Truman: the loyal little man

Today Truman turns 2. It's kind of cool because usually when my babes have turned 2 there is another baby around to distract, but NOT THIS TIME! Here is my car-loving cute one from the other day:and today, the other kids were playing at a friend's house while Tru and I went to his well-check. He never enjoys the doctor much (HATES it) but we did a little shopping together and picked up some balloons for the occasion. I figured he'd get a kick out of it...
Then Avery and Max gave him their special gift when he woke up from his nap: a pickle.
this boy LOVES pickles! (I've caught him carrying jars of them around from the pantry more than once) Then we had dinner, his choice of rolled hot dogs and peaches with cottage cheese.
He also has a passion for trains, so Max and I surprised him with this cake:
He didn't want to leave it after he saw it. that made me happy.
"...should I put the fire out?"

everybody helping themselves to the sugar:
It was a fun day -- especially the 3 hours I had alone with Truman this morning. I should arrange that more often -- he was such a peaceful, pleasant boy. Happy 2 Tru!

Dates with our kids

For Christmas, one of the gifts we gave our kids was a gift of love, in the form of time by way of coupons. How's that? So they each have one for a date with each parent. Avery wanted to "go out" with me first and chose bowling. A 9 lb ball was the lightest we could find:She was like a different person -- it was so fun to be one-on-one with her and I could tell she felt so special --
Even though all the gutter bumpers were being used, she didn't care -- just became familiar with the lingo and LOVED checking the score on the monitor.
No date is complete without a little treat of some sort. I think I'll ask her out again.
Then Max wanted to cash his coupon in for his daddy date and chose mini-golfing:
Ry said they had a great time too -- Max is really into deep thinking and asking lots of pertinent questions.

Max's Triumph

And the training wheels come off. Sunny days in December are a breath of fresh air. Literally.

Christmas Morn

We had to do a bit of stalling 'cause we wanted Truman to get as much sleep as possible but the kids didn't mind -- since they found some fun cereal under their stockings.stockings awaiting:
finally we decided to wake the babe -- cutie pie
checking out the stockings --

Ry got this shirt from the kids -- he'll enjoy those "car massages" later
It was Tru's turn to open a gift but he had just opened a pkg of fruit snacks, but he didn't want them to get lost, so he just shoved the whole lot into his mouth and got onto opening...
Avery thought she didn't get the thing she wanted, but she maturely said, "but that's fine with me" and then opened her Rapunzel doll very last -- SURPRISE!
I guess I belong in the kitchen from the looks of my gifts...
There were lots of fun girly things in Avery's stocking -- she was decked out for church --
bad picture in the garage, but I really do love going to church on Christmas day -- keeps things in perspective.
After church we headed over to Grandma's to celebrate her birthday and opens Christmas gifts.
Lindsay jumped to volunteer to bring the ice cream from the freezer downstairs -- I think she was a hesitant to give it up... (just had a baby)
the kids had way to much fun with the noisemakers --
Happy Birthday to you, Marilyn!

Christmas Eve

Little Ellie Noel made sure to come early enough to come to all the parties. Good thing or this outfit Katie made her might not have been as appropriate.We had quite the spread for lunch...
had a little white elephant exchange for the kids --

the kids got their work-out, playing some Wii
the adults watched a couple Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert re-runs , the men went over to the church and played basketball, , , then we popped in Christmas Vacation (tradition...)
and home to get in our beds...

Caroling Caroling

A lot of singing's been going on lately... what with this Holiday and all. Last night we hosted our first annual informal Messiah sing-along. It's a good thing Katie came -- all others were busy with other parties etc. We ate all their apple pie though, don't worry.
the night before, we went caroling with the Primary kids -- Max and Tru are over on the right side of the picture (red-hatted Tru) and Avery's in the blue coat -
They sang Christmas Bells and Away in a Manger at a block of houses. Even the one where the tweens looked out the window, saw us and then shut the curtains. (They must not know caroling-etiquette.)
That lovely bass you hear is Nick, the camera man. Avery really got into it and sang right along -- Good Girl! (and you'll notice that even when no one can hear him, Max still talks. and talks. and talks.)

Christmas Traditions

We've been doing a lot of fun things this season but not taking a lot of pictures. The darkness and our old camera just don't mix. Last Friday we met Shel and G's family to see the lights on temple square, and then out to dinner. We re-decided that it is not a good idea to get our kids together (excitement) and then hit a buffet and still expect to converse during dinner. I'm afraid our kids now outnumber us so we were always running back and forth getting someone more jello or drinks etc. But it was still fun to get together and we're already looking back fondly on it.
I will try to be better at taking pictures at the activities this week -- as there are a few everyday.

Me and my Tru and Avery Poo

I have a new puppy. His name is Truman. He loves to cuddle with me and he smells nice - that's the kinda dog I'm talking' about...

And I decided to help his curls (which I adore) out by trimming the wispy ends. But to be official, this is TRUMAN'S FIRST HAIR-CUT! you can see how the roots are not blonde, I'm not gonna give up on my blondie until summer comes and he continues to get darker.

meanwhile... it was almost time for Avery eat lunch and be off to school, she said she could just do it herself while I finished cutting hair, so I didn't even instruct her on what or how. (I figured she'd ask when it was time to do something she didn't know how to do)

1st lesson learned: don't use a butter knife to cut through a loaf of bread.

2nd lesson: put the mayo on before you grate the cheese all over the dry bread (although the grating, I thought, was ingenious since she was avoiding the sharp knives and all) so you don't spill the grated cheese all over the floor when trying to balance the sandwich and the mayo at the fridge door.

The picture doesn't do it justice?

and here's my sweet freshly cut almost-2-yr-old:

and right now, awaiting his dinner he cuddles with his favorite sister during Curious George. (I'd better get on that)