there went Thanksgiving! here comes Christmas!

I think I say this every time I sit down to write a new blog post but I am going to say it again... the days are flying by! I can't believe that it is almost Christmas and that Jax is an almost 4 1/2 year old and that the babies are getting ready to turn 1. Where has the time gone.

We spent a wonderful and fun filled Thanksgiving in Seattle and had the best time hanging with Amma and Boppa. We took the boys to Santa and the  babies reaction to the man in the red suit was exactly what we expected. They burst into tears and did not stop crying until they were back in mom and dad's arms. Jackson was thrilled to see him but it wasn't too long ago that his reaction was just like his brothers. We got to see many friends and celebrated with them at Amma's Kid's Santa party where we got another chance to torture the babies by putting them on Santa's lap. The party was perfect and everyone had such a good time. We finished the whirlwind vacation with Jax having an overnight with his best bud James and a trip to the zoo the next. Both babies traveled really well but despite that it was still a lot of work to entertain two no napping 10 month olds for two 1/2 hours on the plane. Cheerios were very key and so were the magazines that we left shredded on the floor.

We are all getting very excited for excited for Christmas but it's not a surprise that . He has really gotten into the holiday spirit and has been our chief decorator and present-under-the-tree-shaker. The first thing he does every morning is open the new door on his advent calendar and counts down the number of days until Santa comes. We made a gingerbread house the other night and when we finished, his excitement took over and next thing I know I notice there was a big bite out of the roof. The guilty party was easy to identify with frosting all over his 4 year old face. The babies aren't quite sure what is going on but do love to pull the ornaments off the tree and try to open all the presents.

Last weekend we took a trip to Coronado Island and had the best time. The Hotel del Coronado was decked out for Christmas and there was a ice skating rink in front of the hotel right next to the beach. Jax and I decided to go for it and put on skates and went out on the very wet and melty ice. Small Guy was such a sport and went all the way around holding on the the edge of the rink. By the time we got to the end he had already improved and started faced his skates forward. Once was enough though and he was ready to get off the ice and get some hot cocoa. We spent the afternoon walking up and down the very decorated main street and ate dinner outside (I know, I can't believe we ate outside in December!) and then went back to the hotel to check out all the lights and get some ice cream. This will definitely be a new Magnus family tradition and now I just need to think of what we are going to call it. Coronado Ice Skating Holiday Extravaganza? CISHE doesn't really have a very good ring to it.

 Some more updates on each of the boys....

Jax just finished up his first set of soccer lessons and is gearing up for another next year. His dad has also convinced him that it is time to start golfing and so we will probably get him going in that as well. Cory is very excited to get him started early and has plans to some day have a perfect foursome with his boys. Jax had a Holiday concert at his school last week and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever. They sang songs for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa all with hand motions and there was even a kazoo thrown in. He is in such a good school, he loves his teacher and is learning so much every day. Jax is also becoming quite the bike rider. We live in a cul de sac and spends a bunch of time on the weekends riding around the 'race track'. He has made good friends with the 8 yo neighbor boy, Charlie, and the two of them hang out and ride bikes together all the time. He still continues to love super heroes, firemen and pirates and will often times be found in spidey mask or wearing pirate regalia. Jax truly loves his brothers and will become a puddle of tears if he doesn't get a good amount of time to play with them at night and has to spend several minutes saying goodbye to them every day before they head off to school. I love these little relationships so much and it melts my heart every time I see the love they have for each other. Jax is such a cool kid and he makes us so proud every day.

The babies are growing up so fast. Both boys are pulling themselves up on everything. This also means that they will pull down everything they can which includes glasses of water, Jackson's breakfast and once out of reach breakables. They have mastered the army crawl but have started to crawl on all fours every once in a while. I think walking is right around the corner but I would be okay if they waited a little while on this one.They are clapping and waving and will 'sing' with you when you sing to them. Both have 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom and have several others right at the surface. They usually sleep through the night but have this terrible habit of getting up at 530 AM. This is okay during the week but it really isn't too much fun on the weekends. They have recently swapped personalities... Tucker used to be very easy going and now Mr Ryder is the chill one. Both are excellent eaters and have started eating all the things we are eating. They love climbing into the dish washer and pulling out all the spoons and forks. They love the dogs and the other day I left the sliding door open and the screen door closed - next thing I know Tucker has pushed the screen through and has escaped out onto the patio to play with Joey. They hate getting their diapers changed and would rather flip over on to their tummies and crawl away. They love bubble baths especially if it is with their big brother. Their favorite toys are all of Jackson's toys and are thrilled when we let them hang out in his room (which is usually off limits). Their teachers LOVE them and take such good care of them every day. These boys are amazing and I don't know what we did before they were part of our lives... maybe slept a little more.

Okay that is it for now. I would like to say that I will be updating again soon but now I know that is not possible with my crazy life!