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!