"All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth!"

I guess that Micah wished really hard for his two front teeth to come for Christmas, and it looks like his wish came true!  On December 24th, Micah woke up with his 1st tooth broken through.  :)  And one week later (this morning) his second one followed in.  I tried to capture his toothy grin in the picture below...  look closely - you can see his baby pearly whites!  
(Oh, and for comparison's sake, I decided to throw in the photo I took of Samuel's first 2 teeth - - funny that I happened to capture these two photos on the swing?!  Look how different our two boys look!)

On Christmas morning, Samuel was excited to see that Santa ate his cookies & milk, and the reindeer ate their carrots.   

 Samuel helped Micah open his first present - Pooh Bear - Sammy was a great helper in passing out gifts.  

 Samuel's last (& main) present was this new fancy bike (those were his words!).  He LOVES riding his new bike and each day is getting more confident on it.  

We took 2 family photos Christmas morning... in our jammies at the breakfast table, and all dressed in front of the Christmas tree.  

And here's one last shot of my two smiling boys  :)   Such sweethearts!!

6 months old!

Our darling Micah Caedmon turned 6 months old on Sunday, December 18.  His 6-month check up at the doctor's went very well!  Micah doesn't cry at all when the doctor examines him - which is a lot unlike his big brother at that age.  :)   Though he did cry when receiving his shots, but recovered almost instantly when I held him.  Micah measures 28 inches long (95%), with a head circumference of 45cm (92%), and he weighs 20 pounds, 8 ounces now (93%)!  Which, it turns out, is just what his Daddy weighed at 6 months old, I'm told!  

He is our happy baby boy, full of smiles and rolls (& rolls) of ticklish spots.  

On his 6 month birthday, we introduced rice cereal for the first time.  He was so cute sitting in his little highchair with bib on and ready to go.  He took a few bites, but wasn't too interested in the rice cereal...  he was more interested in holding the spoon himself, as witnessed below!  Since then, he actually seems to like the rice cereal less and less!  :\  He bats the spoon away, closes his lips, gags and frowns.  Which is odd, because its mixed with his favorite thing - breastmilk!  Time will tell...  and until then, he is still so cute.  

Now that Micah is sitting up like a pro, he is taking baths in the big bathtub with Samuel.  He LOVES bathtime, and splashes and kicks as best as he can in the warm water.  

Last week I brought Micah along to my halau's Christmas party.  He had fun hanging out with the other babies, Elliette & Rocko (Rocko & Micah are only 6 days apart!).  :)  What cuties!  

And I thought I'd throw this one in too, for the record... the three hula babies before they were born.  (From left to right: Elliette, Rocko & Micah).  :)  

More about Micah - he loves his sitting up freedom now.  He spends a good deal of time playing with his toys that surround him on a blanket.  :)  

Our little guy currently has his first full-blown cold.  Runny nose, cough, sore throat, fussiness and all!  Poor little guy.  The only bright thing about this cold, oddly enough, is that he is sleeping so much better at night now!  :)  

Lets see, what else is new for little Micah?  He takes a long afternoon nap (in addition to his several other shorter naps throughout the day); which is nice for this Momma, especially when it matches up with Samuel's afternoon nap!  He goes to bed between 7-7:30pm, and likes to sleep in, usually between 7:15-8:15 or so... but yesterday he slept in until nearly 9:30am (I think its because of the cold)!  He is nursing  every 3 hours or so, and we're trying to give him rice cereal once a day.  Micah adores his big brother and Sammy always makes him smile (and sometimes cry, but that's what 3-year old big brothers do sometimes!)  Overall, we love every moment of having a 6-month old in the house.  What a precious treasure you are, Micah!  We love you!  

Christmas Fun

"You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why: Santa Clause is coming, to the Library..."  :)  

This was by far the BEST Santa that we have ever come across.  So caring, friendly, warm, genuine and talkative.  :)  Sammy had a great time and told him what he really wanted for Christmas - a new black choo-choo.  :)  

Micah is enthralled with the Christmas tree and the train going around the tree...  :)  I love that he can sit up all by himself now!

 Last Tuesday was Samuel's Christmas program at his preschool.  He did great singing and doing all the hand motions up on stage!  :)   We are so proud of you, little guy!

Last night was a SUPER fun night - - Andrew and I got to go to see The Makaha Sons & Keali'i Reichel in concert at the Birch North Park Theatre.  It was such a wonderful evening full of great music, hawaiian dancing, and unbelievable memories spent with my best friend.  Below is a picture of Keali'i (my favorite Hawaiian artist) singing E O Mai with The Makaha Sons accompanying, and a dancer performing a solo hula to the song.   

Before the concert, we were invited to a VIP pupu and "meet and greet" pre-party at the theatre.  This is how close we got to meeting Keali'i!!!  I was able to snap a few pictures of him, but before I could get to the front of the line, he was wisked away backstage.  So close!!!  

That's it for now!  Have a great week-before-Christmas everybody!  

10 Year Anniversary

On December 7th, our family celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Living Donor Liver Transplant between my brother and my Dad.  We are so thankful that they are both healthy and doing so well 10 years later.  Thank you Jesus for taking care of them!  

On Saturday, December 10th, my Mom organized a surprise party for Dad & Jason!  All the family and some dear friends gathered for a special lunch honoring my brother, my Dad, and the life-saving gift that was given 10 years ago.   What a special memory!

A very special trip, for two very special boys!

So last Thursday our sweet boy Samuel had surgery on his right thumb.  Long story short, he was born with what is called "trigger thumb" which meant he couldn't straighten it all the way.  He did really great on surgery day, and we are so proud of our little guy.  On Sunday, we treated him to his very first trip to Disneyland!  He was soooo excited, and for the few days leading up to it, he kept calling it "Mindy-land."  Hahaha....  :)  

Here are our two boys waiting patiently in the first of many lines of the day - - the entrance line.  

Walking down Main Street...  Disneyland was sure beautifully decorated for Christmas!  Sammy had his map in hand, and was pointing to different spots on the map, then leading us which way to go.  

Ride #1: Autopia... first with Daddy, then with Mommy.  Thanks for the rider swap, we only had to wait in line once!  

Ride #2, and one of his favorites: Matterhorn!  He said the big "Gorilla" in the ride was only a little bit scary.  

Then we were off to see Its a Small World.  :)  Micah really enjoyed this one too!  

And here's a priceless shot of our very own little Mickey Mouse.   

We had a great time and are so thankful we got to take our first little Disney vacation as a family!  

Decking the Halls :) Oh, and Sam getting his groove on...

Our home is finally Christmas-complete, with our tree up and decorated. We went to Green Thumb on Sunday after church and picked out this perfect little tree.

Andrew lifted Samuel up to put the star on top. :)
All done! We even have his little geotrax train going around the tree.
Yesterday was a fun day spent at Legoland. They have an area all set up with snow! Sammy loved this, especially making and throwing snowballs at the targets and going down the mini sled hill!
Andrew and I got all dressed up for his work's Christmas party - what a fun night without kids! Thank you to our babysitters! :)
And what post would be complete without a video? This is sure to make you all laugh... Sammy has gone crazy dancing around our living room... haha!

Look what Micah can do!!!

Today Micah sat up for the first time - all by himself! He sat there, balancing like a pro! And it wasn't just for 2 or 3 seconds... he held it for much longer than that! It was as if he was telling me by the look on his face, "C'mon Mom, don't be too surprised! Don't you know by now how super strong and super smart I am?!" :) We always knew this little guy would keep us on our toes!

Here comes a whole new world of play time for you little buddy!
And here's the proof of the pudding, so they say... I caught it all on video!

Way to go Micah! We love you!

Fall Photos!

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Davidsons. Micah got to meet his Gigi & Great Grampy for the first time! What a delightful moment!

We had lots of fun hanging out with the family. Here's a cute picture of us (without Sammy - - he was off playing...) with our brother Adam & his girlfriend Lauren. :)One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing all of the beautiful fall leaves. It was windy too, so when we looked outside, we saw "raining leaves" all around! Andrew raked them into a big pile and we all had fun jumping in all the leaves. We tried to get a picture of the two boys laying in the leaves... it was a great idea, but didn't turn out as we had hoped! :) Sammy's couldn't stop covering his eyes from the bright sun... and Micah burst into tears a few seconds after we layed him down (this photo is actually pre-tears, so not that bad!)!
We had a great weekend and are so thankful for these precious moments with our family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, I thought that first off, I'd share my mommy moment of the day: This morning, I found myself "Ousting" the inside my car, after realizing I had left a BIG poopy diaper in the trunk for 24 hours with the windows closed. :) Oh the joys of mommyhood! :) And I'm thankful for every moment!

Last weekend we celebrated "pre-thanksgiving" with my family. What a wonderful tradition! Lots of delicious food and precious time with the whole family together.

This was the first year we incorporated the "kid's table." Ahhh, the kids table... I have so many fond memories of sitting the "kid's table" with all of my cousins growing up!
Here is our 4th annual cousin photo... each year the number of grandkids grows and grows! :) We are looking forward to next year with the addition of Jason and Mindy's little baby boy or girl!

And the following few photos are what I am most thankful for... my darling husband and 7 1/2 wonderful years together...
...my sweet and silly Samuel, who is just loving his Sees chocolate turkey...
...and my precious baby Micah, wearing the happiest smile ever on his face!
Micah is super cute with his thanksgiving feather hat :)
Great Grandma June & her #19 :)
We wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving this week! :)