Christmas wrap-up

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Las Vegas with the extended family.  Here are some highlights.

 River wore his new super hero cape pretty much everywhere, including this trip we made to the Natural History Museum.  Here, he and dad are hot on the trail of a T-rex in the NHM parking lot.

 The kids had a blast in the aquarium section of the museum.  Lila, Nanu, River, and Thom especially loved the shark tank.

 We all got to meet little Kian Doyle for the first time.

 Dadu set up this awesome cardboard playhouse and of course the big kids had to get in on the decorating.  I was so happy to see Jenn and Alex during their short trip to town.

 Syd and River enjoying some brief outside time between days of rain.

 Lila got ready for her big birthday bash with a million balloons.

 Christmas morning at my folk's place.  Mommy and Lila opened her stocking together.

 Nanu and Dadu looked through their photo album from us.

 Finn spent some quality time with his new brother, Kian (on the right I think), and cousin Quentin.  The little ones share the same birthday.

 Christmas morning was so exciting!!

 Dinosaurs were the theme at Oma and Opa's house.  River got two buckets full of them, two huge figurines, and a dino shirt.

 The remote control buggy was a favorite present.

 Doyle men (and Kian).

 Mommy and River relaxing with a morning snuggle.

 Little Jawa Lila playing outside at Oma's house.

Footy pajamas!  My Christmas darlings had a wonderful time in Vegas, and now we're all glad to be home (except for that pesky time adjustment).

The Dress-Up Closet pt 1

I was inspired by an old armoire that's been taking up space in River's room since we moved in.  I've always thought it would make a great dress-up closet, so I decide this year my big Christmas gift to the kids would be to outfit it for them.

Starting in November, I scoured used clothing stores for costumes, accessories, and clothes I could easily convert into costumes.  Since we're leaving for Vegas tonight (and I can't really carry a closet in my luggage), I had an early deadline. 

 My first find at an antique store was a fantastic vintage hat and a pair of gloves (the hat is wrapped in tulle and is just the kind of thing I would have loved as a girl).  I took a child's skirt and added some straps to make a fancy dress.

 The tutu's were a yard sale steal ($1 for both!) from last summer.

 Another fancy dress and a fairy cape I made from an adult skirt.

 I found the knight costume at the Garment District and cobbled together two different pieces from the Salvation Army to make a martial arts outfit.

 Blue from Blues Clues also came from the Salvation Army, and the turtle was River's Halloween costume from 3 years ago complete with homemade shell.

 Two capes made from adult skirts.

 Magician/Evil Villain and Super Hero.

And a last minute Fairy costume from the Garment District, which needed a little work around the seams.

And that's it!  In all I think it cost maybe $30 and I'm sure it's a present that will get use for years to come. I know River will probably lean toward the hero costumes and Lila (once she's older) toward the girly ones.  But I love that there are options and if River wanted to be a fairy and Lila a knight I would be delighted!  

We gave the kids their big presents last night, so I'll have some reaction shots to show you.

Scenes from Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving at home this year; just our little group, including Megan.  We had a lovely, mostly mellow day.  Some of us are still recovering from colds and River has completely given up sleeping in his own bed - preferring instead to kick dad in the head and suffocate mom all night.  Lots of sleepless nights plus no outdoor time made River a wee bit manic, but we managed to corral him, play with Lila, and cook a 10-dish meal!  And we made it to the table only an hour and a half past our estimated dinner time!

  

River and I made these pumpkin centerpieces yesterday.  He did a great job arranging flowers and loved the cat tails.  I love that he's big enough to do these arts and crafts projects with me.

 

 After wrestling him out of his pajamas (around 3pm) he sullenly agreed to help set the table (by which, I mean he threw the place mats on the floor and let Megan and me set it).  Did I mention the kid hasn't slept in a week?

 Megan looking lovely with my little fox.

 Now here's someone who enjoyed the whole day.  My sweetie Lila.

 Yup.  The best group shot we could manage. 

 Lila needed a little cranberry fix before dinner.  After watching The Walking Dead, all I can think is BRAINS.

 My handsome chef.

 Ornery booger.

 Aaahhh!  Get the giant forks away from him!

 Our massive feast... for three adults, one preschooler, and a baby.  Even after taking part in so much of the cooking, River stuck with rolls for the night.  Thank goodness we love leftovers!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Doyles!  Hope your holiday was as fun and memorable as ours!

Happy Halloween!

We had a lovely, sugar-filled day today. It started out with jumping in the leaf piles, followed by pumpkin carving, a viewing of my friend Jonathan's very gory horror movie (just me), and closed with a great first Trick-or-Treat outing. Here are some photos of our adventures:

River had a great time in our massive pile of leaves. He kept picking up huge armfuls to add to the pile then leaping in.

Thom's great "Bruce" from Finding Nemo.

I did the scary Jack and Thom carved the Alien at River's request.

Banks Street Doyles in their Cat In the Hat tribute.

The Doyle Monsters. This is the best group shot I have; though it's blurry, you can see I did manage to make our coordinating outfits in time.

The boys were so psyched to head out on their first candy run.

They got the whole routine down pretty fast. No freak-outs, no crying. I was very proud of them.

Handing out candy at the end of the night. You can just see the hint of River's chocolate mustache. And of course the evening ended with the expected sugar-high/massive crash.

Hope you all had some great adventures!

River News: Month Twenty-One

Dear River,

Happy 21 months! Between traveling, Christmas, and New Years, this one kind of snuck up on me. It wasn't until about 9am on New Years Day, as your dad and I were lounging on the beach in Cabo San Lucas, that I realized you had officially turned one month older. You spent the day making your grandparents swoon and giggle, while your dad and I basked in the sunshine and drank margaritas--a wonderful way to kick off a new month and a new year.





































So much of this month has been consumed by making and (as little as I could possibly get away with) buying presents that I'm having a hard time thinking of all the wonderful kernels of how you've changed. One reason I was able to accomplish so much (three stuffed animals and 32 placemats sewn!) is that you have learned how to entertain yourself for longer and longer periods of time. Now, we're talking five minutes here, ten minutes there, but compared to the constant attention you demanded just a few months ago, this has felt like an eternity to me. Five whole minutes without reading any books, pushing any trucks, or doing any silly dances?! That's an insane bounty of time!



















When you have those happy independent moments it's hard to actually use that time wisely and not to just watch you dreaming up your own world. You make little games of tearing up paper and throwing it away, coloring abstract expressionist art, talking to your critters and "guys," and I am dying to know what's happening in the amazing labyrinth of your mind.










































As your language keeps growing and growing, it's easier to figure out what you're thinking and what you want. You've just had an explosion of words this month, putting little sentences together like "make playdough" (the cutest word in the world, which sounds like "pay-oohh") and "mommy tickle." The words you are learning faster than any other are names for people and pets. Our kitty Edgar has gone from "Ger" to "Egger" and in addition to Dadu and Nanu (my parents) you've started saying "Ama and Apa" (for daddy's parents, Oma and Opa). Cousin Sydney ("Neyce"), Uncle Nelse ("Unc"), auntie Jenn ("Jar"), Auntie Crystal ("Tanta"), Uncle Kevin ("Unc Kev") have all enjoyed hearing their new River names.



















This month we went to Las Vegas to celebrate Christmas, and you had an extraordinary time. You slept well, ate well (as well as a toddler can be expected to), played with everyone, and seemed to have no trouble spending time with any of the million people paraded in front of you. Your dad and I took this opportunity to go away from you for the first time, leaving you with the grandparents while we had a little Mexican holiday over New Years. It was four days of bliss for all of us. You were on your best behavior for the grandparents, and dad and I were able to relax, read books, and only occasionally pine for you. By the last day, I was really ready to see my little guy, and as soon as I broke through the airport customs door, I ran over and swooped you up. And, true to form, you said, "Dadda."



















Apparently, all that good behavior was very draining on you because the next day you were a pile of whine and fuss. The flight to Boston was the roughest we've had yet - 40 minutes of straight screaming - but once we got back in our own house with our happy cats, you found your way back to sane.

























I was going to start this next paragraph with something like: "The theme of this month has been Get Away From Me Mommy! You have decided that your dad is just the bees knees and you want to be near him constantly. Meanwhile, I'm as appealing to you as a week-old slab of spam. Any effort to show affection or love is met with a firm, "No!" No hugs, no kisses, don't hold me, don't touch me, you silly mommy, you. I know this is a common phase for toddlers. Suddenly that life-giving, all-powerful, pure source of love - the mommy - turns into a not-so-fun robot set on the verbal repeat of "No." Daddy is exotic - he's away for most of the day, so he's not around to tell you not to eat food off the bathroom floor or to shove you into uncomfortable snow boots and coats 15 times a day. I get it. I do. Dad is rad, and mom is the stuff you want to scrape off the bottom of your shoe."



















However, since we came back from Vegas, this severe distaste for all things mommy seems to have faded, and you've gone back to being my cuddly, funny, mommy-loving boy. It's amazing what a few extra hugs can do for my mood. After a little session of snuggling and peek-a-boo in bed yesterday, I felt like I'd been mainlining opium. Whoo hoo! Look at all the colors! I'm sure we'll go back to the grumpy-gus at some point, but I'm drinking these moments in right now.




















This has been a hard and wonderful year. More than ever I feel like being a mommy is the most difficult, most rewarding, most life-fulfilling job ever, and I cannot wait to see what 2009 brings for all of us.



















I love you love you love you,
Mommy