The Benefits of Sitting

 I can't believe the above photo was taken almost 2 months ago, but since then, grocery shopping has become so much easier.  Claire starting sitting up and now she can ride in the sporty car/cart at the store, instead of being lugged around in the Bjorn.  I do my best to not take down every display as we turn corners in our extra-long-and-incredibly-difficult-to-steer vehicle.

Her first time driving was truly exhausting.  If Gabby looks a bit awkward in the picture below, it is because I told her not to move or Claire would fall over and wake up.  Gabby was an awesome headrest and held still for the next 15 minutes while we finished up.

Our much more recent first, was the move from the baby bath tub to the real thing.  Complete with a sibling and toys.  Claire had a great time splashing any and all.

She wasn't so sure about having pictures of her taken sans clothes, however, as can be seen by her expression.

Sisters & Friends

Gabby and her two best friends, reunited.

Van recently moved to Utah and Gabby misses him so much.

A glance back at the good old days when they lived close to each other.  (When a boy likes you despite your mullet, you know he's a keeper.)

I love that Gabby and Claire get along so well.  No one can make Claire laugh like Gabby can.  Although the video is just a short clip, this scene seriously continued on for almost 10 minutes.

Now that Claire can sit up on her own, these two spend the whole day playing together.  Gabby loves to cook meals for Claire.  And Claire, well, she likes to eat the plates.

While I was cooking dinner the other night, I turned my back for about 60 seconds.  This is what I turned around to.  She gets points for ingenuity.

Just lovin' these girls.

Strange Sleepers

We have some very odd sleeping habits in our home.  On the left, you will find Claire, the first time she fell asleep sitting up.  Out cold.  And on the right - oh, Gabby [sigh] - we keep finding her with her Dora pajamas completely unbuttoned in the middle of the night.  We are still not sure how.  But the way she flings herself about her bed doesn't seem to help.

Christmas #3

I know, it's ridiculous - 3 phases of Christmas.  But since we traveled to visit family, we kept the big gifts at home and celebrated Christmas yet again on New Year's Eve.  The kids certainly were not complaining.  I just hope that they don't start expecting this multiple Christmas thing we've got going on.

I have suddenly been able to get much more done around the house after the play kitchen gift which continues to entertain Gabby for hours.  She has also been attached to her dress-up doll (you can see the back of it in her arms below).  It is just a wooden Cinderella that you can stick magnetic dresses and accessories to but she carried it everywhere with her and insisted on sleeping with it for a while.  There is nothing like cuddling with a hunk of wood!

Claire's favorite gift was her activity center.  (Okay, it was my favorite gift for her - it keeps her busy so I can free up my hands!)

Holiday Pounds

BEFORE

Note thick hair and thin arms.

DURING

Claire checks for hair loss.  She knows something isn't quite right.

AFTER

Yes, just two weeks after the first photo, now bald and 3.5 lbs heavier.

Apparently vacations are stressful for Claire because while we were gone, she pulled out all of her hair -- literally in handfulls.  She also happened to go on formula at this time.  (For some reason, she wasn't getting what she needed nursing and was underweight at her 4-month check-up.)  It was a rough couple of weeks, but she doesn't seem to be getting any sympathy from Jason....

A Happy, Jolly Soap

The day we returned from vacation, it snowed again.  Not a lot, but enough for the kids to have some fun.  Gabby is one of those that will play no matter how cold she is.  She loved that Claire could "join in" on the fun this time around.

 One of Gabby's favorite Christmas songs is Frosty the Snowman, so she was particularly excited when we could build our own Frosty.  This, of course, brought on more singing.  Then we realized that she was actually singing, "Frosty the snowman was a happy, jolly soap."  We attempted to correct her, but she informed us that she was correct, even when I tried to explain what a soul was.  A couple of days later, out of nowhere she suddenly shouted, "I'm a happy jolly soul!" which is indeed true.

Christmas #2

The second phase of our fabulous Christmas was spent with Mémé.

Gabby was great at saying, "Ooooh!!  What is it?!?" with enthusiasm each time she opened a new gift.  Sometimes she would even give us the jumping up and down demonstration of excitement.

Our cute little niece Zoey loved her new phone.  Why not? - It tasted good.

We headed over to the bowling alley and Gabby learned to bowl for the first time.  She did really well!  She even beat Jason's score.  Okay, maybe Jason would have had a better chance if he had bumpers in his lane, too....

The adults outnumbered the kids by one, so while that person bowled, we were each responsible for a child.  While I was taking this picture, I forgot about that rule and discovered that Gabby took her turn by herself and knocked 8 pins down.

The rare moment of the week was when the girls stayed home with Mémé to make treats while Jason and I escaped and went to a movie in the theater... without children!

Christmas #1

We spent Christmas Day in Utah with Jason's family.  Although traveling with two children and a suitcase load of gifts that we were bringing right back home with us was not my favorite part, it was worth it to be with family over the holidays.  One of our traditions (from both sides) is to get pajamas on Christmas Eve.  Gabby even managed to get a pair from both grandparents and was ecstatic about her Dora (see above) and her "coeur" (heart) pajamas.

One of Gabby's gifts from Nonni and B was a Dora flashlight.  We told her it was to help her see things, so she did this:

She continues to use it up to her eye today, despite many demonstrations.  She also thinks that it doubles as a microphone, which she loves.

Gabby is currently obsessed with hoods.  Even if her shirt or jacket doesn't have a hood, she will find a way to make it come over her head.  Needless to say, her new hooded vest was a hit.

Jason is a hard one to please when it comes to finding the right gift.  This was his favorite gift.  At least until airport security confiscated it.

Nonni and B also celebrated their anniversary over Christmas.

Many Boyer Christmas tradition lottos have formed, that we all love: the record and frame lotto, the tie lotto (for the guys) and the kitchen utensil lotto (for the girls).  You draw a number and get to choose a gift in that order.  Below, the old records are displayed and everyone decides which one they will choose.

After Christmas dinner, we played a very random board game that involved Katie in a bike helmet, Randy in a home-made snorkel, and Jason unable to straighten his arms or legs for the full game.  All this while I was busy writing my rap song.  It was very entertaining!

We had a chance to visit Gabby and Claire's great-grandparents, which is always a treat.

And, of course we had to do the Christmas dress photo shoot after church.

The girls were not so into it.

   

Pre-Christmas Activities

Gabby took a cooking class with her friend, Tori.  She loved it!  Each week she made different types of Christmas cookies.  She basically did everything herself and they may not have been the prettiest, but they still tasted great!

On the last week of class, they made a gingerbread house.  A lot of the candy never made it to the house but instead went straight to Gabby's mouth for storage.

Gabby got into the Christmas spirit this year and always knew how many days left until Christmas.

One evening, we went to Snowflake Lane, where people are dressed in all sorts of costumes and they play music and snow falls at the end (actually bubbles, but it does actually look like snow coming down).  We also went to the Garden D'Lights at the botanical garden.  Below Gabby sings along to Jingle Bells, her favorite Christmas song.

Christmas Day is almost here!

Jolly Old Saint Nick

 If her face doesn't sum it up, then I don't know what does.  Gabby is not a fan of Santa.

He visited us after our church Christmas party and apparently it is a good thing Daddy doesn't have any hair or she might freak out with him, too.

Claire, on the other hand, likes just about anyone who holds her.

Of course, after she got a candy cane from Santa, she recovered pretty well.  To this day if you ask her about Santa she will say, "I'm all done with Santa," her polite way of telling us that she does not like him one bit.

Baby Jesus

Our church had a Christmas program and asked us if Claire could be baby Jesus.  (Gabby was baby Jesus when she was a newborn, too.  You've just got to plan those babies in the late summer or fall and you're in.)  :)  This meant that Jason was Joseph, I was Mary, and Gabby was Mary #2.  Actually, she was dressed like a shepherd and carried a sheep and a crook, but she said she wanted to be Mary, so we told her that she was.  Problem solved.

Claire played her role and was very quiet.  But she sunk right into the fake hay and had an expression of true uncertainty (note her big eyes) for the entire Away in a Manger song that the children sang.  Also, I am not sure if you can see it, but if you look at the top right corner, you can see Gabby's crook, which she was stabbing into the hay the whole time, as any true shepherd would do.

She is all smiles now that we are out of costume.

Thanks to Amy Christensen for taking these great pictures.  She is an awesome photographer!

Claire's First Solids

In our attempts to help her sleep longer at night, we gave Claire her first rice cereal when she was just over 4 months old.  This 30-second clip is the result.

Thanksgiving

We hosted a small Thanksgiving this year and it was wonderful to spend the holiday with family and friends.  We have so much to be thankful for, it is a shame that we don't celebrate and show our gratitude more often.  It snowed a few days before Thanksgiving which is very rare in Seattle.  The snow in Utah was a blessing in disguise because it kept Mémé in town for our big dinner.

Gabby's first chance in her life to play in snow.  She thought snowballs were for kicking.

 We finally had a chance to use our new dining table for a real purpose!  It is like we are adults or something.  Strange.

Our guests included: Jen's mom, Jason's brother & sister, and the Naumann Family (including their 4-week-old baby girl!).  Awesome guest list.

Gabby shows off how much she ate to PJ (or P.Gee in her French pronunciation).

We also hung out with Cami and PJ in downtown Seattle.

(And we were so glad to have our amazing double-decker stroller for Claire and Gabby without taking down the crowds.  Claire may be invisible, but she is happily asleep on the lower level.)

I am not sure why I only got 6 seconds of this amazing street performer, but I had to share.  We see him every time we are at Pike Place Market and he never fails to impress.