The rest of December...

A day above the clouds:

Nathan called me just as I was supposed to be getting off work on a Saturday afternoon- he had a patient he had to see at the office... we're not real comfortable leaving Tyler at home with the kids yet, so he wanted me to meet him there to pick up Tyler.  Of course, I ended up getting delayed reporting off so I got to Nathan's office late.  Nathan was working on his patient, so I was confused where Tyler was, until I went around the corner and saw this:

Leave it up to a dad!  Nathan barricaded him in, gave him a few balls and Tyler was happy as can be!

I had to take the mobile off his music box because he's getting so grabby!

Eli was so excited to bring Tyler out to play in the snow for the first time!

Of course, his boot fell off, but Eli took care of it!

Messy eater!

Jace's favorite job is to shovel off the back deck- Tyler loves watching him!

Snow snack!

Endless entertainment watching the boys shovel the pavement:

and they have endless distractions when Tyler is watching!

Merry Christmas!

We went up skiing on Christmas Eve- Hailee didn't want to go, so she and Tyler stayed at Mimi's.  We brought Carson along for the day...

On the way up the gondola Nathan was trying to gauge Carson's skill level...

Nathan: So Carson...  What kind of runs do you do?  What level snowboarder are you?

Carson: Well, I'm pretty good...

Nathan:  Oh ok, how many times have you been up?

Carson: Twice.

Mmmmmmmkay!

We had a great day- the weather was sunny and the snow was fresh, so much fun to be out and active!  Carson and Eli mostly stuck with Jace, Nathan and I- it all worked out. 😊

When we got home, the kids were chomping at the bit to open a Christmas present- our tradition is they can open one gift from a sibling or Mimi and Papa... oh the decisions!

Tyler thought the idea sounded delicious!

The kids were under strict instructions to not come down until 8am- we're so unreasonable like that.  Just before 7 am, we started hearing the kids stirring upstairs.  And then Tyler woke up early {for him} just after 7:15, so let the excitement begin!  Look at all those tired eyes!

Jace was super excited about his new watch!

And that he got a FIFTY dollar bill from Mimi and Papa!

Hailee putting together her Harry Potter Lego set:

Dallin is so difficult to buy for- but this year he gave me a few ideas, among which was the book, What if.

Jace and Eli playing with their hockey set...

How long before something in my house is broken??

After breakfast we had a little photo shoot:

While he's already growing up too fast, I won't mind when I'm done taking all of his 'first' pictures... he's just so hard to get a good picture of!!

#whenyourkidspeeltheeggs:

We had Christmas dinner at my house, Tyler loved it!

 Merry Christmas!

9 Months Old

Not sure if it's the lighting or what, but this picture doesn't even really look like him!

With all of Christmas set up, there is SO much more to explore!

Obviously no ornament is safe on the bottom 1/3rd of the tree!

Just so excited about life:

Mimi made him a sweet blanket before he was born- I mostly kept it up when he was younger because it's not a swaddling blanket... but now that he isn't being swaddled, he sleeps with it and adores it!  When it's naptime or bedtime, I give him his paci and blankie and he just snuggles up and goes to sleep without a fuss- he's such a good baby!

At his 9 month visit, he weighed 16lbs, 9oz and was 27" long... he's 6th/5th percentile respectively, but it's pretty much where he's been at his whole life- just following that curve!

Tyler's New Ride

Oh the wonders of a cardboard box!  Tyler has been loving playing inside this box- just add a few toys and he's so content!

He even stood up for the first time without holding on to anything in his box!!

Holding on with one hand:

And then, ta-dah!  He let go!

The other day, Eli ramped it up a notch and made it into his car- pushing and pulling him all over the house in it... 

Which naturally progressed into it becoming a race car and racing Jace of course!

This morning, it morphed into Tyler office.  I'm not sure who was having more fun here...

So when 'the office' novelty wore off, they just closed him up in the box- and he'd pull down one of the flaps and peek out and then go back in... it was so adorbs- geez he's cute!

I just love how much fun they have together!

Results

After several weeks of waiting, we got the results back on Eli and Hailee's XALD genetics- confirming that Eli has the gene:

And that Hailee does NOT!

Yay!  So from our family unit, the gene will only be passed down to Eli and Tyler's daughters.

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him

Our family was asked to participate in our stake drive-through Nativity- it was so special!  Tyler cooperated and fell asleep according to my plan and slept for most of the hour that we were assigned.  It was freezing outside, but we stayed plenty warm thanks to lots of heaters.  The kids were all good sports and really ended up enjoying it.  What a wonderful way for us to focus on the true meaning of the season.