Christmas morning was...mostly about the trampoline

We let the boys open their 'Santa' presents first thing. Alec would usually want to stop and play with each thing, then move on to the next.

Even the apple was an awesome present! (Note to self: next year spend more on me and give Alec fruit).

Maggie loved her girly doggie bed. I went as girly as possible-she's the only other female in the house-I need my help!

James, of course, is at the 'I love wrapping paper' phase of life. Consequently, he only got 3 gifts...

We headed back to my parents' for breakfast-Eggs Benedict-YUM!!

Kayden's new wagon was the 'Space Mountain' of the diaper crowd!

After presents at my parents', we headed home for Alec's big surprise. Paul even skype'd his parents so they could see Alec's face when he first saw it!!

Veteran's Day Hike!

So, I'm a bit behind on blogging now. Last week (November 11th) on Veteran's Day, Kelsey asked us to go hiking with her up at Mt. Charleston. We decided to try & hike to Cathedral Rock. There was a bit of snow on the ground, so we bundled Alec up all warm:
The dogs were (as usual) very excited:
With Kelsey came Kippie, her little shih tzu puppy:
It was really beautiful out, nice & sunny with a breeze:
Another great family shot:
My little sister & I:
After about an hour & a half we reached a dead end!! Come to realize we'd gone up instead of down at one juncture...so we missed the correct trail. But, it was a fun hike anyway and we headed home!

A cute shot of father & son, though if you look closely you can see me in Paul's glasses:
Alec giving his auntie some love:

Cute Pictures

Alec's so happy to have his daddy home!! The video chatting apparently worked-he had no problem immediately re-bonding.


It's also nice to have him around in the mornings for walks:



Here's Milo & Maggie waiting patiently at the door until we allow them to come in.

Alec is really into 'Thomas the Tank Engine', he now carries a plastic engine around and constantly wants to call out, 'choo choo'.


We started taking Alec into nursery at 17 months old and he's certainly enjoying it. I can't believe how fast he's growing...

Here he is enjoying his daddy taking off his Sunday clothes:

I was just playing around with color settings on the camera-I loved the dangling feet:

One of Alec's "party tricks" is to ask him to do his 'He-Man'. He tenses up his face & clenches his fists, SO funny!

Some days Alec's just incredibly photogenic and I get loads of cute shots:


Having a good time with Auntie Kelsey:

Swimming!

On Thursday, Alec got to go swimming with his Uncle Christopher and Aunties Kelsey and Joleen. He is such a little water-baby!! He especially loves splashing the water.

Splashing Uncle Christopher

Cuddling with Auntie Kelsey

Enjoying the attention if Uncle Christopher and Auntie Jo

Ahhhh...the relaxation after the swim and playing with Auntie Jo's cell phone

Alec's First Birthday Party!

After it's week-long postponement, we were able to celebrate Alec's birthday at the park. It turned out to be a beautiful day and everyone gave Alec loads of attention so he was happy as could be. Since 'Finding Nemo' is the only movie he can watch for about 15 minutes before deciding to get into something, we themed his party around it. I was so excited to make his cake (which is funny, since I don't really enjoy eating cake). Friday afternoon I baked, shaped and frosted while Alec happily ate the cut-off bits:











Saturday, it was party time! My cousin Ross and his fiancee Jordan were the first to give Alec some cuddles, they were good sports and wore party hats with Alec and even blew bubbles for him:













Paul did a wonderful job barbecuing burgers for everyone while they all took turns lavishing attention on the birthday boy. Aunt Linda held him and allowed him to eat...whatever he could grab. Then he got some cuddles from his Auntie Kari and her fiance Ben:















We tried to light his birthday candle, but the wind blew the match out before we could even light it...not like he would have known to blow it out, but he enjoyed pulling it off the cake and sucking the icing off. Everyone sang to him and he cheered by clapping for them:














Since we were at the park, his Uncle Derek took him sliding and it made Alec so happy! After they were finished and I was taking some pictures Alec began to bang on Derek's leg to remind him they needed to go down the slide again! Afterwards he opened his presents-he loved the wrapping paper and the noisy toys his Uncle Ross, Aunt Jordan, Great-Aunt Linda & Great-Uncle Daniel specially picked out for him:

















My cousin Colin's fiancee Sarah held him and I liked this picture, the way he's checking her face (possibly trying to pick her nose-he doesn't pick his own, but enjoys others'). Then his Auntie Kelsey took him sliding, on some bouncy toys and walking.

















Alec's friend Caleb is two months younger, but is about the same size and they had a good time poking each other, once they were done examining Alec's new toys. All in all a fun and successful first birthday party!