Christmas Eve 2011

We spent Christmas Eve at Mimi's making a birthday cookie for Jesus...

 playing with this cute boy...

 eating chili and lots of sweet treats for dinner...

 taking some family photos...

 attending the Christmas Eve service at our church...

 leaving cookies out for Santa...

 adding a little chocolate to Santa's milk...

 anticipating Santa's arrival...

 and being thankful for all that the Lord has blessed us with!

Especially these two sweet boys!  

Can you believe how much they have grown in one short year?!

(Connor and Carson-Christmas Eve 2010)

Luke 2

A few years ago I saw on a blog where a 5 and 3 year old recited Luke 2.  Connor was way too young at the time, but this year we decided to give it a try.  Since the beginning of December, we have been working on memorizing Luke 2: 1-14.  We tried to learn a verse a day and I was amazed at how quickly Connor had it memorized.  It was a fun way to help us all stay focused on the real reason we celebrate Christmas. 

  

(I realized while watching this we missed verse 12 so I'm adding all the verses below.) :)

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

 ¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to his own town to register.

 ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
   and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Happy 14 Months, Carson!

 Now that Carson is 14 months:

-Blows kisses and says "bye bye" when he is going to bed

-LOVES to eat!  I am shocked at every meal how much he can eat.

-Really enjoys playing ball with his brother.  They could roll the ball back and forth all day!

-Has 12 teeth (4 molars, 4 on top, 4 on bottom front)

-Taking about 4 steps at a time, but not walking full time.  All he needs is a little more confidence and he will be there.

-Sleeping great still!  At night he usually sleeps from 7:00pm- 7:45am and takes 2-3 good naps a day.

-Always exploring and climbing which has caused us to do a little extra child proofing.

-Talking a lot more.  Just in the past few weeks has really started repeating lots of words and trying to say different things.  He can say duck, quack, thank you, bye bye, mama, dada, hi, brother, Mimi, Poppa, Nana, more, moo, roar... (all in his own version). :) 

-Loves to put on a show! He recently has discovered how much attention he can get by passing out sweet smiles and being silly so he has really started to enjoy the spot light.

This is such a fun age and I'm trying to soak up every minute of it!

Pop and Saundra's Christmas 2011

The next morning we all met up at IHOP to celebrate with Pop and Saundra.  After we all ate way too many pancakes, we headed to their house for some more fun.

 Both the boys enjoyed opening presents and playing with their new toys.

It was such a beautiful day so we were also able to have some fun planning outside with cousins.  We are thankful to have so much family that lives close by!

Grandmommy's Christmas 2011

We are blessed with lots of family on both sides which means lots of fun times through out the month of December.  Our first celebration was with Grandmommy.  We started with a Mexican dinner at Domingo's followed by dessert and presents at Nana and Poppa's house.

Connor really enjoyed getting to play with Emily and Jack.  He loves having older kids around!

The boys both received lots of nice gifts.

Carson LOVED hanging out with Richard!

Having a few laughs with Poppa!

Grandmommy's new blanket and coat!

We all had a great time and really enjoyed getting to spend some time with family.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas...

Christmas Countdown Part 1

Here are a few pictures from our first 12 days of December.  Connor has loved finding out each morning what activity that day will hold.  I didn't manage to get a picture of everything, but here are a few of the things we have done.  I can't believe we are less than 2 weeks away from Christmas!

Santa and the Choo Choo Train

 Today we made a visit to see Santa.  This was the first year that Connor was excited about seeing Santa and actually hopped up on his lap with very little reservation.  Carson on the other hand was not too crazy about the big white beard in his face.  

He did good for the first few seconds and then quickly decided he was not a fan.

 Connor also was able to enjoy riding the train a few times.  He seemed so grown up and took his job of ringing the bell very seriously.  He barely had time to stop and wave to us! :)

 It was such a fun day that both of these boys were asleep in the car at 5:00pm.  Neither one wanted to wake up so it may be an early morning at our house! 

Carson's First Hair Cut

 Today was a day that I may or may not have been ready for, but needed to happen.  Carson got his first hair cut!  For some reason I just want him to stay my little baby even though he is turning into a sweet toddler right before my eyes.  I was so proud of how good he was the whole time.  He sat perfectly still and didn't make a peep.  Miss Cara did a great job and he looks adorable!  

Before

After

November Updates

December already seems to be flying by!  I finally had a minute to finish all of our November updates so be sure to check them out.

Happy 13 Months Carson

MOPS Fall Party

Christmas Time at Sea World

iPhone Pics

I also thought I would share a few fun Christmas movies we have watched recently:

This is a great movie that teaches the real meaning of Christmas and talks about why people show love through gifts during this time of year. It is so easy to get caught up in everything else so I am thankful to have this video for an easy way to remind us all that Jesus is the real reason we are celebrating.

For those of you who have "Santa" come to your house on Christmas or even an elf staying with you right now, here is another one.  It is a short little video with a cute story to go along with the Elf on the Shelf book.

  

We are off to have a Polar Express day.  More pics coming soon!

North Pole Breakfast 2011

Welcome to our first annual North Pole Breakfast!  Our elf, Max, made his first appearance and brought an assortment of goodies to share with us.  The boys knew that Max was on his way, but had no idea that he would be surprising us with breakfast all the way from the North Pole!

Connor was beyond THRILLED!  He couldn't stop looking at everything and kept wanting me to read his note from Max over and over.

Smiles and giggles filled our morning!

After breakfast, Connor noticed his first Christmas book wrapped under the tree.  Who knew a book that we have read many times before could be so fun because it was wrapped up? :)  Connor will find a wrapped book under the tree every morning until Christmas.  Thankfully from teaching I had plenty of Christmas books to choose from.

 When Carson finally woke up he joined in on the fun.  Connor couldn't wait to help him open his little present from Max.  Carson was just as excited!

 Our morning ended with the beginning of a few more December activities.  In the playroom, I set up "Santa's Beard" and a Christmas tree.  Each day the boys will add one cotton ball to Santa's beard.  They will also find one ornament that has a special activity written on the back.  Some are very simple in nature and some may be things we already had planned to do.  Our list includes: decorating the playroom Christmas tree, movie night, decorating gingerbread houses, making snowflakes, family Christmas gatherings and lots more!  I'm sure I will post more about our countdown to Christmas in the coming days.

I hope you enjoyed a little peak into our special morning!