Happy Holidays!

It's been hard to find some quiet time these days to update the blog but I figured I better do it soon before we do too many more activities!  The Lyman ohana is still here and we've been having a lot of fun together.  They helped us celebrate Chan Chan's first Christmas and he had a lot of fun ripping up the wrapping paper.  Esme, Charlie and Malia also enjoyed their visit from Santa.  It was an early morning but we were able to take a few breaks from presents and open them over the course of two days.

All dressed up for Christmas Eve dinner

Chan Chan trying on Charlie's hat

The kids playing with their Santa gifts

Presents, round two, once the sun was up.

Oh Christmas tree!

This was a popular gift this year and Chan got 4 of them!

Cousins

We also had a visit from some friends of ours who used to live up here in WA but moved back to Maui a few years ago - Aunty Lynn, Uncle Garrett, Cade, Kendyll and their Gammy.  Esme has only known Cade and Kenny from their Christmas cards so she was so excited for her new friends to show up.  Everyday she'd ask me to tell her about her "friends" on her Christmas cards.  

Esme, Kenny and Addy

So many kids - Charlie, Kenny, Cade, Malia, Esme, Addy and Chan

More kid shots

Countdown To Christmas

We're counting down to Christmas!  We got Esme a wooden advent calendar and Esme was very particular about where we put it in the house.  She got VERY upset at me when I tried to move it.  Every morning she likes to come down the stairs and stop in the hall to put a magnetic ornament on the advent tree.   

The lonely advent calendar

 

We also got some snow the other night!  Esme woke up in the morning and said "mom , it looks like a snow globe."  I drove really slow to school that morning since the roads were still snowy and icy and Esme asked me why I was driving so slow.  I told her that I didn't want the car to slip and hit another car and get in an accident.  She said "yeah, cause then we'd have to say sorry."  Ha ha!  

This was our backyard in the snow

Aunty Amy, Malia and Charlie just missed the snow!  They flew in to spend the holidays with us but the snow was gone by the time they arrived that same evening.  The cousins have been having a lot of fun playing together and we've even managed a few outings to the children's museum near our house, the Bellevue Botanical Gardens light show, and the Ballard Farmer's Market.  We met up with our cousin Shyla and Tabby too for some family fun at the market.  Esme and Tabby are really into dancing and they had a blast getting their groove on after lunch that day.  They made their own dance floor right in the middle of the café!

The Lyman Ohana minus Uncle David

Our trip to the market

 

Family Photos

Well as you can see we FINALLY updated our blog photo above.  We had family photos taken right before Thanksgiving and got some great shots, mostly of the kids together.  Here's a few of them:

Allen's been working a lot of weekends lately so that leaves me with the kids most weekends.  Now that they're both feeling better we try to find lots of activities to fill our days.  It's a little more challenging in the winter as we can't just go outside and play whenever we want.  This weekend we made goodies for our neighbors and delivered them.  Esme insisted on carrying each plate to our neighbors doors and miraculously she didn't spill one of them!  She said "this is just like trick-or-treat right?"  Ha ha!  I guess that was the last time we knocked on our neighbors doors ;)  We also took some walks to the post office for last minute Christmas mailing and then we stopped at Starbucks on the way home for a coffee date.  This is how Esme's learned all about hot chocolate and vanilla scones.  Prior to this the only things she ever got there was the oatmeal and a milk steamer.  

Scared Of Santa

We attempted to get the kids picture with Santa today but only one kid made it into the photo - Chan.  Esme wouldn't let go of me no matter what I coaxed her with so we decided that one was better than none.  The funny thing was, before we took the photo I was thinking that Chan would never have any pics with Santa by himself since his big sister would always be in it with him.  But I guess I was wrong - he got his own pic with Santa this year!

Chan popped out his second tooth last week - the lower left central incisor.  We had a few rough nights following that along with his cold.  He was waking up about every hour at night and would only sleep with Allen or I rocking him or with him laying on our chest.  Then miraculously this Friday night he just stopped and slept fine.  We're not complaining but with Chan we never know what his sleep schedule will be like.  He still puts his hand in his mouth a ton and is loving eating solid foods.

Esme must be going through a growth spurt cause she's been eating a lot more than usual lately.  She's still enjoying her grapefruit in the morning and has recently discovered toast and jam.  This weekend she had 3 servings of tomato soup and rice for lunch!  And at dinner we can always count on her to eat her broccoli too.  She really is a great eater!  But don't get me wrong, she's also been enjoying a piece of candy or two off her gingerbread house everyday.  This weekend we have waffles and bacon for breakfast and she kept saying, "I need some more bacon in my mouth."

Getting Ready For Christmas

Well we made it through Thanksgiving but it was a looooooooooooong weekend.  Allen worked the entire time and both kids were sick which wasn't fun.  They've both had a wet cough for almost 2 weeks now and got runny noses over the weekend.  I was convinced they'd do better if we could get some fresh air but it was too cold to take them outside.  Chan's also continuing to teeth so he's been waking up a lot at night.  Needless to say, Allen and I are very tired but thankfully Esme seems to be on the mend.  We just need to get Chan-Chan better!

We did manage to get our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving.  We asked Esme what kind she wanted and she said "a itty bitty tiny one."  We managed to convince her otherwise and brought home a nice 7 foot tree.  It took us about 3 days to get it all together since Esme's attention span for decorating was just a few minutes at a time.  But now she loves lighting it up every night and talking about the presents underneath it.  We have to keep Chan Chan far away from it though cause as soon as we put him on the floor he goes straight for it.

Esme was very serious about decorating her gingerbread house

Esme picking out a tree at a church near our house

Oh Christmas tree........

Bundling Chan up for a walk

Chan's first ride in a shopping cart on Black Friday