Christmas Recap

Christmas gets better and better every year the kids get older. We had so much fun this year and Luke really got it! I did find it really funny that whenever we would ask Luke what he wanted for Christmas all he would say was a candy cane. He was obsessed with candy canes. Pretty much had one everyday for the entire month of December. So, what was the first thing he noticed the morning of Christmas you ask? Nope, not all the christmas presents just the single cane that was sitting in his new pottery barn kids chair. He ran straight for it and then of course was so excited to see all the other presents for him. This was Katelyn's first Christmas and she was the cutest little christmas baby:).

Below is a compilation of pictures from the month of December. We had lots of fun things going on.

Luke's first Preschool Christmas Pageant
Luke is not much for being the center of attention and was very shy during the performance. I was worried he'd start crying but thank goodness he made it through. He was so adorable. After the pageant we went back to his classroom for a Christmas party and he had made us a ton of fun Christmas decorations; Christmas platter with Mistle Toes and handmade christmas ornaments.

Christmas in Florida

We had lots of fun with family in Florida celebrating an early Christmas. We were so anxious to get there that we decided to leave a little early and we were so glad we did. The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we got to visit the beach. This was Kate's second visit and she LOVED the sand. She kept trying to eat it and actually got a couple mouthfuls. I really don't get how babies would prefer sand and dirt over food. We of course almost got attacked by seagulls again {this happened last year too}. Birds don't freak me out, but these birds freak me out! They are psycho. They literally hover right above our heads looking for food and it's not just one bird, it's like 20 of them! I look like a crazy mad woman screaming and ducking to the ground trying to shoo them away:). 

The kids got to play with their cousins. Olivia and Luke were of course BFF. And Grammy and Pop-Pop's gift of knight attire was a huge hit for Max and Luke. Luke plays in his attire everyday. He likes to catch dragons;). Isabella and Olivia were so cute with Kate and had fun trying to make her laugh and smile.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We went to the good ole' Home Depot to get our Christmas tree. It's our family tradition. Luke found a friend to play with and had fun hiding in all the trees. He got filthy, but hey, that's what makes the best memories, right?:). Luke was all about putting the candy canes on the tree when we got home. He did a really good job decorating the tree. He's already my little artist:).

Georgia Christmas and Christmas Day

Christmas evening and day was packed full of fun. Luke and Kate got to hang out with Ethan and Elli. Baby Grace was fun to look at, she'll be fun to play with next year;). Luke and Elli made yummy gingerbread cookies and a gingerbread house with Grammy. Christmas Eve, Dave had to work so we stopped by his station to hang out for a bit and then went to our church Christmas Eve service. We learned something that day; don't take a bunch of toddler and babies to a Christmas service that starts at 5pm. Bad idea, they were hungry and tired! Next year I think we'll find an earlier service or start a family tradition of having a family service at home:)

Christmas Day was so much fun. Luke was so surprised to see all the toys under the christmas tree the next morning. He ran straight for the candy cane and then noticed all the other toys after. The toys that were the biggest hit were Buzz Lightyear and Mike Wasouski. Kate had fun with all the paper and boxes. Her favorite toy was her Little People doll house. 

I'm excited that we got some great pictures of the kids. Of course, the adults get left out of them;). Ah, Christmas was so much fun and I already can't wait until this year. Kate will be walking and into all sorts of things;)

Thanksgiving!

We had an eventful Thanksgiving! Last minute Nick and Heather with family thought it would fun to come to Georgia for Thanksgiving and surprise their parents. This was a hard secret to keep! They arrived Thanksgiving and the look of shock on Grammy G's face was priceless. The kids had lots of fun enjoying the fall weather and spending lots of time outside.

This was Kate's first Thanksgiving!! She was past the baby food stage and was able to actually eat all the yumminess. Poor thing also had a really nasty cold (so we thought) during this month. The day after Thanksgiving Luke woke up saying his ear was hurting so we quickly bundled the kids up and headed to the Pediatrician. I decided it would be best to get Kate checked since she had a cold for over a month. That's when we found out Kate had her first of MANY ear infections and RSV. Poor baby girl! 

Here a very few pictures of Thanksgiving. Again, not that many with the parents and grandparents. I need to get better at this! I think it's because we're spending most of our time in the kitchen cooking and preparing!;)

Luke had his very first preschool performance and it was adorable! I had no idea they were going to be putting on such a production! We had a lot of fun watching him perform on stage and then sat and had a nice thanksgiving dinner with his classroom buddies.

Katelyn is 11 Months Old

Eek! We're only one month away from Katelyn turning one. I keep looking at her and thinking she is looking more and more like a little girl and less like a baby! Lots has been going on with this sweet sweet girl. She's got so much personality it's hard to take! She is getting a ton of teeth in, all at once. So far their are three but I see about four more buds trying to poke through. She has been talking so much and says so many words. She's my little squealer, just like Mommy. She also seems to be quite fearless and not as cautious as her big brother. She literally tries to lunge off the bed. She LOVES the vacuum cleaner and tries to hang onto it while I'm vacuuming. Her and Luke are the best of friends and it's adorable to watch them giggle, squeal, laugh and play together. 

I've still been nursing which, I can't believe I've actually made it this far. It's kind of crazy to think she never took a bottle (except for maybe two times) and went from nursing straight to sip-cups. I'm just glad I didn't have to clean any bottles! Although there were many MANY days that I thought about throwing in the towel I ended up really enjoying and cherishing this short period with Kate and think my love/bond for her became stronger because of it. I think it will end up being hard to wean Kate and now that I've done it for this long I can see why some Mom's don't want to stop! 

Here's what you've been up to this month:

• You can say: Mama, Dada, ball, nap, night night, Papa, Ru (Rufus), that, amen and I'm sure more then this but this is what we can understand.
• You've been doing really well at signing. You sign "more" correctly now.
• You like to brush your teeth (hence the toothbrushes in the pictures) You like to brush Luke's teeth also.
• You like to hide in the corners of your chairs and blankets when you think someone is coming to get you.
• You haven't been eating as well as you usually do and you've gotten picky:(. I think it may be because you have so many teeth coming in.
• You still aren't walking yet. You like to furniture walk but you don't like when I try and help you walk.
• You like to dance when music comes on.
• You like to play the drums on furniture.
• Luke is your little encourager. He's always teaching you things and tells you "good job" when you do it right.
• It's funny, when you are about to fall but catch yourself (mostly this happens in the bathtub) Luke will always say, "oh, good save Kate." It cracks us up!
• You are very very loud when you cry. It's ear piercing.
• You have mastered the "eye cutting" look. When someone is looking at you and you don't like it or when Luke tries to take something you're playing with. I guess some people say you get this from Mommy;)
• You are very very friendly and outgoing. You love playing with babies and toddlers. You don't hesitate at all to join.
• You like to clap your hands and if you hear someone say 'yay' you quickly bring your hands together and start clapping.
• You love Baby Praise. You are glued to the TV while watching it. It's surprisingly taught you some things, like peek-a-boo. You like to watch the different animals pop up on screen and the children playing.

Here is our sweet little girl! 

Halloween!

So I'm way way way behind on this post, but I'm posting so that's what counts! Halloween was so much fun this year. Luke was old enough to actually understand you dress-up and get candy on this day. He watched an episode of Little Einsteins where they had a costume party so he kept saying he wanted to go to one. It worked out perfectly that Burnt Hickory Baptist Church had a little festival and he thought it was his costume party. He had so much fun. Little Kate was Snow White and was so adorable. Luke was Lightning McQueen's race car driver. Here are pictures of Luke's third Halloween and Kate's first!