Merry Christmas 2012!

I can't believe it's almost 2013! We had a great Christmas and I want to share a few pictures from our fun and busy December. I tried to plan one family outing every weekend and I hope we started some traditions that we can continue over the years. This year we had brunch with Santa at a local restaurant. It was a huge hit and Mason loved Santa. I can't believe in his 3 Christmases, we have never had a crying picture with Santa! And Matthew enjoyed it too. Another day we went to ride the Riches (now Macy's) Pink Pig. This is an Atlanta tradition and it's really nothing more than a pig shaped train, but Mason loved it (except for the 1.5 hour wait). I'm sure we'll add to these traditions as the boys get older. We spent the weekend before Christmas with my family on the farm. The boys had a blast as usual. And we were VERY excited to find out on Christmas that we will have a new sister-in-law/aunt and niece/cousin joining our family! Lamar and Brittney are engaged and we can't wait for the wedding next year. Mason and Breanna have a great time playing together and act like cousins already (i.e. fight over toys :-)

We spent Christmas Eve and day at our house. It was so much fun this year since Mason is starting to get it. Unfortunately the 'Santa threats' didn't really help with his behavior yet, but he loved the tree and I think he understood about Santa and Jesus' birthday. Mimi gave him a toy nativity set and he loved to put Jesus and the animals in the stable and would even sing Happy Birthday. When we asked him what he wanted from Santa, all we could get out of him was a 'Mickey Car'. He got that and quite a few other things. The other night we asked him what Christmas was about. He thought for a minute and finally said 'The Tree!!'. Then we asked him whose birthday we celebrate on Christmas and he correctly answered 'Jesus'. I can't wait until next year!

Chunk's first Christmas!

Matthew's class in the DCA Christmas Program.  He's the adorable king - 3rd from the left.

And Mason's class doing a nativity scene. He's the shepherd in green (behind Jesus)

Santa's little helper

His bib says 'Whatever Santa doesn't bring, Grandma will'. So true :-)

Mason and Breanna playing together after opening A LOT of gifts

Breanna showing Mason how to drive his new Jeep!

Matthew would make a pretty girl, dontcha think?

Sweet brothers on Christmas eve

The aftermath on Christmas morning!

Mason with his 'big Buzz' from Santa (he already has a little Buzz)

Mason's version of a nativity scene. Lions, giraffes, a nurse and a circus dog. Why not?

 We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with their families and loved ones!

More Santa fun!

Santa visited the boys' school last week and I wanted to share the pictures. Mason did great and you can tell how excited he is for Santa this year!

Mason with Santa - 2 1/2 years old

Matthew looks as big as Mason! (7 mos old)

Happy Holidays!

As if the rest of the year hasn't flown by fast enough, it seems like this fall has been warp speed.  We're trying to get ready for the holidays and all I want for Christmas is a healthy family!  It's strange that ever since Matthew started daycare, the rest of the family has been sick.  I guess it's good that the baby has stayed well, but Mason has had some sort of cold or sinus infection for a few months.  We're on round 2 of antiobiotics and it seems to be working.  And then me, Chris and Mason all had the stomach bug from hell over the Thanksgiving break.  No turkey for this house.  Yuck.

I finally ordered our family Christmas card and I won't share the photo here, but I will share a few of the 'runner-ups'.  I already knew that getting a 2 1/2 year old and a 7 mos old to both sit still, look at the camera, and smile would take nothing short of a miracle.  After 3 weekends and 362 photos (I'm not kidding), I finally got one that will do.  It is not perfect, but it will be arriving at a mailbox near you in the next week or so.

And a MAJOR milestone for Matthew! Despite my efforts to stop it, he is officially a crawler! He took off last week and there is no stopping him now. It is a 'real' crawl (not the crab thing that Mason did). I'll try to get a video of him soon.

Post Thanksgiving photo shoot at the farm

Usually when you get a good smile from one of them, the other one is doing this.

My sweet boy checking out the horses.

At this point, Matthew was cold and over it.

Decorating the tree.  Matthew loves the lights.

Meeing Santa at breakfast!  Mason is really into Santa this year!  We've never had any Santa tears!

Bathtime fun and 6 months old!

Matthew is able to sit up enough that he can use the big bathtub under very careful supervision.  They LOVE taking baths together and I think Matthew is going to be another water baby like Mason.  He loves to splash and thinks it's hilarious when Mason splashes him.  Even when I think he's getting a little too rough.

This is fun!

I love bathtime!

And our sweet Matthew is 6 months old already!  He had his 6 month checkup last week and is a happy, healthy boy!  Well, except for a little fever from the vaccines that kept him home from school today.  Here are a few 6 month stats:

• Weighs 18.9 lbs (50-75%) and 27 inches (50-75%).  Slowing down, but still our little chunk
• Eats 3 baby food meals a day and about 5 bottles of breast milk/formula mixture.  He likes just about everything so far.  Sweet potatoes and bananas are favorites.
• Sleeping about 11 hours at night (7:30-6:30).  He's been sleeping better than big brother lately.
• He's already sitting up and attempting to crawl.  He does NOT like to stay still or be left alone
• He's doing great in daycare - he doesn't nap much (like brother), but he loves his teachers and is always happy when I pick him up.
• Current likes: his jumparoo, exersaucer, riding in the wagon, bathtime!

Happy 6 months sweet boy!  We love you!

And I thought I'd share this funny photo session.  Last week before church, we had a few minutes to spare (very rare), so I thought I'd attempt to get a some pictures of the boys dressed up in their cute outfits.  It is getting close to the holidays, so I'm already stressing about that oh so important Christmas Card photo.  My first attempt was an epic fail as you can see.  It is nearly impossible to get them both to stay still and look at the camera (let alone smile).  This is usually what I get.

Attempt #1 - cute Matthew, Mason??

Attempt #2 - OK Mason, that may be a bit much.  and you're scaring your brother.

I may have to get very creative with photoshop this year if I want them both together.  And here is a new album for Winter pictures:  https://picasaweb.google.com/chenretty/Winter2012#

Trick or Treat!

How cute is my little punkin? I guess it's a halloween tradition for babies in this family. We did the same thing to Mason and he enjoyed it about as much. You can kind of see my attempt at carving a pumpkin into Mickey Mouse.  It wasn't the best, but at least Mason could tell who it was. 

We decided that Mason was big enough to go trick or treating this year. We met some friends in their neighborhood near us and took all the kids out for some early candy collecting. It was somewhat of a slow process with 5 toddlers, but everyone had a blast. At first, Mason did NOT want to put on his costume (even though he has told everyone for weeks that he was a 'shaaaark' for Halloween), but he quickly got the hang of trick or treating and was the first of his group at each house. We were quite impressed by the decorations at some of the houses and a few even had 'treats' for the adults.

Mason trying to tell Matthew that it's OK.

I found Nemo!!!

Mommy's little fishy

The best picture I could get of Sharky and Nemo. Always a sweet big brother.

At the first house - success!  We got candy!

Nemo enjoyed chillin' in the stroller

Mason with his buddies Linc the astronaut and Drew as Mickey Mouse

Mason and Linc hanging out between houses

Pumpkins, Pumpkins everywhere

It's that time of year when every friend, coworker, neighbor and high school acquaintance plasters the internet with pumpkin pictures of the kids. So, here's ours! We had a great time at a place called Kinsey Farms in North Georgia last weekend. Matthew enjoyed his first pumpkin patch and hayride and Mason is really into Halloween this year. He is excited about dressing up and loves picking out pumpkins. I think we're even going to try some trick or treating this year. We also visited the pumpkin patch at our church this weekend before heading to the park. I love fall weather and look for anything to do outdoors during these few nice fall weekends.

Mason loves holding Matthew

One lucky mommy with her sweet boys

Matthew loved the hayride and got very giggly

I thought Mason looked like he was tyring to steal a pumpkin

Attempting to get a decent picture of both boys

My little chunk

Daddy with his boys before church

Mason giving mommy a hug :-)

And a milestone - Matthew is sitting by himself.  At 5 1/2 months.

Swinging

I took the boys to the park last weekend to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather.  It was Matthew's first time on the swing and he loved it.  And Mason was so excited to 'teach' him how it was done.  It is so cute to watch my sweet boys interact with each other as Matthew gets bigger. I had to stay home with a sick Mason on Tuesday and he missed his baby brother. He kept bringing me Matthew's baby toys to keep safe until Matthew got home.

Here's Chunk on the swing!  5 months old

And awesome big brother Mason!