FUN TODDLER PICTS!!!

This is my mom's favorite picture!!! She says I look like a little pirate!

"AAURG!!"

"Duhh?"

Don't worry I don't actually dress like this in public (the bandanna)...my mom and dad were just messing with me!

OK ...so I know this looks odd...but I think it is very clear what these clippy things where really made for! I am a bull !I am pretty sure I don't like it this way...thanks anyway Daddy!

Now to show you my new winter boots! The other pair I had were too big and I couldn't really walk in them...So Mommy went and found a great deal at Once Upon a Child and she insisted I try them on (even though I was ready for bed and it was way past my bedtime!!)

Daddy says I look like a superhero...

Mommy thinks a western gunslinger...
I think just plain silly!

"I don't trust you any farther than I can throw you..."

"insert evil menacing laugh here"

DONA LUISA'S BANANA BREAD (from Guatemala)

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas
1/3 cup milk with 1 tsp lemon juice

optional: 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Beat butter and sugar, add the eggs and bananas and blend thoroughly. Mix the flour with soda and salt and add to the butter, alternating with the milk. Stir in the nuts. Pour the batter into a well buttered pan 9x5" and bake at 350* degrees for 1 hour or until bread begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

(I have had to bake it a little longer...so just something to watch for)

I hope you enjoy! (I really miss the great bananas they had down there! Very different from the ones that are shipped to Alaska.)

Cheap or Ingenious??? You decide! :)

OK...so we were in the mood to go for a walk (8:30ish pm...crazy I know). Instead of Josh carrying Mateo in the Ergo...I thought he would have a blast being pulled in the snow since we have recently gotten a lot! The only thing...we have not bought a sled yet! So, though my husband thought I was crazy (he had no qualms about just carrying Mateo), I started brainstorming...do you ever get like that? So this is what we came up with...it worked great and he had fun...now we just need to find a way to get Oliver to do the pulling...well...that will be another post. :) Mateo's laundry basket with one of Olivers old leashes looped through. (Josh and I took turns pulling) If you look very closely he is smiling in the last picture.

Random Pictures from the last month...

These first 3 pictures are to prove to you all how much of a ham I am...and that with my overall cuteness I can pull off just about any outfit! Don't I look like a big boy :)

In case you are wondering it is a bunny slipper off of my teddybear...

This is my pea coat, to my mothers chagrin, I have officially outgrown it!! Aren't I just dashing in it?

These next few pictures are nothing special...but they are a glimpse into something that is so very important to me in my life. EATING..&..FOOD! I love to eat and I eat anything...which I think my mommy is taking advantage of....over 50% of what I eat is green and a vegetable. I am also very skilled in the art of feeding myself with my utensils! I now eat with a fork and spoon. (...and on Christmas Eve...my Greatgrandpa saw me eating with my fork in one hand and when something was too big to eat, pick up my spoon with my other hand, chop it into smaller pieces, put the spoon down and then continue eating with my fork in my primary hand (left).) Yes...Yes quite advanced! :) Anything to improve my eating experience! I also like to take big bites and open my mouth very carefully to make sure every last bit is in my mouth. (mostly...to give my mommy and daddy grey hair earlier than later)

In these pictures I have come to inspect what my daddy is doing in the kitchen...

what I have to say is very important...I am serious...

is anyone listening to me???
Bathtime fun...can I say more??

Here I am just relaxing with daddy and puppydog. Taking care of the cute factor...(I am really not this egotistical...just my mommy bragging...she is really the one writing this...in case you were wondering)

The rare occasion Mommy decides to sit on the floor we all like to take advantage of it!!

Here I am in Idaho..right before bed. My daddy is sooo cool!

Christmas and More Christmas...

Well we had a great Christmas! Here are some hodge podge pictures of this time (some of the times were captured on video instead of camera...)

Here is Oliver and I staying up late to help decorate for Christmas...Don't we look pretty!

Here I am looking "smooth"! (At least that is what my mommy said)

We spent Christmas Eve Morning with Maria's side of the family. Mateo's Greatgrandpa and Greatgrandma and Grand-Uncle (??) came all the way from Sterling to celebrate Christmas with us! Papaw and Granny (Maria's Mom and Paul) joined us for a wonderful morning of the Christmas Story (read by Greatgrandpa) and a nice simple and hearty brunch. There was a lot "spoiling" going on! What a great time.

Here I am very interested with my pretty Greatgrandma's necklace. Aren't my Greatgrandparents wonderful?!

Here is my new tricycle from Granny and Papaw!!! How shnazzy is that!! I can't wait until Summer to get outside with it!

Here I am trying my Greatgrandma's Parka on...I think it was very close to fitting! And definitely my color don't you think?

Then after a 2 hour nap...our next celebration began! Josh's side of the family joined us...Mateo's Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Marty and Aunt Erin! We visited around great snacks and appetizers! Then we enjoyed giving and getting gifts...Again the main theme was a certain little boy being "spoiled"!! It was a great relaxing time together!

Here I am with my cool (and very funny) Aunt and Uncle...

In this picture I am opening one of my presents from my Grandpa and Grandma...I won't tell you what it was...I'll show you in the next picture.
Any guesses? It is not the the water. Ok...you guessed it ...my first pair of underwear or big boy underwear.

Then shortly after everyone left we went to our church's candlelight service. Maria sang in the church choir one song and the rest was special music. By this time we were all exhausted... then we went home and finished packing!

Yes....that is right! We were one of the crazy people who traveled on Christmas day! It was worth it...we got to spend Christmas day with Mateo's Aunt Melissa and Uncle John in Seattle. We left here at 6 and arrived by 10:30am. Then we spent a week with them, traveling to Victoria and Bellingham area, shopping, and enjoying them and their "Me"s (this is what Mateo calls their cats... Short for Meow!).

Here I am with Mommy and Aunt Missy (Uncle John is in the row behind us) on my first ferry ride to Canada. I really am quite an international traveler!! And I am only 18 months old!! Whoo hoo!

After a long day in Canada , here I am having a drink with my Daddy in the hotel in Bellingham.

And in this picture I am giving Uncle John a wake up kiss. And when that didn't work I decided if you can't beat them join them... In this picture you can probably see that I am home now...but I wanted you to see what my Aunt and Uncle gave me for Christmas! Mommy and Daddy had fun trying to get this one home on the plane! I love airplanes and I love to take this one for a good ride! Flying sure does give my hairdoo a windblown look! (he he he)

And though I don't have any pictures with my Papaw, Granny, Uncle Rich, Grandpa, and Grandma...I can promise they were there and there is video of them...just not photos I guess.