Party-Town!

I love my family's Chirstmas parties. There is always amazing food that can be counted on to be the same every year. The Ballou's have lobster and chowder, the Fonnesbeck's have ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, and 7-layer dip, and the Green's have pizza. It's a beautiful thing. This past Saturday we were attending the enjoyable chaos that is the Green family party. I really love the families that I married into, and this one is no exception. Everyone comes in the late morning and stays until the wee hours. Grandma Green (my mother-in-law's mother) out-does herself every year with gifts, food, gingerbread houses, and games. Last year was hard to beat because we had just gotten back from Hawaii, and although we were still on a high from that trip, Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa is always something everyone in the fam looks forward to. This year was extra fun for us because Brenner was more into his gifts, opening presents, and lending a helping hand to anyone who needed the paper torn off thier gift. He got a really fun toy truck that you can ride on and makes noises (yay.) but of course he was more interested in the other kid's toys. We made it home before midnight with a lot of new swag, and fun was had by all.

Brenner and BFF Ella (he was all about the fire engine she got)

Brenner and other BFF Aunt Jana

Clark and Santa!

Snow Fun, So Cute

Chirstmas is fast approaching and my boys are keeping me busy! The snow has finally come to Logan and since we are home and inside a lot, I try to talk Travis into either taking Brenner out or staying with the baby while I take him out. Yesterday I took him to our neighbor's and he played with their little boy Lucas in the snow, which Brenner thoroughly enjoyed. His snowsuit fits him much better this year than last year, when he looked like the little brother on "A Christmas Story"
Clarke is a month old tomorrow, and I know it's cliche, but the time is going by so quickly. He is changing fast and his double chin gets bigger every day. Brenner is great with him and every once in a while he asks to hold him, so we put Clarke in his arms and Brenner says "Oh cute!" in his high pitched "cute" voice (the one he reserves for kittens and babies) Travis is busy at work in the garage making him an enormous barn for Christmas. I'm trying to use Santa Claus to make Brenner mind, but I say "You better be a good boy so Santa will bring you presents!" and he says "Better be good for goodness sakes!" and then continues with the whole Christmas song. Viva la Christmas! I'm so ready for it to be over so that the stores aren't crazy and I can stop hiding things from Brenner and Travis. I'm horrible with gifts, I just can't keep my mouth shut and I want to know what everyone is getting me too. I could put Travis' gifts in a box with a lid on our bed and he wouldn't peek, while I'm trying to find the keys to the gun cabinet where I know he's locked my gifts. I try every trick, thinking he will give me a hint, but he's so good. I will just have to wait I suppose. Here are some pictures of the boys

Snow Monster!

Clarke Pictures

I was going to post some pictures of Clarke but instead I'm going to direct you to this site:

http://tonyapetersonblog.com/

Last week my cousin Tonya took pictures for me and WOW. I cannot say enough good things about her skills. She is an amazing photographer and such a sweet cousin to do this for me. Take a look at the rest of her stuff, she really has a spectacular eye. If any of you are looking for potraits or weddings, she is your GIRL! She doesn't normally do babies, but she has a referral if that's what you're looking for. Anyway, enjoy!

Oh, we took the babe to his 2 week check and he is doing great. Here are the stats:
wt: 8.5 lbs- 37%
ht: 21.5 inches- 77%
head: 36.5- 35%

So he's gaining weight rapidly and sleeping well too. I don't want to jinx it but he slept from 12:00 to 6:00 lastnight! Yahoo!

Thanksgiving

Since we had a baby a week earlier, we decided to stay home for the holiday, and that way we didn't have to commit to going to any one grandparent's house. So late Wednesday night Travis and I went grocery shopping for the feast while Aunt Kristen stayed home with the children. (Yeah CHILDREN, plural. Weird.) Thursday we sat around in sweats and watched movies and played games and had a great time and I cooked up a lovely dinner for us. We tried to downsize and bought just a turkey breast and small amounts of everything else, but of course we had a ton of food and filled the fridge with leftovers. One of the things that makes Trav and I a great match is his love and my distaste for leftovers. I would rather throw away food the very night I cook it than stick it in a tupperware and find it a couple weeks later tucked in some dark corner of my fridge. It's not that I don't know it's there, I just don't want to crack the lid and smell the disgusting fumes of the food that was once delicious and palatable. Travis, on the other hand, loves a good tupperware full of slop from the previous nights. Don't get me wrong, my man loves good food. I don't know anyone with a better palate for good quality sushi. Anyway enough about that. I made all the traditional food, and even made stuffing for Travis even though I don't like it. Everyone was happy with the meal and it all went off without a hitch, which pleased me immensely. So here's the proof that I did it:


Brenner's hack

"The Spread"

And this is how Clarke enjoyed the day. (He's a sleepy-head)