Thursday, December 31, 2015

December 2015

December was great! We were just ending a long Thanksgiving week with family. We celebrated Jacob's birthday in Houston. We had a great long Channukah celebration! Debbie even saw her 2 lifelong best friends! We had a great end to 2015.

At the end of December, Gabi is just one short month away from her 3rd birthday! She is very excited and can anticipate it for the first time. This month, Ms. Independent figured out that she could peel her own oranges. Here's the Gabi spotlight for the month:

My family has deemed this the
"Senior Picture" pose.

that time she wanted carrots
and chummus for breakfast

earning her keep



Gabi's first ever face painting

Boy, was I disappointed when she asked for M&Ms and actually ate and enjoyed them. Up until now, she has successfully rejected other chocolate she's tried, making her mommy proud.

We had a pizza, movie, and popcorn party with Nora! Both girls watched 'Frozen' for the very first time. AND Nora's Mommy and Daddy got a private dinner date. Win for everyone!

First, we have to make the pizzas.
The girls chose all sorts of healthy goodies
like spinach, corn, and pineapple.


Dress-up fun with Graham:

Gabi LOVES to dance! She refined some of her moves this month:

We knew that "little" Ethan was chunky, but we had no idea just how the measurements would end up. At his doctor's check up in early December, 15-month-old Ethan measured 31 inches (only 41%) and weighed 27 lb 2 oz (95%!!!). Here is a spotlight on Ethan:

that time he had so much snot, he could
save some snack for dessert later

hanging out at the library


feeding friend Jonah


This month, big boy Ethan figured out how to get himself sitting on a slide by himself so he could go down facing forward instead of only on his tummy (which he still enjoys as an entertaining option).




I've been trying to capture little dude's
awesome fork usage, and he just won't let me.
Another failed attempt at recording the
utensil-using, but he's still cute!

The artist formerly known as Ethan:

Family togetherness this month:


dancing in the park with Daddy

Gotta love these 2 goofballs!

for the love of food and communication


best swing award!

We loved going around this month looking at the Christmas ("Krismix") lights around the neighborhood. And yes, we were in short sleeves most of the month.


At first he's too cool to smile, but then he figures it out!

Miss Personality

December was Aunt Syssa's last month of maternity leave. While we continue to be grateful for the short mile between our houses, we will certainly miss the extra time we've been spending with Aunt Syssa and cousin Joey!


When babysitting your cousin, it is crucial to keep him stimulated to avoid boredom.

They're wearing cute slippers, AND they're really happy, AND they really wanna show it!

What's another month without shaving cream fun? What's shaving cream fun without Gabi demanding pictures of herself? What's a blog post without the same shaving cream pictures that you've already seen?

I got myself an entire baby-free day in Pipe Creek, TX to spend time with Erica! Thank you, Daddy!!

Happy New Year from our family to yours! We're always excited to see what sweet memories the next year brings, but we hope time can slow down slightly and these babies don't keep growing so quickly!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Aunt Mor Visits Again!

Hooray for living in Texas so we can see Mor so often. Hooray for Winter Break, so Mor has time to visit us for a couple of days. Hooray for Jon and his weekend, so we can spend some kid-free time together. Hooray for 70 degree weather in late December so we can enjoy some beautiful outdoor Austin.


Hiking along the Bull Creek Greenbelt:


It was unseasonably warm and wonderful as we played in the creek in tank tops 2 days before Christmas!



On the morning before Aunt Mor had to head home, Gabi snuck into her room and grabbed some extra snuggles. It's very sweet to watch this relationship grow.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Channukah 2015

Being that the airport is open 24/7/365 and that we're not on any school calendar, our schedule at all doesn't change around the "holidays." So I don't really know how to answer when friends ask, "What did you do for Channukah?" I'm thinking, 'You mean, what did I do for 8 days in my life?' At any rate, we certainly still found time and reason to celebrate this fun-filled holiday!

Our friends hosted a Channukah party that included a cookie decorating station AND a life-size interactive Menorah. It was super fun!

Lighting candles for the first night:


Gabi and Ethan open their first presents. Gabi gets a new doll from Grandma and Grandpa she names 'Lexi."

More nights mean more fun and more presents! (including a plush dreidel and Mr. Potato Head!)


When Daddy has to work, we send him virtual Channukah love!

Gabi and Ethan celebrated one night with Team Gilden so
Mommy and Daddy could enjoy a night out!

We were very excited to host our friendly and wonderful next-door neighbors for the last night of Channukah. We learned about the miracle of oil, lit a bunch of candles, and ate a LOT of fried foods! Thanks to Michelle and Greg for such great company. (And Jordan, Lauren, and Luke may have benefited from their Channukah presents as well.)



Happy Channukah, everyone!

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Jacob's Birthday/Houston Visit

Big boy Jacob turned 6 this month, and of course we went to Houston to celebrate together! (minus Uncle Jon, womp womp) We had a great weekend of togetherness and even had a special "Gabi's Jacob Birthday Party" in lieu of the 'actual' party with friends that Gabi and Ethan napped through.

Since I apparently wasn't my usual self capturing moments (including lighting Channukah candles) on camera, I had to steal what I could from Sandi and my mom.

Upon arrival on Friday afternoon, we pick up the cousins from school and
head to fro yo. We wouldn't have it any other way. Jacob seems thrilled.

celebrating Jacob's birthday with friends
on Friday night

Since Jacob's birthday party was (intentionally) planned during nap time, Sandi created a decoy pottery painting party. SUCCESS!

Surprise, surprise: Gabi finished her project much sooner than her older family members, so she had to entertain herself in other means. It went well...until it didn't...(story of my life...)

Even though we didn't go to the other jumping party, parts of it still came to us!

How about this ice cream cake with gummy bears,
lollipops, and about 15 other kinds of junk on top
that they had unlimited access to?


Ethan looks thrilled to have finally gotten a bath.

Is it after 8:30pm? Sure.
Is Mira at the grocery store with Aunt Debbie and Nana? Sure.
Did Aunt Debbie get in the cart for Mira to push? Sure.
It all makes sense.