Christmas rehab.

We are slowly getting through the pile of presents, etc. left over from Christmas.  It's taking a while to find a place for everything and Bodhi keeps taking out toys that I've already put away.  I think that it'll probably be a while until our place returns to something resembling normal.  Until then, we're taking a relaxed attitude about the mess.

Christmas time!

Bodhi knows exactly what to do...

Christmas went over pretty well at our place.  We had our little family Christmas at home first where the kids opened their gifts from us and Santa, then we went to Sherry's house for the bigger, full-family Christmas.

... Kira seems a little uncertain.

After opening even more presents and having a huge Christmas dinner we got to hang out with the family and chat for a while.  Some of us ended up staying the night, partly to extend the festivities and partly to help clean the amazing mess we'd managed to make.  The next day, after breakfast, we headed up north to visit my family in Bakersfield. 

Better than rolling in a pile of money, when you're a kid.

Unfortunately, we ran into traffic that turned a 1 1/2 hour trip into a 3 1/2 hour trip.  The kids were super good though: Kira slept most of the time and Bodhi played with toys, read books and talked with us for the whole ride.  We really are lucky in that respect.

How are we going to fit all this stuff in the car? 

We had yet another big meal and opened even more presents at my parents' place then stayed to chat with my family and then headed back home.  The only further difficulty we had for the ride home was trying to find enough room in the car for the gifts for the kids from Jen's family and my family.

Kira had a great first-Christmas!

Of course, once we got home we had to try to find room for all the loot at our place, too.  Oh well, if you've got to have problems at Christmas, I suppose having too many presents is a good one to have.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Party Animals!

A good time was had by all...

We've been attending a lot of parties lately.  It's affected the kids a bit because they have been out past bedtime a lot lately.  Bodhi likes the parties because he gets to play with the other kids but Kira isn't so sure about all the noise and activity.

... and Bodhi was doing... uh, whatever he's doing.

One party was the extended family holiday party / dinner party / gift exchange.  We had a nice dinner, talked a lot and then had the gift exchange.  It's the kind where you draw a number, open a gift of your choosing then the next person either opens a gift or steals one.  It's highly entertaining for the adults and the kids get to run around and play all night.

Mmmm... Christmas cookies...

The next party was a cookie party.  One of Jen's friends has the party annually where they exchange recipes and cookies that they've baked.  They vote on a winner and eat a lot of cookies.  Since Jen takes the kids, I get a day off, yay!

... and Bodhi made a ... uh... whatever that is...

Next stop, Christmas!!

We forgot the crackers, Kira!

I was doing some dishes in the kitchen and came back to find the kids building a rocket!  I think that Kira is playing supervisor... either that or she's just eating the tools, I'm not sure.  I do know that Bodhi has been really into Wallace and Gromit lately and I think he may be planning a moon expedition.  It is so cute, though, when the kids are playing together.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This month has been really busy with all the things to do for Christmas.  Bodhi is really enjoying it this year.  He’s learning Christmas carols and counting down the days with an Advent calendar that Jen made. 

He also helped with the tree shopping, though he was more interested in some gardening clippers he found than the trees themselves.  And he’s been helping to cook and bake all the various dishes for all the holiday events.

Kira is only 8 months old (only!?) but she seems to like all the new lights, colors and decorations around her.  Our biggest challenge is keeping her from getting ahold of any of them.  She’s very good with her hands these days and quick to get things to her mouth, too.

A Long, Long Weekend

 Gobble, gobble!

Thanksgiving was a four day weekend for us and we made the most of it.  First was Thanksgiving dinner at Christina's house with the family.  After some turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, etc. etc. etc. we watched a little football and a little Charlie Brown and settled in for the evening.  

 Baby's first Thanksgiving

I watched Bodhi and Kira that night while Jen went shopping with her sister.  The sales started early this year so they wanted to get a head start.  It took a while to get the kids to wind down but at least they were both asleep by the time the girls got back.  

 Double-decker birthday cake!

The next day was another day with the kids for me as Jen had to go to work.  I spent most of it cleaning because I knew that Saturday was going to be busy again.  We had a friend's birthday party to attend.  It was a double party for two little girls.  So off I went with both kids to see what kind of damage we could do.

 Wait... who thought giving him a bat was a good idea?

The birthday party had two cakes, a giant bounce house with a slide and two piñatas.  Some of the kids were a little iffy about the piñatas but Bodhi thought it was great fun.  He would swing the bat as hard as he could and say "Hi-ya!" when it would connect.  Once they broke open the piñata a little chaos ensued in the mad dash for candy.  Bodhi had a great time and didn't want to leave, but we had to get back home for dinner.

Hanging out in the man-cave with my mates.

It was nice to get back home and spend a relaxing Sunday with the family after all the excitement from the previous three days. We spent it playing and cleaning and goofing around.  It was a very fun, but long weekend.   Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

More pictures by Bodhi

Self portrait

We have an old digital camera laying around that we haven't used in years so we've designated it as Bodhi's camera. He likes to take shots of the carpet and the TV but sometimes I take a look at what he's got saved on the memory card and find some really cute shots. In the picture above, I feel like I'm getting a preview of teenage Bodhi, for some reason. He's just got that look in his eyes...

Baby sister
Bodhi also took this one of his little sister.  He has better luck taking pictures of Kira because she always smiles for him.

Seven months and two teeth

Kira is seven months old today and she's got two new teeth to prove it!  She's definitely feeling those teeth, too, because she chews on anything she can get her hands on.  She's sitting up by herself pretty well now and is learning to move around on her own, too.  She can't get very far yet but it won't be long now.

Halloween weekend

Happy Halloween!

Well, this year Halloween was almost a Hallowasn't.  Bodhi came down with a fever Saturday night just before we were going to leave for a party.  Needless to say, our party plans that night were cancelled.  Bodhi was still too sick to attend a kids' Halloween party the next day, too.  Fortunately, by Monday, Halloween night, Bodhi was feeling much better and was able to go to a Halloween carnival and out trick-or-treating.

The Pirate Captain and the Princess

Bodhi was a pirate this year and was really excited about trick-or-treating.  Last year he was a little nervous about the whole proposition, but this year he had a blast.  He would go up to the door, knock, yell "trick or treat" and hold out his bag.  I was also very proud that he would say "thank you" each time.  What a good kid!

Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluffies...

Kira didn't really understand what was going on, but she was having a lot of fun staying up late and walking around the neighborhood in the dark.  We dressed her up in a little Winnie-the-Pooh costume and she looked super-cute!

Look at me, I'm sitting!

In other news, Kira is also now sitting up almost unaided.  She can do it without any help, but she tends to fall over after a few minutes.  She also grabs ahold of the bottle when I'm feeding her and can practically do it herself now!  She's getting so big!

A Pre-Halloween Visit

My parents came down for a visit recently and got a chance to catch up with the kids.  Kira is getting much bigger (6 months already!?) and seems to like Grandpa.

Mom helped Bodhi carve a pumpkin.  He was really excited about this part and kept telling me how he wanted to make a jack o' lantern when Grandma and Grandpa came over.

I think he just wanted to make a mess.

Thanks for the visit Grandma and Grandpa!  Come back soon!  

Good sleep is hard to find...

... so you have to squeeze it in there whenever possible.

The reality of a three-year-old and a baby has made it tough to keep up with the blog here. Things are falling into a more regular schedule, however, so I hope to get some more posts up soon.

i love my monkey

This picture of Kira reminds me so much of an old post
with Bodhi and his little Zebra toy.

my sweet strawberry

My sister Christina has made up a very funny nickname for Kira. This picture of her in a strawberry onesie makes me think of it.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcake Pants

Static Electricity is COOL!

Woah, what's up with your hair, dude?

A day in the life, Kira edition

Way back when Bodhi was about 2 months old I had a post that showed a whole day of his life in pictures.  I thought it would be fun to do the same thing with Kira.  So here it is!

And for comparison, here's the same day for Bodhi... whew, what a handful!

Gotta love a day with the kids!

family trip

My last week of maternity leave was spent at the Colorado River with my family. It was a bit more challenging this time with a 3 month old baby. I think Kira thought it was too hot! Ray and I ended up taking turns staying inside with Kira for most days while the other one of us was outside with Bodhi. Several days we went to the pool that they have on the property and Kira seemed to like getting in the water. I really enjoyed having some time away from home and getting a chance to stay up late chatting, looking for shooting stars and playing board games with my family in the evenings. Here are a few pics from the week.

napping on the way there.

good morning baby!

kira's first dip in the river. i think she liked the cool water

Bodhi (a.k.a. the pool shark)

Time to relax

lounging by the pool

escaping the heat with some inside time

Bodhi and me out for a ride.

I think Bodhi is ready to take out the sea doo on his own.
don't you?

summertime fun

We have been having so much fun this summer! I love being off work and staying home to watch the kids. Especially now that Kira is happier, it makes going out a lot easier. Here are a few pictures from our latest adventures.


Relaxing at the concert in the park

Playing with the new water feature at our neighborhood park

napping in the stroller

searching for buried treasure, matey