The reason I made that the title is because a lot of things had to work out for the wonderful event last night to take place. The event? I went to bed shortly after 11pm and fell asleep immediately and didn’t wake up again until 7:01am. Eight hours of completely uninterrupted sleep. That hasn’t happened in about a year. I didn’t wake up to go to the bathroom, Eli didn’t wake me up to eat, Cameron didn’t wake me up because of a bad dream or to “put his blanket round” him. It was so great. I woke up undisturbed and feeling completely rested. What a joy. But for all the future parents out there, don’t be too discouraged (especially the men) because Richard gets many uninterrupted nights, and I have become used to them. This was just a special treat. Merry Christmas to me!

Before we got to this Santa Cameron had the chance to sit on Santa’s lap somewhere else. (Which went well except that Cameron thought he was going to actually get the things he wanted from Santa then and there.) But when he saw Santa again at the tree lot he had it down. “I want a truck and a trailer and Lightning McQueen and lots of trains.”
It was pretty cold but Cameron thought the whole picking-a-tree adventure was great.
(We aren’t actually driving in this picture, we aren’t that bad of parents. This was still in the parking lot.)

I’VE BEEN TAGGED CHRISTMAS POST
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or artificial?
Has to be real, I love the smell!
3. When do you put up the tree?
First Saturday in December
4. When do you take the tree down?
When it’s so dead it becomes a fire hazard
5. Do you like eggnog?
Only if it is diluted with a little milk
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
A dollhouse that my sister Lori and I played with for hours and hours over years and years
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes but it hardly does justice to the Christmas story, it’s very small.
8. Hardest person to buy for?
I have a pretty easy time buying gifts (Too easy if you ask Richard)
9. Easiest person to buy for?
Cameron, he is very vocal about what he wants
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Don’t want to hurt any feelings. . . 🙂
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail of course, Christmas cards are one thing that should never sell-out to technology
12. Favorite Christmas movie?
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Day after Thanksgiving (I get too many last minute ideas to start any sooner)
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don’t think so…
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
My Mom’s bourbon balls (Not real bourbon okay?)
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Colored, and as Lori pointed out, the flashing ones help you see different ornaments at different times.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
Has to be Silent Night
18. Travel for Christmas or stay home?
Travel all the way from Kuna to Boise
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
If I sing the song…
20. Angel on the treetop or a star?
A hand-me-down star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
One on Christmas Eve and the rest in the morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The commercialism (But I’m a sucker for it too)
23. What I love most about Christmas?
Hard to say, just the whole feeling of it.

We went back and forth for a long time debating whether or not to put the boys in the same room. We selfishly decided to keep our computer room/office and for the most part it has gone smoothly. The other day though I put them down for a nap at the same time and for 45 minutes they just “talked” to eachother. Eli was lying with his face towards Cameron and Cameron was on his tummy facing the crib. (I wanted to take a picture before they fell asleep but I didn’t want to disturb the moment.) Cameron did most of the talking and Eli did a lot of giggling and babbling. It was so cute and I was so touched by there brotherly bonding that I didn’t care that they weren’t going to sleep. Eventually they settled down and dosed off. Siblings are so fun.

Cameron calls this his “stupid” hat. I’m not sure why and I’m not sure if I’m ready for him to use the word “stupid” but it is a little bit cute. He puts it on while he rides his horse around the house.
Today while he was riding the hat fell down over his eyes so he couldn’t see and he rode the horse right into the wall. Even though he was crying I couldn’t help but laugh. It was so funny and he wasn’t really hurt.

On Saturday night as I was taking Cameron out of the van I shut his tiny little toe in the door. It was pretty sad and I think I cried as much as he did. Luckily my parents have a friend who is Podiatrist and he took a couple radiographs for us and nothing was broken. Cameron bounces back pretty quickly. He did like the attention though and loves to tell the story about how his toe got squashed and Mommy cried.

Eli loves to watch himself in the mirror. I think this is probably pretty normal but I think it is funny how Cameron loves it when people are watching him, but Eli is content to watch himself.

This was the good old days when Cameron loved to take naps and went to bed willingly. He loved his binky and looked forward to sleeping because that was the only time he got to have it.
Then we decided it was time to say good-bye to the binky. He was a good sport about it, he threw it in the garbage and we promised to buy him a new toy.
If only it were that easy! He loves his new Thomas the train but that doesn’t stop him from bursting into tears everytime he goes down for a nap or goes to bed at night. This has been quite the traumatic experience. This Thanksgiving I am thankful to Eli for not ever taking a binky.

When I put this new outfit on Cameron all of the sudden he looked so big to me! Before I know it he’ll be leaving on a mission or something. I showed these pictures to my family and called it “Future Missionary” my sister said “Or Future Cameron Bird, CPA”

Eli was dressed as Tigger and Cameron was Blue from Blue’s Clues. I am obviously biased but I thought they looked adorable. A woman in my ward made the Blue costume. I borrowed the other one from a friend. It was a cheap Halloween for us this year! 🙂


At last! On the way home from Grandma and Grandpa’s house Cameron finally got to have one of his candies.
We went to a trunk-or-treat and Eli hung out in the back of my friend Lindsay’s van. Richard was out of town so she watched Eli while I took Cameron around. Cameron really got the hang of things, he would say “Trick or Treat” and they would put candy in his pumpkin. He thought that was pretty neat.