Decorating for Christmas

Warning: long post with lots of pictures!

The weekend after Thanksgiving we took down all of the Fall decor and decorated for Christmas. We then loaded up the boys on a rainy Saturday afternoon and headed up the street to Home Depot to pick out a Christmas tree. 

Now, many people have asked why we didn't take the boys to a tree lot to cut down our tree. And here is my answer: "We have twins." Ha! When we go out we either each wear one or we put them in the double stroller. I'm not sure if you've ever tried to push a double stroller over rocky and muddy ground on a tree lot, or tried wearing a baby while lying down on the rocky and muddy ground to cut down a tree and then lug the tree around the lot, but neither option sounded like a fun time to us. So this year we decided a tree lot would do and maybe next year when they're walking we will do a tree farm! :) Interestingly enough, we ran into a set of 2-year-old twins and a man in his 60s who was a twin. So apparently it was twin day at Home Depot! Not really. Okay, anyway, the boys had a great time feeling the rain sprinkle on their face, being all bundled up in the stroller and looking around, and helping pick out our tree (which happened to be the first one we saw). Our Home Depot also has a sleigh and snowman cutout for perfect holiday photo opportunities. We obliged happily! 

Lucas

Andrew

Our Christmas tree. Underneath is a basket of wrapped books. Each night in December before Christmas we open one to read before bed.

And here are some pictures of the Christmas decor in our new home! It has been such a blessing to purchase a house this year and to experience our first Christmas in it as a family. The boys were born shortly before Christmas last year so this isn't their first Christmas, but it's the first one they'll begin to be aware of and we are so thrilled to make wonderful memories for them! 

Our fireplace with homemade stockings on the mantle

Holiday decor around the house

Holiday decor in the playroom: some new friends in the tent, Christmas art on the walls, and books about Winter and Christmas in our reading nook

The twins enjoying the Christmas decor and playing

Stockings in the twin's room. These hung over their bassinets in the NICU and the nurses gave them to us. It's a special way for me to remember their birthday and the holiday and the blessings they are!

Dining table decor

Later, we set up the decor on the outside of the house. This is the first time Matt has ever hung lights on a house and the boys loved watching him from the stroller. (We use our stroller to contain our children quite often...are you getting that hint yet? HAHA!) Our new neighborhood has a tradition of decorating a Christmas tree in the front yard- how sweet and adorable is that?! This year we decided to decorate one of the large shrubs and get a tree next year when the boys are older. I was in charge of that and the boys loved playing peek-a-boo with momma around the shrubs while I decorated. 

Christmas in our first house! With our Christmas Shrub on the right side :)
Also, we have a pecan tree and its leaves fall and stain the driveway when it rains. Yuck. I think it might be firewood next year ;)

Our front porch decorated for Christmas

The Twin's 1st Thanksgiving

Matt's parents and sister joined us for Thanksgiving this year. We had gorgeous weather and the boys enjoyed playing outside and even took a little swim! We loved being able to host Matt's family and watch them enjoy some special time with the boys. 

Playing outside

Taking a swim!

The meal I made: Mormor's sweet potato casserole, Mormor's broccoli soufflé, salad, cranberry sauce, fresh bread, gravy,  and Matt made the turkey! For dessert I made a pumpkin pie and fresh cinnamon whipped cream

Obligatory empty plate photo. We used Matt's grandparent's blue cups, which I love

San Jose Children's Museum

We took the boys to the San Jose Children's Museum for the first time today and they LOVED it! There is an amazing infant room with lots of activities and places to crawl around. Someday when they are walking and a little older we will enjoy all the other activities of the museum but for today we stuck to the infant room and had plenty to do! They even learned how to crawl up and down stairs! I think a yearly family pass will be a Christmas or birthday request for next year! :)

11-Months-Old

Only one more of these monthly posts. Holy cow. Where has the year gone?! It's funny how pregnancy feels like it takes fooorrreevvveerrr but once they're here time flies!

Lucas is cruising along and transferring between objects. He is working on standing on his own but isn't there quite yet. I'm not in a rush for either of them to walk so that's okay with this momma! Andrew has recently started cruising and transferring between objects but does so very cautiously. He loves to shake anything that makes noise! Both boys love to practice turning pages of books and they still love being read to. They love music and they raise their little pudgy arms in the air and shake them about while they smile and laugh. It's seriously adorable. One of Lucas's other favorite things is to roll around in our play tent and snuggle with the stuffed puppies. It's also seriously adorable. Andrew loves to snuggle too (mainly he snuggles me) but he prefers his monkey pacifier more than just about anything in the world and gets so excited when they are reunited. It's one of my favorite things to see. They both love to rough house with daddy, getting tickled, swinging at the park, playing in the tunnel together, eating, splashing in the bath (Matt and I say that we end up in the Splash Zone), and playing "toss" with a ball. Both boys are also really into sharing, helping, and feeding people. Okay they're not really doing those things but they think they are. They hand you a toy they're playing with (and then take it back), want to feed one another (or change diapers if you make the mistake of trying to change one of them on the floor), and like to put pretend food to your mouth to hear you say "num num num." They are full of giggle and smiles!

My heart beats like crazy for these little boys, I love them so!

Lucas loves to lay on his tummy and play with toys, especially in the tent

Lucas is now in 18-month pjs. Andrew wears 12-month pjs. 

The boys looking at books together. 

Grandma Donna sent cozy slippers and a card to celebrate Fall with us!  (Lucas reading the card and Andrew looking at the slippers)

Andrew loves his new slippers (Lucas does too)

We made our traditional Fall pumpkin together! We traced our handprints and painted them. 

The boys playing in their tent and snuggling their stuffed puppies.

The boys playing in their ball pit. 

Playing with the sensory board Daddy made them

Our turkey feet artwork for November

The boys as dinosaurs for Halloween

My little dinosaurs!

Playroom Makeover

Now that the boys are so mobile and no longer little babies (I know, it's hard to believe!) we thought it was time to update the playroom with things that were more appropriate for their age and development. So (very sadly for this momma) I packed up a lot of the baby toys, and we put up a few new ones in their place. There's now a tent for a cozy place to snuggle, read books, and play. There are new book shelves on the walls for some of the boys' books (and more in a bin that are easily accessible to them). There is a mirror which they love to look in and see themselves. There's a tunnel and a ball pit to encourage gross motor skills, and let's face it, they're just a lot of fun too! We put up a new shelf to store some of the toys, and Matt made the boys this awesome sensory board. He put on latches, a light, numbers, light switches, plastic chains, wheels, a door stop, and some swatches of carpet materials. The boys love it! All these things are things they can grow into. 

We still have the original shelving unit which stores burp clothes, toys, and books. We also have a hook on the wall which I hang laundry bags on for easy access to put dirty laundry away throughout the day. Another thing that stayed in the room are the two bulletin boards that display pictures of our friends and family. Of course, we also kept all our baby gates, only now they are anchored into the walls. That way these little boys can't pull them down on themselves. :) 

I took some pictures last night so they are a little dark but hopefully you can get the idea: