Time to play catch-up on what was a great end to 2012. Like every year, there are ups and downs, but when sending out our Christmas cards this year, I lost count of our blessings--we're blessed by being in our family of four that we so desperately longed for, we're blessed by the love of family, of friends, of doctors, and of so many nice things life has to offer.
This photo uploader likes to have a mind of its own. These pictures are waaaaaay out of order!
Over Thanksgiving, we went to Wichita and spent time with Matt's family. We were fortunate to see both his brother and sister, their kids, and Grandma Van Gilder this time around, all at the same time. Cole and Camryn had a blast playing with their cousins.
Before Thanksgiving, life cruised along nutty and our version of smooth.
Presents from Big Jay...
Cole is ready for this potty-training thing, much to this Momma's dismay! I thought it was closer to 3 years-old???! Camryn likes to think she is--but she's all talk. Cole is the real deal. He uses his frog potty and the big potty. In fact, now he goes 99% of the time in the toilet before he gets into the bathtub. He definitely feels the sensation and doesn't like to stay in a wet or dirty diaper for very long. I keep trying to fight him (I'm not ready!!) but I think I'm going to give in and see if he really, really, absolutely is ready.
Found this in a twins magazine--WHERE was this 2 years ago?????? Oh, how life would've been that much easier--and how much it would've helped an aching back! All the leaning in, double-bottle-feeding at the same time, supporting yourself, etc. If only I'd known about this--did it even exist 2 years ago?
The kids got their 2nd review of the year at school. Had to be a proud parent and document the nice words.
We took a quick trip down to Houston before Thanksgiving. Yes, those are shirtless kids having a water gun fight mid-November. A plus to mild Houston weather. :)
Upon hearing the news of Hostess going bust (yes, it's been that long since a post!) we cherished our Friday morning donuts that week. These particular ones were actually Hostess brand, so we really did savor each bite.
They like to wear their rain boots. Cam likes to wear hers with only a diaper...
Cousins!
A warm stretch in November here in Colorado. We soaked up the sun while it lasted.
Okay. Aaaaand back to Wichita. (Seriously, uploader?)
P
We saw a Santa on Thanksgiving. Cole wasn't scared at all. He went right up to his lap and made sure Santa knew he wanted cars for Christmas. ...And a Thomas....and a Percy....and a James... Meanwhile, Camryn is on the other side of the room clinging to me with her Britney Spears-strength thighs, not wanting anything to do with Santa.
We kept driving around one day in Wichita so the kids could get a nap in. Cole slept right through a tour of Matt's high school.
Angela. Aka: The toddler-whisperer. :)
Mario's 4th birthday was November 30th. The kids had lots of fun picking out toys and treats for him. We even sang to him and had cupcakes this year for him. Both Cole and Camryn are dog lovers, Cam in particular. She loves on Mario so much, they truly are best friends in this house.
We had fun at the Denver Zoo Lights. It was really cold that night but the kids had fun snuggled in their stroller.
Through November and December, the kids took a dance/gymnastics class. They were kind of shy, but they definitely retained everything. They'd come home and talk about the dances they'd do, say the cheers they learned, and are still talking about it all in general to this day. "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train..." is often cheered around here. Cole loved it too--my little Phil Dunphy.
Back at zoo lights. We (ME!) love the giraffes. So happy we got to go into the "raff house" and tell them "night night" while we were there. And it was a great place to warm up in before we went out to brave the cold again.
Looks like we're to our first Christmas here in Colorado with the four of us. Before we went to Texas, we did our own Christmas here with presents from Nana and Papa and Matt's family and also some from my family too to help with not sending
so much back... Yeah, right. We started the night of their Christmas program at school. Did you know Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer brings jammies the night before Santa comes???
And Christmas #1 morning...overload of fun with presents.
A few days before, Camryn woke up one morning and informed me that she told Santa she wanted a Minnie cup. Huh? In her dreams she told him, I guess. And it was the first I'd ever heard of it. So I asked her where she had seen this particular cup. She told me "at the Mickey store" in a very teenage voice like I was dumb...Then I asked her what color it is, and in the same obnoxious teenage tone she told me
Piiink. AND
no straw. Duh, Mom. So off to the Disney store I went, and sure enough if there wasn't a pink Minnie cup with "no straw". Lordy. Looks like Santa brought the right one, thank goodness.
At the airport--Thank you, thank you, President's Club.
Matt's Christmas is complete. Our flight was on the Dreamliner. Yes, the same Dreamliner airplane that is all on the news right now with it's electrical issues and stuff. Luckily our flight was perfect! Matt talked about flying on this plane for over a month. He took TONS of pictures of this plane inside and out, in-flight and everything. I'll spare you with just these few...
...mixed with Camryn the night before watching Cowboy Movie ("Toy Story") with all her new dolls and some new toys...
Back to the Dreamliner...
This picture makes me laugh out loud EVERY time I look at it. Here's what happened when Matt wanted to take a proud Daddy picture with his kids in front of the Dreamliner.
So we decided he should just take a really good pic in front of it instead...
Uploader wanted to throw in a couple pictures from Mario's birthday and our Colorado Christmas again...
Okay, back to the Dreamliner. Here are the kids boarding this phenomenal plane...
Although we had an entire row and a 4th seat, we hadn't even taken off yet before Camryn had to come across and sit on my lap. Yay.
How did Matt end up with well-behaved, movie-watching Cole and an entire row to themselves???
Notice me and my monkey named Camryn in the background... I do not like flying with her.
We made it to Houston--Tex-Mex right away, please! :)
A flashback to crazy Cam on the airplane. It's normal for her to kick (literally) off her shoes and socks once the flight is underway.
Back to some great Tex-Mex and dancing
Having fun at Mimi's house.
They loved this nativity scene and are kind of obsessed with "baby Jesus" in general.
This Christmas decoration church plays hymn-sounding Christmas songs when you press a button. They both excitedly informed me immediately that it was Baby Jesus singing.
On Christmas Eve, we all gathered at MD Anderson at St. Luke's to have a bell-ringing party for Anne, who completed her last day of radiation then.
Had to have
GRAY balloons, of course.
Oh wait--some more of Baby Jesus singing...
Cole was all about the "birthday cakes" we brought for the bell-ringing party
Now we're on to Christmas morning. Santa didn't disappoint this time around either.
I was quite relieved Matt had my new fleece sent to Texas for me to open. It was COLD while we were there!
If there was sound to these pictures, you'd hear Ariel singing "Part of your World" and Cole singing "Jake and Neverland Pirates and Meeeeeee" over and over and over as you look at all the many pictures of them playing with the pirate ship and princess castle.
Jenny's new labrodoodle puppy, DJ! We love our doodles...Wish Mario could've been there to play with him too.
Had to take a couple dessert pictures. I'm still not over how beautiful and delicious this chocolate cake was that their neighbor made.
Wake up, Daddy!
She is quite the momma. Most of the time when she plays with dolls, she carries two at a time--along with a "purse" and some other kind of bag too. Wonder where she's learned that from?
Grandpa got sticker-ed by Cam...
Uncle and Aunt Stacey love...
Christmas #3 at Mimi's!! Tents!! Babies!! Cars!!
They love playing in their tents. Turns out these tents have also become kitchens--They like going in and baking all kinds of cookies in there.??
Too much fun with all the Christmases. She finally passed out.
The new favorite, "Goofy Movie". It's another classic. And apparently to be watched as close as one can possibly watch it.? Dare I say it is the "King Cole Movie" of 2013 now? As I mentioned earlier, I think "King Cole" is so 2012, while "Goofy Movie" is the new trend for 2013.
Doing their first Build-A-Bear (and Monkey).
None of my kids ever pose nicely for me, but Tiger sure does!
They like wearing their aprons around. Cam wore her's actually out and about quite a bit too.
Helping Grandpa Bill open his Birthday presents...And getting into his Birthday cake and ice cream.
One of our trips to the Houston Zoo. It was SO COLD that day, of course.
The coolest thing was that we got to feed the giraffes! The past few nights at dinner now, they ask to eat like giraffes. Meaning, I fix a salad (with lots of ranch dressing, of course) and they proceed to "eat leaves" like the giraffes did. It's a great concept. They actually eat quite a bit of salad this way. Works for me!
Cole, at least, warmed up (literally!) to Aunt Cheryl. I was jealous of her super cute coat...And, well, just the fact that she had such a warm coat, in general, that day.
Good thing we brought the kids' hats...for Matt and Robby to wear instead. Here, Robby finally found his own kind to be with.
A good nose-picking on the way to the elephants.
Finally we got them (mostly Cam) some popcorn. They're so spoiled, they think that eating popcorn and being at the zoo go hand in hand.
Love the petting zoo there.
And of course we had to say hi to llama llama. Cole informed me this particular one was Mama Llama, though.
Hmmm..a quick jump back to Matt's kid's Christmas party. ???
...with a quick New Year's Eve photo stuck in the mix...
Okay, now back to the very beginning of December. (Uploader!!!???) Matt's company did a kid's Christmas party at the aquarium. Very fun.
Also in December, a bad bug ran through the house. (Of course) Cole got it the worst. He had several sick days until he got through it. Nothing feels better than a couch bed when you're sick in this house, though. Mario agrees. Notice all the towels randomly spread out around this little bugga? Poor guy.
--Back at the Aquarium--
And back to a sick day. He would just randomly fall asleep anywhere. Even mid-train playing. :(
Here we are back at the Denver Zoo. We love zoo's. And we love the Owen's, who we went with that day!
A random picture thrown in of a very cold night, after a yummy dinner at one of our favorite brewery restaurants.
Here they are at their MOPS Christmas program. They were so cute. Bless their teachers! I thought mine would just stand up their and cry or try to run out to me. But they all stood there so nicely and said "God Is Good!" about 3 times. Adorable.
At their dance/gymnastics class. Proof that they love each other. When it came time to do some partner dancing, they immediately ran to the other and picked each other for partners.
--Back to the MOPS program. Which, by the way, they randomly now will proclaim God. Is. Good! to this day...
Back to some good dancing and having fun in the gym.
Before Matt's Company Christmas party. It was fun getting a new dress, new shoes, and having my friend come over and do hair and make up.
Crazy kids. Boxes continue to be so much fun.
We went to visit Matt at work. You can take the guy out of work, but unfortunately, can
never take the work out of the guy.
They liked reading "Nana's voice" book with "The Night Before Christmas".
One afternoon while we waited for the pending snow to arrive we made cards for Connecticut and watched one of our favorites, Ellen.
Snow came! And somehow we squeezed two-year old Cam into this 12M size snow suit. We were seriously lacking in appropriate gear--in appropriate sizes, at that. Needless to say, we are all geared up properly now and ready for the next snow!
Cole was just ehhh on the snow (like me!). He was out for about 5 minutes and said "Cole go inside". I wish I could've joined him. However, I had to stay out with snow lovers Camryn and Mario. She NEVER wanted to come in. After naps she went back out and played in it too.
Our new family Christmas present, can't wait to learn how to use it better.
So for the next batch of pictures, enjoy how the uploader has randomly chosen to display memories of our Christmas and New Years....In absolutely no particular order.
(they talked about making Santa cookies with Mimi for weeks!)
It was fun getting Elmo and Cookie Monster cookies at our beloved RJ Goodies for lunch one day.
Showing off her sweater that Grandma Dolores got them. They are so cute!
We went to zoo lights at the Houston Zoo. It was a great evening. I think they were equally excited about going to Grandpa's work before too.
Thank goodness the merry-go-round "woke up" so Cole could ride it!
And we got to see the giraffes in their giraffe house here too. Love them.
Cam preferred to stay snug in her stroller and just wave to Cole every time he went by on the merry go round.
Watching "Cowboy Movie" and hanging with Fisher at Mimi's. Cole took on the role of Fisher's shadow, once again. :)
Loved seeing my Momma's while we were home. They loved Jack. They said many times how he's a nice guy. ;)
Finally headed back to Colorado after a great visit. Next to our plane, before we boarded, we got to watch the unbelievably emotional ceremony of a fallen soldier arriving to the terminal beside us. There wasn't a dry eye around. We watched as fire trucks lined up spraying water over the plane as it pulled in, then we watched as countless police officers and military personnel lined up giving their solute to the plane--and stayed that way as the fallen soldier was loaded off the plane. It was so moving and beautiful. Somehow, even my kids knew this was something special and they were quiet and just watched it all go on too. I have chill bumps just thinking about it. I felt so small watching such heroism in all forms, but at the same time, was overwhelmed with emotions and gratitude.
I fondly look back to 2012 and hope 2013's good times ou-number other times in the year ahead.
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