Quick Update

Hey, we are still here! Just been a while since I posted anything. Things are good, just very busy!

Carmen has been walking since a little after she turned a year old. She is all over the place. She has no fear. Her latest trick is to climb to the top of slides and go down head first.

Simon had his first primary activity yesterday. They had to dress as missionaries. He looked the part for sure and he had a blast.

Happy Birthday Carmen!

Carmen is One! We love this little girl so much. She has the sweetest personality, and she is so funny. It is crazy that a year has already gone by. Here is Carmen's year in review.

Brand New

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

Eight Months

Nine Months

Ten Months

Eleven Months

One Year!

At one year Carmen is working on walking, if you hold one of her hands she's fine. So far she has taken one and a half steps on her own. :) She has a silly sense of humor and loves to laugh and make people laugh. She can do signs for "more", "all done", and "drink". She can say "mamma", "dadda", "doggy", "nanana" (banana), and "nigh, nigh" (good night) consistently. Sometimes you can get her to say other things, but if she can't figure out how to say a word she thinks for a minute and then starts to laugh. She is extremely curious and loves to get into all kinds of trouble. Her favorite things to do are listening and dancing to music (Queen and Mumford and Sons are her latest favorites), following Simon around and listening to him read to her, and sucking her thumb. She is a tiny little thing, and that's the way we like it. We love our Carmen!

Christmas

We traveled to Chicago this Christmas, but before we left we had our own little Christmas Eve at home so the kids could open most of their presents before we left.

Ryan painted this Mickey bed for Simon. It's nice he doesn't have to squeeze into a little toddler bed anymore. :)

Singing songs.

Opening presents. Carmen got the hang of the gift opening, but she was still more excited about the paper and ribbons.

Playing the game he got.

That Sunday we got together with my brothers and sisters. The kids put on a little nativity show, and my parents were able to skype in to be a part of it.

We flew to Chicago Christmas Eve. The kids did extremely well traveling. They had so much fun with their Mumsy and Gus and hanging out with their cousins that they rarely get to see.

Mumsy Jammies!

Reading with Gus.

Santa found us in Chicago.

The Christmas program.

Decorating ginger bread houses.

We took the train to the Choo Choo Cafe.

We also drove into the city to the Shedd Aquarium (or "Mequarium" as Simon likes to call it). Both kids loved it. It is HUGE and they have so many cool things to see.

Watching the dolphin show with Mumsy.

Carmen loved watching all the fish, but the sharks were her favorite.

Simon found Nemo.

We had a really great time. It was fun to get to spend the holidays with Ryan's parents. Something we've never been able to do. Simon got very emotional when he realized we were leaving his Mumsy's house. We were driving home today and he mentioned out of the the blue, "I miss Mumsy's house." Thank you to Ryan's parent's for being so generous and letting us come stay with them.

Looking Like Christmas

Simon really wanted to make a gingerbread house this year so we made one out of graham crackers. When we were done he insisted that it was a cracker house, NOT a ginger bread house. He loves it anyway. He likes to pretend he is the grinch and hides it in random places.

Making gingerbread cookies.

Sledding!

Carmen, after face planting in the snow.

Sitting on Santa's lap. Simon said he wants "A pirate ship and a captain hook." He's been rehearsing that line for weeks. Carmen was just happy to get a free candy cane.

Christmas Time

We decided we couldn't do without a tree this year. Simon became very concerned when we even mentioned not having a tree. So here it is! It's small and beautiful and it smells amazing!

Halloween

Carving pumpkins. Simon says his pumpkin is Peter Pan's face.

Captain Hook

Peter Pan dressed up for school.

I found Simon's old tiger costume while I was getting costumes put together. I had to stick Carmen in it.

The family all dressed up: Tiger Lily, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, Nanna, and Peter Pan.

Out trick-or-treating.

Buddies.