O' Christmas Tree...

William and I got out the little Christmas tree today. I got out the small, unbreakable ornaments and let William have at it. This is the result. I may have to do a little repositioning after he goes to bed tonight.

DC Christmas...

Our US Capitol...

Feeling the Christmas lights...

The Smithsonian Castle...

A building in Istanbul that I can't remember the name of...

Daddy and William...

The Eiffel Tower! This thing was HUGE!

The Taj Mahal...

The Great Wall of China...

The Sphinx...

William is taking it all in...

To kick off the Christmas season we ventured down to the Capital tonight and saw the train and building exhibit at the US Botanical Garden. It was great, as always. William loves the trains and all the little fairy houses. This year they had building from all over the world, built to scale. All the structures were made only of plant fibers and they were incredible. They still had all the Capital buildings as well, but I didn't take pictures of those since I showed those here last year. William was very hard to wrangle out of there, and it was very tough to get any good pictures of him, so I apologize for the lack of Pudd.

The Original Washington Monument...

In 1827, on the 4th of July, the towns people of Boonsboro, MD went to the highest point in the area and built this tower to honor George Washington. They completed the walls in one day! I find this very impressive!

William loved this iron gate...

The spiral stairs were a big hit as well...

Rock scrambling...

Jason and William recently went to this park while I was running errands. I am very sorry I missed it! Jason said that William ran up and down the tower over and over for a long time. He fell asleep as soon as he was back in the car!

Happy Turkey Day!

The Newest Little One...

Here are some images from today. Sorry, they are blurry from scanning. The top is his face straight on so you get the Darth Vader effect. The middle one is a 3-d look at his face. The bottom one, of course is the money shot that shows he is all boy. He looks very healthy and happy wiggling around in his little water world, and his growth was right on target. William was very happy to see the baby, except he kept calling it a gorilla! Too cute! We are looking forward to having another little man around the house, and a little buddy for William.

Baby Update...

I got a call today from the Perinatologist and the newest blood tests came back MUCH improved! I am so thrilled and relieved. Based on the new levels the baby is at virtually NO RISK for Down's or Spina Bifida. I still have the PAPP-A level to contend with, but I feel much better knowing that the baby won't have anything seriously wrong with it genetically, other than being our child! LOL! I still have to do the ultrasounds to monitor the growth, but she said they might be willing to spread them out a little further apart. I feel like I am about 20 years younger and can finally relax a little! Thank you God.

Live John Deere Action

John Deere Heaven...

After much anticipation, we finally opened the box and Will said "Where's the Pedal Tractor?"
Will helps unload...

Biding his time by playing with the parts...

Helping to attach the seat...

Trying to add parts to other parts, which doesn't necessarily work...

PURE JOY!!!

You can even ride it backwards!

My Mom decided to indulge William in his John Deere fixation by giving him the real deal, or as close as you can get when you are 2. A die cast pedal tractor. This thing is built to last. He really will be able to pass this down to his kids, and probably grandkids. It is solid as a rock and probably weighs 30 pounds at least! It has a bicycle chain drive so it's not as hard to pedal as you would think. William just loves it. Since we are going home to Seattle for Christmas, Mom decided that he could have it early, since I can't imagine how we would take it on the plane! LOL! I am going to take him outside with it in the morning and let him ride it around the yard. He is going to sleep tonight a very happy, and lucky boy. Thanks Grandma!

Weekend...

Driving cars on the road...
Mastering the art of climbing...

He's getting too good...

Playing Soccer with Daddy...

Exploring the woods...

Running down the trail! I think his feet look so big!

I worked long days this weekend, so the boys were pretty much on their own. Jason took William down to the Potomac yesterday and to the park today. I missed them so much, but thankfully I have next weekend off!