Holiday Festivities!

Whew! It's hard to believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post and that Christmas has come and gone so quickly. I wish it could've taken our tree and all the trash from presents with it! We had the best time enjoying the holiday with family and I'm honestly having a hard time getting back into the swing of things! It's wonderful to be away from work and have time to focus on just family and I'm so thankful I had that time but I think it makes coming back to work that much harder! I couldn't bear the thought of leaving to come to work tonight and leaving my precious boys and husband behind but I made it out the door and work hasn't been as awful as I thought it would. I really enjoy what I do once I'm here but getting here is a different story! It's indescribable how difficult it is for me to leave all that I love to come to work but I know it is what I have to do now. I should count my blessings that I have two happy, healthy, thriving boys and a husband I love so much who loves me back just as much and a family that I wouldn't trade for the world. If only we could win the lottery and money was never again an issue!

We had such a great Christmas spending time with our family and having fun with each other. Carter was really excited this year about what Santa was going to bring -he got everything he could possibly want and then some so he thinks he must've been extra good this year! He told me before I came to work that he was going to be good ALL the time now because he's a big 3 year old and not a little 2 year old! Jamey and I were just talking about it yesterday that Carter has really been getting better and better at listening to us and using his manners, etc. Looking back on it, we decided from 25 months (when Cooper was born!) until recently haven't been Carter's finest behavior hours but it seems that (knock on wood) things are starting to finally sink in! Our church had a birthday party for Jesus two weekends ago and Carter asked me on our way up to the party if Jesus was going to like his outfit - as most of you know he's quite particular about what he wears, but even moreso for Jesus' Birthday Party:)

Cooper is so much fun lately but I could be a bit partial as he's been saying, "mama, mama, mamama" nonstop the past few days. He's said it a few times here and there since about Thanksgiving but I wouldn't call it a regular in his sweet little vocabulary until recently. I can't tell you how happy it makes me for him to say it and know what he's saying too! As of now the words he says and we understand are dada, baby, bye bye, doggie, otter, and now mama! We decided to let him only have his passy for naps and bedtime about 2 or 3 weeks ago and he's doing great with that. I do think it's helped him babble more and more instead of doing his Maggie Simpson impersonation! It's so cool to watch him as he starts to understand things more and more - he walked over to the pantry yesterday and got my attention to tell me he wanted some cheerios and he'll go to the refrigerator or high chair and reach for it when he wants a drink or a snack. The cutest is when he takes his shoes or someone else's and tries to put them on his feet by himself! His motor skills are definitely ahead of his verbal skills - he loves to run and does so all the time. One of his new favorites is to climb into his white rocking chair and dance in it for a few minutes while looking at us to make sure we're taking it all in! The best deterrent at this point is to ignore him because if we tell him no or take him away from the chair it seems to add fuel to the fire! After his dance is finished, he likes to walk off the edge and fall onto the floor and laugh! The first time he did it I almost had a heart attack but now that I'm used to it it's hard not to laugh with him, thus continuing the cycle!

I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for all that our family did for us this year, not just for Christmas, but all the time. Carter and Cooper are two lucky boys to have so many people who love them, as are their parents:) We love you all and can't thank you enough for all you do for us.

Christmas Eve playing in the yard

1st Ride Together in The Gator!

Sprinkling Reindeer Dust

Scary Santa Baby

Christmas Round II With Nana, Chuck, and Ashley

Round III at Brian and Sarah's House

Cooper with his Pop

Cooper and Nunu with the New Otter!

Coop loves Uncle Brian!

Checking Out the Animals at Grandfather

Carter, Sarah, and Sweet Willie

Tyler Hansbrough is my Hero

We went to the Carolina vs. Evansville game lastnight and took the whole crew. They were so good for the most part, especially Cooper. He sat in my lap the majority of the game and occasionally pointed and grunted up towards the rafters but other than that he was pretty chill. Carter had fun jumping from lap to lap and usually found his way to Parker, his new best friend. He told me so when Parker was pulling away from our house lastnight. Parker gets Skittles for the two of them to share during the second half and I think that's the highlight of Carter's trip. He did watch some of the game and was cute to cheer at the right times and get excited when we scored. At one point he hopped up in Jamey's lap and told him he had to watch and sit still because Tyler was going to get a record soon!

Fortunately he did get it soon after that point and it was so cool to be there for it. After the game they had a video tribute to him and he and Phil Ford both had the chance to speak to the crowd and that was all pretty awesome. It's hard to put into words what it meant to be there for such a big moment in Carolina basketball but I think it meant even more since it was Tyler. The way he plays and loves basketball seems equivalent to how much we love Carolina, which is obviously a lot!

Haircuts and DumDum's

Cooper's hair has been borderline girly for a while now but we (I) just didn't have it in me to cut his precious curls! My mind was changed lastnight in the bathtub when Cooper accidentally slipped underwater. I sat him back up quickly and he wasn't even phased by it, but his hair was all slicked back on his neck and half way down his shoulder blades! Jamey and I both agreed at that point that it was about time so off we went today for Cooper's first real taste of JJ's Kids Cuts in the driver seat! He's been many times before to watch Carter get haircuts but he's never been the one to sit in the car and watch a movie! I really thought he would be terrible and cry through the whole thing but the tears were fortunately brief and laughter took their place. The nice owner blew bubbles for him the whole time and had him cracking up! He and the woman cutting his hair couldn't get over what a ham he was, to which I told them I'd never really seen this side of him! He has this one laugh he does where he puts his head all the way back and closes his eyes...it's really hard to get him to do it but when he does it's "illarioust" as Carter would say - he even did that for them! He was precious and had the best time - I was so proud of him and so thankful that they're so accomodating in there! They even gave us a 1st haircut certificate and a little lock of his hair for his baby book. I thought he deserved a treat so I let him have a dumdum sucker afterwards - he was a little unsure what to do with it at first but quickly got the hang of it as you can see from the pics! I guess he's had some experience observing dumdum consumption since they are one of Carter's favorites.

We also went to see Santa yesterday at Cary Towne Center and I'm so sad I don't have a scanner to put their picture on here because a description will not do it justice! I should've known when I got to the Santa station at 1:05 and no one was around that luck wasn't on my side - Santa was on break until 2:00 so we had to kill 55 minutes! You would think that would be easy in a mall but my shopping was mainly done and I really didn't feel like fighting the crowds with Carter walking and Cooper in the stroller. We did try one store to get some socks for Jamey and Carter tried to polish his face with the shoe polish. We were then off to get in line for Santa with 10 minutes to spare and only 2 people in front of us. Cooper was wild as he could be and had the best time looking at the decorations and playing with the railings that formed the line. I brought my camera in hopes to snap a few myself b/c Santa pictures are ridiculously expensive but I unfortunately didn't have time for that! Carter was really sweet and told Santa he wants a truck that holds trucks for Christmas and sat on his lap obediently. I warned Santa and the picture taker that Cooper would scream so to please just take the picture when I put him up there! As soon as Coop's bottom hit Santa's leg, he yelled and turned redder than Santa's suit! I didn't even have time to take one for myself b/c Cooper just screamed and pointed at me, turning redder by the second! One 3X5 and 2 teeny wallets for $16 and we were happily on our way to the car - Cooper stopped crying the second I picked him up by the way!

Cooper before..

Before from the back!

Not so sure, but in to Baby Einstein!

I'm liking this Mommy!

Sweet Boy!

The "Illarioust" Laugh

After!

I look like Uncle Brian here

I think I like dumdum's!

Baa Baa

Carter was in our church Christmas Pageant yesterday and was a sheep. We're a little partial but he was definitely the cutest one to us! He did great and walked down the aisle right when he was supposed to, saying his one and only line loud and clear, "Baa, Baa!" I forgot to tell him he should crawl so he was the only 2 legged sheep but for his second entrance he mastered crawling and "baa'ing" at the same time. As incentive to get them to the front of the church our youth director had a bag of M&Ms and that was all that was needed for the flock to make it up there - I heard several kids say they didn't get any so I think Carter monopolized their treat as he smelled like a giant M&M after the pageant!

My parents came on Saturday and stayed until today so that they could see Carter's big role in the play! They were so sweet to let Jamey and I get some of our Christmas shopping done together for a change and we were also able to go the the Carolina bball game Saturday sans children so that was really nice! It is so much fun to take them but also such a relief to be able to sit back and watch without worrying about which one is going where! We'll have plenty more games to worry about that I guess! It was so good to have them here and Cooper really started to warm up to them - it has been so precious to see him interact with everyone. I was sad to see my parents go today but happy to know they'll be back in a little over a week and it will be Christmas - that is so hard to believe!

Carter making his big 2-legged entrance, baa'ing all the way!