December 1, 2012
We quickly got into the Christmas spirit around here and had most of the Christmas stuff up the week after Thanksgiving! Caleb loved decorating the tree and seeing all of our decorations- of course, he did not remember last year. Kailyn likes the trees and has tried to pull at them a few times, but really is more interested in toys and chasing Caleb around! From our family to yours- Merry Christmas!!!
Our Christmas tree!
Kailyn loves going to the front door and looking at our lights outside.
We tried to get a few pictures of the kids in their Christmas jammies, a few of them turned out pretty cute!
Our family ornament this year:
Caleb's 2012 ornament:
And Kailyn's very first Christmas ornament:
I even changed out the pictures on the entertainment center to Christmas!
My new addition this year- I finally found a Nativity set that I LOVE
Our Christmas card tree in the entry way.
The tree is getting fuller underneath!!
November 29, 2012
After several days of Kailyn not being herself, we decided to get a sick visit at her doctor to see what was up with our girl. She had just been extra fussy, easily irritated, and most importantly- not sleeping through the night! The doctor took a quick look at her ears and one was really infected and the other was just a little. So we started a round of antibiotics and our girl is good as new!! It is hard work having a sick baby, and so difficult to see them not feeling well. She was a trooper though!
This Christmas we have a new friend, our Elf on the Shelf, Leah! Caleb named her all by himself. She flies to the North Pole every night to report to Santa if the kids have been naughty or nice that day. She is very mischevious and is in a new place every morning, which Caleb has to search for her and see what she has been up to! I have tried to take some pictures, but have not remembered some mornings...my two are pretty demanding in the mornings!! But here are a few of the things she has been up to the past few weeks. We still have several days to go until she leaves us to go back to the North Pole until next December!
November 27, 2012- Leah's first night with us and she was into the Skittles!!
November 29, 2012- She had fun playing puzzles.
December 1, 2012- Leah had a runny nose after flying in the cold all night!
December 4, 2012- She enjoyed playing with Mommy's pens and drew a picture for us.
December 6, 2012- Playing with blocks.
December 7, 2012- Leah enjoyed playing with her friends from Toy Story.
December 13, 2012- She loved playing with the Mega Blocks and even made herself a little house.
December 14, 2012- Leah brought a special treat back from the North Pole!
Leah has done a lot of other things including fishing for goldfish crackers, taking a cozy nap on the couch, riding Caleb's train, peeking out of the blinds, swinging on the kitchen light, diving into a box of Honey Buns, and many others!
November 22, 2012
Thanksgiving is not a very big deal to me or Jeremy. We get together with family that we never see, which is nice. Then we eat a lot of vegetable-type foods, which is not very exciting. But Thanksgiving does give everyone a chance to slow down and thank God for the many blessings in their lives. I know we have SO much to be thankful for this year. For me, my family is the first thing that comes to mind. Jeremy is my rock- without him I don't know where I would be today. My kids are my entire world. They may drive me nuts some days (a lot of days), but I wouldn't change it for the world! And my parents- amazing, so supportive, love them to death! Jeremy's parents are absolutely wonderful to me. They treat me like a daughter instead of a daughter in law...part of that may be because I have been around since High School, but I will take it!! And all of our extended families that love us so dearly. I am so so thankful for our health and the roof over our head. I thank God for leading us to our Church home, we have definitely found a place that we love and met so many amazing people. Our small group is like a 2nd family to us and we are so grateful for them! We are a very very blessed family in more ways than I can count.
Enough "mushy" talk...onto the cute pictures, right?! Well, we spend Thanksgiving with Jeremy's family every year. The families rotate houses each year and this year it was at Jeremy's grandmother's house, which was great because she lives in Guntersville not far from Jeremy's parents, which made transitions with kids so much easier this year. We had a huge lunch then enjoyed playing outside. It was in the 70's!! Once we got back to Pam and Keith's house, the girls loaded up and headed to Huntsville to gear up for Black Friday shopping!
November 21, 2012
Hoo Hoo!! Whooooo are the cutest kids around? Caleb and Kailyn! I thought they looked cute wearing their owl shirts together :) This was the best they would give me before the camera battery died!!
November 18, 2012
Caleb's teacher, Mrs. Cindy, emailed some pictures from their Thanksgiving Feast at school. They had a great time, Caleb loved it!
November , 2012
A few weekends ago, Mommy and the kids packed up and went on a vacation with Gran Gran! Daddy had a lot of homework and studying to do for his (2nd) Master's program, so we left him to it at home. We went to Nashville and had a blast! We stayed in a hotel really close to the Gaylord/Opry Mills and didn't leave that area the entire time.
We drove up on Friday afternoon during the kids nap times so that they would sleep most of the way. (always a smart plan) So once we got there, checked in, and unpacked, all we had time to do was go out to dinner. We all headed out to the Opry Mills Mall to eat at the Aquarium Restaurant. Mommy and Gran Gran had been here before and were excited to take the kids. It is a really neat place to eat, it feels like you are under the sea. But the food- not great..you definitely go more for the atmosphere.
On Saturday, we got up and ate breakfast then rushed back to the room to change into swim clothes. The kids loved the swimming pool! After that, we went back to the room so Kailyn could nap and Mommy and Gran Gran got ready for the day. The swimming wore her out and she took a big ole nap. Then we headed back over to the mall for lunch and found it sooo crowded. We ended up getting a table at Chuy's Mexican and it was delicious. Unfortunately, fighting the crowds and waiting for a table took so long, after eating we had to head back to the hotel for afternoon naps. We had to wake the kids up from nap because we had tickets to Lorri Morgan's Dinner Show at the Gaylord Hotel. We rushed to get them packed up and dressed. Then the chaos began! We had a plan set to drive up to one side of the hotel to pick up tickets then drive to the other side where the show was. Well, Mommy walked in to get tickets and they said these tickets were at another desk clear across the hotel, so Mommy walked (really fast) to get them. Meanwhile, Gran Gran was in the car with 2 crying kids who wanted their Mommy and she was trying to navigate her way around to pick me up. We finally made it...about 20 minutes late. The food was not good at all and the show was not much better. We ended up leaving a little early to try and catch a horse and carriage ride. Little did we know that you have to pre-buy tickets to that, so we were not able to ride :( Caleb was very unhappy, as he has an obsession with horses lately. So we looked at a few of the Christmas lights inside and outside of the hotel and then headed back to our hotel. The kids were tired and Mommy and Gran Gran were wiped out!
Swimming with Gran Gran:
The dinner show:
Touring the Gaylord Hotel after the show:
On Sunday morning, we got packed up to go back home. After we got the car loaded up, we headed back to the Gaylord Hotel to eat lunch, go on a boat ride, and see the Shrek Christmas show. This was our best day!! It was tons of fun. Lunch was a little stressful because they only had 2 out of like 12 restaurants open for lunch, but we finally got a table, even though the kids were past hungry! The boat ride was great, both kids really enjyoed that. And then we were right in time to see the Shrek special...this was Caleb's favorite part of the trip. Super cute! Kailyn fell asleep on Mommy's shoulder during the show, which meant it was time to load up and head back home. It was a wonderful trip and we are so grateful to Gran Gran for creating wonderful memories with us.
Christmas pictures inside the Gaylord Hotel:
Our fun boat ride:
And lastly, the Shrek show:
