Tis the Season

We spent this last week getting all ready for Christmas and celebrating Hannukah too!

Picking out our Christmas Tree!

We have an amazing grapefruit tree in our yard with hundreds of grapefruits and Alden decided to pick one!
Carson playing with the coolest handmade toy at Grandma Kathy and Pops' house for our Hannukah celebration.The Weiss Clan
Pops teaching Alden and Carson how to play dreidel.Alden perfecting the game!

Alden's first haircut - had to have this shot to show how long it REALLY was before the cut!

He sat so still in Daddy's lap the entire time - we were shocked!

The finished product - what a handsome little boy!

As the weather has turned cooler, we have continued enjoying our outside area. I snapped this shot after Carson had just actually SEEN an airplane for the first time. We hear them all the time and talk about them. But we have lots of trees in our yard and they are very hard to spot. The look of amazement on his face is so cute to me!

All decorated for the Christmas Season!

And then.....we went to see Santa. We decided to go to the Market Square area this past Saturday - a lot less stressful than the mall. But, we waited until after the boys' nap and the event was over. So, we strolled through Lofty Pursuits and met the owner. He said he might just be able to wrangle up ol' Santa for us and the next thing we knew - we were climbing into Santa's sleigh in the Pavilion! However, as you'll see from the next pictures, it did not last long.


They were a little uncertain and looking at Daddy, Grandma Kathy and Pops for guidance as to what Momma was doing with them up there!


Then, Santa decided to be cute and touch Alden's nose and THAT did not go well!

And after Alden exited the scene, Carson didn't want anymore either.

So, we spent the next hour with the boys running around the Pavilion and having a blast - and watching Santa's sleigh from afar!

They were mesmerized by the high ceilings with the birds flying through and the speakers at the top blasting Christmas music.

Then Alden discovered that he didn't have to ride in his stroller - he could push it instead!

After an early dinner at The Red Elephant, we went to Dorothy B. Oven Park to see the lights. For some reason, Carson decided to make snow angels in the gravel - it was ridiculous and dirty, but so funny!

He was very proud of himself!

Alden LOVED the bear in the park :)

The closest we came to a shot of the two of them!

A pic with Grandma Kathy and Pops - again, the best we could do!

Our family photo with the bear. It was a wonderful day - can't wait for the rest of the holiday festivities - what fun experiencing them with 17 month olds this year. Happy Holidays!

Our November

Since it has taken me a MONTH to post again - I will share our highlights from November.

The boys are 17 months old! We had a checkup with the pediatric endocrinologist and as we expected, they are doing just fine. They are little but growing appropriately. We'll have what will most likely be a final checkup with Dr. Deeb when Alden and Carson are two and they'll graduate :) They are still not quite 20 lbs, but getting close.

David's Uncle Leon and Aunt Ellie came to visit and Pops cooked ribs - the boys had their first taste. Based on the pics, I'd say they loved and devoured them!!

David and Grandpa finished the swingset/playground area!! After two scoops of sand from Esposito's, One Ton of Rubber Mulch and 300lbs of rubber perimeters (like 4x4s) were delivered. David and my Dad moved it all into the swingset area.

That bag of mulch you see is 5 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter!!

Here is the final project!! The tarped area is the sandbox - covered to try to keep out the neighborhood cats and raccoons!

While the men were working, Grandma Kathy, Mimi and I took Alden and Carson to the Weaver Festival at Millstone Plantation - they LOVED seeing all the animals. We saw sheep, goats and even Llamas! Of course, Alden's favorite sighting was of the black lab running around :) What a dog-lover he is!!

When we got home, the boys enjoyed the inaugural time in the sandbox :)

On Thanksgiving, we ran the Turkey Trot and then headed out to my Uncle Steve and Aunt Lisa's house for a day of fun and family. Here is a shot of the boys at their first real Thanksgiving feast!

Carson was quite enjoying the sweet potatoes and marshmallows in the orange.

The day after Thanksgiving, Leah, Peyton and Jon came over to visit - an annual tradition! Alden was still asleep but here is a cute shot of Peyton and Carson.

The boys enjoying the cold weather outside on the patio with their cars.

We took a trip to Dorothy Oven Park with Mimi and Grandpa to see the lights.

Free from the stroller, the boys were running around like crazy through the meadow and trying to touch all of the lights.

To end, a few final shots of "The Do" before Alden gets his first haircut this coming week. The time has come folks, he can't see anymore and one more comment from a stranger regarding our "boy and girl twins" and I'll make a few enemies!!! So, I'll leave you with a few silly shots of Alden's hair from this month. The Bieber look

The Jack Nicholson look

The Light Socket look

I don't even know what to call this "after nap" look!

And a final pic of the boys with Daddy at bedtime - our favorite part of the day - to spend just the 4 of us!

Happy Halloween

Last weekend, we had several Halloween parties, but I did not take my camera. David was out of town and it was just too much to try to pack the camera along too!

My friend, Mandy, came by and joined us for one of the parties. She was playing with Carson and Alden in their playroom and here are the pics I took when I came to see what they were up to :)

Carson riding his Tiger.

Alden riding his stuffed elephant.

This past weekend, we went to visit David's aunt and uncle in Sandestin.

While the guys were golfing, we played around outside in the beautiful yard. Of course, the boys were ready for Gameday!

After golf, we all headed over to the beautiful beach.

Daddy and his boys walking on the beach.

Kathy snapped a shot of David and I having a little snuggle :)

And our family walking on the beach - LOVE this photo!!

We arrived back just in time to zip the boys into their costumes and head out for some trick or treating.
Carson as a duck :)

And Alden as a tiger.

Alden's closeup - we felt so bad that we had him in this full fleece costume!!! But he didn't mind until the end - he even gave a good "ROAR" or two!

Carson's snapshot. I think he was the most proud that he was walking around in his new Crocs!
And of course, we had to dress up our first born - you can see how excited SHE is! We tried her in a chicken costume first but she wouldn't have it. A Bumble Bee was suitable for her for the evening :)

And this is how we "trick-or-treated". We walked them around in their stroller to a few houses of people we knew. As you can see, it was a long weekend and they were exhausted. But we had a blast - can't wait til they understand it a little more next year!