Christmas parties!

Joaquin and I went to a couple of great Christmas parties for the under-2 crowd. Christmas was off to a slow start in our house - the tree was a little late in getting here, and then it stood undecorated until just a few days before Christmas. Things just weren't coming together very quickly for us. Spending some time with my friends and celebrating Christmas with our kids helped make things feel more festive. We kicked off the Christmas celebrations at Jaxon's house for a Christmas play-date. And we had moderate success getting all the kids to sit for a picture!
Getting 5 toddlers to sit for a picture is kinda like playing wack-a-mole.You never know which one is going to pop up next, and someone has to get in there and plop them down. For about 30 seconds all the kids managed to stay still and we each got a decent picture. Sure, they mostly look more stunned than happy, but we consider it a victory.

The next day, Joaquin and I drove to Sterling to Abby's house for a party with my Augie friends who all had babies in 2008. Things were quite different than our Christmas get-together last year! There was a lot more running and playing this year, and the moms were able to talk a little bit more. Joaquin is trying very hard to keep up with the big kids here... I didn't take very good pictures at that party,
There are better pics on Abby's blog!