first trip to the dentist

My little boy had his first dental visit this morning, and did so well! He loved that the hygienist counted his teeth, thought the suction tool was hilarious, and enjoyed the "tooth tickler". This office was amazing, from their spaceship theme to the wonderful staff and toys in the waiting area. I was very impressed. They sent Benjamin home with two stickers, a balloon tied onto a duck flying a spaceship, toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, a cloth grocery bag (well, for mama), a cup and toothbrushing timer, and a baby toothbrush for Noah! I am almost looking forward to his next appointment in June.

And his teeth? Perfect. Just like his daddy. ;) And I took some pictures, of course. Doesn't every mom bring a camera to the dentist?
Looking up at the sky-and-clouds painted ceiling.

With Dr. Cho (and some Star Wars friends).

decorating the tree

I once swore that I would never ever ever buy a fake Christmas tree. Then we moved back to wonderful California, where a real tree dries out and drops needles EVERYWHERE if you get it too soon. While I still love the smell of a real tree, the pros of having an artificial one won me over this year. Also, Costco had a really good deal... So we bought a tree, my wonderful husband put it up the day after Thanksgiving while I was working (more to come on that job on my photo blog soon!) and the four of us decorated it and the rest of the house that evening with Christmas music and all.Benjamin doing some decorating. He's an ornament pro now!
Noah may be decorating. Or possibly un-decorating. Tough to say. Also, see the cute Christmas tree skirt my mother-in-law made? :)
Our stockings and assorted Christmas Eeyores and penguins. I need to get my childhood stocking from my mom, but otherwise Tim's and Benjamin's stockings were made by Grandma J, and Noah's was made by Grandma B. Aren't they adorable!?

a sibling thanksgiving

Both our brothers and our sister-in-law came over for Thanksgiving today. We stuffed ourselves silly, talked and talked, played, took a picture or twenty, and ate some more.

A little pre-turkey "Sorry" playing.
My little assistant.
It only took about 20 frames to get one where they were both looking at me...
Loving (or concerned by?) Uncle Scott.
Me and the kiddos.
The four of us. (Could the boys be less interested in taking a photo?)
Uncle Andy and Aunt Melissa.

Christmas-y Disneyland

Merry Christmas from Pooh and Tigger!
my boys and i. and dumbo. :)
tigger!
wintery castle.
pretty lights.

The boys and I escaped to Disneyland on Wednesday with grandma and grandpa J (since they're leaving town for a month starting on Sunday). It was a great day! We went on all sorts of rides, had special treats, and even stayed for fireworks since they were at 8 that day.

look! they're sitting still! and next to each other! and smiling!

vegas!

My dad's cousins had a mini-reunion in Las Vegas this weekend, and Tim and I were able to leave the kids with their Grandma and Grandpa J and we had a weekend off! We got there around 5 on Friday, had dinner, went to a show, and slept in!

On Saturday, mom and I walked to the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. It looked close, but was a pretty long walk. Thankfully, we discovered the tram which brought us most of the way back. We walked through New York, New York and the MGM Grand. Later on, we met my uncle Chuck (one of mom's brothers) for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.
That night we walked to the Mirage for the Beatles LOVE show. On the way, Tim and I stopped to see the Bellagio fountains...gorgeous.
At The Beatles' LOVE show at the Mirage. Definitely the best part of the weekend!

We had dessert at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris hotel, and sat on the patio so we could see the fountains across the street. The creme brulee was amazing!
We left Sunday morning! It was a whirlwind trip, but lots of fun.