cute christmas cousins!

these two little girls will probably never know christmas without matching outfits... poor things...they will be thirteen years old saying, "mommmmm! whyyyyy do we have to match agaaaain this year?" and then a few years will pass, and they will be out buying matching shirts because that's the thing to do, and kristie and i will just smile. :)

don't we look like little candy canes??

it's 75 degrees outside...
get these hats off of us!

hey cuz!

opening their first christmas presents

see? they weren't matching EVERY time!

granddaddy and his girlies

caroline meets more family!

well, 2 weeks late is better than never, right?? here is the beginning of christmas pictures... what better place to start than with those pictures capturing caroline's first moments with brian's grandparents, aunts, & uncles?? she was passed around like every baby is at christmas, and she never seemed to mind. between caroline & karina, i think uncle joe had a baby in his arms at all times... he always offered to hold them, and we never refused!! caroline seemed to love aunt glenda's stories, and she even welcomed a hearty kiss on the face from tom & pam's new puppy, abby! (it's amazing what you get over by the time your second child arrives...though i will say i draw the line at the dog jumping in my lap while nursing caroline!)

grandmommy got big smiles
from our baby girl!

granddaddy can wear that
sweatshirt with true pride now!

uncle joe loves those babies...

"sing me another song, aunt glenda!"

aunt pam & uncle tom decide that
babies aren't so bad after all...

settle, abby, you're still their baby!

"what is on your head, mama h?"

"aunt joanie, are all these crazy folks
REALLY our family?"

a bit nostalgic...

posting those last pictures really made me think about last year's pictures with ethan... and how much he has changed since then. am i going to be like this for the rest of his life? oh dear. he really has grown so much in the blink of an eye, and this is only the beginning. we still have a big boy bed, potty training, reading, writing his name, learning to play soccer, and tying his shoes to conquer... and that's not even to 2nd grade yet (though to be honest, i don't know when kids learn to tie their shoes)!! how do moms do this? i love watching him learn new things, like recognizing a letter ("A! A! A!" they're all A), and oh, watching him try to jump is absolutely precious. he is saying new words every day, and i really wouldn't have it any other way. but remembering the baby he was and fearing that i will forget all of that just breaks my heart. (though my thousands of pictures can help remind me!) so these days, i am rocking him a little longer, singing more songs as he plays with my hair and sucks his thumb, and reciting "brown bear, brown bear" a few more times... and just when i think i've gotten a handle on this growing up thing, caroline's gonna get bigger on me too. i'm starting to understand why moms cry at everything... yes mom, i understand.

our little noisemakers

in keeping with last year's tradition, i subjected my children to another new year's photo shoot. originally, caroline was going to be the only subject--i mean, she couldn't really object. :) but ethan saw all the balloons on the bed, and could not contain his excitement: "ball! ball! ball! ball!" so we let him play on the bed in his diaper just in case there were some picture-perfect moments. :) he was so cute in his diaper (has it already been a year??), so i hurried and made another "2007" sash for ethan--which stayed on for a whole 5 seconds! i was pleasantly surprised at how these turned out. i promise i won't make ethan do these new year's pictures once he's out of diapers!!

well, i'm blowing but nothing's happening!

ohhh, i put it up HERE and blow...

got it!

this party animal is beat

i feel like i've done this before...

where's my "2007" thingy?

i'm laughing because you actually think i'm gonna wear that thing!

ok, you have .83 seconds to snap a picture!

toooo late- hope you got a picture!

much better!

hat! hat! hat! hat! hat! hat!

these did something much more fun when daddy blew them...

happy 2007!

photoshop phun!

well, my mom delivered...as always! she is quite the pro with photshop elements, so i thought i'd post these new and improved shots of ethan & the christmas tree. much better than the orange shirt. :) enjoy!

hmm...let's try a blue shirt....

this one's my favorite!