Disneyland!

For Christmas this year, my parents took the whole family to Disneyland. Despite a little rain on the first day, we had a lot of fun and even convinced Charles to ride some of the rides. Charles wasn't too sure about the characters, but we did a pretty good job at avoiding them so we didn't have too many meltdowns. Tracy didn't get to go on as many of the rides as she would have liked, due to the new baby, but I think she still had fun.

Proof that we were at Disneyland together. The nice thing about going with a large group is that you don't have to ask strangers to take your picture.

Always have to get a picture in front of the Mickey Mouse head made of flowers. Can you tell that the sun is in our faces?

Mommy and Moose on Dumbo. Charles was pretty set on not riding any of the rides, so we had to pick and choose which ones we were going to force him to ride. Dumbo did not make the cut.

Splash Mountain did make the cut. It was raining so there was no line, which was a good thing because I don't know if I could have handled his whining if we had to wait in line for any length of time. After he said that he liked it except for the big drop.

After Splash Mountain most of the group went back to the hotel with the kids to dry off and let the kids nap. Charles and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and it cleared up about an hour later.

We didn't bring a blanket for Charles, so he borrowed his cousin's blanket. It was cold so he didn't care that it was pink. Honestly though, pink is one of his favorite colors.

We all had similar shirts for the second day. Our family went with a Toy Story theme.

Between day one and two, they put up the giant Christmas tree, or is it a holiday bush?

Alien, Jessie, Woody, and Buzz.

His favorite ride was Toy Story Mania in California Adventure.

This was as close as he would get to a character, and he only agreed to take this picture when he found out that they didn't move.

Having some fun waiting for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. If you can't tell, he wasn't too excited to be wearing this hat.

Thomas playing in Chip n Dale's treehouse.

On Tom Sawyer's island.

Not sure which he hated more, Splash Mountain or the little Toon Town roller coaster. We had to wait in this line for about 20 minutes, so I got a lot of looks from other people wondering why I was forcing him to ride the ride.

Pirate Goofy. Surprisingly I did not get lice from trying this on.

Thomas enjoyed riding the carousel.

Charles playing with a glow stick while the adults watched the World of Color.

Enjoying our final night.

The World of Color.

Mostly for Andi

We moved and plan on staying here for a while because this time we actually bought the house. Technically we don't have the deed but a lot of money leaves our account every month so good enough. The following is a tour of our new home in iphone photos. It is backwards but you get the idea.

Master Bath:

Master bedroom:

Nursery
Guest bathroom
From Garage
Dining Nook
Kitchen

Great Room
Boys and office bathroom
Office
Boys room (Thomas is sleeping)
Hallway from front door
Front door
Now here are some of the babies:

Charles

Thomas

Nicknamed number 10 (tenth grandchild on both sides)

Coming in May

The end.

To my four year old:

I miss the baby that you were. I love the boy that you are. I'm excited to see who you will turn out to be. Please try to enjoy the short time that you have being little and try not to talk back to Mommy so much. I know you know a lot but you don't know everything. Not even Mommy does. Daddy, Mommy and Moose love you. Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mommy

We have walls and a walker

This guy is finally walking full time. He took his first steps in April but crawling was just easier.

Almost 2 weeks after this car was stolen:

We bought this car:

Only to have the first car located later that same night.

We have seen our new house a couple times. The frame is up and the electrical and plumbing are done. Now that it actually looks more like a house and all the stuff is picked out we are starting to get excited for the move. Although not excited for the actual moving day.

An update via iphone pictures

Charles is growing up to be a very fun, smart and stubborn soon to be 4 year old. We were on our way to the park and he picked this flower for me, then one for his Aunt and one for his dad.

Thomas is still a very cuddly baby but has also started to show a bit of a demanding side. If his brother is taking a bath he is going to yell at you until you put him in as well.

Chad and I tried our hand at house hunting but the current home owners weren't big fans of us. So we decided to skip the home owners and buy a new house. We're crossing our fingers that the loan goes through so we can move into lot 104 in October when the house is finished.

Not to be forgotten

Thomas' actual first birthday is almost over. As I am writing this I have about 15 minutes left of my baby's birthday. I'm not much of a blogger lately but I want to give Thomas his moment in the blogging world. Happy Birthday Thomas. Sometimes Mommy makes great decisions, you are one of my best. We love you Moosa.

Where to begin. . .

Thomas is quite the roller and has started to try to pull himself up but he has no interest in crawling. He is a big kid but so cuddly. Charles is doing more and more by himself. He has moved on from Mickey Mouse to Phineas and Ferb and is going to be a sunbeam tomorrow. I switched jobs in September; still an audiologist but a different company. I work less but commute more. It was so hard to switch jobs but I am happy there and I get a whole extra day with the boys. Chad is now into a nice routine at work and luckily he still likes his job. The boys and I like to meet him for lunch sometimes. Christmas was awesome, we are very blessed. We are excited for this new year and wish everyone the best.

Halloween- Doof, Agent P and Vanessa