Christmas is a time for family!

We had a great time this Christmas spending time with our families! Here are a few photos showing just how large our families have become! We spent Chrismas eve with Grandma & Grandpa D & family. Everyone was in for the weekend.



We went to Grandma & Grandpa L's for Chrismtas day. The family is growing with 2 new additions this year.



Here's one of just our family - mommy, daddy, and Noah. We have so much to be thankful for, with the birth of our Lord and Savior being the first. For us - mommy & daddy - little Noah has been such a blessing as well. It is hard to believe he is just a few weeks away from his one year birthday.



Noah sure enjoyed Christmas and all the time with family. He also received many generous gifts & really enjoyed the tissue paper. As with everything else, it finds its way to his mouth. On Christams day, Noah learned that the colored tissue paper will indeed turn your lips a different color. Sometimes we have a tough time keeping up with him already, and he is only getting faster and more curious.



Late on Christmas day - at Steve and Marla's - Noah took his first steps! He took four, then three steps between mommy & daddy. While he is not yet running around the house, he has certainly gained confidence in his balance and is proving more daring all the time.

Laundry has never been so fun...

Mommy has recently found a little helper when it comes to laundry. The washer and dryer are at just the right height for little children like Noah to reach in and help move wet clothes to the dryer, dry clothes to the washer;) and any clothes out from either onto the floor after waving them around!







In addition to removing clothes from the dryer, Noah has found great joy in pulling anything he can get out of any drawer / cabinet drawer he can get into. Twice just tonight, he pulled every book out of his drawer & all his personal care items out of the basket in his changing table. While he has a great time, mommy & daddy then need to come back to pick everything up. We're working to ensure this isn't a long term habit - although it probably is pretty normal, as I've heard that 85% of people will peek in the bathroom vanities of homes in which they are guests. There are a few tricks that can be played to foil these would-be snoops, but that probably doesn't belong here...

Clapping!

Noah recently learned to clap! Actually, daddy's been a little lax in keeping everyon updated & its been almost a month and a half ago. Oh well - I'll try to get you up to speed. One November day, while daddy was at work, I get an email out of the blue from mommy & Noah. You can imaging my delight when I open it up & find that Noah is having a great day home with mommy. Daddy really likes to see photos of the at-home fun!



You can see he is really getting into it!



He is also waving well, playing the "how big is Noah" game, and also enjoys petting the dogs. Choco & Gemma enjoy the extra attention as well.