Christmas 2009

A glimpse at Christmas at our house... No chimney, so we just hung stockings on the china cabinet.

The kids playing at their new table and chairs set. It was so cute, they each had a fake cell phone and were playing so seriously.

Blake got his very own Pottery Barn chair. These are BIG hits at our house, and it has been the source of some fights lately (who knew a 1 and 2 year old could already fight?), so we got Blake one too. He got some cute new clothes too! Mostly manly clothes, so Brandon was pretty happy.

For Kate, it was boots, boots, boots. She told Santa at the mall that she wanted boots. And she got them! She got real cowboy boots, and she is obsessed with them. She did not take them off all night! Here is a nice pose for you.



Everybody wears smocked dresses with cowboy boots, right?

Precious little boots!

The kids got a 2-seat wagon, and they love it. Kate gets right in and buckles herself in. Blake just opens the door, climbs in, the climbs back out, again and again.

Kate also got some warm Ugg-like boots. They look hilarious/adorable. She is looking so big all of the sudden. Maybe it is the fact that she is carrying on the funniest conversations with us and making us laugh like she is our age.

We have been trying to stress the fact that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth, and that we just get gifts as our celebration of him. She was so sweet saying her bedtime prayers tonight. She said "Dear God, thank you for Jesus." (And Daddy, and Mommy, and Bubba, and Raggedy Ann, and Dora, etc.) Not sure she totally understands, but it made me so proud of her to know that at least she had picked up on the true gift of Jesus! I hope we always remember to thank God for Jesus on Christmas, and everyday!

Getaway

Headed to look at this...



Happy 5 year Anniversary to me! Brandon and I have been married 5 years today! We are taking the kids to stay with my parents, and we are off on a getaway! He has been working ALL THE TIME for the past few weeks/months, and we are ready to both be in the same room for longer than 2 hours at a time. I feel like lately, he comes home from work (if he comes home from work, he has been on call too often), we eat dinner, play for a few minutes, bathe kids, put them to bed, and then we both crash. I am looking forward to some sleep, some strolling through stores, some good food, some sleep, some sitting by a fire, and some more sleep!
We are going to...

Gatlinburg! Hopefully we won't have the lovely bedding in our cabin... I will take pictures of ours. I am pretty sure all the cabins have the tacky quilted country motif. These are not necessarily our cabin or room, they are just random pictures to give you an idea of what I am looking forward to. See you soon!

Having Some Fun

I haven't blogged lately because we have been so busy, but we are having some fun around here! I have been doing a ton of sewing, trying to do some Christmas shopping, and trying to keep up with these guys! Don't let Blake's "unsure face" fool you, he loved this!

I don't think this toy wagon was intended to carry a small child, but no harm done! They were literally squealing while they were going through the house. It was funny because when Blake got out, Kate got in and looked right at him and said, "It is my turn, you pull me!" I am pretty sure he just turned around and found something else to play with. Isn't it funny that she thinks he can understand and play with her like other kids her age!

See his smile now? He is a sweet boy! He likes to run up to you, give you a hug, and then get right back down to play some more. He doesn't have too much time to snuggle, so I take it while he gives it to me! He is getting so big, I can't believe this will be his second Christmas.

These Kids...

These guys make me laugh all the time! (And make me want to scream a lot too!) I was doing laundry the other day, and came in to find them lounging on the dirty pile watching tv. They looked at me like, "can you move please, you are in our way."

Blake's hair has the cutest little curls when his hair first dries. I had to post a picture just for the memories!


This picture is the epitome of these kids. Kate is doing something to Blake, and he is looking at me saying, "Is this ok?" She sure does love him! We were going to Bible Study last night, and I told her to come on, that we were leaving. She said, "Wait, can Bubba come too?" Like we would leave without him! I guess I don't just tell him to come on, I have to pick him up, so she thought we didn't want him to go. I love these guys!

Happy Birthday Blake!

It is a few weeks late, but we celebrated Blake's first birthday on Nov. 1st. He is a Halloween baby, but it is too hard to plan a party with all of the Halloween parties going on.
We had friends and family over to help us celebrate, and we had a blast. It was a pretty big party for a one year old, but we were sort of over-compensating for not having any celebration for Kate's second birthday. And good thing, because she thought it was HER party! We had kids jumping on the trampoline, swinging, playing on the slide, and parents playing beanbag toss. There was a ton of food, and lots of fun people. We could not have asked for a more fun party!

I love his cake! Brandon's parents let me pick out a design and they brought the cake with them, which made my life easier!

You can see, he enjoyed it! He does not waste any food, so he made sure to get every last bite.

After the party, he was worn out! He loves the Pottery Barn chair just like Kate!

Happy Birthday, we love you!

Guess Which One Enjoyed It More

Kate and her ballerina friends, Campbell and Anna.

Kate figured out REALLY fast that she could get free candy by just saying Trick or Treat.

Kate would run towards us waving her arms- I think she was the first kid to every door.

My little giraffe just hung out on Daddy's shoulders, and that was just fine for him. He didn't want much to do with being on the ground that night.


"Look what I have!" She was a little not-so-put-together on Halloween, she had a wal-mart bag for her candy and she was wearing her Nike tennis shoes. At least she could run and not bust her face!

Holding Campbell's hand... sweet girls!

Blake didn't have quite as much fun as Kate, but maybe next year!

Happy BIrthday Blake!

Enjoy a picture show of Blake now, compared to Blake last year!

Blake- you have changed so much in this first year! You are the sweetest baby that can make me smile any time you look at me. You have had me wrapped around your finger since day 1. People always say there is something special between a mother and a son, and it is true! We love you so much, and Kate cannot get enough of you! Notice how pictures show that Kate is often "loving" on you. I also noticed that you end up on Daddy's shoulders a lot too, maybe protection from the wild girl on the floor! It was an adventure having you two kids so close together, but I wouldn't change it for the world, you are more fun everyday! Happy Birthday!