Oh my. Where to start? We're at the end now, after a fabulous whirlwind week of travel and celebrating. J has the stomach bug and the rest of us are holding our breath (well, probably just biding our time). So, what better time to start at the beginning!

The Saturday before Christmas we had our family Christmas to celebrate just the 4 of us, and so we didn't have to travel with his (literally) larger gifts.

Buzz was his "Christmas Eve" gift, which was actually the 17th.  Keeping up?



Neville the train was also opened early.  M and I were spending a great deal of time discussing when to open what present. J was listening in on the discussion, went over, and opened one.



J really got the whole opening thing this year.



Goal!



Hats are big in our house right now.



Moving on...



J loves little people. Anything that can be lined up. Trains, cars, animals... They all get in line, then he steps back and admires his handiwork. It's precious.





Next year will be more fun, Bean.

Although, I think she was pretty happy.





One down, two to go!

I think all my talk of Miss Bean being so laid back and such a good sleeper might be misleading.

Girlfriend is all over.



I can no longer leave her on the play mat.  Unless, I want to find her in another room.

So, we switched over to a larger blanket with Billie Bunny.  I don't think I've introduced you to Billie Bunny.  She's that sweet soul with the ears.  Our friend's Travis and Billie brought her for AP, hence the name.



Then, in "the flashest of flashes" (been watching Love Actually. Can you die-hard fans tell?)

It was tummy to back to tummy.



I think we are going to have two children under two on the move very soon.

Baby Bean was quite pleased with herself.  Also, J was down for a nap so she was able to get a word in edgewise.











(In this next one the expression is all M)









And there you have it, some of the many faces of AP.

Back to the great indoors on this COLD (well, for our region) day!

...is a line from one of J's favorite books, "Go, Dogs. Go." I think it describes our weekend quite nicely. Disclaimer: this post is long... and a kind of play-by-play of our weekend that may or may not be interesting to you.  If you fall into the latter category, just enjoy the pictures!

FRIDAY

Friday night, Chris and Mary Lindsey came over to help celebrate M's birthday.  J decorated the cake with blue icing.  A lot of love went into it.  As well as a lot of self-control.  "CAAAAAAAK!!!"  Was hollered a lot.


J was intrigued. AP was napping.





and... we made it. Phew. ;-)



SATURDAY

Saturday morning is my favorite morning of the week.  We wake up, stay in our PJs and lounge.  Then, we get all bundled up and take the double jogger out for a run and a stop at the P-A-R-K. Or, the "Weeeee" as J calls it.



This particular Saturday was our city's marathon, and our house is on the course at the beginning and the end.  We are on the last mile, in fact. It just so happened that we were about 5 minutes ahead of the leader as we finished up our run.  We really appreciated all the cheering from the fleet feeters, it was quite inspiring after 3 miles.

Once we got back to our house we stayed outside and watched the winners run by.  For those of you worrying that Bean was too cold, let me put your mind to rest.



Booger 1 was doing okay, too.





Yes, our grass is deader than our fake Christmas tree.

Quick note, J's outfit, while AUsome (he he), it is a little bit accidental.  My mom and I found the jacket at a consignment sale, then my friend Casey sent the hat and mittens because her little boy won't keep them on.  Thanks, Casey! Great year for it!

We moved back to the house, and Bean continued her nap.  Once again, please don't worry that she was cold.



Saturday night, Uncle Chris and Aunt Minsey babysat so that we could go to a birthday dinner with M's parents. (THANK YOU! We are so spoiled with family babysitters.) We had a great time actually being able to talk. I told M I think that was the first time we've seen M's parents without the kids in roughly 22 months.

SUNDAY

We've started going to the 11 o'clock service on Sundays. Wow. SO much time! With all that time, I tried to get some THREE MONTH pictures of Bean. THREE MONTHS! How has this happened?



AP is so sweet. She's incredibly laid back.

No. idea. where. that. came. from.



Bean is very thoughtful about things.

And, she can already whine when J does something that slightly hurts her feelings.

Speaking of the Roosta, he wanted to jump in on the pictures. We should really put pants on that kid.



And then he wanted to hold her hand.

Again, PANTS!



It was all so precious that we did go and put pants on.

Naturally, J then decided he'd rather play with trains. Oh well.  Our photographic memories will at least be accurate.

I must note that J is giving Bean kisses on her play mat as I type this.

So, my quest for a smile went on.





Not gonna happen, Mama.





That's ok, Pretty Bean. I'll take what I can get. And this will work just fine for the mantel.



Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and stayed warm!  The countdown to Christmas is on!!!

(Ok, so I guess technically a doppelganger is a famous look-a-like, but I think this one is a little sweeter.)

Today is my one and only's birthday!  I recently was very mushy about M in my anniversary post, so today I'll take a slightly different angle.

Look at this cute little guy...

Remind you of anyone?

Of course, Bean looks some like M, too. And, J looks some like me. But, baby J was a dead ringer for baby M.

These next 2 could very well be M and J.

Pretty Mama... I tell M he should apologize to her everyday for being well over 9lbs.

And here's 2 of M when he was J's age right now.  Guess they have more than looks in common.

I could go on and on with scanning and comparing... but, I think the two children would protest.

M, Happy Birthday!

You are so fun.

and kind.

and handsome...

Wait... now, how'd that get in there? ;-)

Have a happy day! Love, Lindsay, J and Bean

(Whitney, thank you for the idea!)