Christmas 2007

Mommy and Bennett at Bennett's pre-school Christmas party!!! The kids made snowman tee shirts with their footprints that said,"Let it snow", that they wore to their party and had cookies, Reindeer bark, & muffins to eat. Each child also brought a wrapped book and they did a musical chair book swap. We had a great time.

The boys by the tree in Kid Kountry just after Bennett's school party. Bennett is now on break and will no go back until the end of January. He is so excited to have a break.

Baylor sitting in his Bumbo for the first time. Look at his happy face!!! I don't think he knew what to make of sitting by himself with out being held.

Baylor wearing his cute little shirt from the Musgraves that says, "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night." Notice how is laughing about it :o) He is actually doing quite a bit better with his sleeping, thank goodness!!!

Baylor Christmas Eve just before heading to church. The outfit he is wearing was Brayden's Christmas outfit. I often like to take pictures of each boy in the same outfit and compare how they looked at the same age. We went to the 3pm Children's service which was perfect as they had the children to participate in the service. After we got home we made our traditional Potato soup with deli sandwiches. We got the kids ready and off to bed by 8:00 pm. We got everything out and ready and were in bed by 12pm ourselves after watching A Christmas Story. Around 1:30am Bennett came in to announce that Santa had arrived. We told him to go back to bed as it was not time to get up. Then Baylor woke up at 2:30am and needed to have his passy back. At 5:30am Bennett came back in and announced that Santa had arrived, we told him it still was not time to get up so he went back to bed. At 6:00am Baylor woke again and wanted milk, so we fed him and put him back to bed and started our Breakfast casserole in the oven. (I had made it the night before and it had to soak overnight in the fridge before baking) Finally around 7:30am everyone was up for good except Baylor, but we just got him up so he could be a part of the action. Wow I was wore out before the day started :o).

The boys received so many wonderful things for Christmas. Bennett got a Star Wars storm trooper blaster gun that he had been wanting for some time. He was soooooo excited when he opened the gift.

I love this picture, because it captures how totally surprised he was opening his gifts. It is so wonderful to experience life through the eyes of a child! He also got many games for the XBOX and Nintendo DS Lite systems, Legos and subscription to Brickmaster magazine, books, & Webkinz. In addition we got a Wii for the family! Our fabulous friend Tony Musgrave was walking into Best Buy before Christmas and they set out a pallet and he grabbed one for us! Thanks Tony you ROCK! The kids and us have had such a fun time with the boxing game in particular.

Brayden waiting patiently for his turn to open a gift. He got Candy Land Castle, Webkinz Gorilla, Spiderman doll, Ben 10 action figure, Playmobile Pirate set, counting money jar, and Zoob.

Baylor snuggling with his new blanket which is part of his Zoobie pal. (His is a crocodile which is a stuffed animal/pillow/blanket all in one) He also got teethers, rattle monkey, clothes, and Leap Frog stackers.

Holding his Monkey rattle Christmas morning. This was his first time holding a toy!!!

The boys boxing each other on the Wii. They are so much fun to watch. Bennett runs in place so hard and fast trying to KO his opponent. He is very competitive and does not like to loose, but who does?

They also got Batman and Superman chairs from Grandma and Grandpa McKinstry and Bennett is sitting in his chair checking out the Wii.

This was our first Christmas ever without any family, so again our friends the Musgraves invited us to be with their family Christmas Eve and this is a picture of the boys waiting to open their gifts.

Mommy and Baylor Christmas Eve.

Our beautiful sons, the best Christmas presents we could ask for. We are looking forward to all the wonderful things in store for us for 2008!!!

More December Updates

Just below this post is another update of a family Christmas photo with Santa!!! This picture was taken yesterday at Bennett's Lil' Kicks karate class. From L-R is Carson, Bennett, Zachary,Deane, and Jackson. He has had an amazing year in his karate class and has made some really wonderful friends. The parents laugh and say his Sensei's must be saints to handle 5 little energetic boys with such grace and ease!

The Advent chains were made by the boys at our church's Angel breakfast to count down the days until Christmas.

The stockings were hung by the entertainment center with care?!?!?! We have no fireplace so we had to hang them somewhere. The boys have asked how will Santa get in our home, and we have told them that he will just come in through our sliding glass door by the pool. :o)

Our new tree skirt to match our stockings. It took Pottery Barn three times to get the spelling right :o)!

The boys and I made our annual Gingerbread house. The tradition was started by our old neighbor Kristen. We used to get together with her 2 boys, my friend Christina's 2 boys, Erin's 2 boys, and our 2 boys. We have now added 3 more boys to the mix. Well we sure can make gorgeous boys!!! Burning beside the Gingerbread house is my Christmas candle from Yankee Candle, it smells so wonderful and I've really enjoyed it this year.

This adorable little ornament was one of several ornaments made by Bennett this year. It looks so sweet and yummy!

Here is a picture of the boys decorating the Gingerbread house together. I put icing on two different sides and no arguments as they each have their own space to decorate.

Baylor all smiles just before bath looking up at his mobile.

Bennett, Brayden, and daddy at Bennett's school Christmas play. The parents got to go up and sing a few Christmas carols with the kids and Brayden wanted to go as well :o). Easier to let him go and avoid the screams that were sure to follow if we had said no.

Bennett and his class mates during the play. This picture was taken from our chair with our new camera and its fabulous zoom lens. I LOVE my new camera!!

Cutie Brayden at a Birthday party for Jordyn, who is a girl in Bennett's preschool class. He is holding "Chicky" who is a little rabbit, but he insists that he is a chicken not a rabbit. Chicky has gone with us everywhere lately and has had his ear sew back on once.

Below are just a couple of cute pictures of Baylor at 3 months. He will not go back for a check at the Dr's until the end of January, but I've gotten on the scale and subtracted my weight and I think he is right at 14 lbs. at 14 weeks.

We have been calling him, "Tank" as he does not miss many meals :o). He has been doing quite well with his sleep, having a bath, feed and in the bed by 7:30pm. He is put to bed awake and falls asleep on his own. He can go about 8 hrs. and wakes usually around 3:30am for a quick feed and back to bed until 6:30 or 7 am. It's not a full nights sleep uninterrrupted, but it is much better than the initial first 3 months of getting up every 2-3 hrs.!!!!

The McKinstry family taken at the Angel breakfast at our church. It was December 1st and helped kick off the Advent season for the purpose of teaching the children about the real meaning of Christmas, Jesus! It was done so well and each part was about 10-15 min. so perfect to keep little ones attention.

All things Merry and Bright

Here is the only picture I could upload before the baby woke, so I'll try to add more a little later. This was taken at Bennett's school, Breakfast with Santa. What a fabulous idea. We had breakfast and pictures with Santa in 30 minutes time, drop the kids off for school and we avoided the mall all together. So wonderful for the busy mom!!! I must admit I do enjoy the business and craziness of the mall this time of year, but not with 3 little ones under 5, even that is too much for me :o).

This picture I added of me, since usually they are of the kids. I got a new camera, early Christmas present from Bruce. Nikon D40, I must say I had just finished fixing my hair, but no makeup yet. I had him take the picture so I could see how my hair color looked since I had it done the day before.