Christmas 2011

Now we are up to Christmas 2011!  Here are some pictures of Christmas in our camper home:

 Fancy Christmas Eve church outfits and stockings...

Esther was super excited about lolipops in her stocking!



                   New Hats!

First finger foods - organic baby puffs! Though we have since switched to the more economical Cheerios.

  

Christmas morning:

Christmas pajamas 

Jesse was surprisingly great at unwrapping presents!

 



And Esther sure loved it! 

We had a smaller-scale Christmas in the camper.  Our tree, for example, was purchased for $3 at a local flea market.  It was too tall for the space we had, so Tyler chopped off the top and the bottom with his reciprocating saw!  But it looked perfect anyway.  Esther and I made ornaments, and Tyler helped her decorate them.  We also made Christmas cookies with lots of red and green sprinkles.  Esther is already excited about a sugar cookie Christmas tradition.  Esther's favorite gift seems to have been the child sized shopping cart, and Jesse's the Little Tykes piano in the picture.

On Christmas Eve afternoon, we went to Aunt Rie's and spent some time with a lot of family - some people we knew and some we didn't.  It was fun getting to know this part of the extended family and they welcomed us right in.  Have cute babies helps with that!  Then we attended a Christmas Eve service at Lighthouse Worship Center.  Tyler and I reminisced about the last Christmas Eve which was the first time we heard Esther say "I love you" and "I love Jesus."  How she has grown!  It was a quiet but very enjoyable Christmas.  I can't wait til the next one!

Jesse Tyler, Ten and Eleven Months

Jesse's Ten Months Pictures:

Eleven Months Pictures:

Some updates for Jesse, ten to eleven months:

•  Jesse is becoming less content with baby food and loves to eat with his fingers.
• He is starting to take one step by himself, but then drops back into a crawl if he is not holding onto anything.
• He still has four teeth.
• Jesse stopped nursing at ten and a half months.  We tried to give him some formula after that, but his stomach was definitely not happy about it.  Apparently, he does not do well with dairy.  He was also having about 8 or more dirty diapers a day.  However, we then started giving him keifer daily which has reduced that to 1-3 a day!  And it seems much healthier.  Thanks, Julie from the Motherhood retreat!
• He still loves cuddling and he loves attention from his big sister!
• He needs a haircut!

You may note that now it is indeed after his first birthday ... I am playing catch-up so those fun pictures will come soon!

Our Camper Home

Note: This was drafted in mid-December and I never posted it.  So, it is not current but I decided to go ahead and post it anyway!  More recent news soon ...
Here is finally a glimpse into life in our camper ... that's right, our camper.  We are currently staying in a fifth wheel camper at a campground in Gloucester Point, Virginia.  We are still hoping to buy a nine acre piece of property here in Gloucester but it won't be finalized until mid-January.  So here we are in the mean time!  It's small for two adults and two young kids, but do-able, with only brief moments of extreme frustration!  It's helped the weather has been nice enough to let us go outside most days.  Hopefully by the time we get really done with this, we will be ready to move!

Our camper has a small living area, which includes a pull-out couch (where Tyler and I sleep), a small cabinet, and currently a Christmas tree!  There is a dining area with a small built-in bench and table, and a kitchen area with a small fridge/freezer, stove, microwave, sink, and cabinets.  There is a bathroom with toilet, shower, and sink - although very small!  And a separate bedroom.  This used to have a queen bed in it, but we took that out to make room for Esther's toddler mattress and Jesse's pack and play.  Not too bad.  The hardest thing, I think, is that the bathroom is right by where the kids sleep.  So all early morning trips wake up Jesse, who wakes up Esther.  ; ) 

Here are some pictures of the camper, and of us playing outside on the campground.  I will say, being stuck in a camper is made better by being on a campground with a park, laundry facility, river, etc ...