...Time for JOY and Time for CHEER....'twas our CHRISTMAS

What an awesome, blessed and Merry CHRISTmas it was this year...and every moment was extra special since it was our first as parents. The season got off to a wonderful start with the arrival of Mom and Dad T and Auntie Kallie on Sat, Dec 19. And in a sheer surprise of the year (one which Gena knew about), Troy showed up at the airport when Chad was picking up the crew...what an AMAZING gift for the holidays! So this year's crew would be the 4 GA Tutts and 4 TX Tutts.

We kicked off our week with a trip to Callaway Gardens...and it was worth every minute of the 1hr and 45 min drive to West Georgia...as we went to see their renouned Fantasy in Lights...a 45 minute trolly ride through a winter wonderland of amazing lights displays. It was a cold night, but jackets and blankets (and some great work by Uncle Troy to get us front row seats in the trolly) made the evening a pleasant one. What a great time we shared out there...and it was awesome to see how much Evan and Taryn took in the sights. And as predicted, Taryn was extremely taken in by the lights...her sweet little head rotating from left to right and then back again as she glanced as every light bulb they had out there....Evan liked the lights a lot...but Taryn LOVED them! We can't wait to go back next year!

While the week that family was here seemed to go by way too fast, we had some great times and memories as we celebrated CHRISTmas together. Evan and Taryn got to track Santa for the first time...and just as they were going to bed, noradsanta.org reported that he was over the Azore Islands out in the Atlantic Ocean. They each had left a gingerbread man-shaped sugar cookie for Santa and headed for bed. CHRISTmas morning started at 8:15 AM (guess we should take advantage of those "late" starts, 'cause it won't be long before their crashing our bed at the crack of dawn to get us up and see what Santa brought! ...but we'd give up any amount of sleep for when that moment comes, 'cause oh how precious it will be!! :-) ) We had a wonderful breakfast to get things started...and stockings and presents came in two phases bracketed around their mid-morning nap. Evan and Taryn were captivated by the sit and walk cars that Santa left for them. Along the way, they had a great time trying their little hands at ripping open the wrapping paper...and of course, everything within reach was headed for the mouth! It was a toy-filled day, and the twangels seemed to stamp everything with approval...there were even toys from their Aunt Gina & Uncle Spark and Aunt Megan and Uncle Zig...many thanks for those....amazing additions which E & T love!

Amidst soaking up their new toys, Evan and Taryn got to soak up so many hugs, kisses, laughs, and smiles with their Gma, Gpa, Auntie Kallie, and Uncle Troy. The two of them loved all the attention and interaction...stimulation overload, but they ate it up! All of which made it an extremely sad time when the four of them had to head back to TX. Gena also enjoy all the extra hands to give the twins love...as it was a nice break to not be on duty 24/7 :-)

Overall, what a beautiful CHRISTmas celebration this year...sharing that time with Evan and Taryn and GMa-T, GPa-T, Uncle Troy, and Auntie Kallie was nothing short of amazing. Evan and Taryn are the biggest and most awesome gifts in our lives...and this year was a special milestone with them and no doubt created memories to carry forward and traditions to look forward to in the years to come. Aside from not having snow on the ground, CHRISTmas this year was everything we could have hoped and prayed for. ...and the celebration continues as we get ready to ring in the new year.

....oh, and we'll take "Cute CHRISTmas Photos" for $1000, Alex:

Taryn is on the Move...Are we ready for this????

I am sorry the video is a little dark...it is a dark rainy day here today and I didnt have the overhead lights on but you can still see our little pumpkin go :-).

He's Making a List and Checking it Twice

Yes...that is right we took the babies to see Santa. It was an hour wait and we almost didn't stay but we were there and I really wanted to capture their first Christmas w/the traditional Santa picture so we waited. The babies did awesome...as they always do when they are being held. However, they are getting to that stage where they are starting to push away because they want down to play thankfully we are still stronger than them :-). Taryn had no issues w/ Santa, I think Evan wanted to pull his beard off but they were both 'good' long enough to snap a quick photo and then Evan started crying. We snatched him up real quick got our free photo and headed home. No one has to know that they only sat on his lap for less than 30 sec right? Because that isn't the point, the point is to snap a super cute photo right??? In that case mission success :-)

Leaps an d Bounds

It seems that Evan and Taryn are honing in on their skills and picking up new ones everyday. I cant believe how quickly things have progressed especially for Evan. He went from only slightly crawling one day to crawling a little better the next to well now have fun trying to keep up w/ him. He went from only pulling to stand while holding on to me which I didn't really count as who knows how much I was helping him, to pulling up to a stand while holding on to one of his toys. Then last weekend he was just about getting into a sitting position on his own but really only half way there as the other 'cheek' was still in the air and he was propping himself w/ the opposite arm and then last Monday while we were playing on the floor he just went right into a sitting position like he had been doing all along. Then after his nap I went in to get him and there he was sitting in his crib waiting for me and then today just one week later Chad went in to get him after his nap and he was standing in his crib with his arms hanging over the edge. So I am sure you can guess what we did next...we lowered his mattress I was afraid at this rate somehow next week he would learn how to crawl out of his crib :-).

But lets not forget about Taryn she is making progress too. She crawled for the first time today...not very far maybe about a foot but her form was flawless. She crawled right to her momma and then tried to pull herself to a stand while holding on to me and I will admit I did help her but she did a lot of the work herself :-). I have also heard the beginnings of possibly mama and dada come from her sweet little mouth but she is not saying it w/ any meaning just part of her routine babbling. Maybe she will say the first word.

They continue to do well w/ their solids and much to my surprise didn't flinch at all when I introduce broccoli and asparagus. They love cheese and yogurt and/or whatever I am eating...depending on what it is I usually share little pieces w/ them because they stare me down. Tonight they got introduced to refried beans and flour tortillas...they loved it :-).

On a funny note...Evan has been fascinated w/ the bottom 'saucer' part of his exersaucer and had been trying to climb under it since he started crawling well the other day he was finally successful but once he was under there he realized that maybe it wasn't such a great idea but couldn't get out on his own so he started crying for help. Of course I helped him out but not until after I snapped a photo. I am telling you he is everywhere...dont turn around for a second because he will be gone :-)