Christmas Day 2010

"Santa ate his cookies!"  was the first thing Connor said as he walked into the living room on Christmas morning.  He didn't say much at first, but you could just see the excitement in his eyes that Santa had come and left surprises.  

Carson's presents

Connor's presents

Connor loved his stocking and kept offering to share with Cole and I when he realized we didn't have a stocking.  We laughed that one of his favorite gift were the $1 magnets I threw in the stocking. :)

After looking at what Santa left he opened a few gifts from Mommy and Daddy.  I ended up getting out my sewing machine to make one of his gifts.  More on that later...

Connor played with all his new things for awhile and then we got ready to head over to Mimi's house.

Mimi and her 2 boys (soon to be 3 boys in April when Baby Askew gets here!)  

Connor was so excited to see another stocking that he immediately ran over and started opening it.  We spent the rest of the morning letting him open gifts and play with everything as he went.  It was such a nice and relaxing day.

Some of my favorite parts of Christmas are just spending time together as a family.

Mom made Christmas lunch with all of our favorite foods!  Ham, macaroni & cheese, green bean bundles, corn casserole, fruit salad, and rolls.  Yum!

Connor finished opening a few presents after his nap and spent the rest of the evening playing.

Our family has been so blessed this year and we had a great day remembering the real reason why we celebrate.  Jesus is the greatest gift of all!

So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

John 1:14

Christmas Eve

Friday started off our busy Christmas weekend.  Kevin, Rachel, and my dad all came over for lunch and we exchanged some gifts.  Connor enjoyed having everyone there and of course loved opening presents!

Carson got in on the fun too.

After nap time we headed to mom's for the rest of the day.  Connor loves helping in the kitchen so he was thrilled when we let him make cupcakes to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

After we got back from the Christmas Eve service at church we let Connor decorate the cupcakes with sprinkles.

Of course eating them was his favorite part!

Our Christmas Eve service at church was definitely a new experience this year with a 2 year old and a 2 month old!  I took Connor down to the front where the children listen to the Christmas story being read.  About a minute into it he looks back at me with almost tears in his eyes and says "I lost my Mimi!"  So I knew he was ready to leave and luckily we were off to the side where we could sneak out. :)  I don't think he stopped talking the whole rest of the night.

I made an attempt to get a few pictures after we got home form church.

After we enjoyed some of Mom's delicious chili we headed home to get ready for Santa.  

Connor set out the cookies for Santa and spent a lot of time lining them perfectly up on the plate.  I think he was really doing some serious contemplating on if Santa would still come if he ate the cookies instead.

We quickly put the boys in their Christmas pjs and off to bed they went!

I'll Help You Carson...

 Connor thought Carson needed help playing with his new toy...

Carson thought sleeping sounded like a better idea. :)

Sweet Memories

Some of my favorite Christmas memories start right in the kitchen.  

Every year my Mamaw Askew would make the best Christmas treats, but she would always have a huge bag of teacakes jut for me.  They were my favorite and she knew it!  

Kevin and I would make sugar cookies with mom that we left out for Santa on Christmas Eve.  

Papa Harris makes the best peanut butter fudge you have ever tasted!

These are just a few of the precious memories I have of this time of year.  What fun it has been to start making these memories with my boys.

Yesterday we got busy making some Christmas treats of our own just in time before Kevin and Rachel arrive.  Mom had made the dough that morning before we came over so Connor was able to help roll, cut, decorate, and taste test (his favorite part as you can see from the "Gingerbread cookie" video).

Sprinkles anyone?

 Our finished product!  I love that we used the same cookie cutters that I have been using since I was a little girl.  I hope Santa likes sprinkles!

Some more of our goodies... teacakes, peanut butter kiss cookies, and peanut butter fudge.

What are some of your favorite Christmas treats?

Happy 2 Months Carson!

Now that you are 2 months...

You smile almost anytime someone gives you attention or talks to you.  You are such a happy boy!

Follow motion around the room (especially your brother!)

Take about a 5 oz bottle every 3-4 hours during the day and have moved to size 1 diapers.  

You love to be held, but are content laying down.  You really don't mind being where ever I put you (swing, bouncer, moses basket...) so I am not sure if you have a favorite or not.

The past couple nights you have been sleeping from 11-6:15.  Over 7 hours of sleep for everyone!

On Monday you went to see Dr. Wheelock and she said you looked perfect!  The not so fun part was getting your first round of vaccinations.  3 shots and 1 oral vaccination.  You did not like it one bit and cried so hard!

You are already passing your brother up!

At 2 months, you weigh 13lbs 8oz and are 24 inches long.

(Connor at 2 months was 13lbs 4oz and 23 1/2 inches long.)

And a few more pictures just because all of a sudden Connor was dying to get his picture made while I was taking yours. :)  Apparently, you make picture taking look fun!

I did it!

I'm finally caught up on my posts!  I'm sure most of you don't have time to sit and read all of these, but I love having all of these fun memories documented.  It is amazing how fast you can forget!  When you get a chance check them out.

Gingerbread Fun

Gingerbread Cookies Video

Johnson City Lights

Ornamania

Christmas with Nana and Poppa

Bouncy House

Bouncy House

Connor and Carson's big gift from Nana and Poppa this year was this bouncy house which we all love!  It is so much easier than I thought it would be to set up and inflates in about a minute.  This is the perfect place for Connor to burn some major energy!  He was ALL smiles the whole time he played on this.  I hadn't seen him have so much fun in awhile.

Carson wasn't quite ready to join in on the fun, but it wont be too long before he is.  While Connor tested it out, I let Carson have his own fun and check out his activity mat for the first time.  

Thank you for the bouncy house, Nana and Poppa!

Christmas with Nana and Poppa

Sunday night we headed out to Dripping Springs to have an early Christmas celebration with Cole's parents.  His sister Amy is having her baby tomorrow (12/18) so they will be in Longview during Christmas this year.  (We are so excited and can't wait to meet Hannah!)  

It was a fun evening full of cookie baking, a wonderful meal, and lots of fun presents.  Nana had sugar cookies ready for Connor to decorate.  He loved putting the sprinkles on!

 Poppa and Nana with the boys

 Connor really enjoyed opening his presents and received lots of exciting new things!  We were all spoiled with sweet gifts.

 Carson did great all night.  Doesn't he look cute in his new reindeer outfit?

Thank you, Nana and Poppa, for such a fun evening!  We are so thankful for you and all you do for us!

Ornamania

One of the fun parts about this time of year is getting together with friends.  Our Growth Group from church had our annual Christmas party last weekend.  The Palmers graciously opened up their home for us and of course Gretchen had everything looking beautiful.  Don't you love her center piece?  She made it!  We had tons of good food and desserts.  

Cole and I are so thankful to have such a great group of friends in our class.

 It is always nice when we can get together and visit.

 These two are trouble!

 One of our traditions at this party is to play a ornament exchange game called Ornamania.  Each year there are different rules.  Gretchen and Hannah did a great job of explaining.  This year it was based around the show "Minute To Win It."  There were a series of competitions that decided whether we got to pick a new ornament or keep the one we opened in the beginning.

There were lots of laughs watching people do the crazy events.

At the end we also vote on different categories for the ornaments (Most Beautiful, Most Zany, Best in Show).  Cole and I took home the "Best in Show" prize for bringing a frame ornament with a picture of Robert inside.  It was a great night!