December in a Nutshell

Wow. So many pictures from December to post. Here are some highlights of the end of 2009 in no particular order...

I find it funny that my youngest was the easiest to photograph in these shots while the older 2 had trouble obeying the instructions.


We have a new carpet that we have been thoroughly enjoying. Silas finally honed his sitting skills in December and our new carpet created a soft safe place for him to spend his time. He really enjoyed his newfound point of view!


Having a carpet gives our house a much more cozy feel. I love this picture of my boys (Erik is getting a little bit shaggy in the face here!):


But I think Keziah loves the carpet most of all:


10 points if you can guess what's happening in this picture:



Now for a wider shot...


Erik and I left Silas in his exersaucer while we were getting ready for Micah's birthday party. We've discovered that he can move slowly around the room if he jumps long and hard enough in this thing. There have been days when he is suddenly at the Christmas tree pulling down all sorts of ornaments. On this particular day he had discovered the curtains. Thankfully they are quite sheer (and not suffocating)... And of course I had to run and get the camera before I could rescue him :)

We went to Vancouver Island and stayed in the Hamm's new house which is right on the ocean. Here are a few pictures from that weekend:




Micah & Rosanna celebrated their birthdays while we were there:


We took a few family photos:






Keziah's usually pretty willing to pose for the camera:




One part of my December that was stressful was Silas' milk drinking. At the end of November we were having some nursing issues. Silas was becoming disinterested in drinking as he was eating more and more solids. And let's just say his teeth are... um... sharp. At feedings he would alternate between drinking and teething... ouch. I managed to hang onto the late night feedings for a few extra nights as he was sleepy and didn't seem to bite, but after he bit me 2 nights in a row I decided we'd had enough. I was a little disappointed as I had hoped to nurse at least part-time until he was a year. And it made me a little sad when I thought that this could be my last baby, but at the same time I felt thankful that we had made it to 8 months.

But after I weaned him, it was a struggle to get him to drink anything. He's always been fine with the bottle, but there were some days when he wouldn't drink more than 4-6 oz all day. The boy would just way rather EAT! A lot! I tried to limit his solids so that we didn't lose out on the milk intake, but it's a tricky balance. I also didn't want to cram a bottle into his mouth every hour because I know that wouldn't help either. So, I just chose to make it a non-issue and now we are on a good routine of 3 bottles a day and he's drinking about 10-12 oz total. The kid is definitely not a lightweight so I think we're doing just fine :)


December held other things like gingerbread-house-making with Granny:


A preschool Christmas concert:


Lots of fun new toys:


Some new craft supplies:


And even a little bit of snow!
(Though Micah wishes for more and keeps asking me when it will snow again...)


One afternoon we told the kids that they were going to have a half-hour of roomtime. We used to do this quite regularly but then got out of the habit. So, here was the reaction when we put them in their room: (make sure to turn your speakers extra loud for this one!!!)




And about 15 minutes later...


:)