Christmas and stuff

Orson hosted his first Christmas party at our house yesterday for his friends. It went very well and he had lots of fun, even though he refused to take his nap. For part of the party we had a gift exchange for the babies....basically we put the gifts in the middle of the floor and let them go at it. I wasn't sure if Orson would know what to do but he went straight for the presents in bags, ripped out the tissue paper and took out the present. And for once, the present was cooler in his eyes then the bag and paper! (Good pick Jessica).

Can you tell that Lucy also turned down her morning nap :)

Also, St Nick showed up at the party and Orson took his first pictures with Santa :)

He was very silly by the end of the day...

We have been pretty busy around here, I ran my last arts and crafts class at MSN. Everyone seemed to have fun and Lucy, Orson and Penny had a blast finger painting (well Orson thought it was finger eating).

We have been to a few Christmas parties both with Matt's work and with friends (it was so much fun to get together with adults and babies and just hang out and also lots of fun to go out on our own.) And some more 1st birthdays.

Matt and I also celebrated our 3rd anniversary....so hard to believe that it has only been 3 years! And of course, we put up the tree, cleaned the house and, well once I get them made, will hang the stockings with care :)

Thanksgiving, hiking, playdates and getting ready

The end of November and this first week of December went by in a flash. We packed up and headed to Portland and Matt's family for the holidays. It was a long, long drive (we left at Orson's 7pm bedtime and got in around 5:30 am) but well worth it. We all had fun and Matt got to meet his newest cousins, Jackson and Royce (the are now 14 months). I think Orson got more out of the meeting then Matt :) We also went hiking, Orson learned about bundling up for cold weather and the girls even enjoyed some well deserved playtime with us.

We went hiking at the girls favorite spot just outside of Portland...it was rainy and COLD...Orson ended up enjoying the hike but he was not too sure about the whole "lets get bundled up" thing at first.

I think we need to come up with better way to keep his head warm, he couldn't seem to hear anything we said to him.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Pat and Pat's greatly. We made some great gluten free foods, enjoyed time with family and all around had a good and relaxing time.

Orson drinks from his first crystal goblet:

Orson's first Thanksgiving feast:

The whole family (well actually there was another whole table around the corner):

Later in the evening, Orson discovered his love of an awesome chair in Pat and Pat's living room...apparently Chaquita did too!

A boy and his dog (I couldn't help doctoring up this one)

When we got back to Sacramento, Orson got sick and so he and I spent the first few days going stir crazy at home. On Wednesday we finally made it out to a play group. I was very happy to see other mamas but I'm not sure Orson was ready to play with his friends yet. Thankfully he was much better by today (Friday), tomorrow we are going to a birthday party and I want him to be excited for it.

Orson playing in the sand box:

Penny and Orson:

Lucy:

Maddox:

The whole gang:

Tonight we went to Costco and picked out the Christmas tree. We were going to go chop one down but we just couldn't find the time, I guess we will save that for when Orson is bigger and can get more out of it. Now we just have to put it up, decorate it and the house and start baking....then we will be ready for when all of my family comes in to celebrate with us.

Orson brings home his first Christmas Tree: