Merry Christmas!

I am sad to say that my poor children got nothing for Christmas! Kidding of course...it looks like FAO Schwartz dropped off a huge truckload in our playroom! At some point I need to go make some sense of it, but right now, it just gets pulled right back out again, so I'll worry about it later. We had a wonderful Christmas and were blessed to spend so much time with our wonderful families.

Annah and "Sally" (aka Patty Playpal), who totally freaks me out. Liam is loving his first pony that he can ride all by himself

Santa brought Annah a Dora scooter. She keeps riding it all over saying "scoot, scoot, scoot" as if that might make her go faster!

Liam and his loot from Santa

New Do and an Early Christmas

It has taken me a while to get this posted, but Belle ate the power cord to the computer, so...it took a while to get up and running again! The Monday before Christmas, Caroline was in town and Annah and Caroline both got new haircuts. Caroline had never had a haircut before (she is almost 6)! I must say Annah looks pretty darn cute with her new 'do! After that Laura and her girls came over to exchange Christmas gifts with Annah and Liam. Annah got a Fancy Nancy set (if you do not have young girls, fancy Nancy is a phenomenon about a little girl named Nancy, who is, you guessed it, fancy. It started as a book and has turned into dolls, dress up clothes, etc. At any rate, Annah loves Fancy Nancy) from Delainey that she loves and is still strewn all over the house. Jacqueline gave Liam some books that are all boy (about cars and trucks). After that, on the Gramme and Grandaddy's to exchange gifts with Chas and Caroline before they headed back to Charleston. A full day, but so much fun!

Lookin' Good!

Are these girls excited or what?

"Thanks for my present!"

Run, Run As Fast As You Can

Liam caught a gingerbread man!

Gross!

Even Belle thought she wanted to get in on the action

The Reason for the Season

Friday was Annah's school party. The whole school celebrates with "cookies and carols," each class sung a couple songs and then there was a party for the entire pre-school in the fellowship hall. The caroling was possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. Sadly, I forgot my camera, but mom brought hers, so as soon as I get the pictures from her I will add them. Annah did get on stage (which was impressive for her), but was far too busy picking her nose to sing. However, she sang all of the songs beautifully after we got home (all her dolls were the audience). We all sang happy birthday to Baby Jesus and it was nice to remind the kids why we celebrate Christmas. These are a couple pictures of Annah and Liam reading "The Night Before Christmas" later that day

The Elf on the Shelf...kind of

So, I am pretty sure this is not what the creators of the "Elf on the Shelf" had in mind! Annah decided it would make a great hula skirt.

Funny Annah (Good Will)

I forgot to add this in the last post, so here's one more...Mom came by the house today to pick up a massive amount of stuff to take to Goodwill. She had a load to take too, so was taking mine too (thanks, Mom!). So Mom is telling Annah bye, that she's go to go take some stuff to Goodwill (keep in mind that Annah is really into knowing everyone's "real" name, like I am Mommy, Daddy is Will, etc ) and Annah says, "But Mommy, Daddy is already good. Santa will bring him some presents." Cracks me up!

Liam is Mobile!

Liam is officailly mobile! I can't decide if I am excited or if I want to sit on hime and keep hime still! Yesterday he figured out how to crawl. It is still kind of a struggling seal move/commando crawl, but he can get where he wants to go. Every now and then he gets on all fours and actually "crawls" a few steps, but mostly scooting. THEN I put him in Annah's old walker and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something zip across the room...it was Liam! He doesn't walk in the walker (as the name might suggest), but runs! He is so proud of himself and it is so cute to see him accomplish something. Watch out world, Liam is on the move!

Liam also discovered the joy of chocolate ice cream

PS the jammies he has on in this pic were Annah's when she was 15 mos old...and they fit!

Crawling!

Running!

Holiday Quirks

Emily (One is Not So Lonely) tagged me to list my 5 Holiday Quirks, so here they are:

1. I LOVE shopping for presents for other people. This is not to say that I don't like shopping for myself, but there is something about finding the perfect present for someone that just makes my day. Ideally, I like to have the whole day and shop till I drop, however, now this requires a babysitter and then another one to get all the presents wrapped, so now it is usually done in bits and pieces.
2. I am sad to say that I caved and got a fake tree a few years ago and sadder to admit that I like it just as much. We got one after the last real one we had fell over and broke a dozen or so ornaments. I got so scared that one would fall on a kid that we went to Lowes the next year and got an artificial one. It never dries out and is ready to go the day after Thanksgiving. I do miss the smell of a real tree though...
3. I hate surprises. As a kid, I used to cut the tape on the presents under the tree. Unwrap them and them re-tape them back up. I also used to snoop for any unwrapped presents in the house. I don't even like to not know what other people are getting Annah and Liam. Don't know why (maybe it's about not being in control---incidentally, Emily I have the teeth dream all the time, but it is that one tooth gets turned sideways and then falls out. I have a serious phobia of loosing teeth and I dread the day that my kids start to loose their teeth). At any rate, I like to know what I am getting. Will has only surprised me one time the year Annah was born and he had to hide it at the dealership so I wouldn't find it!
4. I am a junkie for Christmas Vacation and The Christmas Story. I have seen them both a million times and I still love them. I might go watch one now!
5. My favorite thing is that it keeps getting better and better every year. Each year, Annah understands a little more and now Liam is ready to do the same. The joy on their faces is priceless. Christmas morning is the greatest hour of the whole year.
6. I know, it is supposed to be 5, but one more won't hurt...There are two traditions from my childhood, that we still have to do every year. We get to open one present Christmas Eve and it is always pajamas (makes for cute Christmas morning pictures) and we have to have my mom's sausage biscuits while opening presents in the morning. Mom even had to make them and bring them over last year and I hope she does it again this year. Since she is now a vegetarian, it may be pushing my luck, but here's hoping!

Gramme Time

On our way to the ballet with Caroline and Gramme

I had to figure out how to work the timer on my camera to take this one

Annah icing (aka eating the icing) the cookies

The finished product

Annah has been able to spend a lot of time with her Gramme lately (not that she normally does not spend a lot of time with Gramme). Chas and Caroline were in town this weekend so we had a girls night at the Nutcracker. Annah was amazed and sat through most of it with her mouth wide open in total awe. At one point, she said, "Mommy, all the ballerinas are on the stage! I want to go dance with them!" Maybe next year she'll be old enough to be a baby angel? We did have to leave a few minutes early when Annah started to have a meltdown, but it was 2 hours past her bedtime so all-in-all, I think she did really well.

Today Gramme came over to make Christmas cookies with Annah. We all had on our matching Christmas aprons and made a huge mess (and ate a lot of cookie batter), but had a lot of fun. The cookies have more sprinkles than any I have ever seen. They might send Will into a diabetic shock, but they sure look good!

Happy Turkey Day!

Such a cute picture, sadly out of focus

Gardner, Annah, Liam and Perry

Happy Thanksgiving. I would like to take a minute to remind myself of all of the things I am thankful for...it is far too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day hassles and loose sight of what is really important in life. Just a few minutes ago, I was running back and forth between Annah and Liam's rooms trying (in vain) to get them both to go to sleep already! I found myself getting increasingly more and more frustrated that they would not, or could not, just close their eyes. I am exausted, why aren't they? But then I realized how lucky I am am to have these two children in the first place. There are plenty of people out there who would jump at the chance to have kids, even if that meant getting no sleep, rare showers, and zero alone time. I am so fortunate to have two happy, healthy (and absolutely adorable) children. Tonight might not be easy, but this too shall pass. So this Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for my family (immediate, extended, and four-legged), friends, my home, and all that I have been blessed with. I am truly fortunate for all that I have.

Raking Leaves with Daddy

Today was a gorgeous day and Will was home, so he set out to rake up all the leaves in the front yard. Truthfully, his plan was to get all the leaves in the front, sides, and back yard, but the front and one side took 3 hours, so that was all that got finished. Annah has been waiting to rake "leabses" with Daddy since it first got cool outside, and she was pumped! We are all covered in leaf pieces but we had a great time jumping in the piles. Liam was not such a fan (I think they were a little to itchy for him this year), but he loves to be outdoors. Got some great pictures of the kids.

The Cup

No, not The Cup, The Colonial Cup. For anyone who might not be from here, the Carolina Cup is "The Cup." It is a steeplechase held usually the weekend before Easter and is one big party. My kids are not allowed to go to The Cup until they are 21 (or in college at the very least). At the same racetrack though there is the Colonial Cup. It is also steeplechase held right around Thanksgiving and is a much more family oriented event. Lots of kids, a petting zoo, Jack Russell races, some drinking but nothing like it's sister race. (As an aside, I did manage to get myself in a fair amount of trouble at the Colonial Cup my sophmore year in high school and this is why my kids are not going without me until college!). At any rate, Mom and I took Annah and Liam to Camden to watch the ponies. It was a little chilly, but otherwise a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky. I think Liam enjoyed his first horse race and Annah has always loved going. Will chose to go to the Carolina game instead. One of these days we are going to get him to like horses! Maybe once Liam is a trainer for a Derby winner, we can get him to go too! :)

Happy Half Birthday, Liam

All the activity really wore Belle out! (Very lady-like too)

Happy half birthday, my Little Man! It is so hard to believe that 6 months has already gone by. It scares me a little that time will continue to go so fast. Before I know it, you will be crawling and walking and on and on! You are the snuggliest and happiest baby I have ever seen and I love you to pieces! At Liam's 6 month well check up he is out-pacing Annah at a bizare rate. He is 16 lbs 14 oz (Annah weighed 17 lbs at a year) and 27.5" (Annah was the exact same length at 9 mos). He is 90th %ile for height and 25th for weight. Sadly, if he continues to grow at this rate, my dreams of my son being a jockey are pretty much over. Maybe he can be a trainer instead. They tend to do better for themselves (and it's not so dangerous too). Whatever he chooses will be fine, as long as he is happy. We had the most awful nurse ever at the doctor today. I am normally so pleased with the nurses at Sandhills, but today was sub-par at best. We were waiting forever after we saw Dr DuBose and he was getting hungery, so I thought I would go ahead and nurse him while we were waiting. This has happened before, and they will usually say something like, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll come back in just a minute. Just stick your head out when he's done." Not this nurse. She just set her stuff down and said "Lay him down and hold his hands." No "How are you?" Nothing! No"I'm sorry to do this to you." NOTHING! She is totally in the wrong profession. The morning ended up better. Laura and Jacqueline were also at the office this morning so we went to Starbucks and had a coffee (and an adult conversation) before we had to go get the girls from school. Here are a couple pictures of my 1/2 year old little buddy

Another Day...

My little KA legacy. Will said he looked like he was on his way to a chapter meeting!

Chillin' in Mom and Dad's bed, watching toonies (aka cartoons)

The after

The after

Before...I had no idea it was this long, until I saw the picture!

Same stuff, different day! Today Annah played hookie from school. She had a half day, and when you only go to school for 3 hours, there didn't seem to be much point in loading everyone up, just to turn around and do it again as soon as it was over. So we took it easy around the house this morning. Then went to get Annah a much needed haircut (it had been almost 9 months, so it was definately in order). She was not crazy about the idea and said she wouldn't look like a princess without her long hair. Fortunately Hair Doodles gave her a new do that we are both happy with! (Check out the pictures) Liam, in typical Liam fashion, just went with the flow. A short visit to Rosie and Poppa's and then home to make dinner so I could make it to Bible Study. We will do it all over again tomorrow!

Welcome

Seriously, is this the cutest little boy ever, or what?!

Tub Time

Belle, who seems to believe the bouncy seat is her bed (even if Liam is in it!)

Sweet brother and sister!

OK, after much prodding for not having a blog, we are now bloggers (is that a word?)! Pretty slow weekend around here. Gardner and Perry came over to play this morning and now we are taking it easy. Liam will be six months old this week. I cannot believe how fast he is growing up. It seems like it took forever for Annah to be six months, and I swear Liam was just born yesterday. He is sitting up (kind of) and always smiling. I knew I was lucky before, but it gets better and better every day! Annah and Liam took their first bath together the other day. Liam had a pooopy diaper, so I said to Annah (who was already in the tub), "Annah, Liam poopied in his pants, after I clean him up, can he get in the tub with you?" To which, my sweet little girl replied, "He is my daddy's son!" Seriously, I have no idea where that came from. I have not known Will to poop in his pants on a regular basis, but I almost wet my pants I laughed so hard. That kid cracks me up all the time. Anyway here are a couple pics to get us started...

Sarah