Sawyer turned to me & said:

"Mama! Nose!"

Cabin fever.

Winter is hard. Especially for active toddlers who are cooped up inside when it's too cold. We consider 40s warm, outside weather. Here are a few random samplings of us trying to keep busy...

Crafts.


This doesn't exactly have a name.


The boys like to stuff their blankets into their jammies...


With their bears in their backs and then bounce into each other on the couch.


Sawyer puts on Hudson's underwear over his clothes.


Worms, babies, burritos, this game has many names depending on their moods.


Pirate duels with daddy. Yo-ho, Yo-ho! (A youtube clip of that song was playing in the background)


Arrrgh!


Our third son Teddy even got in on the action. He was the pirate parrot atop the mast.

Snow!

It finally snowed big time in the city and the boys loved playing in it. Sawyer mostly sat in it and ate it. They sledded and made two snowmen: one before and one after their naps.

Sawyer is 2!

Our littlest man turned two! He's still as sweet as ever, although he can definitely hold his own. He talks a ton and still carries around Teddy, the fifth member of our family. He loves music, Yo Gabba Gabba and puzzles.

Here's a recap of the birthday celebration:

Sawyer is a pancake boy, so we made buttermilk pancakes from scratch for his birthday breakfast.


Present time!




The boys had been asking to go on the Central Park Carousel...


But they were scared the whole time we rode it! I will admit that it is a pretty fast and loud ride :)


Some snuggle time after :)


We hit up a playground to let the boys run around.


Then after FAO Schwartz, stopped at Pop Burger, home of these cute little fellas.


Sawyer mostly drank milkshake...


Our favorite picture of his first day being two. Awaiting his cake.




We picked up a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cake. Cheesy frosting (not literally) but delicious!


Look at his fingers around that fork. I don't even know how he's doing that!

Swinging

Warning: this one might make you sick. There's a lot of swinging. This clip is probably just for me but it was cute of all the boys playing at the playground.

Jingle Bells

The boys "performed" Jingle Bells on Christmas Eve. The best part is Sawyer's dancing once they get to the chorus... the whole thing deteriorates pretty quickly at the end.

Carter on Christmas

Cameron interviewed some of the kids about Christmas. Here is what Carter (my sister Kellie's 2-year-old) had to say. Maybe no one else will think this is funny, but we laughed so hard. The deliberate choice of words along with the widening of the eyes... classic.

Holiday Travelogue

Besides the actual Christmas celebrations and lots of family time (& friends), which is hands down the main reason we pilgrimage back to Vegas, here are a few other things we enjoyed.

We went to the Springs Preserve, which was a lot of fun. The boys especially enjoyed the flash flood room (sorry, no pictures) and the desert animals:


Climbing on "fossils":


The play area:


Seeing how far they can jump, sort-of...


We also went to the new City Center, which was pretty amazing.
Here's Ryan and I in front of the cool water wall.


I LOVE Chihuly and we were lucky to see his gallery at City Center.


I don't know what to call it but the Louis Vuitton light wall out front is awesome.


Main entrance area:


We visited Jenna & Hyrum's new house and Hudson held Will... for about two seconds and that was good. I held him as much as possible.


My friends from high school and I had a gift exchange and opened a time capsule we buried ten years ago. We put a lot of junk (not pictured) in there :) but it was still fun.

Christmas Eve with Cousins

The boys love playing with their cousins and with six boys four-years-old and under, it's always fun but crazy. Here's a little taste of our Christmas festivities...

The boys all got matching pajamas from Grandma for Christmas Eve. From left to right:
Carter(2), Jackson(4), Sawyer(1), Hudson(3), Owen(10 months). Will (5 weeks, not pictured for his safety).


We attempted the stairs picture... this was the best we could get.


Santa & the reindeer singing Jingle Bells.


Sawyer makes the funniest faces in pictures.


Grandma read the boys the Christmas story.


Baby Will...


Sawyer was so tired from all the fun, and the time change, he laid down on Grandma's floor as soon as it was all over.

Merry Merlinpeen

We go through blogging spurts. I'd like to think of it as being too busy living actual life but really, it might just be a sometimes half-hearted commitment to this blog or blogging laziness. We have somehow found the time to watch an inordinate amount of BSG as we continue our progression through season two. And we can't forget 30 Rock (as referenced in the subject line), one of the only reasons our live TV goes on each week. Anyway.

Our holiday festivities are in full-force. Here's some pics from our ward Christmas party a few weeks ago. Cameron made this giant stocking to hang in front of the huge projected fireplace.



Sawyer joined the primary kids singing Jingle Bells. He shook those bells with vigor.


Hudson made up for his Jingle Bells stage fright by later stealing the microphone, which was on, and singing into it during the group sing-a-long. Cameron and I were distracted. He got applause.


Cameron and some friends played a few numbers:




And, Santa Claus made his yearly appearance:





After four and a half years living in the city, Cameron and I finally went ice skating at one of the city venues. On Monday we joined some design friends from school and hit up Bryant Park. They don't allow electronics on the ice, so this phone photo is illegal and the best we could do to commemorate the occasion. :)



On Wednesday we went to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. We took the boys to see the Rockefeller Center tree beforehand:




Don't worry, the scarf is mine, not Sawyer's.


Radio City Music Hall:


Sorry, this was the only picture we got of the Rockettes. Their other costumes looked like actual clothes :) The boys kept kicking their own legs in their seats.


The boys call it the "Dancing Santa Show":


The show ends with a reading from the Bible and a tasteful depiction of the Nativity. The boys loved the live camels. It was really touching in this setting.



Unfortunately, we now have two sick kids so our focus has shifted to getting them healthy before flying to Vegas on Thursday. Merry Christmas!