Thursday, December 29, 2011

December with the Brothers.

Obviously I'm pretty good at this blog thing, right? Update it only once a month. I'll try to get better at this, at least an update every two weeks. But for now, I'll fill this post with photos from the past month. If you're my facebook friend, you've probably already seen a lot of them, but they are some great pictures. The babies are 8 months now and have been so busy. Max has two teeth, Ben still has none. Both the boys are crawling everywhere, Ben has mastered the stairs. Both the babies pull themselves up on just about everything and even walk along things. They definitely keep me on my toes! Hendrix is still the proudest big brother in the world. 

My beautiful blonde boy.

Max has such a feisty personality. He is the smallest, but the loudest. He's the one we always find with something in his mouth, I mean he puts everything in his mouth. He loves to be tossed around and talked to. Basically, he loves to play.


Bennett's sweet baby face. 

Just decorating the Christmas tree, do it all the time.

Hendrix playing in his toy box.


Maxton bundled up ready for the cold weather. My Max is such a fair skinned boy, his cheeks get chapped so easily.

Brothers playing together

Bennett eating sweet potatoes.

Nom noms

Typical.

Oh you're just so funny!


Maxton always gives me this sweet big grin when I catch his attention.

Stinky feet I suppose ;)

The boys are always pulling themselves up on me when I try to sit down to relax. Now there is no escaping them :)



Bennett being naughty


                                                 
Caught the boys laughing at each other through the sunroom door

Snuggling with big brother

Henri and his monster boots. They were suppose to be a Christmas present, but he found the Fed-Ex box they came in and open it when I wasn't paying attention. So he got them a few weeks before Christmas. Needless to say, he absolutely loves them and has to wear them everywhere.

Hendrix ready for his Christmas program

Hendrix at his program. It was hard to get a good picture, they all turned out so dark. You can tell in this picture how tired Hendrix looks, and he really was. A couple songs in they pulled the preschoolers off to the side of the stage and dimmed the lights for one of the songs. The audience all had lit candles. I guess this put the perfect scenario for a nap. Henri was out in seconds, his teacher had to carry him to me in the audience where he slept the rest of the performance.

Hendrix and Sharkie. Aaron and I and another couple spent a night in Kansas City the weekend before Christmas to visit an old friend and go to the Chiefs vs. Packers game, so we brought Hendrix home a present. He's been kinda into sharks lately so we found this cute little guy at Pier1. By kinda into sharks I mean giving us little pinches (aka shark bites), giggling, and running away. 

He looks so big lately. I find myself asking him if I can hold, even just for a second, but he's often too busy to slow down even for a kiss. He always says 'Ugh! but I already did!'

Bennett is such a curious little boy. He is so proud of himself and thought his brother was so funny playing in the bath.

A couple pictures from the Chiefs game. (Hope you don't mind being in my blog Casey :) It was SUCH a fun game. We seriously didn't expect the Chiefs to win as the Packers had been undefeated until then. 

We had some great seats, too.


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Playing Santa Claus

We had lots of Christmas traditions as a child. My favorite tradition was every Christmas eve, all us Krier children would pile into one of the bedrooms and camp out, all of us. The older kids got the beds, while the younger ones would snuggle on the floor in a huge pile of blankets and pillows. Christmas eve my brother and I (being the youngest two) always had the hardest time falling asleep from the excitement knowing that in just a few short hours we would be sliding down the stairs to find all the treasures that 'Santa Claus' left us to find. We'd wake up at 6 and attempt to wake our parents and always get the same response. Go back to sleep, for just a few more hours. When we did finally manage to persuade all the older siblings and our parents to get out of bed, we'd line up on the stairs, still snuggled in blankets then scoot down to discover all the presents.
 I still have the fondest memories of Christmas at my mom's house. I can remember Aaron and I's first Christmas as a married couple there was a small part of me that was so sad I wouldn't be waking up at my parents house Christmas morning for the first time.
What I failed to understand in my youth however, was that as fun as Christmas is as a child, it becomes so much more fun and meaningful as a parent. I know now that playing Santa is much more fun than waiting for him. As tired as I was, waking up in the middle of the night to stuff the boy's stockings and line up their presents to see the look on their faces the next day was so rewarding, even if Santa Claus was the one that got all the credit.
 The babies are too young to really care, but they did love to play with the wrapping. Hendrix, although was overjoyed. We woke the boys up around 8:30am to open presents. Hendrix did most of the opening while the babies just played in the mess of tissue and bows. We played with all the new toys from Santa for a few hours before bundling up and heading out into the cold to visit our families. Christmas eve we went to Aaron's dad's for Christmas, so Christmas day we first ventured off to Aaron's Grandparents on his mom's side for lunch, and stopped by my sisters on the way home for supper. The boys were so spoiled, they are so loved.
Baby Max cuddled with dad waiting to go down stairs for presents Christmas morning!

Hendrix is still so sleepy.

Henri's favorite gift from us.

Maxton was most interested in the cereal snacks he got in his stocking.

NOM NOM NOM!!

The boys are ready for camping this summer!

This wheely bug we got for all the boys, thinking that Hendrix would play with it now and the babies would eventually grown into it. But Bennett really took to it right away. He absolutely loves it, it is hilarious! He loves pushing it around the house, likes to play with the antenna, and is so pleased if we set him on it and give him a ride. I'm glad one of the boys took to it so well.

WEEEE!!

Aw, he loves his little bug.

Bennett giving his grandma some lovings.

Hendrix and mom


My little guys! 

Nelson family photo, Christmas 2011

After such a long day I figured all our boys would go straight to bed when we got home, but they were ready to play with their new toys! 

Maxton looks so sleepy. If you look closely, you can see his two teeth!