Christmas Time!

The Lockridge boys spent the weekend before Christmas sick, they spent Christmas eve and Christmas day sick, they have been sick all week-- need I elaborate on the runny noses, yucky coughs, two boys with double ear infections, and general crankiness? Our poor boys were feeling lousy but there were still moments of fun and Christmas excitement. Levi really got into the idea of Santa coming and presents to open, but even he was feeling so terrible that he barely opened any of his presents and mostly just wanted to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy. So here are a few pictures of our Christmases with the Lockridge family and the Harden family. 

Grandma & Grandpa Lockridge found this gem of a rocking horse for the boys. They were so excited to give it to them that they couldn't wait until Christmas morning. Levi was a little apprehensive at first but he was able to feed it a carrot and brush it's mane. The rest of us reminisced about the rocking horses we had as kids and how the springs were uncovered and how you could ride it so much that you could get the nose to hit the ground. :)

Once he warmed up to his new friend "Bullseye" he got pretty good at it and now that it's up in his playroom he likes to watch movies while sitting on top.

I could not have paid these boys to sit politely together and pose for a picture in their new Christmas jammies. So insert the "frametastic" app on my iPhone. Check! Here they are all bathed and handsome in their pj's.

Caleb couldn't get over the fact that he got to sleep in the same room as his cool older brother. All night long he would fall asleep (or so we thought) and then pop back up and talk to Levi, pull on his blanket, or try to walk out of the room. Needless to say, we didn't get a whole lot of sleep! Good thing he woke up in a good mood, ready to open presents!

Levi not-so-much. This is how Daddy spent most of the morning: cuddling both boys.

We did get some smiles when Levi saw that Santa brought him a bike!

Then we packed up and headed back to Modesto to celebrate with the Hardens. Santa brought a cool riding Jeep for the Lockridge boys. Levi was stoked to drive it but the first thing he said was, "Brother sit here!" We all breathed a sigh of relief because we would have bet that Levi would have tried to push him out instead. I guess we don't give him enough credit sometimes!

Sarah instagrammed this great picture of us chasing behind Levi as he off-roaded over the grass.

After a couple of days of down time, we emerged to try to get some vitamin D and try out our new bikes. With a little practice, Levi's going to be zooming all over the place!

This one always wants to be like his big brother!

A week+ of some antibiotics and these boys are finally starting to come out of the fog. This wasn't exactly how we envisioned Christmas this year as we were picking out gifts and getting excited, but it's life and now we can enjoy the time we got to spend with our awesome families who showed our cranky boys so much grace and love. Thanks to all who helped make our Christmas holiday so bright!

Lead Up to Christmas

The weeks before Christmas were filled with lots of fun and special things:

Making lots of yummy cookies and realizing that this cookie monster was tall enough to steal his own from the counter.

Visiting the fish tank at Bass Pro Shops.

Riding on Daddy's shoulders.

Goofing around with Auntie Sarah.

After nap cuddles from happy boys.

A terrible picture of my Christmas crafting endeavor.

And an after dinner trip to The Ice Cream Company for a family sized banana split!

Next up: Christmas!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The day after Thanksgiving we went and picked out a Christmas tree. (Yes we're those people!) We grabbed the first one we saw at The Home Depot, picked up a couple of wreaths for the front door, and made it home in time to decorate. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Caleb found one just his size!

Lockridge boys 

Our new Fisher Price nativity. I wanted one that the boys could touch and play with. They LOVE it! Baby Jesus may have been missing for a few days but, thankfully, he's been found. :)

 We have to get outside every day. These boys need exercise and fresh air and a place to run. The weather has been ok (rainy one day, sunny the next) so we've had lots of time to play. Thank goodness!

Enjoying some sunshine and a walk. Levi's quite the helper these days!

A little rain doesn't keep us inside for long!

These boys love playing in the leaves,

and under the slide,

and eating picnic lunches outside!

And we also went to the mall to visit Santa! Levi was excited. Caleb was excited until the strange man touched him. Oh well. That's just how it goes right? Merry Christmas!

Belated Thanksgiving

Well I'm not entirely sure what the problem was with uploading pictures. There were lots of people without the ability to post but no real answers. Weird. It's entirely possible that I'm at my limit of storage space but for some reason it seems to be working. Fingers crossed! :)

So, we had a great Thanksgiving! Yes, it was a few weeks ago but it was fun nonetheless! We spent Wednesday at the Lockridges for a full afternoon of cooking, eating, playing, wrestling, talking, napping and general thankfulness. 

Our future quarterback!

Getting snuggles with Grandma & Grandpa Lockridge.

The older Lockridge boys take any opportunity to wrestle. Now the littler Lockridge boys are getting in on the action too. I think Levi thought he was helping Dave win, but I think Dave would tell you otherwise!

 On Thanksgiving morning we ran in the annual (3rd time for us!) Turkey Trot. We actually didn't run. We walked. Well, Dave carried Levi because he decided that he wasn't going to walk or ride in the stroller. Bless his heart. At least Dave got some exercise out of it, right?

Family picture attempt at the Turkey Trot.

Aunt Claire, Me, Caleb, Auntie Sarah, Levi, Grammy, Auntie Alison

Levi & Caleb are ready for the run now that they have their snacks.

 We came home from the race and hosted Thanksgiving at our house. It was super yummy and everyone helped. I even made my first ever pies! (They tasted good but they were a lot of work. I'm not signing myself up for it again any time soon.)

The best way to end a busy day? In the bathtub! :)