riley's beautiful new sparkly dress up shirt really adds a little pizzazz to his drum concerts.

oren's video is exciting but his beard is awesome.

and the thomas the tank engine themed apparel.

as was the play-doh...

on the fourth (and final) day of christmas riley opened the last of his presents. the fingerpuppets were a huge hit...

even when the house is filled with exciting new toys, there's always time for a spin on an old favorite.

nothing says family like matching tee-shirts.

mandolins all around this christmas.

mimi and bopbop "tell about" how dinosaurs eat their food.

and christmas morning at the moges.

christmas eve at the home of the poffs and the spades.

the first present riley opened was this sweet train from his grandspecials.

leila gets the last kiss of the evening.

the black hill road gang's all here for our christmas eve eve (that's dec 23rd) soiree.

you haven't really lived til you've heard jingle bells played on banjo, guitar, concertina and drum. electrifying.

baby grahm and riley were really feeling the love.

giants in christmas sweaters.

snow baby.

special craig demonstrates his mad sledding skillz.

the family spade in full winter gear.

it takes a lot of grown-ups to get a kid dressed for the snowy vt winter.

mama's little helper.

"is this a sweet treat?" asks riley about his first ever candy cane.

twins!

randolph national bank is riley's new fave hangout - now that they've got their special holiday train set up.

nothing like reading 'the little engine that could' for the thousandth time.

if someone hadn't left their mouth piano in new york, the band would have sounded that much sweeter.

special craig gets right into the swing of things when he comes to visit.

rye helps blow out gram and pop's anniversary candles.

we have to give a shout out to lis g for our special vermont winter hats. warm and useful for convenience store robberies.

riley's favorite wintertime activity is watching the driveway get snowblown.

"they are making a mess" says riley, while gram and carol put together a kissing ball.

after a while, trimming the tree loses its appeal and can be left to the adults.

but riley is an excellent ornament hanger-upper.

stringing the lights is a job for a grown-up...

the tree mommy cut down is beautiful but a little on the prickly side.

this picture is from a few days ago and since then we've had another foot and a half at least. honestly, if we didn't shovel the deck every day a person could get lost out there.

biodegradable packaging peanuts are mmm mmm good.

5 months pregnant today. look at that bump.

nothing like giant burritos for a post potty celebration.

finally, you pour it into the toilet and voila a successful trip to the potty.

time to pull the pants up...

next you make sure everything's pointing in to the potty (a key step)...

then your undies (or training pants depending on the time of day)...

it's day two of potty training and grown ups are no longer allowed to assist with any part of the process. so first you take down your pants...

noodle mania!

mama's had a real hankering for vietnamese food lately and when you're preggers people pretty much let you call the shots.

only riley can play "trains around the coffee table" without getting dizzy and a little nauseous, but christa is a good sport.

pinchy the lobster and baby star in their own puppet show.

chapeaus all around at matt and christa's house.