This is the act of desparate parents!

Right around his birthday, Devon decided he was too big for his crib. He could climb in and out whenever he wanted. Like many toddlers who climb out of their cribs, Devon used the slats to shimmy up the side and whip his leg over. So Ryan put some cardboard pieces on the inside and taped them so Devon couldn't use the slats. Then we left the room only to hear a big boom 10 seconds later and Devon crying. We finally gave in, and decided that Devon was not going to be contained in a crib any longer so we took off the side of the crib. He thought the coolest thing about that was that now he could jump from his toy box right onto his bed almost collapsing his crib every time. Without his crib to contain him, nap time especially was becoming a problem. So we tried locking him in his room. That lasted for about one afternoon until he realized that he could simply unlock the door. He thought this newly awarded freedom was awesome and took it upon himself to toddle into my room in the morning at 6:15 in the morning demanding his chocolate milk. Anyone who knows me knows I wasn't exactly giving him a high five for this. Finally, we discovered we could switch the door handles so the lock was outside his room. He was less than thrilled at this development and took to banging any available toy against the door as hard as he could. Half of his toys are now regularly on his dresser, but at least he takes naps again!

We took Devon to Peter Piper Pizza for his birthday - this tractor was one of his favorite rides there.



Don't let Devon's "deer caught in headlights" look fool you - he had a great time on the merry-go-round. We rode it many times - too many times!



Devon is probably saying "three" and holding up his "two" on his fingers. Apparantly, he wasn't sure if he wanted to skip two and go right to three or not.



Boy dress up stuff was a must on Devon's birthday list - Ryan was tired of Devon running around in Marissa's pink princess dress. Devon didn't even want to put on his fireman dress up at first but once we finally 'persuaded' him he thought it was pretty cool (at least he thought the water bottle that squirted water was cool:).




This lawn mower was the big hit - I often tell him to go mow the carpet and he takes this job very seriously.

He also got a pirate ship from Grandma and Grandpa Earp. He thought it was just okay...until Marissa showed him the cannon from which he could shoot 3 missiles simultaneously - that was pretty hard to beat!

Let it Snow!

My kids finally got to wear their winter coats I got such a good deal on last year...before I found out we were going to Arizona. Luckily, they were with their cousins in Chicago so they could borrow everything else they needed to successfully play in the snow!


Marissa with her cousin Anna.

Devon Makes Himself Pretty!

Marissa always asks to put on my make-up. I guess I should just be glad she doesn't take a page out of Devon's book and forget the asking. He just came to show me once he'd put my mascara on.

Earp Family Christmas 2010

This is our shepherd/Joseph in the family nativity who was too cool to keep the towel on his head - he preferred the 'Rambo' look. This was the first Christmas that we haven't traveled. It was nice to have our own family Christmas and start some traditions of our own. Ryan also had Christmas day off and the day after, which was almost more than we expected. However, the holidays seemed so much shorter since we didn't go anywhere, and we had to get back to real life so soon after Christmas. We also missed seeing family over the holidays, but we did enjoy the mild weather!



Marissa loves her vanity table. We got her this hoping she wouldn't have to climb on our bed to dance in front of the mirror in our room. It has helped slightly with that problem.



Devon thinks his 'Cars' couch is pretty cool.




This is the kids with most of their loot. Marissa is wearing one of her princess dresses from Grandma and Grandpa Earp. Her dress up chest is by far the Christmas present that has seen the most mileage so far:)!