Christmasy Happenings

Here's a smattering of a few Christmasy things we did during December:

We started out December by making Jude his Dunlap stocking. Marsha helped me a great deal. I still have the note that was attached to my stocking that was given to me 10 Christmases ago.

Yep, I married into a pretty great family.

Here's both kids' stockings. Nana did A LOT of the work. Every Dunlap in our family has bells, a tree, and a train. Delaney has a bug because that's one of her (many) nicknames. Jude has an owl because his room is done in a forest theme.

Tree decorating time.

Putting the star on our lovely Home Depot tree.

We tried to visit Santa as the Bass Pro Shop, but it was a 2.5 hour wait! So, we rode the reindeer carousel and told Delaney that Santa was on a lunch break.

One of Delaney's advent activities included a Christmas puzzle with Daddy.

2 goofy peas in a pod.

We attended the Teddy Bear Tea at our local library with many of our dear friends.

Ruby Quesada, one of Delaney's "cousins," turned 2 years old this Christmas. We love you, Rubes!

Life in IPhone Photos

Now that we have IPhones, I rarely take pictures on my digital camera. I haven't dumped my photos off my phone in awhile, and wow, there are a lot. If you're my friend on Facebook, you've probably seen many of these photos. However, not everyone does the Facebook thing, and I wanted to share these photos with the rest of y'all. They really capture the zaniness of our everyday life.

I can't wait to blackmail the two of them with this photo someday!

Awhile back (early November), Jude got his first taste of ice cream...and he loved it.

Jude and Brun have become fast friends.

This kid loves bacon, butter, and wearing very little clothing. She asked if she could butter her bacon one morning and we let her go for it. Delaney was very, very happy.

This is a great depiction of Delaney: baby in hand, dress-up clothes on, whipping up something delicious in her kitchen.

When my parents came down at the end of October, my mom brought me this beautiful leaded glass. It comes from my Great Grandma's ranch house, from the servant's quarters. I have been begging my mom for this glass for a few years and she finally gave in. I think it looks great in our home.

We took Delaney's dear friend Emma to Disneyland with us a few weeks ago. Steve is SUCH a good sport and did the tea cups with the girls...

...while Jude and I enjoyed watching them from a safe, non-spinning distance.

Delaney, Emma, and Pluto

Jude and I went on a date one Friday while Nana had Delaney. We went to Chick-Fil-A and Jude was quite the gentleman. Except for the fact that I had to pay and he threw a lot of food on the floor. So maybe he wasn't quite the gentleman after all.

This kid is so goofy.

And this kid has no interest in being a baby. He was so proud of himself for reaching the keys!

Thanksgiving 2011

Looking good for Thanksgiving dinner

We were able to spend Thanksgiving this year in Riverside with Doug, Marsha, Mike, Arlene, and Arlene's brother Raul. It was perfectly relaxing and so nice to be with some of our very favorite people. I was also able to talk to most of my Oregon family that day, and even skyped with my brother in New Zealand the day after Thanksgiving. It was fun to see his furry face!


We have a lot to be thankful for, and in 2011 two new Dunlaps were added to our brood: Arlene and Jude. We all wrote out our sentiments of thanksgiving and clipped them onto this "tree." We read them out loud after dinner and tried to guess which person wrote the note. It was a jolly good game.

Blurry but happy kids

Karen Marie & Delaney Marie

Delaney, Auntie Beans, & Crazy Uncle Monkey

This year, we drew names for Christmas gifts. You can almost feel the anticipation, right?

Jude, just chillaxin'

The day after Thanksgiving was spent decorating for Christmas and watching the lighting ceremony at The Mission Inn. Delaney assisted Steve in hanging the Christmas lights. Delaney insisted on wearing her bibs, just like Grandpa, and her Hello Kitty boots. This kid has got style. She also sported a tool belt that Marsha made for Steve when he was Delaney-sized. I love that we have so many things from our childhoods that our own kids can now enjoy.

I think she likes her dad just a bit...

"Enjoying" the lights at the Mission Inn. It was super crowded and you can just see how much Steve loved pushing the double stroller through the crowds.

10 Months

The silence that has befallen this blog is due mainly to my need to focus on Christmasy things. We have so many November and December pictures that I need to post, but first I need to document Jude's 10 month milestones.

Weight: 21 pounds

I think that every mother that has ever had a baby boy has uttered the words "He's just ALL boy!" I feel like I've been saying that statement since Jude exited the womb, but this month I have really noticed the difference between having a boy versus a girl. Jude is a tough, solid piece of boy machinery. Let's just say he keeps me on my toes. Good thing he has a bossy big sister that loves to tattle on him whenever he's up to his boyish mischief!

Hey Jude, why don't you sit down for just a moment?

No? Well, maybe I can get your sister to help out...

Or maybe we can try to go outside for a bit...

Jude now has three top teeth and two bottom teeth. We are all done making baby food (yay!) and he now eats real people food. And he generally out-eats his sister, which I'm sure comes as no surprise to most of you. As far as sleep goes, he began sleeping through the night 2 weeks ago, then stopped sleeping through the night last week, and then started sleeping through the night again this past week. Phew!

Oh Jude, you're just about my favorite baby boy.

The Felling of the Tree

Way back in October, my parents and brother came to visit. My dad was obviously very excited to see his "favorite daughter, favorite son-in-law, and favorite grandkids" (his words, not mine), but he also came to California with a mission:

To cut this tree down. The pine tree, not the palm tree.

The fact that I wanted this tree gone might come as a surprise to some of you. Around these parts, I'm considered somewhat of a nature-lover-tree-hugger, if you may. There aren't many true hippies here in Southern California, so the fact that I'm from Oregon and that I recycle automatically qualifies me as a hippie. Go figure.

Anyway, this tree was a real menace to society. The tree was growing crooked, dangerously close to our home, and threatening the safety of every child innocently passing by on their way to school. Not to mention the fact that the tree was blocking out sunlight, rendering it impossible to grow anything green underneath its bows, as well as littering our lawn and sidewalk with needles and treeish-whatnot. Clearly, this tree was all sorts of bad news and needed to go.

Before picture- side view

This tree-cutting business really turned into a family affair, as do most of our home renovation projects. Steve's Dad (Doug) brought over his chain saw and joined in the fun. And here's a picture of Jimmy doing what Jimmy does best; supervising:


My mom, Steve's mom (Marsha), and I were tasked with the job of entertaining the children, sewing Halloween costumes, and keeping Steve abreast with the progress. Even though he was dressed up in his fancy work clothes, Steve just had to jump in during his lunch break:

The menfolk, surveying their work

Now, my Dad isn't a professional logger, but he's a very capable guy. Nonetheless, I did make him swear that no injury would befall house or human, and he was true to his word. However, there was one small misstep:

I love that the instant this happened, Jimmy had out his IPhone. And yes, it was posted on Facebook within minutes.

However, that was just a small setback, and no serious damage occurred. Again, the whole family got in on bringing this baby down:


Then came the really fun part for my dad:


And then even more fun for the whole family:


And finally, TIMBER!


Jimmy gave up counting the rings at about 5 rings in...


Great work, Lumberjack Dad. We love you!

9 Months

Jude, our baby, turned nine months old two weeks ago. And if you're mathematically inclined, that also means that Jude will be 10 months old in two weeks' time. This growing-up-quickly-and-not-so-much-a-baby thing must stop. Did you hear me, Jude?

Our nine month pictures aren't great because they were taking inside and the dude just doesn't like to hold still. Much like his sister, he's a crazy monkey. Except this time around, we have a crazy BOY monkey on our hands. Which means that, when excited, he is prone to flailing, squealing, hitting, head-butting and the like. But really, he's such a sweet guy.

A friend, my sweet Candace, recently asked what his personality is like. So here goes:

• Jude is joyful. He smiles a lot, and has a very high-pitched squeal to match his excitement. It can be a bit embarrassing at times, seeing how his squeal is pretty feminine, but I'm sure that will all change in due time.
• Jude is adaptable. Sure, he does best when he's on his routine, but he rolls with the punches so much better than our first child. Or better yet, his mom and dad have learned how to roll with the punches with the passage of time.
• Jude loves to explore. He is interested in everything around him, and his one-legged crab-walk crawl is a hoot to watch. He takes his surroundings in, loves to put things in his mouth, which keeps us on our toes.
• Jude is generally pretty content. He's not necessarily calm or chill, but he isn't phased by much.
• Jude is currently a mama's boy. I find this to be endearing and taxing at the same time. We'll see how this plays out as he grows and matures.

Stats:
Weight: 20 lbs.
Height: ? Good luck getting this kid to hold still to measure him.

This picture really reminds me that Jude is losing his baby-ness.

Obviously, we are so in love with our little guy. And why wouldn't be? He's pretty great, minus the still-not-sleeping-through-the-night factor. That has to change soon, right? Jude now has three teeth; two on the bottom and one on the top. He eats everything (dog hair included) in his sight and is just four pounds away from outweighing his big sis.

Can you see those teeth?