Christmas and other fun stuff

As always, we've had a fun and busy Christmastime, and a lot of pictures to show for it. So here we go!

Mindy stopped by on her way up to her sister's house to visit and give Rachel her Christmas present- a Sit n' Spin. Rachel loves it!

The first thing Rachel said when she woke up the next morning was, "Spin! Spin!"

I came into the kitchen one morning to find this scene:

Rachel lined up all her stuffed animals to sleep on the kitchen floor. You can tell they're sleeping because they're all face down. :)

Reed helps Mike play video games sometimes. He always looks just as intent as Mike does, which I think is funny.

Reed's big present was the same toy as Rachel got her first Christmas (luckily they don't care if you re-gift) - a Jumparoo.

We let him try it out a few days before Christmas, because when Rachel first got it, it took her several days of just sitting sedately in it before she actually got the hang of it and played with the toys. Reed, as we are increasingly finding out, is all boy. He went to town in it from the first minute.


On Christmas eve, we had all Mike's family over to our place. This is grandpa reading to Rachel and Cicily while they were waiting for dinner to be done.

Christmas morning. Rachel and Kyle hanging out pre-gift opening.

Mike's sister Tiffany and her husband Josh drove down from Oregon for Christmas! We were so happy to see them! And of course, Reed loved Tiff, as all babies do. :)

Rachel was slightly cranky on Christmas morning, but had fun just the same.

Reed enjoying a new present.

Rachel got Hungry Hungry Hippos and she and Cicily had fun playing with it while waiting for Christmas morning waffles. Actually, this is only after Mike and his brothers finished a rousing round, because apparently you're never too old for Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Rachel got a cute chef outfit from my parents. So cute.

And a bed tent from Mike's parents, which she now sleeps in every night.

One of our presents to Rachel was Alphie, a little computer guy with cards for learning numbers, letters, matching, etc. Mike and Rachel were cute playing with him.

But sometimes, the most fun thing is just sitting on top of the couch, watching tv and eating an Oreo. Rock on, Rachel.

A couple of days ago, we got to meet Shelah's parents (Reed's birth grandparents). We were so happy to get to meet them. Reed loved them (and of course they loved Reed) and we hope we can see a lot more of them whenever they're in town.

So, funny story: We've been potty training Rachel for a few days now (that whole story is coming later...) and on the first night of potty training, she woke up wet at 1:00 in the morning. We changed her sheets and clothes, and while I was trying to put her back to bed (no easy task), I heard a smoke alarm chirping for a new battery. I went downstairs to investigate and found that the alarm making the noise just happened to be the one that is on the vaulted ceiling about 12 feet above a stairwell. Almost impossible to access. I woke up Mike and told him about it, and he got to work.

That looks totally safe, right? Especially at 2:30 in the morning. And Mike is not exactly the most alert person in the middle of the night. Needless to say, we said a prayer before he stepped foot on the ladder. All was fixed though, and Rachel thought the whole thing was great fun. We all got back to bed around 3:00 (two hours after getting up), and then of course I had to get up to feed Reed around 5:00. Oi.

We borrowed Mike's parents' Wii, and Mike thought Rachel might get a kick out of it, so they played together.

They're playing a shooting gallery game, Mike's pointing and Rachel's pulling the trigger. It was cute.

Meanwhile, Reed played on the floor:

This picture might not interest anyone but my Mom and Dad. When they came out in July, they brought a little kid-sized rocking chair with them, which is an old family heirloom on my mom's side. She used it when she was a little girl, found it in an old shed and gave it to us. At that point though, it hadn't been used in years, and the paint on it was chipping badly and really old. We finally got around to repainting it though, and this is what it looks like now. I don't have a before picture though. Did you happen to take one, Dad?

And last, let's end with what is probably the cutest picture you will see today. I know it is for me. :)