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.