Customized wheels

Since Ethan's Razor 360 was just a tad too big, my handy hubby decided to adjust the seat so Ethan could reach the peddles a little better.  He cut the wood, spray painted it to match the seat and screwed it on.  You don't really notice it unless you are looking for it. 

Ethan is very proud that his daddy adjusted the seat for him and absolutely loves to ride it.  The problem now is that Eric and I can't ride it anymore.  It's soooo fun!  I want a grown up sized one for me!

All that hard work customizing big wheels really wears you out!

strolling along

Lauren loves her new stroller walker Santa brought her.  It's very sturdy and she is starting to walk really well pushing it. Mindy gave me the little doll that goes in it when we found out we were having a girl.  

Pretty soon she will be all over the place!

Christmas 2009

Christmas morning the kids were up bright and early as usual. They were so excited to see what Santa had brought them!

Lauren had a great first Christmas and loved opening presents. 

Momma had to get a nerf gun to keep up with the boys' giant nerf guns.

Grandma (GG) checking out my rad new camper fabric. 

Santa left a note in Lauren's stocking with clues for the kids to find their last present.  They searched high and low and finally found their presents in our pantry.

Santa brought Austin the fast, fast, fast, fast, super fast scooter he requested.

Ethan got a Razor 360 big wheel,

and Little Lauren got a stroller walker.

Santa brought Eric a turkey fryer, so we had yummy fried turkey for Christmas lunch. 

Ethan loves his new Big Wheel. It has casters on the back instead of wheels so it spins out if you cut the wheel.  It is soooo fun!  He had to sit on his booster seat to reach the peddles better until Eric had time to adjust the seat, but he didn't seem to mind.

Austin loves his fast scooter too.  It has bigger wheels than his fire scooter and he feels so big riding it.

Merry Christmas!

The Griswald Family Christmas Eve

In order to have room for 13 people to sleep at our house on Christmas Eve, we brought the camper over in true Griswald family style. It snowed that afternoon, but just barely. 

We decorated sugar cookies, played games and snacked all day long.

 My dad couldn't stand it and gave Lauren her present right away. 

The candlelight service at church was beautiful!  Rick Trevino led us in singing Christmas carols and it even snowed inside the church! It meant so much to us to have our family with us to celebrate Jesus' birth and to see the boys so excited brought tears to my eyes.

That night we had a dirty Santa gift exchange and did our tradition of opening pajamas while reading The Night Before Christmas.

That night we set out cookies for Santa, tucked the kids into to bed and anxiously awaited Santa's arrival.

10 months old!

Lauren is 10 months old!

She is getting so big!  She still only has her bottom two teeth.  I wrote on her 8 month post that she had a top tooth about to pop through, but it still has yet to do so.  Crazy!  She is eating table food pretty well and already is a picky eater who prefers fruits to veggies.  She loves her bottles and I hope I can find a sippy cup soon that she will drink out of. She still takes two naps a day and sleeps from 7 to 7.  She falls asleep on her own with her trusty pacifier and blankie.  She still says "bubba" and "bye" and she just started signing "all done" and "more"!  It's so cute!

Lauren is quite a handful!  It took three different attempts to get these pictures because she didn't want to sit still! She is a busy little girl who loves to crawl around and explore.  She is cruising now, but has no interest in learning to walk.  If she does hold our hands to walk, she walks on her tip toes like a little ballerina.  

Guess I need to start painting the back of her numbers too!

This month our little sweetie has gotten bashful.  She clings on to me and puts her head on my shoulder when new people talk to her.  Although I hope she outgrows it soon, I must admit I love when she snuggles with me!

Happy 10 months Lauren!

They're here!

Tuesday my sister and her family came in town to celebrate the holidays.  Amanda and Nicki (their cousins) came over to visit for the day too.

The boys always have so much fun with their cousins

and they LOVE Tallie and Bella.

That night we piled in two cars and went to look at Christmas lights. 

Wednesday my Grandma flew in from the valley.  She usually stays home and spends Christmas by herself and we were sooo happy to have her with us this year! 

Little Lauren got lots of attention and there were always willing arms to hold her. 

to Nanny and Papa's house we go!

Sunday we spent the day at Nanny and Papa's house in Salado with Eric's family. Nanny and Papa had all their grandchildren and great-grandchildren there and we all had so much fun.  The kids literally spent hours on the hill behind their house.  They ran down it, rolled down it and even bounced down it.

The giant hill

My crazy husband brought our Tonka truck for the sole purpose of letting the kids ride down the hill.  So glad I had no idea what was going on until after they had attempted it for the first time.

Ethan actually loved running into the bushes and thought it was great fun.

Austin liked rolling down the hill too.

 

Inside we played games, opened presents and ate entirely too much.

 

We love you Nanny and Papa!  Thank you so much for your thoughtful presents!