Playing in the snow - at home this time!!!

We are enjoying SNOW in our area today!!! Although it's fun to play in and pretty to look at, the best thing is that Jerret was home early from work yesterday and is off today! The thing about snow in Texas that's very different than snow in Colorado is that it's a total novelty. It's an event when it snows and a holiday when they call a snow day. I have seen more snowmen in yards here than I probably ever saw in Colorado in 30 years! I have also learned of snow ice cream in the past couple days. Yep. I now have two different recipes for this. I haven't tried it yet but I will let you know how it is if I make some. The things Coloradans take for granted...
(After publishing this post, it came to my attention that at least one of my Colorado friends has made snow ice cream. Maybe I'm just out of the loop!)

Our neighbors (who we NEVER see outside their house) actually built a snowman about 8 feet tall!



And then there's the Texan version...



Willow loved it of course

Bruce is warped for life - we are now sure of it. We have to withhold seconds on things like celery at dinner in order for him to eat anything else! I know some of you are thinking "Heck, let him have more celery. I would kill to get my kid to eat celery". Don't get me wrong. We are very happy that he has a taste for healthy food! He just can't live on celery alone, that's all. I can picture it now. He gets to high school and the other kids let him in on the secret. "Dude, nobody really LIKES celery".

Best friends in the snow

He won't fit in here for long!



Awwwww...



Daddy's clothes are still a bit big

"Nite nite Mommy"



Autumn laughs and smiles all the time! She's a happy little thing. We still haven't been able to catch it on video, but there's a cute one below anyway. :)

The Past Month or So

We've been keeping very busy in the month or so since our last post. We did make it back from Colorado and had a great time there. Jerret missed us just as much as we missed him. While we were gone, our area of Texas had a white Christmas! That's pretty much unheard of here. Of course it happens while most of our little family wasn't around to see it! That's okay though. We had plenty of snow to play in while we were in Colorado. We got to see lots of family and some friends, but still not everyone we wanted to. :( Autumn had a great first Christmas. She just enjoyed being passed from one snuggly set of arms to another. Bruce was nice enough to open her many gifts for her, even though he had a ton of his own to open as well! We had to mail 8 boxes of gifts and clothes home! He had great fun watching his cousins play and even might have learned a thing or two about snowball fight and/or Nerf war strategy. We have been keeping busy since we've been back with nothing in particular. Everything we do seems much more busy with our larger family!


Autumn is almost 4 months old already! She is warming the hearts of everyone around her with her smiles and brand new laughter! Her health remains good. Her reflux is lessening as she gets older and her weight gain is appropriate. It looks like we have another tall, skinny one for the Eastburg family! She's growing out of her 3 month clothes more and more each day, which is both sad and happy at the same time. She is a great sleeper, getting up only once in the night most nights and taking better naps throughout the day. It's very interesting to see her little personality develop and to note that it's clearly different from Bruce's which is even obvious at this young age.


Bruce is talking more and more every day. Among his latest words are shoes, blocks, sauce (being anything that you can dip your food into), please, cracker, and Autumn (whose name changes often according to Bruce - Auta, Audie, and Awa are the most recent). He can show you all the basic colors and can say a few of them as well. The oval (pronounced "obal") is his current favorite shape and he will point one out anytime he can. He is very helpful in caring for his little sister. He will bring a diaper if she needs to be changed, wipe her mouth if she spits up, and even give her her pacifier when she is crying. What a sweet brother! Below are some of the pictures from our trip and some pics and video of our time since we've been back. Enjoy!

Making the Watergate salad for Christmas dinner




Ripping into the presents




Sleeping through all the chaos





Having a great time!




Meeting the rest of the family




Uncle James showing off his Christmas present - yikes!
The older cousins got smaller versions of this Nerf gun. If you weren't there to witness it, I'm sure you can imagine the craziness of it all! Bruce really wanted to join in but it quickly became obvious that it was an activity for older kids. I'll have to agree that it looked like fun. Maybe next year, Buddy!




Wouldn't want to run across these two in a dark alley!




Out in the snow with the cousins




Snuggling with Aunt Kimmy




Reading with Aunt Christa




Snowballs!




He's a very busy man




Cuddling with cousin Faith



We went to Focus on the Family while we were in Colorado. They have an amazing area for kids to play! It was like it's own little world in there!

Watching Veggietales on the big screen




Going into the Wardrobe from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe or the movie Narnia




In Narnia with Aslan behind him




Exiting Narnia




Discovering the sound effects used for the radio show




Peeking through the port hole





Exploring the huge airplane




What a fun place!




In a boat in the toddler play area




Putting on a show with the older boy cousins




Posing as the radio stars outside the sound booth




Us




The more collective Us




Snuggy




Visiting the family grave sites




Christmas jammies




Holding her head up




More tummy time




He really wanted to be in the picture so I let him




Christmas Bible




He put on his hat and mittens and then I had to break it to him that we're home now and there's no snow outside!




Precious




Reading a bedtime story to his sister




Oh, I'm sorry. Are we interrupting you?

Here's a video of Autumn's smile. I tried to get one of her laugh but of course, she won't do it when the camera's on.



For your listening pleasure...

Playing in the snow!

We actually had a great trip on our way to Colorado! We were sad to leave Daddy at home, but it was exciting to finally leave on our Christmas adventure. Both kids were great on the plane! It snowed last night (and is still snowing today!) and we got out early for Bruce's first time playing in the snow! He thought it was fun and very interesting. We came inside when he wanted his mittens off, then stuck his hands in the snow! That was a little too cold for him. Autumn stayed inside with Grammy where it was warm. Maybe next year!

Packing for our trip



Reading books with Grammy



First time walking in snow!



Excited about the snow and watching the garbage truck that was stuck trying to get up the hill



Put 'em to work!



Staying warm and snuggy



"Could you guys keep the door shut? You're letting the cold in!"

Here's Bruce just figuring out he could kick the snow.

The physics of snow (Daddy would be proud)

Learning how to shovel - one of Mommy's favorite chores ever!