Matt the Photographer!

Matt's camera was left at home for our trip, but apparently it helped train him for using our camera! One day while we were in Sacramento, we went to lunch with some of our cousins for a bit of catch up time. Nick and I didn't really get to socialize, keeping busy with the boys, but at least we got hugs and got to see everyone. Matt was the event photographer.

He wasn't too busy to model his daddy's sunglasses! There was a mirror to the side of our table. He's checking himself out!

Nick and our cool dude!

Jonathan decided it would be more fun to just open his mouth full of milk, instead of swallowing it!

Here's a bit of Matt's photography. In his defense, the sun was beaming in the window and off the river behind the end of the table. So, some people cannot be seen!

Ruth the Great, Aunt Trudy and Uncle Bob caught the camera pointed in their direction.

Matt sure likes his Great Grandma!

He told me to lean in closer to Jonathan and smile.

Jonathan was loving the oyster crackers.

"All done!"

"OOOOhh!" Matt captures all of Jonathan's expressions!

He told me to lean toward Jonathan again, but forgot to aim at his subjects!

An upside down self-portrait!

That night we still couldn't get the camera away. He took a picture of Jonathan in the bath!

Here's Jonathan brushing his teeth! Matt was on the move with the camera, can you tell?

We later had blurry pictures of each room in my grandmother's house. He also took each of his new Backyardigans' beanie babies and posed them each for a portrait. They were quite blurry, but it was funny to look back at the pictures and see what he took!

Playtime with Ruth the Great!

We did plenty of playing while we were in Sacramento. We enjoyed the time at my grandma's house because it meant we were staying put for a bit. The boys were quite entertaining (and loud!). They had fun entertaining us all.

Matt tried the laugh to smile again. Not great, but better than the "cheese" smile.

Ruth the Great and Jonathan aren't too sure what to think of Matt's new picture taking pose.

This one's a bit blurry, but Matt and Ruth the Great were enjoying a little Wheel of Fortune before his bath time! He loved watching all the letters!

Christmas Dinner

My Aunt Trudy always has Christmas dinner at her house. She and my Uncle Bob have hosted it since before I was born. It was even better this year because of the boys, though my cousins' presence is missed each year. This year, I sat at the kids' table with Matt & Jonathan. Hopefully next year they will let me join with the adults again!

We ate dinner and then migrated to the living room for gifts. Even though there are bows involved with the next few pictures, the gifts were not opened until after Jonathan went to bed. The boys took a bow off one of their gifts before we even had everyone in the house!

Jonathan was interested in the conversation on the couch.

Here are my best Christmas gifts! They will LOVE this photo in years to come, I'm sure!

Tickle war!

Jonathan got some lap time with his daddy before dinner!

He found his cousin Emma's toy stash on the hearth right away.

An attempt at a family photo with 3 out of 4 looking at the camera's not bad!

Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning in Sacramento was spent at my grandmother's house (a.k.a. "Ruth the Great"). Matt & I had made a big special key for Santa so he could come in the house since "Ruth the Great" doesn't have a chimney. Jonathan and I were out in the living room already when Matt came out with Nick to find out what Santa had left.

Matt was so excited that Santa got him some trucks!

A Backyardigans book wasn't too shabby either. His favorite Santa gift was his map blanket behind him though. He has now replaced his airplane quilt on his bed with his map blanket. He has even told everyone that his blanket was what Santa brought him!

Jonathan looked on as Matt made his first fort out if his new blanket.

Matt hid, giggling under the blanket waiting for Jonathan to come and find him!

Instead of crawling under the blanket, Jonathan got upside down to take a look!

I am still trying to get away from the "cheese" face Matt makes for pictures. Here's another attempt to just get him to laugh. Funny how he doesn't look like this when he's spontaneously laughing!

Chistmas with the Fox family

We hadn't been to Sacramento in 2 years and missed out on the family celebration last year. We were a bit busy with our newborn! Can't believe how fast the year went. Now, Jonathan is one and we flew up to Sacramento to join the family for some holiday fun. Christmas Eve is spent at Kathy & David's house and all of Kathy's siblings and their families join in along with us and my cousins and their families. We have some time to catch up and eat some wonderful food and then it's off to the gift exchange.

Jonathan apparently didn't get enough to eat! He was loving the Christmas coasters Kathy had out. Grandma was supervising!

Matt played Christmas tic-tac-toe. Did I mention that Kathy has a TON of Christmas decorations in every imaginable place in the house. It's a very festive gathering.

Matt was coveting his cousin Collin's new Matchbox cars and car wash.

Matt & Collin helped hand out gifts, in between keeping an eye on the Matchbox cars to make sure no one got a hold of them!

After things settled down, the kids went into Kathy & David's room to watch a movie together while the adults gathered their things and said their goodbyes. Matt joined in to watch "Kung Fu Panda", while Jonathan slept in the next room. Now, Matt asks to watch what he calls "Ku Panda"!

"I want to ride Traveler!"

We stopped off at the Downtown Sacramento mall while we were in town just to do something different. The weather was a bit rainy, but after we wandered around the rain let up just long enough for the boys to jump on the carousel. Matt always chooses a white horse and tells us he has to ride on Traveler!

Ice Cream Birthday (Jonathan's Birthday, Part II)

We met my Aunt Trudy, Grandma, and my mom for lunch at their favorite sandwich/ice cream shop in Sacramento. We had decided it would be a birthday lunch for Jonathan. Since we were at an ice cream shop, we decided to forgo the cake and just go with the ice cream for the birthday boy.

Here he is enjoying his grilled cheese sandwich!

Not too sure what Matt was doing in this picture, but he was certainly making a silly face for me.

Jonathan's favorite - "TOUCHDOWN!"

Jonathan had no idea what he was in store for with the ice cream!

It was cold, but he was digging it after the first bite set in!

Matt enjoyed his "green ice cream" as well. He managed to finish his first ice cream cone! He's made it as far as the bottom of the cone before, but this one was eventually gone!

Build-A-Doggy

We packed up after Jonathan's birthday celebration and headed off to the airport the next morning for our Sacramento Christmas trip. Things felt so rushed, but we were all excited about the trip. Nick had been out of town until Sunday around naptime, the boys woke up and we opened all of Jonathan's gifts (many of which were battery operated - YIKES!) and the boys played up until bedtime with full volume and energy. The next morning was the start of our trip. I was worn out before we got to the airport.

We had everything and counted our bags at every stop to make sure we didn't forget a thing. I was so nervous about the kids not having eaten, and being cranky while we were waiting in line for boarding that I fed them a snack while we were sitting at the gate. Not wanting to leave a mess, I ran to the window sill, on which Matt left half of his granola bar in the form of crumbs. I quickly cleaned them up, while carrying Jonathan in the carrier and trying to keep Matt within arms' reach while Nick went to board ahead of us to save us seats. Yes, we were flying Southwest - board AFTER the A group. Matt likes to bring along his friend Doggy on trips so he has someone to hold and hug on the plane and while he sleeps during vacation. Doggy had been left in the truck at the shuttle lot for our last trip, so we were so pleased he was still with us. Well, in the rush to leave our seats and get in line for the plane, Doggy was left in the seat at the gate. We didn't even realize it until we were pulling away from the gate and Matt asked, "Daddy, where's Doggy?" I had leaned in to Nick and mentioned something just a second before Matt asked. I was crushed! I felt fully responsible for forgetting him and felt so bad for Matt. We formulated a plan to set out for Build-A-Bear as soon as we could in Sacramento. Matt had made Doggy there a year ago at a birthday party in Houston. So, long story not so short, here are the pictures of our Build-A-Bear experience!

Having a year of development under his belt, this experience went much better than his last one. He actually pushed the pedal to help fill up his new Doggy with stuffing.

He was picking out Doggy's heart and getting it to start beating before he placed it inside.

He gave Doggy his heart.

After Doggy was all finished with the stuffing machine, the boys went and gave him a bath.

Matt asked about his old Doggy a couple of times during our trip, so Nick and I let him know that we had left him at the airport and because he was afraid to fly on the airplanes he has been recruited to work with the security at the airport to keep us all safe when we fly. It seems to have worked so far. We'll see what happens the next time we fly!

Jonathan's Birthday Part I

Much like Matt's birthday, Jonathan's came and went, with about a week long celebration because of family visits over the holidays. We started out at home with opening his gifts the day after his birthday.

Here he is playing with some of his gifts. The gears were a big hit!

Matt's favorite was Jonathan's new Mickey Mouse plane. He still hasn't stopped playing with it.

Jonathan kept the Santa hat on just long enough for me to get this picture. He was in the process of taking it off right when I got this shot.

Now THIS is self-feeding a la one year old! I believe it was blueberry yogurt, and yes, some did get in his mouth even with a spoon.

Here he is signing "all done". You think?

A cheesy grin for the camera!

He finally got a turn on his zebra!

The toys were unwrapped and there was more playing to be done!