Christmas in Iowa!

Bobby the Elf somehow managed to follow us to Iowa - he showed up the first morning we were there.  But then he went back to the North Pole and we'll see him again next December!

Santa found us and I guess Clara and I were on the good list!

I finished off Santa's cookies in the morning and then opened up my gift.  It was a tractor trailer truck!  Just like I asked for (well, technically I asked for a Publix tractor trailer, but this was close enough)!  Mom and Dad made sure we had enough room to get it home in the suitcase because I loved it so much! 

I don't think Clara would make a good Santa's helper - she wouldn't be able to make it through the night - even though she is pretty cute!

Clara and I had fun with all of our presents!  I got some legos and we both got new chairs to use at the Clemson tailgates!

Clara figured out pretty quickly how the whole wrapping paper thing worked!

Opening presents can be hard work! Sometimes you just have to take a rest!

Clara got a new tricycle.  She wanted to help Dad hurry up and get it ready for her to ride!

Clara was just a little bit too small to make the tricycle go, so I helped push her around on it.  Then we both had bikes to ride around in the house!   

We were getting ready to race...

For Christmas dinner, Clara wanted to show off her new outfit from Santa!

Our Iowa Family!

We all got to fly to Iowa for Christmas!  At first Mom and Dad weren't excited about sitting in the bulk head on the plane but they changed their mind pretty quickly when they realized it meant extra space for us!

When we got to Minneapolis I tried to get my shoes shined!

Once we got to Iowa, we got to hang out with lots of family!  We missed having our cousins Josh and Jake with us, but everyone else was there.  And next year, Clara and I will have a new cousin thanks to Uncle Dan and Aunt Laura!

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Of course we both spend lots of time with Grandma Pam!  She let me help her make my birthday cake!

It even snowed while we were in Iowa!  It was pretty cold so we didn't spend too much time in the snow though...

Clara got to wear my old snow suit - it did the job for the 10 minutes we were outside!

Aunt Laura helped me use my snow spray toy!  We made some "O's" in the snow!

Clara did her usual thing and snuggled with everyone! 

We had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa during our trip!

We had to make sure to get a group hug in with them!

We had time to hang out with our cousins!  Clara is with Lauren and I'm with Hunter!

Month 11!

This was my first photo shoot that Owen didn't join it!  So just me...  My brother took his first steps right at 11 months, but I'm just going at my own pace!  I have figured out how to get Mom to pick me up though - just have to look at her and say "mama" in my cutest little voice!  Works like a charm every time. 

I've also developed quite the laugh!  Doesn't take much for me to break it out - I've even got a fake laugh for when there isn't anything actually funny! 

I've also been contributing to the dinnertime silliness with Owen!  In this video you can hear Owen being silly and I'm doing my own silly thing...

My Birthday Celebration!

Now I'm three!  I can hold up fingers on my hand to show you just how old I am now.  Because we were going to be gone for my birthday, Mom and Dad let me have my birthday party a little early so my friends could come!

But before my big party, I got to celebrate with doughnuts at school!  Mom and Dad came down to help everyone sing me Happy Birthday!

I picked a sprinkle doughnut of course!

We had my party at a place called Catch Air - so many fun things to play on there!  I had some of my school friends there plus some other friends.

Here's some action shots of the fun I was having!

There was a dance party just for my friends and I.  Buzz Lightyear came out to dance with us!  I danced with him and even gave him a hug!

Buzz took a picture with all of us - we were okay keeping our distance though!

We took another one without Buzz so Clara and Dylan would join us (they didn't want any part of Buzz!).  Emmaline and Ollie were being camera shy but they were there too.

We had pizza for lunch!  Spencer and Elliott from school were sitting next to me.

I got to pick out my cake from Publix and picked a Spiderman cake!  It was the same cake that my friend Henry had at his party the weekend before (but I wanted it even before I saw it at Henry's party).

Dad helped me make a wish and blow out my candles!

Mom and Dad had another surprise for me at the party - there was a giant Spiderman balloon!  He was as big as me!

Clara had a fun time at my party too!

But she wanted to stick close to Grandma B and Mom most of the day... 

Towards the end of the party Clara started getting adventurous though!

After we got home from the party, I got to open all of my presents.  Spiderman kept an eye on things and made sure to get in a few pictures!  One of my favorite presents was Chase and his car from Paw Patrol.  Clara just had fun playing with whatever she could find! 

Grandpa Mark and Great Grandma Alice got me my own scooter!  Spiderman watched me unwrap this one too...