Merry Christmas 2010!!

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone for another year...it's kind of sad. Here is a rundown of how Christmas with the Hamberlin's went this year!

We were at my parent's house in Richfield for Christmas with most of my family!

Here we are chipper and ready to go on Christmas morning...we were actually the first ones up (besides my Dad and the dogs.) I had a crazy pregnancy dream the night before that no one woke us up and we missed Christmas and I was hysterical about it (in my dream and in real life)...you can be sure I wasn't going to let that happen for real so we were up and ready to go at 7:30! Let's back up a little bit...again more with the Christmas traditions. Since there are always alot of people at our Christmas (15 this year) Santa always fills our stocking and places them on all of the couches and chairs aroud the family room. Each married sibling has a couch/loveseat and all of my single siblings get a chair! This year we got upgraded to the loveseat! Here are our stockings before we opened them.
We also have another tradition in our family...all of the presents that Santa brings go into a huge pile in the middle of the floor in the family room and we sit at our places around the pile. We take turns opening presents youngest to oldest...one at a time. By the looks of this pile and knowing that 15 people opened these presents one at a time...you can imagine that it takes us a couple of hours to open presents. Then we open the presents under the tree...those presents are from members of the family to other members of the family...like to Paxton from his cousins. So there is another hour of presents! Here is Paxton anxiously waiting to open up his stocking...actually I think he was more focused on his bottle than anything else!
Paxton was totally loving the idea of opening presents...for about the first 5 then he kind of lost interest. Luckily his first stocking present was cheese puffs so we could bribe him to come open another present by giving him those cheese puffs! What a healthy breakfast!

The aftermath of unwrapping is pretty amazing...we also are not allowed to throw away any paper, boxes, or bags until the end so it gets to be a pretty big pile of paper! I think by the time we got done cleaning up we filled 10 big garbage bags with just wrapping paper!

I think Paxton liked playing in the leftover paper more than opening his presents or playing with any of his new toys!

Our last family Christmas tradition is that once the unwrapping is done and breakfast is over we take all of our presents and pile them up on our bed for a picture!

Here is Paxton's big haul for this year! He received tons of clothes, books, movies, and toys. His favorite thing to play with so far is those 2 cars in the center. You push a button on them and they play old hip hop songs like Funkytown. He goes crazy and gets dancing everytime he plays with them!

Andy and I made off with quite a load. I received some much needed maternity clothes, a griddle, and a new hot chocolate maker. Andy got a shotgun, a new coat, colonge, and a huge first aid kit!

Tegan also got some adorable new clothes but I totally forgot to take a picture!
Thanks again Mom and Dad for letting us come down and add to the chaos! We love spending Christmas with you guys and plan on making Christmas at your house one of our favorite family traditions!

PS. Thanks for spoiling us like usual!!

Christmas Eve 2010

We got to spend Chirstmas in Richfield with my family. We have have a very traditional Christmas Eve with my family. When my dad was in medical school my parents started a tradition with another family in medical school that was also from Utah. Since they were both away from their families, they would get together and have a Christmas Eve party. The party is always the same eat a big dinner, reenact the nativity, and eat rice pudding (a Christmas tradition from Denmark...whoever finds the whole almond in their rice pudding wins a prize!) The crazy thing is my Dad and Dr. Crimin followed each other all through medical school (went to different residency programs) and then both ended up practicing in Richfield. So for the past 28 years, minus 3 years for residency, we have gotten together with the Crimins for our annual Christmas Eve party!

This year for the Christmas Nativity (we draw parts out of a bowl), Paxton again got to play a shepherd! Andy got to be the shepherd's helper and I got to be an audience member!

Another Brown family Christmas tradition is Christmas pajamas!! In Christmas' past my parents used to give the children, spouses, and grandchildren pj's on Christmas Eve. Pretty soon the family got so big it became a choice of scrubs (every family gets a matching color), or pajama pants with t-shirts. We finally decided that really only the grandkids needed new jammies so now they get to be the lucky ones to take part in one of my favorite traditions growing up! Here is Paxton modeling his new jammies on Christmas Eve...I wish I would have gotten a picture with him and all of his cousins but they were good kids and had already gone to bed!

It's a boy!!

I know this is probably old news to everyone but I thought I better do a post about it for journaling purposes!!

When we were in Richfield for Halloween we were lucky enough to go in for an ultrasound to find out what the new baby was. At this point (15 weeks) I was so so convinced that it was a girl because my pregnancy had been completely opposite of what it had been with Paxton, but the second she turned on the ultrasound machine and put that thing on my belly I saw that little part that told me it was a boy and knew I was wrong!!

We got to have another ultrasound with our Doctor in Payson at 22 weeks and sure enough...it is still a boy!!

Look at that cute little face!Picture from our first ultrasound...it is definitely a boy!!
Like I mentioned before this pregnancy has been totally different from my pregnancy with Paxton. For the first trimester I was really sick...like non stop wanting to throw-up. Once the constant desire to throw up subsided the 2nd trimester exhaustion set in along with the lack of motivation to do anything. I also felt like my body was falling apart...I swear every joint, muscle, and ligament that I had in my body decided to pop out, hurt, or stretch to capacity all at once. I have craved alot of weird things including..fruit snacks, juice of any kind, anything chocolate especially hot chocolate and chocolate milk, cereal, and most of all McDonalds cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets. I am getting pretty close to the 3rd trimester and can't wait to see what new things this pregnancy brings!
So for the next 110 day (crazy) you keep growing away in there little Tegan...we can't wait to meet you in a few months...but please take your time we are not quite ready for you yet!!

Hamberlin Family Christmas Party

We were excited to be able to host the annual Hamberlin Family Christmas Party at our house this year!! I had grand plans for fancy invitations, cute decorations and a gourmet Mexican feast but unfortunately those ideas and being 22 weeks pregnant just don't quite go together.

Even though it didn't go like I had planned it in my mind...we did end up having lots of good food and a really great time. We were so glad that everyone could make it!

We exchanged presents...Paxton LOVED unwrapping his new car rug and took about 10 minutes to get it all unwrapped! It might take us all day to get presents unwrapped on Christmas! Watching him get so excited about it made me excited for Christmas to get here!

We had a visit from Santa with a little treat for all of the kids!
Notice that Paxton is not in this pictures...he did not love Santa...you will hear about that adventure in the next post!

We had a great time playing Christmas Minute to Win it...some of the games included:
Using straws to transfer M&M's

Writing out the words to the Christmas song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Using your face muscles to move a cookie from your forehead to your mouth

and unwrapping and chewing a whole pack of gum

(of course the kids volunteered for this one)

Only problem...30 people using one bathroom=a very clogged toilet!!

Thanks to everyone for making the treck down to our house and for providing so much
yummy food...can't wait to do it again next year (especially because it's not going to be at my house!!)

Paxton meets Santa...part 2

We had a visit from Santa at the Hamberlin Family Christmas Party! I was hoping that despite Paxton's first experience with Santa this year...he would do better the second time. As you can see by his face...yet again he was not impressed. This time though he was not only not impressed...he was TERRIFIED!! From the second he saw Santa he started crying (and pointing to the garage because he wanted to get in the car and leave) and pretty much didn't stop until Santa walked out of our front door!
The closest Paxton would get to Santa without screaming was the kitchen...so that is where he and Andy hung out! I tried to get a video of Paxton "sitting" on Santa's lap but unfortunately my memory card was just about full so I didn't catch it all...or get any good pictures.
I think this little video will give you a good idea of how well it went!

Family Christmas Party

We were invited to go to a fun Christmas Party with our friend Landon's family! We are lucky to have so many families to share our holidays with!

At the Christmas party they had all of the kids participate in the traditional Nativity scene...Paxton got to be a shepherd! As you can tell he was not thrilled with the idea and stuck around the nativity for about 20 seconds before ripping his costume off and wandering back to Dad! We also had a visit from Santa!
Paxton was not thrilled about this either... Especially when it was his turn to sit on Santa's lap...that lasted about .5 seconds! He was pretty excited about the cute Christmas book that Santa gave him! Hopefully our next visit with Santa will go a little bit better than this one!!

Ladies Man

We went to a fun Christmas party tonight hosted by our friend Landon's mom. Landon and Jenny are long time friends of ours (Landon was in high school and the same mission as Andy and they were also roommates.) They have a little girl Taylor who will turn 1 later this month.

As you can see Paxton could not get enough of her...he just wanted to give her hugs and kisses every time he saw her! Taylor was not quite sure what to think about Paxton's loves...But aren't they the cutest little buddies!
Taylor and Paxton
December 12, 2010

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Growing up we always had a real Christmas tree that we would cut down ourselves. It was full of a hodge podge of random ornaments each one connected to a special person, event, or memory. I loved it and would have never changed it but I always wondered why my mom didn't want a Tai Pan Trading tree with matching ornaments and ribbons and decorations. I was determined when Andy and I broke down and bought a fake tree last year that my tree was going to be more Tai Pan less homemade.

Last year I thought we were getting pretty close to the perfect tree...then Paxton became mobile and curious and a huge troublemaker (you wouldn't think so looking at this innocent face!)

Now I just want a tree that I can decorate more than halfway!!
Who cares about beautiful ornaments and ribbons and decorations if Paxton is just going to have them ripped off and broken in a matter of 30 seconds!
Bring on the clothespin reindeer, the hand me down ornaments, and the paper chains...if I don't have to worry about it breaking I will take it!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year with Andy's family at Anita and Jared's house!

The kids had a great time coloring and finishing the games on their place mats!

In addition to eating the adults had a great time playing "Lightening Reaction" and having a Dance Party 2 contest with the Wii. Unfortunately all of my dancing pictures were blurry and I don't think they would appreciate it if I posted the video...
Paxton really enjoyed watching all of the dancing and he even got out and joined them a few times!
Thanks again Jared and Anita for hosting a great Thanksgiving!!
I love this time of year and am always grateful to have Thanksgiving to be reminded all of the blessings I have been given...but most of all I am grateful for these 2!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!

Paxton's New Trick

Here is evidence of Paxton's other new trick... walking down the stairs!

He's Finally Walking!!

After months and months of waiting and practicing and bribing Paxton is finally walking on his own. People kept telling us (ok...mostly Andy) that once Paxton was walking we would be wishing that he would have waited a little bit...well we are glad he is walking but then all of the started he went straight from walking to running! Oh and did I mention that he thinks he is a big boy and can walk down the stairs...no need to go down on his belly anymore!! He wears me out...what are we going to do with 2? Here are some pictures of the little man in action!!
Here is a little video as well...too bad it is sideways but I don't have time (and plus I wouldn't know how) to fix it...I have to go pick up my recipe box which is now scattered from my kitchen to the front door (all by the boy who can finally walk!!)

Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween this year in Richfield with my family!! We started off our weekend of celebrations with a Halloween parade at my school and trick or treating at Andy's work!! Then we headed down to Richfield for the weekend!

Paxton dressed up as a sock monkey for Halloween this year! He was not super excited about wearing his costume but he sure looked cute! Her is the whole crew waiting to go trick or treating!

Ami, Paxton, Misi, Ofeina, Mana, and Homer We went trick or treating pretty early hoping that it wouldn't be too cold but it has rained earlier in the day and was still pretty chilly.

We made it about 2 blocks with Paxton and decided we were done!!
As you can see he wasn't too into it...oh well maybe next year!

We had a great weekend in Richfield...especially Paxton and Homer. Homer was just happy to be home with his mom and sister and Paxton was just happy to have 3 dogs to play with...he especially loved to kick the dogs out of their bed!

15 Months

Paxton turned 15 months old on October 12th...

We did a fun little photoshoot to show how big he is getting! Paxton is talking up a storm these days...some of his new favorite words include: soft, stop, dada, no, baba, and yeah as well as a few that we don't understand like beup! Sometimes he tries to carry on long conversations with us...we might not know exactally what he is saying but I am sure he does!

Paxton still won't walk on his own...stubborn little boy!! He walkes around everything and walks and runs acorss the room as long as he is holding someones finger or pant leg. Finally we resorted to bribery and now we can get him to walk across the room by himself but he still isn't confident about making walking his main mode of transportation!
He is eating better these days...he is doing better at trying new things but still doesn't eat alot. Some of the things he likes include: candy, fruit snacks (our walking bribery!), grapes, pears, peaches, chicken nuggets, yogrut, apples, macaroni and cheese, pancakes, french toast, and anything with sugar!!Paxton is growing into such a big boy. He has such a great personality and is constantly making us laugh. Tonight at dinner Andy let out a burp and before we knew it Pax was sitting in his high chair fake burping!
He loves playing with (or tormenting) Homer, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny, playing outside, climbing on the furniture, reading books, and playing with remote, cell phone, and computer!!

We love our BIG BOY!!

Weekend in Review

Friday night we headed over to BYU to watch my cousin Erin play volleyball. She is a freshman at The University of Utah and starts for their volleyball team. The game was super fun and the U won! Paxton was not so sure about the whole thing at first but once the music started and the crowd started going crazy he really got into it. Andy took him to the BYU football game last week and said he loved it! He is such a people watcher so being in a big crowd of people was so fun for him!
Saturday we headed down to Richfield to enjoy conference weekend with my family. Of course we had to check up on our Homer...
He has gotten so big since we last saw him. Paxton loves to give him hugs and kisses. Pax also learned a new work this weekend...soft. I think he heard us say "be soft" about a thousand times this weekend...he may know how to say the word but he still didn't really get what it means!

Homer is so cute...he is a super mellow, sensitive, and a little bit scared of Paxton's hugs and kisses! We are excited to bring him home in the next couple of weeks!!

**You also probably noticed we added a little something to our blog! We are excited to be adding another baby to our family in April. As our doctor said "If you want the pine trees to grow straight you've got to plant them close together" so I guess that is what we are doing. Paxton and this baby will be 21 months apart. We were are really excited that baby#2 is due on April 20...6 weeks before school gets out. That means I will be able to take my maternity leave and then have the entire summer off to spend with my kids!