

Jack LOVED it! He hung onto the pole and gazed around at the lights and horses.

Santa Pictures!

My Mom's apartment complex had Santa and some carolers in their lobby last night. I had wanted to get some pictures of the boys with Santa but hadn't wanted to pay $30 for them at the mall, so I was excited to get these free ones! However, the boys weren't quite as excited as I was, they cried the whole time!`

I thought that maybe if I held Cullen, he might be in a better mood... nope.

We took a break for a few minutes and bribed the boys with crackers, then ran back over for this picture.

Oh well, I always thought that crying babies with Santa made the cutest pictures, now I have some of my own :-)

Park Pictures

We've gone to the park both days that we've been in California. The boys have been loving all the extra playtime!

An airplane flew overhead

This is the first time they've enjoyed going down the slide, before they always put their feet down to stop themselves

I know he's not doing anything interesting in this picture, I just think he looks so cute!

Jack got some sand in his mouth, yuck!

This is Dylan, the little boy who Rachel nannies for. He just LOVED the boys and kept giving them hugs and kisses every few minutes. We all just about died laughing at these kids!

We Made It... Somehow!!

My wonderful sister Renee came out last weekend and stayed with us for a few days. During that time, I felt like I had a nanny! She watched the boys all the time for me! I was able to do some shopping, run my errands, design our Christmas cards, pack, cook and everything else I wanted! It was fantastic!

On Tuesday, she flew with me and the boys to California for a nice long Christmas break. Flying with the boys has always been a little difficult obviously, but it certainly gets harder and harder as they get older and more active. This time was the worst by far. We are giving a bunch of baby equipment to my sister and brother-in-law for their baby so in addition to my bag, the boys' bag, the pack n' play, their two ginormous car seats, the diaper bag, my sister's bag, AND the double stroller we also brought a huge 50 pound duffel bag and one of the boys' old infant car seats to California with us because it was the cheapest way to get it to them. We must have looked ridiculous as we struggled through security with the boys and all our carry-on luggage. Our flight was an hour and a half late taking off so the boys were literally falling asleep sitting up as we were waiting to board the plane. Once on the plane, the first flight was great though because they slept the entire time. We had a layover in Chicago and just barely made our connection which was boarding as our other plane landed. We had to race to catch our flight and had no time to get any lunch, and I guess Southwest is one of the only airlines that doesn't have any sandwiches or food for sale on cross-country flights.

The boys were awake and overactive on the second flight, they wouldn't sit still at all. They were trying to touch everything, crawl around, and peer at other passengers. I'm really embarrassed to admit this, but they each fell off the seat once. Neither of them was hurt thankfully, I caught Jack before he hit the floor, but poor Cullen just tumbled right off before we could catch him. Ooops!! I am still waiting for Child Protective Services to show up at my Mom's house and take my kids away.

About halfway through, they got extremely bored and fussy. We spent a couple hours walking them up and down the aisle. And I think they must have gotten together and decided to hold their poop in for a few days and then let it all out on the plane. And, of course, even though they haven't peed through their clothes in months, Cullen peed all over himself and every single article of clothing he had on as I was changing his poopy diaper in the airplane bathroom. I had to take him out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a diaper and holding his sopping wet clothes. I had also forgotten to pack spare pants (Mom of the Year right here) so I just put him in a onesie and wrapped him in a blanket when we got off the plane. And my poor, pregnant sister endured 10 hours of traveling with two antsy 11 month olds, nausea and no food!!! What a trooper she was! We were both completely exhausted once we landed, I was SO relieved it was all over! But God was good to us and we made it through the long day. We've been recovering for the past two days and I somehow still feel exhausted!

Here are some pictures from our flight:

Cullen watching the airplanes

Jack

We flew over the Grand Canyon and we had the most incredible view of it!! It was breathtakingly beautiful!! These pictures don't do it justice

Jack loved looking out the window, he's just woken up from his 2 hour nap in this picture.

Brandon comes on Thursday and I can't wait to see him! He's been studying like a mad man for the past month, I barely laid eyes on him the last week I was there. I don't know how he does it, I would have totally burnt out long before finals, but Brandon just keeps plugging along studying 12+ hours a day. Words can't even express how much I'm looking forward to just relaxing with my husband during Christmas break. Law school is tough on both of us!

Thanks Grandma Sari!

I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but getting them to sit still long enough to take a picture of them with a blanket is next to impossible. Sari made the boys the cutest little quilts! They look sooo good too! Brandon thought they'd probably just bought them because they looked professional, but I said "No, your Mom's pretty darn good at sewing, I bet she made them." And she did! They are fantastic Sari, thanks so much! We all love them!

Jack all tucked in with his new blanket. (He likes to sleep with his lamb as a pillow too, isn't that funny?!)

Cullen with his blanket

Remember how I said they loved doorstops? Well here he is playing with it. It's a blur in the picture because he had just boinked it :-)

Hmmm... I wonder what Mom's hiding under there?

Reaching for the camera