Winter

The days go by quickly after Thanksgiving and the countdown to Hanukkah and Christmas begins. And now the New Year has started. Here's a photo dump from November and December.

I've been spending one-on-one time with Leo on the weekends. On Sunday mornings we go swimming at the pool. On Saturday mornings we do our weekly grocery shop, or meet up with friends for a play date. Sometimes in the afternoons Leo plays outside with Dave. Or if a special event is happening in the afternoon/evenings we try to make it to that. The Festival of Trees was happening the weekend after Thanksgiving so Leo and I went to check it out. Their was live music and it was REALLY loud. Leo didn't seem to mind it. He even watched and listened for a little while and bopped to the beat. He tried cotton candy for the first time (made from birch syrup). And we checked out all the trees. Santa was there. He was pretty wary (I don't blame him! I personally think Santa is weird) but did say hi and accept a candy cane from Santa.

Excited about his candy cane

Mom and Leo selfie

Checking out the ornaments

That is a very tall tree Mama

Time for a new crib! They are starting to wake each other up from naps.

We met up with Adrian and Gavin for a sledding adventure

Buddies!

Leo wanted to sit by himself when he got his haircut last time. Still nervous but he did great!

Lighting the candle on the first day of Hanukkah

We (I) indulged this year and went a little nuts with presents for Leo.

It's the first year he really started to enjoy opening presents and it was my way of making him feel special since he's a big brother now and my attention is more than divided.

First Hanukkah present

Our fake Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Leo was so excited to set it up.

Putting the presents under the tree the night before the big day

Leo with his first present

Dana, his day care provider, had a holiday party and invited Santa. The kids were very excited. Leo said he wanted to give Santa a hug. I think he was more inclined to sit on his lap because the other kids were doing it. I still think Santa is weird.

Checking out Santa

I gave Santa Max when he was sleeping and he woke up with a very worried look on his face.

Noah was all over the stocking that he got

I took a series of photos with these guys in their hats. This one cracks me up. Noah seems to be very concerned about Max.

 We packed up all the kids and headed out to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with friends. It was a lot of work but nice to spend the holiday with our Fairbanks families.

Dave and the boys all dressed up

 It was a lot of work to head out with everyone so I decided to lay low with the babies on New Year's Eve. Dave took Leo to see the fireworks at UAF. They had a great view from the botanical gardens and Leo loved spending some one-on-one time with Dave and the fireworks show. It was a balmy 30F that night. Amazing for this time of year!

Champagne after they got back!

Brook came up for a visit. It was so lovely to see her

My Christmas gift from Dave was 3 hours of one-on-one time with Brook. We got pedicures and a nice dinner at the Turtle Club. 

 

 

 

Date night!

Now we are back to our daily routine which can get monotonous for me. I try to get out for walks around the yard and house when the babies are napping at the same time. It's hard to believe they are almost 6 months!

Max at 5 months

Max and I out for walk while Noah was napping

Harder to tell them apart when they have hats on. Max (L), Noah (R)

Noah at 5 months

Max. Very proud of himself in the exersaucer

Happy Max

Noah in exersaucer

Noah falling asleep in exersaucer. Don't worry! I moved him into the crib as soon as he started to nod off.