12.31.11 - Ringing in the new year

Sorry, Tommy. That's not "pink milk" in Gramma Karen's cup and, no, you can't have any!

12.30.11 - Pop's shoes

Nate likes to wear Pop's shoes and Tommy likes to eat them!

12.29.11 - Cute kid

No doubt about it, Tommy's one cute kid!

12.28.11 - Bedtime stories

Maddie shares a bedtime story with Tommy.

12.27.11 - Kitchen play

Tommy and Maddie play kitchen while mom makes dinner.

12.26.11 - Monkey business

Maddie, Tommy and Natey pose for a photo in their new monkey jams. Shortly after this photo was taken, we loaded up and went Christmas-light looking one last time of the year.

12.25.11 - Merry Christmas!

Tommy gets a hand from Angie while opening presents after lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Shepherd's house.

12.24.11 - Time for presents!

We told the kids it was time for gifts tonight at Nan and Pop's house and Tommy nearly beat them all to the tree!

12.23.11 - Christmastime is here!

Tommy donned a tiny Santa hat while opening gifts at Grandpa Greg's house. It's our first of four days of Christmas get-togethers.

12.22.11 - Uncle Brian

Tommy shared a good laugh with Uncle Brian after dinner tonight. We always have a good time when we hang out with our friends in Manhattan!

12.21.11 - Where are you?

Went to check on Tommy before bed tonight (read: forgot to take a photo today!) and couldn't find him at first. Pretty sure he's under that baseball blankie somewhere!

12.20.11 - Flashlight

Tommy got ahold of Maddie's new flashlight tonight. He was quite fascinated by it. (Maddie is, too!)

12.19.11 - One stand-up guy

The milestones just keep on coming! Slow to crawl, Tommy's now doing that AND pulling himself up and standing in his crib. No matter how many kids we have, it never gets old seeing one of them reach a new milestone.

12.18.11 - Won't you just leave me along while I eat?

Just like yesterday, Tommy had company while eating. This time it was Nate, who likes to climb on the high chair while Tommy is eating.

12.17.11 - Who are you and what do you want?

We traveled to SE Kansas today to have Christmas with Grandma Betty and Angie's dad's side of the family. I've been a part of it for nearly six years and I still don't know who everyone is ... or which kid belongs to which adult!

12.16.11 - Santa

We went to see Santa tonight. All the kids left with a stuffed animal. Tommy got a little penguin.

12.15.11 - Bath buddies

Tommy is now out of the duck bathtub and enjoying bath time with Nate.

12.14.11 - Not napping

I came home early from work today, expecting to find Grandma Shepherd watching TV while Tommy was napping. Instead, I was greeted by this smiley face. Yesterday, he took a two-and-a-half hour nap. Today? About 30 minutes. And as I write this post, he's upstairs with mom, not going to sleep for bedtime.

12.13.11 - Together, again, for Taco Tuesday

Turns out our neighbors, Chad and Danea, might be adopting our Taco Tuesday ritual after we had them down for dinner last week. They invited us to their place tonight and Tommy chowed down! He sure does like Taco Tuesday. Actually, he pretty much likes whatever we feed him.

"Ugh. I can actually hear you getting fatter."

12.12.11 - Blue sheets

Well, not exactly blue but at least they're for a boy!

12.11.11 - Pink sheets

Tommy threw up a little bit in his bed tonight so we had to quickly find some replacements. Sorry, kid. You'll just have to use one of Maddie's crib sheets and the backup snuggly, Snuggly Bear.

12.10.11 - Christmas light looking on Candy Cane Lane

We made about our sixth outing to see Christmas lights tonight. We always take a drive down Candy Cane Lane. If you're Christmas light looking in Wichita, you gotta check it out! Click here to see a map.

12.09.11 - Spaghetti dinner

You'll never guess who was camped at the base of Tommy's high chair as he enjoyed his first spaghetti dinner tonight. :)

12.08.11 - Zap!

Tommy likes to explore the Christmas tree. Don't worry, grandparents, we pulled the light away from him right after this photo was snapped.

12.07.11 - It's snowing!

In our basement! Decorations that Angie bought several years ago to host Bunco night make an annual appearance each winter.

12.06.11 - Taco Tuesday togetherness

We invited our neighbors down for Taco Tuesday today. Afterward, the kids all played in the basement while the grownups sat around the fireplace. Next week, we're having Taco Tuesday at their house. This photo reminds me of a few months ago when Ainsley tried to hold Tommy. He's still an armful, even for us!

12.05.11 - I don't want my vegetables, Mom!

Tommy liked blueberry pancakes the other day but won't have anything to do with smashed peas.

12.04.11 - First Christmas

Tommy is determined not to let a little tissue paper stand in the way of him and his very first Christmas present - a set of bath toys from Uncle Brian, Aunt Emily, Cayden and Carter! We have an annual holiday get-together with our good friends from Manhattan in early December. We hosted this year after going to Manhattan the past two years.

12.03.11 - Books galore

I'm not terribly proud of this image and I'm sure Tommy won't like it later in life, either. But, we made another haul at the library today and as soon as we got home everyone sat down to start reading.

12.02.11 - Red eye

Tommy's working hard on crawling, which means a few face plants into the area rug. The resulting carpet burn is not all that flattering.

12.01.11 - Learning to play kitchen

After a rough day of not getting along so well, Angie was quite relieved when Tommy, Maddie and Nate sat down to play kitchen together, giving her a good 30 minutes to prepare dinner.