Christmas part 3

Christmas day we were also able to get together with family. We went to Gaga and Daddo's to see what Santa had brought us. Also we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of fruit, homemade cinnamon rolls (which Vicky got up at 5am to make), and breakfast casserole. Yummy!

Then we opened gifts. My battery on the camera was dieing so we only got a few.


Here are a few pictures of Hunter's first Christmas. Jessi and Tanner of course helped open his gift.


Here are the rest of us. The kids were great and very blessed to get so much again this year. Thanks to everyone. MJ also recieved a digital frame to put on his desk at work.

Christmas part 2

In MJ's family it is a tradition to go to his Aunt's house and have a traditional Mexican Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. We have wonderful homemade tamales and then Auntie Rain makes Enchiladas and rice and beans from scratch for Jessica and I. This year they were just for me since Jessica went to Utah. They are soooo good!

Then we exchange gifts. It is a wonderful tradition, but we are getting so big we will have to see if we will be able to continue it in the years to come. Here are a few pictures of the event.


Hunter enjoyed being held by everyone. I got some pictures of him with Great Grandma Connie and Uncle Victor. Also with Victor holding Hunter and his second cousin Rochelle that is almost exactly 1 month older. She didn't like Hunter very much. She glared at him all night, even though she gave smiles to everyone else. I think she didn't like her Grandpa holding someone else.


Hunter actually really liked the elephant that was in his stocking. He stared at it and even pushed a few buttons. He also got a new "lovie" like our other kids. He seemed to like it while Daddo and he took a nap.


Tanner loved the toys he received. He had to wait his turn until Hunter and Shelly had opened all of their gifts and he was really patient. Also Jessi helped him with all his presents and he was a really good sport about it. He kept saying, "Tear, tear, tear" until it was opened, then he would pick up all the paper before he would look at the toy. It was pretty cute. His favorite thing was a "bug vacuum". He used it the rest of the night picking up scraps of paper and pine needles while the rest of us were opening our gifts.



Jessi also loved all her gifts. She is loving playing with the marble game that she got the next day and it is still out.

Christmas part 1

Since Jessica and Adam went to Utah this year we did Christmas early with them on Sunday. Chris and Melissa were able to join us too. Here are a few pictures.


Tanner got a cool Mickey race track. He played with it all night and slept with it too. Jessi helped him open it of course.


Jessi got some cute shirts, a few jewelry items and a piggy bank with a dollar in it. Tanner promptly took the dollar out and tried to figure out what it did.


Here are the Aunts and Uncles opening a few gifts.


Jessi helped everyone open their gifts.


MJ got his tools to help make pie making easier.

Christmas Eve Day

This year we went down to Monterey with Chris and Melissa. We are hoping to make this a tradition. We had a great time at the aquarium and then went to Bubba Gumps for lunch. Here are a few pictures.


We had fun in the touch pools and other things to do at the aquarium. Melissa loved touching the ray, and we all loved looking at all the fun fish and other animals in the different tanks.


This is our attempt at taking a family picture while we waited for lunch.

Special Visitor

We had a special visitor again this year that took time out of his busy schedule to come and visit us and give a little something to our little ones. We hope that he continues this tradition and that we are lucky enough to stay on his "good" list.

Hunter 2 months

Hunter is now 13lbs and 24 inches long. He is starting to smile but is very stingy about giving them out. I'm sure that will change in the next week or two though. Daddy gets the most (he finally got his "Daddy's boy"). I tried to get a smile on film but couldn't get it yet but I did get a pretty good pouting face. Also he is starting to "talk" a lot more. He is sleeping better, 4-5 hours in a row most nights and eating every 2-4 hours during the day. Last night he went from 9:30pm-5:00am between feedings. I'm hoping that this is the start of a new trend! Only time will tell. He has also started to get his hands in his mouth more consistently, sucking on them sometimes instead of the Binky. I hope that that is also a trend.


Just for comparison. Here were the other kids stats at 2 months.
Jessi was 13.4lbs and 23.5 inches long at 2.5 months.
Tanner was 11.8lbs and 23 inches long at 2 months.

Gingerbread House

The other night we decided to make a gingerbread house. I didn't read the instructions before we started and it was supposed to set for a few hours after you put it together, but we did okay with the help of MJ and Gaga. Here are some pictures of the experience.

Cute pictures of Hunter

Hunter had some cute outfits that I couldn't resist taking pictures of. I thought I would share them. The green outfit is size 6 months!

Also I wanted to capture Hunter's hair "style". He has more hair on his right side even though that is the side that he prefers to lay on right now. He has barely any hair on the top of his head but has a part down the middle anyway. Then in the back he looks like an old man with a growing bald spot. Enjoy!

Party with Santa

MJ was invited to the work party of one of his clients at work and the whole family got to attend. Santa was there and Jessi loved it. Tanner wasn't so sure but at least he wasn't crying in the picture. Also they had cookie decorating, crafts and lots of yummy treats. Santa even read a story for the kids. I hope that we get to go again next year.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

One week later, take two

This is what our tree looks like now. MJ tied it to the ceiling so we would be safe.

Timber

This is what I found in my living room Thursday afternoon after I heard a crash while changing Hunter's diaper. Luckily the kids weren't in there at the time. Someone could have been hurt.

Christmas in the Park

Saturday we had another relaxing day. The Dad's tackled our entertainment center, which was quite a mess. It now works well and we don't have to switch the connections to use different accessories.
Then we went to Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose. My camera died but I got a few pictures before then.


Here are our crazy cute kids. We dressed extra warm, but by the time we got there it wasn't so bad.


Here is our family.


The kids. Hunter (about 6 weeks), Tanner (2), Zack (7), Jessi (4 1/2), Kirsten 8 1/2), and Caleb (3).


Here we are watching the train go by. The kids loved all the fun things to see.

Black Friday

Though it is called Black Friday because of the shopping, we didn't go out this year for the first time since Jessi was born. We went and got our Christmas tree and decorated it and put up the Christmas decorations instead and had a nice relaxing day at home and skipped the crowds this year.


This is the tree that we found for our house. Jessi and Tanner enjoyed "helping" Daddy cut it down.


This is the group of us that went to cut down the trees this year in front of Mike and Vicky's tree. Chris and Melissa were taking the pictures so we had to get a separate shot of them. Sorry it wasn't that great.


Here we are putting up the tree and decorating it.


Here is Jessi doing some more decorating after everyone else was done. She loved these hand made ornaments from Grandma/Grandpa Gale and Gloria.


Aunt Kathryn and the boys on the floor reading a story. Tanner, Zack and Caleb are all there, look closely.


The boys didn't last long decorating the tree, we had already helped decorate Mike and Vicky's tree earlier. They decided to "play" and I think it ended up in a little fight but the pictures are good anyway.

Enjoy!

Zach's Birthday and Thanksgiving Day

Wednesday was my nephew, Zach's, Birthday. He turned 7, I can't believe it. The kids played all day and pulled out tons of toys and had a blast all day and then we had cake and ice cream after dinner and then Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Mike took the kids and some other helpers to the Sharks Hockey game. We (Kathryn, Me, Melissa, and MJ) were only left with Hunter.

MJ was busy making 5 pies for Thanksgiving dinner so us girls watched "My Sister's Keeper." MJ is an amazing cook and makes excellent pies. He makes everything from scratch. He made 2 pumpkin, 1 apple, 1 lemon ma range and 1 pecan pie. He even cleaned up his mess and was in bed just after midnight!

Thanksgiving day was nice and relaxing thanks to MJ making the pies the day before. The only chore we had to do was make the "kids" turkey. They all had a blast.


Tanner and Caleb, Buddies, watching Dora on the computer while they waited for the older kids to wake up. They are 10 months apart but are into almost all of the same things.


Here is the Turkey in process. Is there more eating happening or more making the turkey?


The finished product. They were so proud:)


Hunter lived in his bouncer this week when we wasn't being held. He was content as could be with all the noise from the other kids, I think he likes it more when it is noisy.

We had Vicky, Mike, Adam, Jessica, Chris, Melissa, Kathyrn, Nathan, and their kids, and MJ and I with ours at our house this year for Thanksgiving. We usually go to MJ's Auntie Rains, but with my sis in town it was just too many people, so we split up this year. Vicky lent us her china and so we had quite the spread for the adults at least. I'm sorry that I didn't get any pictures of us or the food. I don't think anyone did. After cleaning up and relaxing a little we broke out the wonderful pies and then put the kids to bed. Then the adults played some Wii, again, sorry no pictures. Over all it was a great holiday with even more fun to come the next day.

Thanksgiving week

My sister, Kathyrn, and her family drove in from Utah for the Thanksgiving weekend. They were here Wednesday morning to Sunday and we had a blast. I didn't get enough pictures and I'm sure that I will forget something fun that we did, so here is her blog so you can check it out too http://knatfam.blogspot.com/ Then next few posts are of that week. If I can get them in today I will while Hunter is attempting to sleep and the other two are entertained for a few minutes.

Hunter 1 month

I can't believe that Hunter is one month already. He is still getting bigger and eating a ton. The only difference is that now he is getting formula every 2-3 hours instead of breast milk. I decided that it wasn't for me and that I would be happier for everyone if I stopped. So it has been a little over a week and he is doing well on the formula. I think that he also just went through another growth spurt because he was eating 4oz every 2 hours around the clock and now he is sleeping a lot today and last night. MJ saved me again last night and took the 1 o'clock feeding and then Hunter slept until 5:30 so I got about 6-7 hours of solid sleep. I feel like a new person today!
Overall Hunter is still a very mellow baby. Every night he has a "fussy time". But he doesn't really cry even then, he just squirms a lot and doesn't sleep. I couldn't ask for an easier baby. I just keep waiting for him to get harder but crossing my fingers that he doesn't.
I am feeling almost back to normal too. I cleaned the house today for the first time since he came. I know that is pretty gross, but true. It feels good to live in peace again.
Enjoy the pictures!



Like the double chins?


4 weeks old


Jessi feeding Hunter for the first time. She loves to hold him still.


Jessi and Hunter watching TV together. He will usually fall asleep right there on her lap if I let her hold him long enough.

Being Spoiled and a weird Rash

Last Saturday I went to a scout training and MJ stayed home with all three kids. Everything went well and I got a little break. Then MJ made a pedicure appointment for me so I went to that right after I got back from the training. Jessi went to, so MJ then had the 2 boys.
At the salon, I noticed a weird rash on Jessi's cheek, I thought maybe she had bumped her face, but it wasn't going away and when I touched her ear, she said it hurt, so we called the doctor and went right away to see if it was an ear infection. He checked her ears and said they were clear and started her on an antibiotic just in case and also recommended trying Benedryl. We got home and gave her Benedryl and started her on the antibiotic that night and she seemed fine on Sunday. Then Monday night she had the same rash on the other cheek. Here are some pictures of the Monday rash and a little on the other cheek. Anyway, she is fine again, and I'm wondering if it is something like eczema. We are still giving the antibiotic though.


So MJ ended up having the kids literally all day on Saturday!!! I am so spoiled to have such a wonderful partner in life.

Hunter and the Family

Daddy time with Hunter. They were making faces at each other.


Tanner doesn't pay much attention to Hunter most of the time, but he likes to talk to him, "hey Buddy," and occasionally (twice) wants to hold him for a few seconds.


Here is a look at how he has changed over the last week. He has some great expressions but overall is a really mellow baby, so far.


Jessi can't get enough of holding Hunter. He will usually sit with her for about 30 minutes before he falls asleep in her arms and then I put him in his bed. I think they both enjoy the time. I hope that he lets her hold him for a long time, and doesn't get to squirmy. She and Tanner both have colds so she has to wear a mask and she doesn't mind a bit, she actually reminds me.

Halloween

The kids had a great time at trunk-or-treat at church with Daddy and both grandmas and also Trick-or-treating down our street. I was able to go down the street with them, MJ and Tia, while mom, Chris and Melissa stayed home with Hunter and handed out candy. Jessi decided to be a witch this year for Halloween and Tanner chose to be a football player. Daddy found Jessi's costume and Grandma accessorized it. Hunter was content to stay at home and get his candy second hand from me.