We had such a great Christmas this year. It started with a trip to visit my Dad and Mary and the boys got to play with their sweet girl cousins that just loved up on them. We ate delicious prime rib dinner and just played toys and relaxed. We came home on Christmas Eve and baked some Christmas cookies for Santa, then got in some snuggly pajamas and went to bed. Santa was pretty clever this year. All the presents he left were wrapped in Santa wrapping paper and they were to both Carter AND Archer. Santa knows that the boys love to share their toys. (Not sure how much longer Santa can get away with that!) Santa brought the boys a LOT of new trains and a new car track. So far it has provided hours of entertainment so it's been awesome. My mom, brother, Grandma, and Uncle came over for Christmas brunch and then we headed over to Dave's parents house for dinner and more presents with Uncle Brandon, Aunt Jackie, and the cousins. Our kids were exhausted and were in bed that night before 8pm.
Dave and I bought each other a joint Christmas gift this year--we painted our house! I will take some pictures soon. I am so in love with it... I smile every time I drive down our street and see it!
Carter was totally into the spirit of Christmas this year. He was so excited for Santa to come to our house and he was such a big helper with decorating, making cookies, making and painting ornaments, and getting things ready for Santa. The Elf on the Shelf tradition was started this year too (whenever I could remember!) but I think it will be more fun next year. All in all it was a fabulous Christmas and by far one of the best I have had in years!
Carter loves to play with my camera. Usually he just likes to look through all the pictures but lately he is becoming adventurous and likes to take pictures. At first it was pretty annoying because he can fill up my memory card so fast with fifty pictures of the floor. However, the last time I looked at my camera, I found a few that were actually pretty cute. It's fun to see the world through Carter's eyes.
December 13th is Grayson's day. Three years ago we said goodbye and kissed and cuddled our sweet baby one last time. I try to honor and remember Grayson every year on this day and spend some time with my family to ease the sadness and the perpetual ache I feel when I think about my baby.
The past two years we have gone to the aquarium as a family but this year we are all sick so we ended up just going to the cemetery. We brought Grayson a Christmas tree like we do every year. As time passes I get more frustrated with memories and how it always seems like the sweet memories are the ones that tend to fade over time but yet I am haunted by the awful memories. December 13th, 2009... I remember every detail... every face I saw, every word that was spoken, Grayson's last breath, the intense pain as I felt my heart break. I remember everything so clearly, even though when I was living in the actual moment it felt like I was walking in a fog. I felt that way for days after and eventually the fog lifted and left me with these vivid memories. Memories are tricky like that. I try very hard to focus on the good memories... remembering how it felt to hold his little body against mine and smell that wonderful baby smell. Thankfully I still remember and I think as Grayson's mom, that is a memory and a feeling that, happily, I will never forget.
Since it has rained the past two years in a row on the boys' birthday, this year I decided to skip a birthday party and we took a family vacation instead. And this year, we woke up to a beautiful blue sky, sunshine, and 70 degree weather! We were thrilled to have such perfect weather for our long weekend in San Diego. We stayed at the Grand Pacific Palisades Hotel, which is walking distance from Legoland. The hotel was wonderful. Very kid-friendly. The vending machines had ice cream in them! They had a splash pad and pool just for kids and Dave and I managed to have a competitive game of air hockey and ping pong in the rec room. I say competitive but really I just tried really hard and he still easily beat me. Ha.
Next to the hotel was the Karl Strauss restaurant. Oh my. We were in heaven. The food was so delicious and they had a breakfast buffet in the morning. We went. TWICE.
Legoland was not exactly what we were hoping for. I was extremely disappointed in the height restriction (they don't let babies/toddlers ride ANYTHING!) The kids were too young to care though and managed to have a blast with the other cool activities (jumbo building blocks and fun play structures and a huge splash pad). Legoland has an Aquarium next door and it was small but really awesome. The kids loved it and we were the first ones there so we didn't have to wait to see anything.
We decided to take the kids to Toys R Us on their actual birthday and they got to choose their presents. Carter, of course, chose a Thomas the Train railroad set and Archie picked out a small purple car. We also bought them some new Lego kits. Then we went back to the hotel room and played! It was so wonderful to spend so much time together as a family without any work, stress, or obligations.
Late night ice cream!
This kid LOVES to eat!
Carter built this lego castle in like 5 seconds. Pretty cool, huh? :)
I think we enjoyed the trip as much as the kids!
One of the cool parts of Legoland--the building play areas.
Chewy photobombed us!
Carter's favorite part of the whole trip was the water play area.
Archie was thrilled to get to sleep in a bed with pillows!
When we got home, there was a package of presents waiting on our doorstep from Grandpa and Grandma Cushman (my dad and Mary) They always pick such fabulous gifts. Archie's favorite was the musical card and Carter loved everything--he got a cool remote control car and a toy airplane that he has to put together himself with real tools. (The kids now chase each other around the house with the toy drill!) Our house looks like Christmas already because of all the new toys and boxes everywhere!
Carter Francis Hill is 3 years old. This picture says more than I could ever write about him. What a sweet, silly, mischievous, tiny little guy. He still loves to snuggle, cuddle, and dance with his mommy and daddy. I hope that lasts forever. He went from being a terrible eater to being much more open-minded at meal time which literally feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Not surprisingly, his favorite foods are still bacon, chocolate, and strawberries. I am contemplating combining those three things into some sort of delicious gourmet birthday cake of sorts. Like all little boys, Carter is obsessed with cars and trains. He still loves to read books and has memorized nearly every book we own! Carter is way more talkative in the past few months and I overhear him saying the silliest things. The other day I heard him counting backwards from 10 to 1 (something I have not taught him to do.) I said, "Wow! Who taught you that?" Carter responded: "Mickey Mouse did!" (So I guess TV isn't all bad, right?) During Halloween, Carter received two plastic spiders--one black and one pink. He came up to me and held them together and said, "Awww so cute. Look Mommy! They are best friends!" When he is happy or feeling lovey, he always comes up to Dave or me and says, "Ohhh.... you're the best." If we say, "Awww thank you. You're the best too." He says, "Yeah... I know." Gotta love it!
Archer Anderson Hill is 1 year old! My baby is no longer a baby now that he is toddling around everywhere. The only problem is I can't find shoes to fit his feet (he has cute chubby feet but skinny heels and ankles so he steps out of all his shoes). So alas, he goes barefoot everywhere so I guess it's a good thing that we live in Southern California! What can I say about this kid? He is the opposite of Carter in so many ways. He is a big boy! He will eat anything and everything that you serve him, although he usually always wants whatever I have more than what he is given and then ends up eating more of my lunch than I do! We lovingly call him a bully because he is very hands-on and loves to wrestle and tackle us all to the ground. He is so strong! He loves Carter more than anyone else and desperately tries to keep up with him and mimics everything he does. Archie is a kid that you can't turn your back on for a second as he is into EVERYTHING. If I try to take a shower, he ends up opening every cabinet in the bathroom, removing every item, and then climbing inside! He unrolls the toilet paper rolls daily, he gets into the pantry and tries to climb the shelves, he pulled out all of our important documents out of our filing cabinet, etc. He definitely keeps me on my toes! Despite his wild side, there is nothing sweeter than the moments I spend with him, snuggled up, nursing, and watching his big blue eyes drift off to sleep.
Grayson Hunter Hill would be 3 years old but he lives in our hearts as a newborn. This time of year is a little bittersweet but not so much on their actual birthday. As stressful as the twins' birth was, it was still a joyous day for us and I have some good memories of that day. I was thinking of the moment I saw Grayson for the first time and remembered that Dave had captured it on video. I cut the video down to a little clip of when I saw his sweet face for the first time. I watched it over and over today and couldn't believe how incredibly perfect his little face was. See for yourself!
