Christmas Pics: The Blooper Reel

Conveniently, we have a professional photographer living in our guest room in the basement. She attempted to get some cute pics of all 3 kids together... to no avail. I am convinced that it is nearly impossible to get 3 children, 5 and under, to smile at the exact same time and not be messing with their clothes, picking their noses, etc. Here are the results. Individually, we got some adorable stuff. Also, it was Caroline's naptime: this is a rookie mistake and I am ashamed to have made it!

Cali eating her shoe. ...and then laughing with her eyes half closed.

Bash always feels the need to cock his head when posing.

Not sure what was going on here.

Cali is curious about the camera.

Park has turned nose-picking into an art form.

I'll have better luck when they get older and I can bribe and/or threaten them... Right?

Merry Christmas!

So we left the wilderness for the day...

I decided I needed to get out of town. So, Parker (the wild one) stayed home with Daddy while Sebastian, Caroline, Jenny and I went to Manhattan for the day. We had so much fun. The weather was great (for NYC in December!) and the kids were happy. Of course I had Jenny, my trusty Nanny, by my side. She is so great with my kids (and me!). I should warn you that all of these pics were taken with my camera phone.

This is Jenny and Bash at Rockefeller Center. He enjoyed watching the ice skaters. But he LOVED the BIG Tree!

We parked at Lincoln Center, right by the Manhattan Temple. We didn't get a good pic of it, but here are Sebastian, Caroline and I in front of the entrance.

We ate at Olive Garden in Times Square (Caroline loved the chicken and gnocchi Soup!) and Bash loved that we ate "up high". We could see Times Square and Hershey's. (Not a big Deal since we live near Hershey, PA!).

The highlight of the day was FAO Schwartz. Sebastian talked about playing on the big piano all day.

Caroline loved watching him jump on the piano.

It was a really fun day. Traffic was light and Jenny and I didn't get lost at all. Yea!!

Parker's Birthday

So his actual birthday isn't until December 21 but I, being the social butterfly that I am, am always completely booked around the holidays. Plus, I don't think it's fair to Parker. Anyways...

we had his 3rd birthday party November 8th (Happy birthday Scooter!!). I am kind of against character parties but I let Parker have one anyway (He LOVES the Backyardigans). The birthday boy was asleep for the first part of the party and after that he kept saying "I want a Backyardigans party!" I think he actually thought the Backyardigans were going to be here. Oops. All in all a good party.

I love that Parker's shirt is tucked into his undies.

Pretty PA

So it's snowing here and so pretty. Living in California I forgot how pretty it is here, especially in the fall. The boys were having fun in the fall weather... not too hot and not too cold. We collect leaves and go for walks. Now that it's colder, Bash and I are working on a puppet show for Thanksgiving. Parker is still working on potty training, Caroline is working on sitting up and Todd is mostly just working. He told me the other day that working retail is beginning to make him hate the holiday season. Can't say I blame him. I worked 2 weeks at Target in Orem, Utah during Christmas one year and that was enough to make me hate human kind in general. ("Do you have anymore "tickle me elmo"? can you go look? can you order more?" blah blah blah)

But in general I will say that I love this time of year. I restrained myself and didn't start listening to Christmas music until November this year. Mostly because I started in September last year and was entirely sick of it by Christmas. My Christmas shopping is basically done (and wrapped, thanks to Hazel!) and I feel like now I can enjoy the holidays; decorating, baking, dressing up the kids for corny Christmas pics. So FUN!

Caroline

This is Caroline Casey Scott and she is beautiful. We are all enamored with her. She is a happy 6 month old and seems to know exactly how to please each of us in her family. Her first smile was for Daddy, she giggles on demand for Sebastian, she doesn't seem to mind Parker's unneccessary roughness (Parker has become inexplicably protective over her and pushes down any strange child who gets too close... even little girls), and she will happily snuggle with Mommy whenever I desire. Did I mention she is adorable? I sigh everytime I look at her. She is not all perfect, though. She has earned the nickname "Barfarella"

around those who know her because she will happily barf in your face (or hair, or mouth, or cleavage) without batting a gorgeous eyelash. Todd says she is my doll because I enjoy dressing her immensely. She must always have a matching bow and, if possible, she should match her Mother. After two rough and tumble boys I was ready for pink and frilly. She doesn't seem to mind...yet.

Parker

This is Parker Gary Scott and he is 3. He is a naughty boy. If there is trouble Parker will find it, triple it and cut out before he can be blamed for it. He is very charming and adorable (as you can see) and this makes him even more dangerous. (He reminds me a lot of his Uncle Nick this way!) Man, is he fun, though! When I am cross with him he will get in my face with a big cheesy grin and say "mommy! I am smiling at you!" at which time resistance is futile. Parker enjoys jumping on beds, the backyardigans and the frosting on your piece of cake. He is the only person in our family who enjoys animals and would definitely have preferred a puppy over his baby sister. He is beginning to find little ways of retaliating against his big brother. He is a head smaller than Bash but is not afraid to smack him and run away quickly. His newly discovered way to get back at Sebastian is to lure him into their room and lock Bash in. When Bash realizes he is locked in he begins threatening Parker from inside the room. I order Parker to unlock the door and then advise him to "Run Parker, Run!" Kids are fun. He gets sad when Daddy leaves for work and elated when he comes home. Parker is under the impression that he is in charge of things around here. He may be right. This day he was on particularly bad behavior but we did somehow manage to get a cute shot of Mom Mom and the Kids.

Bash

This is Sebastian Sload Scott and he is 5. He enjoys pre-school,
long walks on the playground and tormenting his little brother.
He likes to tell people "I was Mommy's first baby". He digs legos and super heroes and singing for any audience. Bash thinks his Daddy is the greatest and if you ask him why he is so cute he'll say "Because I look just like my Daddy!" He has a very close relationship with his Grandpa Grossman (they call eachother every day) and wants to marry his baby sister "so I can always take care of her!" He wants to be a "builder-guy" like his uncles and Grandpa or an artist like his Uncle Casey (in California). He loves getting phone calls and definitely thinks he is a pretty big deal.

Who has time to blog?

Seriously? We just wanted to post pics of our adorable kids. Sigh. I guess we could say a few things. My name is Amanda and he is Todd and we have been giddily married for almost 8 years. We have 3 children and sometimes we look at them and wonder how that happened. (I will introduce them separately.) Let's see...what else? We live in a tiny town called Selinsgrove in Pennsylvania and we hope to grow old here. ("What is that close to?" People always ask. About and hour northeast of Harrisburg; an hour and a half southwest of Scranton.) Todd is from Sacramento, California and I am from Lancaster, PA. We moved here about 3 years ago... it's a great place to raise a family. The Church is a big part of our lives and we enjoy our tiny ward immensely. Welcome to our blog!