Decorating for Christmas

We finally got out all the Christmas decorations and our totally cheap fake tree! We don't have anything fancy but everything I have is extra special to me because it was mostly all given to me by family.

Aedan had so much fun helping with the tree! He was so excited to decorate the "present tree" and wanted to do everything he possibly could. It was pretty cute and super fun. Cali loved the ornaments and had fun playing with them (luckily they don't break easily... they actually bounced when she dropped them.).

Here is a picture of most of our decorations. Aedan, Cali and I all have nutcrackers from my Grandma that I love on the fireplace mantel. Our stockings were made by Geoff's sister Jeanette and we love them too! I have Christmas bunny salt/pepper shakers that I put on our entertainment center this year. My Nana gave those to me a long time ago because I love bunnies and because she passed away this year I wanted them front and center.

I have 2 nativities. One of them my Grandma gave me years ago and I not only love it because it's from her but I also love it cuz it's so cute! The other one my Mom gave to the kids and it's a "little people" nativity. SO CUTE!!

Tree decorating!!

I got new ornaments after Christmas last year because I needed ones that wouldn't break into a million pieces when dropped. So, Aedan helped me put the little hooks on them. He was such a big helper!

Aedan loved putting the ornaments on the tree! He did a great job and didn't drop any.

We helped Cali put some ornaments on the tree too and she thought it was pretty fun.

I got the kids their own ornaments the years they were born. Aedan thought it was so cool that his name was on one of them and had fun putting it on the tree. I couldn't find Cali's anywhere so I'll have to either search for it or go get her another one. My Mom got Aedan an ornament for his first Christmas but it's very fragile so I actually haven't put it on the tree yet. I'm going to wait until the kids are a little older. :)

Here they are when the tree is all done! We only have like 5 unique ornaments and the rest all match which I think is funny. Someday I hope to have a tree full of fun random ones like we always had growing up.

All the ornaments are bunched together where Aedan put them on so we're going to spread them out a little now that he's asleep. He did such a great job though and it was so fun!

Our Angel for the top of our tree is missing along with Cali's ornament so I took our Star ornament and put it on top. It looks a little sad but that's ok. I actually totally want a Tinker Bell tree topper that my friend Christy has on her tree so that will be my goal for next year! :)

Matching shoes

Today Cali and I both wore our matching fake uggs. We also unintentionally both wore green so everyone thought we were trying to completely match but really it was just the shoes. I LOVE her little tiny shoes and it was fun to wear them together. She is also wearing a new dress that I think is super cute (green is my favorite color).

Aedan wanted to join in the pictures and how can I resist that cute face?

Our matching shoes...

Ella's visit

We dog-sat this weekend for Lisa & Wade while they went to California. She (Ella) was a pretty good dog to watch and Aedan LOVED having her there for so long. He played with Ella and helped take care of her. Ella had a great time running around in our back yard and licking the kids faces. Here are some fun moments from our weekend with Ella...

Cali picked up Ella's water bowl 3 times resulting in a lot of water all over the floor (at times like this I'm thankful for tile floors!)...

Aedan loved talking to Ella and running around with her. Here he is chatting with her while she is trying to rest...

The kids really love playing in Ella's cage thing...

They didn't really enjoy all the face licking but what do you expect when they are right at her level?

This part is mostly for Lisa & Wade. I took some pictures of Ella playing in our back yard. Since they live in an apt Ella is used to a much smaller space and really enjoyed herself! We have a pool out there that got muddy recently and Geoff turned it over so she wouldn't jump in and get all muddy. She had a ball jumping on it and over it! It was hilarious to watch... she was just like a little kid on a trampoline or something! We were glad she had such a great time (and that we didn't care about the pool very much). :)

More Christmas stuff...

Last night we went to the Christmas party at church which was fun. Santa was there and Aedan got so excited! I love it that he knows who Santa is this year. He said hello to him and then waited to sit on his lap. It was so cute! I don't have the picture yet of the kids on his lap because they took them for us. I took a few pictures before we left of us in our Christmas attire. :)

I love Cali's face in this picture. Cracks me up!

Aedan's hair was just like Geoff's (he thought that was cool).

Pretty rare to have a picture of Geoff and I so we took one.

Christmas spirit

I started dressing the kids in their Christmas shirts and thought I'd share.

"Jingle Bell Rocker"

"Elf in Training"

I love dressing my kids in cute clothes!

bumps & bruises

The last few days Cali has been bonking her head at least 2 or 3 times a day! I am not sure how she manages to fall so many times. She seems to have a permanent bump on her head because she bonks it again before the previous bump can go away. Poor girl! I took pictures of some of her ouchies from yesterday. Is that weird?

She fell into the metal frame of our futon in her room and bruised her ear and her head behind her ear. Her ear was swollen which I've never seen before...

She fell forward and smacked her head on the tile last night and got a huge bump on her head. I even took a side picture of this so you could see the bump...

Daddy's home!

I love it that every day when the kids hear the door unlocking they both run over because they know Daddy is home. They are so excited and both jump around at his feet to be held. So, he ends up holding both of them at the same time for a while and playing with them. It's the cutest thing ever! Yesterday I got some pictures of it and thought I'd post one.

Seamstress anyone?

So this is mostly for my Mom since she sews and would get a huge kick out of this. Cali found my measuring tape last week and put it around her neck like she was a seamstress. She walked around like that for hours and did it a few days in a row. I couldn't find it today when my Mom needed me to measure Aedan for a Christmas present so I think she lost it somewhere and that's why she hasn't had it for the last few days. :)

Daddy's hat...

The other day both kids were taking turns putting on Geoff's beanie and they thought they were so funny. I took some pictures of it to share... you'll just have to ignore the snot since both kids still have colds which means a constant stream coming out of their noses. YUCK!

These two of Cali crack me up because her smile is so huge!

Aedan was so excted to wear his Daddy's hat he even said "cheese" for the picture...

The joy of siblings...

Lately Aedan has been pushing Cali. I'm not sure why he does it (sometimes he's playing but sometimes he does it cuz she has his toy or something) but it's pretty annoying! We aren't sure how to solve this problem (any ideas??) and so far we've just tried putting him in time out.

So... yesterday Aedan pushed Cali into the wall and she got a big bump with a purple bruise-line on her forehead. I showed him her bruise and told him that's what happens when we push and talked to him about it. He seemed to understand that and kissed it better but who knows if that will work.

These pictures really don't do it justice.... it was a pretty bad bruise plus this was taken like 3 hours later but I just thought I'd share...

Usually the kids play pretty well together and Aedan is a pretty fun big brother. He pushes her around in his car and plays with her...

(he actually smiled for me!!)

So now I just need to figure out this whole pushing thing. I know he's only 2 1/2 and it's probably totally normal but it drives me crazy!! Anyone have any ideas??

I thought Cali looked really cute in her towel after her bath last night so I took a picture of her...