For a Christmas gift, Miles and I made a video for his brother who is serving an LDS mission in the Philippines. We thought it was pretty cute, so we thought we’d share with a broader audience.

We’ve been getting ready for Christmas like mad. In fact, I’ve been working on Christmas presents like crazy for the past month. Hence the scarcity of posts lately. I’ve been devoting all my spare time to Christmas creations. I’ll let you in on what I’ve been working on after Christmas. It’s a surprise, and I’m really excited about it!

Miles and I put up our tree the other night while watching Elf. You’ll notice we still don’t have a tree topper. Last year we bought two, and returned two. We haven’t been able to find one we like.

Link loves the new addition to our family room.

Let the baby proofing begin. Now that Link is somewhat mobile, he’s finding ways to get in trouble. Yesterday I was working on the computer and when I turned around Link had rolled his way over to the window. He’s definitely finding ways to keep himself occupied.

Link’s new favorite toy just so happens to be this squirt gun. I don’t know what it is, but it just seems to be easy for him to hold and manipulate. He loves it. Momma doesn’t like it so much. Seeing him hold it is humorous and unsettling at the same time. I don’t even know where the thing came from. I just pulled it out of the diaper bag with a handful of other toys (we happened to be at church at the time, it was funny and a little embarrassing). Somehow in the myriad of all his other cute and cuddle baby-friendly toys, this toy somehow finds it’s way into his little hands.

It reminds me of a story my boss told me. She had been trying to raise her boys in a “gender neutral environment,” no trucks, cars, trains, GI joes, and no guns. One day her toddler was sitting in his high chair eating an apple when he picked up one slice and, holding like a gun, said “bang, bang!” I guess boys will be boys.