Christmas in UT with Critchfields

Part of Christmas in Utah with Cam's family is going to the Critchfield Family Dinner! So we all dressed up and had a fun time with family!

Bryant meeting Grammy

Addy wanted to join the fun...

And show Grammy how much she loves her new brother!

Grammy taking good care of our little dude!

Cam, Amie, Kevin, and Jamie

Our crew with Grammy! Bryant was pretty done with the evening by this point...

Our time in Utah overlapped with the Peterson's time in Utah and since my parents had let us use their suburban, we all jumped in to go look a light show in Springville!

Addy loved pulling on her cousin's arms while they were trying to tickle her :)

Then a stinky diaper or something bumped Addy up to the front
with Cam so she could see the lights better and those behind her wouldn't
suffer the side effects too badly :)

And apparently I didn't take any more pictures while we were in Utah...? Well, that makes blogging easier! :)

Cutest Ponytail!

Addy's hair has finally gotten to the length where it can mostly be caught up in a ponytail! :) As you can see the front little fluffs won't stay but the rest makes it back there!

And there's even enough to have a little tail! She will wear it for a little bit. But as soon as she gets into a car seat or starts playing and wrestling around it's falling out and done! :)

Bryant Adventures!

Bryant goes on many adventures... and is usually accompanied by his companion... Addy's monkey! :) Really Addy just wants to do everything that she sees me doing to/with Bryant and so she does it with her monkey and it turns out pretty cute!

Bryant in La-la land... Yes that is his bed, at least
until he starts wiggling out of everything a little more...
Accompanied by monkey!

I guess monkey did something that it wasn't supposed to
because it has to spend some time in time-out...

Singing songs together... and getting wiggles out... The mastermind made it into this pict. :)

Tummy time! Addy even got her blanket to spread out and put her monkey on...

More tummy time... but it does look like eating fists is winning... :)

Sleeping on the rocking chair...

Bouncing on the bouncer...

And last but not least, ...playing with the boppy...
I'm not sure she understands what really goes on with the pillow...
she just knows it's cool :)

Ward Christmas Party

 Meeting Santa for the first time was a little exciting for Addy.

She was a little anxious and kept her distance...

until she saw some other kids being excited and sitting on his lap.

Then, with Bryant as moral support, she consented to sit and get a picture or two...

Of course with her typical picture 'smile'... but at least she's looking at the camera :)

These next few however, were a fight to get anyone to look at the camera but I still thought they were cute... so I put them in :)

Candied Apple Craziness

Last year Cameron wanted to do something nice for the other dental students in his gpg (general practice group) at Christmas time... so we made a few candied apples and he took them to the school. Well, this year he decided to up the ante a little and had a little form where the people in his gpg could 'order' the apples according to how they wanted them. (The first was free, any others had to be paid for)... Anyway, so we ended up doing sooo many! But it was fun. Here are the before and after pictures...

Here were all of the supplies we got... P.S. The caramel bits totally beat unwrapping carmel candies.

These are the apples that people ordered. Not pictured are those that we
made for us to eat and to share with our friends. It was a fun, very late night. :)
84+ apples later, we were ready for some rest!

What an adventure!

Thanksgiving 2014 in McKinney

Since this would probably be our last Thanksgiving in Texas, we decided to make the trip up to McKinney to spend it at Jared & Shanon's house, with Jamie & Adam's family too! Talk about a full house with lots of little ones to keep things fun.

The kids were troopers on the way up there. We only stopped once. We got food and a potty break and another potty break and a diaper change and fed Bryant and an adult potty break... so the stop lasted super long... but we only stopped once... :)

 Cam got a good break from school so he could spend some quality time with the kiddos!

 The kiddos got to spend some fun time with their cousins!

 We got to eat a yummy breakfast at IHOP!

The people sitting next to us were so impressed at how well Addy was using her
fork and spoon to scoop up every last bit of food she could manage. :)

We also joined the traditional trip up to get a Christmas tree and look around the little farm... Addy loved looking at all of the different squash and pumpkins

And there was something else up in the sky... I just thought it was a cute picture...

 We got a girls pic...

 And a boys pic...

 And of course Jared and Cameron had to wear their boots per tradition...

And take the 'brother' picture where you try to look normal while trying to make the other one
look silly in the picture through tickling, poking, or other means of friendly torture.

Thanks guys for a great time filled with good family traditions!

Life with a 2 year old and new baby...

Bryant is a very good little baby. He requires attention only when he's hungry or after a while, when he's tired. Addy on the other hand is a very active little 2 year old who is a very good helper but is always onto the next project/activity.

For example: Making bread. I mixed up my bread recipe and let it rise. Then as I was getting the bread pans greased and ready for the loaves... a little bread thief came and stole some little bites...

Can you spot the pinches made by the bread thief?

Of course it couldn't have been anyone as cute as her... :)

 One morning Addy woke up, got her little backpack on and hopped on her bike, ready to go to school like Daddy... Literally the first thing she did after waking up...

 Hide and seek is always exciting... This was a favorite hiding spot.

 She is an excellent dish washer and kitchen clean instigator. She fills up all of the big dishes, using the smallest measuring cup or spoon... and creates a situation where I mop the floor, clean the chair, cupboards and counter after she's done to make sure I don't walk in puddles, sit in splashes, or set my papers and baby on any leftover suds.

What a good helper!

Knowing how to work hard usually equals knowing how to play hard!

 This is a really funny picture that I just missed. She got this little crown and put it on and would look up at it super cross-eyed... I just missed it, but it's a zoned out picture anyway :)

 Here's Bryant! Super baby! He really did just fall asleep like that, but seeing as how he's such a good baby, it fits him :)

 Yay! The first of many baths together, I'm sure... Bryant endures many a splash, but also lots of toy sharing through these adventures!

Cam gets the Super Dad Award! After long days at school and in the dental clinic he comes home and bathes the kids or plays with Addy and helps Bryant with his tummy time. This is his favorite Bryant position... Wrapped up tight laying on his leg to get any residual burps out and get him to sleep!