Playing Outside

With all of this gorgeous weather, we've been spending a lot of time outside.  Which both Evie and Henry really love!  It's a little hard right now since Henry isn't walking, I have to "put" him somewhere so he doesn't eat rocks and the options are limited.  But they both love to swing!

Henry Walks With His Push Toy

Every week, Henry is getting closer to walking.  He has the strength, just not the balance yet.  Here are a couple of photos and a short video of him walking with this awesome push toy that Kevin & Sabrina gave to Evie a couple of years ago.

Prescott Trip - Sunday

On Sunday, Joe woke up sick, like really sick.  (We later realized that he had contracted the flu).  But since Joe's such a tough guy, we were still able to enjoy the rest of our trip together.  We went to the Morning Bell Cafe for breakfast, which was very good.  Then we walked around and looked in many of the antique stores downtown.  And we checked out the Superstition Meadery on the plaza, where we tasted a few of their meads.  As I found out, mead is wine made from honey.  It is the oldest fermented beverage in human history, and was once the most widely enjoyed alcoholic beverage.  (Joe already knew all of this, of course).

Prescott Trip - Saturday

Joe and I had a credit to use at The Motor Lodge in Prescott, which is such a fun, little hotel with casita-like rooms and vintage furnishings.  Trish & Marshall generously agreed to take Evie for the night, and she had a fabulous time with them as always.  Since Henry is still breastfeeding and won't take a bottle, we brought him along with us.  It was pretty cold, with snow still on the ground in many places, but we had a good time and did a lot of window shopping and checked out a few restaurants.  Our little guy was mostly a pretty good travel companion, only we had to rush through dinner because he was getting cranky after about 30 minutes.
One of the best things about The Motor Lodge is they have an outdoor fireplace that is operational during the evenings in the winter.  Since it was right outside of our room, we were able to put Henry to bed and enjoy some time together by the fire.  And we came prepared, with a baby monitor, warm blankets, apple cider and s'mores supplies.  It was so fun!

Target Silliness

Another exciting Friday night for the Holt Family, we find ourselves, as usual, in the aisles of Target.  This is usually how the the trip goes: I take Henry in the cart to do the shopping in the first part of the store, while Joe and Evie go to entertain themselves and each other in the toy department, where I find them doing really silly stuff, before we complete the rest of our shopping together.  I'm not sure who has more fun in the toy aisles, Joe or Evie?

Henry Is Dancing

For Christmas, Evie got a flutophone (not to be confused with the more famously known "recorder"), and Joe got a harmonica.  While they were jamming out together, Henry got very excited and started dancing.

Evie's Stuff

I guess that with it being the new year now, Evie decided she should take inventory of some of her toys.  We weren't sure what she was doing exactly, but it was an impressive pile.  That is her new scooter/necklace holder, by the way.

Christmas Decorations

With great appreciation, we were really excited to decorate our new home for Christmas.  We bought our first real (fake) Christmas tree, we hung new Christmas lights from our rooftop, and I found our family's new (old) nativity set.  (The Christmas stockings will have to come next year).
Evie really enjoyed the tree and playing with the ornaments, (and we put lots of kid-friendly ones near the bottom).  After our tree arrived, she asked every day for about a week when we could decorate it.  When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she told me she wanted decorations for our tree.
Our vintage nativity set, which I absolutely adore, was scored for $5 on Ebay.  I found it in early October, long before anyone else was thinking about buying one, I guess.  (Obviously I was a little excited to decorate for Christmas too).
So anyway, before we packed everything away, I asked Joe to take a few photos of what he referred to as "our winter wonderland", (haha, I love that).

New Year's Eve at Sue's House

I stayed home sick this evening, but Joe took the Evie & Henry to Sue's house where they celebrated New Year's Eve with Joe's family until it was bedtime for the kiddos.  Honestly, I have no idea what all I missed out on except that I know they ate chinese food and had a really fun time.