Elliott walks!

This little guy decided to surprise us with 12 steps in a row the other day! I was finally able to get a little clip of him walking on video.

Christmas dinner

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner with our friends Matt and Jess, and their two kids Tessa and Lucas who are the exact age of Oliver and Elliott. The boys enjoyed playing with Lucas' Christmas presents!

I think a red sweater may be under the tree for Nick next year!

last year . . .

Merry Christmas!

A few pictures from Christmas morning, 2012:

dasher

Oliver has been asking for a reindeer this entire Christmas season. I took him up to Swansons Nursery today (for the 5th time I believe), to say goodbye to Santa, the reindeer and Curly the camel before they head back to the North Pole tomorrow. We were browsing through all of the clearance Christmas items on our way out when Oliver spotted this little guy and couldn't part with him. Someone gave in and Oliver got to bring him home! Oliver promptly named him Dasher and named the rest of us as well (Oliver is Santa, I'm Rudolph, Elliott is Cupid, Nick is Comet, Penny is Curly the camel, and his other blue bouncy dog is Blitzen). Oliver has been having so much fun with his reindeer that he only put him down while he was sleeping.

the cutest

Someone loves Oliver's new doggy!

Oliver's tree

Oliver was so excited to pick out our Christmas tree this year that we let him pick it out the day after Thanksgiving. Nick and Uncle tried to encourage a taller tree, but he fell in love with this tiny one, called an "elf" tree. It turned out to be the perfect tree for us this year, as we are able to keep it and the trains off the ground and out of Elliott's reach. Oliver was so excited to decorate it all by himself and at first he hung all the ornaments on one branch. It was so adorable to see this tiny tree with one little branch sagging down from the weight of so many ornaments.

Swansons with Gramma

A few more pictures from the ever popular Swansons Nursery, this time with Gramma! 

Thanksgiving weekend

A bit late, but most of these pictures were on my brother's camera and I just got them a few days ago (thank you, Evan!). We had the most wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and were lucky to have Binny and Grampy visiting us for the first time! The boys really enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know their great-grandparents better! Uncle Evan also spent the weekend at our house, making a certain Oliver extremely happy.

They definitely look like brothers! Playing in the sleigh at Swansons Nursery.

Another sleigh!

feeding reindeer

always happy to be in Jim Baer's arms

photo with the great-grandparents!

a kiss from Bapa

Uncle even helped Oliver set up the Christmas trains

quick snuggle with great Grampy after a bath

Binny comes to the rescue when starts to cry

but later Grampy and Elliott play with the abacus together

1st birthday party

Elliott's 1st birthday party was a blast! Good food and good company made for a very nice evening. Thank you to our friend Jason for taking most of the pictures below!

Mr. Mellow, just as people started to arrive

someone skipped his afternoon nap and spent a lot of time cuddling with Gramma during the party.

i have many pictures of Nick in this pose :)

hello, Cutie!

classic family photo, thanks to Oliver!

laughing because Charlie offered to be on nose patrol for us :)

Ry, lining up cars

"other" Elliott grabs a balloon

Ali kept Miss P calm during the party

playing with Gramma's bean bags

the spread, with newborn Elliott pictures hanging on the wall

a present addressed to "EJ", which must be from Jim and Cynthia

Jim and Oliver, up to shenanigans

singing "happy birthday"

he liked the song but was not a fan of the cake and candle

she's always the life of the party

Mr. O's latest pose