We made several attempts to get pictures with Santa Clause (and Santa Cow), but the boys did not think that was such a great idea. Cbug was pretty much terrified which is completely uncharacteristic of him and totally threw us off guard (which is why we tried more than once). KJ We did not really make a huge deal out of Santa in general with KJ so he was pretty much indifferent toward the man in the red suit, could have cared less about talking to him and only smiled for pictures when bribed.

When the above Santa (at the mall) asked KJ what he would like for Christmas, KJ just said “How about one of those candy canes over there?” and pointed to Santa’s bucket of treats. It was just fine with us that he wasn’t into the concept of wishing for the moon.

Overall, KJ had only three requests for Christmas. When someone asked he would say “some candy, some sunglasses, and some blue Christmas lights.” The candy was stuck on his brain after the Santa visit. He lost his sunglasses at Walmart in Nov (read- he threw them down and we couldn’t find them) and I had told him I would not get him more until Christmas so that explains that one. And the blue Christmas lights were a result of us driving around on lots of occasions to look at lights. One night he just declared “The blue lights are the best” and from then on wanted some for his own. All three of his requests were easily manageable and were granted, so he had a great Christmas!

KJ’s very own blue lights, not the best picture, but you get the idea.

Sunglasses

Cbug’s new tub of plastic food (this tub of food, to which I’ve since added some play dishes, has proven to provide HOURS of entertainment for BOTH boys, without taking up the space that a play kitchen would. Thanks for the great idea, Aunt M!)

Stay tuned for more to come in the “Rewind to Christmas” series. However, the series is sure to be frequently interrupted by the regularly scheduled randomness that is this blog. I know you just can’t wait!

ABL

Today is a day that I’d like to forget for a little while, but laugh about later. So I better document it now. Today the brothers had so much fun playing together. They shared well, they laughed together and entertained each other better than ever before. They did so well that they had me fooled into thinking that I could leave them unsupervised while I worked on laundry.

The first sign that this might not be a great idea came as I pulled my clean sheets out of the washing machine…and discovered my cell phone had joined the load of laundry. I loaded the washing machine over the course of an hour or so as I gathered towels, sheets, etc, between interacting with the boys. Both of them were in and out of the laundry room “helping” at various times. So while it might be possible that the phone was wrapped up in the sheets when I took them off my bed, I’m thinking it is even more likely that one of my little helpers decided my phone needed a bath.

You would think that a phone in the washing machine would warn me that the boys were not quite ready to play unsupervised, but I’m a slow learner.

This evening I went to change out another load of laundry, leaving both boys giggling in the play tent in KJ’s room. I was gone for maybe 3 minutes. When I came back in to the living room (where Cbug had crawled) I noticed a strange odor and saw that he had something in his hand. Yep, it was POOP. There was poop smeared through 3 rooms of our house, inside the play tent, on at least 3 stuffed animals, all inside of one toy bin and was on the bottom of KJ shoes (culprit for smashing it into the carpet in his room). DISGUSTING. Best part is, this happened maybe 30 minutes before RRL got home. They always save the best for Momma, don’t they?

Tomorrow, we are NOT staying home all day. No matter how cold it is and no matter how happily the “little angels” seem to be playing together. Good thing I love them so much!

ABL

…have to make you laugh.

Cbug LOVES hats. In fact, he thinks all things basically fit into two categories…either it must be FOOD or it must be a HAT, it must either go in your mouth or on your head (actually, it’s usually both). He doesn’t necessarily like to wear hats for any length of time, but does love to play with them, take them off of other people’s heads, play peek-a-boo from behind them, etc. So we decided for his 1st birthday we would have a “Hat” theme, and have everyone come wearing a hat…instant entertainment for our one-year-old!
(This family picture makes me laugh, but it is pretty standard for what we get these days. I do wish you could see Cbug’s outfit a little better. My mom made him overalls with his initials cross-stitched across the front. AMAZINGLY HANDSOME!)

I went with the “hat”theme and made a baseball cap cake (much MUCH easier than the train cake at KJ’s first birthday).

Both boys, of course, loved eating the cake. Cbug was a little intimidated by the big cake when we put it in front of him, but tore into a cupcake after we traded.

Cbug loved getting to play with friends…

…and he loved his very first adventure in the amazing indoor playscape at our church- I think that mr. fearless would have climbed to the top if someone had been willing to help him a little.

It was a fun day and we were so blessed to have so many people that love our Cbug there with us to celebrate!

ABL

As shocked as I am to be expecting a GIRL, I’m even more amazed that my baby boy is ONE! Cbug celebrated his birthday at the beginning of January, right in the middle of Christmas craziness. A year ago we were celebrating Christmas at our house with my family and he decided to make his surprise debut right in the middle of it all. Knowing that this would mean his birthday would ALWAYS be caught up in the holidays, I tried to convince him to wait until later in the month, but he was determined! That says a lot about our little guy…DETERMINED. We have been so blessed to have him as part of our family. In some ways it doesn’t quite seem fair that he just celebrated his first birthday and now is only months away from losing his status as baby of the family. As my Momma says, though, “He always be MY baby!”

Cbug-
Happy Birthday, my second born. Your Daddy, brother and I love you so much. I want you to know how blessed we are that you are part of our family. We thank the Lord that his timing was so perfect in bringing you to us and praise Him for the ways he is working in you and working in us through you. There are lots of things we love about you already and I wanted to try to share a few of those with you. Your Daddy and I love that you are so full of life and joy. Even as much as we love you, you are your own biggest fan and always make yourself laugh…which really makes your family laugh. We love how busy you are and how much fun you have just crawling in speedy circles around the house. We love to watch you wrestle with your brother (gently) and we love that you get so excited about balls, trucks, hats and phones. It cracks us up when you say “Uh-Oh”, your favorite word, right BEFORE you throw or drop something. We also love how snugly you are at night, how much you love your little blue bear and how sweetly you suck your thumb as you go to sleep. You and your brother already have such a special relationship. It fills me with pride when I watch you guys play together and just be excited to see each other. You are also going to be an amazing big brother as you help protect and take care of your new baby sister. I can’t wait to see all three of you play together!

Happy Birthday to our BIG one-year-old. What an adventure this year has been- we can’t wait to see what will come in the next one!

I love you, my sugar-bun, my Cbug.
Mommy

Party pictures coming soon, but for now here are pictures from Cbug’s first year (in order starting with the day he came home and then one for each month)…

updated for pictures

KJ and his cousin, getting ready to watch the screen…from between the stirrups. NICE.

I think it is very funny that the moms in this picture look like they are wearing their votes (blue and pink).

So, if I hadn’t been a blog slacker for the last month, there is a lot that I might have said. If you add Christmas fun and craziness to being pregnant, having boys that are 2 1/2 and 1, a week out of town, a 7th wedding anniversay, a sinus infection and a partridge in a pair tree…you get a lot to talk about with no time to say it. We certainly did have a wild and fun December.

I’m going to try to do a few catch up posts soon to hit the high-lights so stay tuned. In the meantime, though, my computer time for today is consumed with doing Defensive Driving for that ticket I mentioned a couple of months back. 6 hours of my life that I’ll never get back. It is TERRIBLE.

ABL

I very rarely participate in tags. However, who can turn down a request from Jamie AND Jaime.
8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. CRACKER BARREL
2. Cheesecake Factory
3. Trulucks
4. Which Wich
5. McAlister’s
6. The Cooker (sadly has been closed for years)
7. Pei Wei
8. Pancake Pantry in Nashville

8 Things That Happened Today:
1. Went to work
2. Drank a Starbuck’s peppermint Mocha
3. Bought Christmas cookie cutters for KJ
4. Shared my dinner with Cbug without him gagging/puking…YAY!
5. Went to church
6. Made poppyseed bread
7. Shopped on-line for last minute Christmas gifts (apparently the same ones that every other mom in America wanted)
8. Went to bed too late (again)

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Christmas with family
2. Meeting BL3
3. Seeing my boys accept Christ in baptism
4. A date night with RRL
5. Putting up my Christmas tree
6. Meeting baby Asher
7. Going to Wimbledon with RRL (someday)
8. Going to Alaska

8 Things I’m Scared Of:
1. Losing someone I love
2. Not teaching my boys enough
3. Being held under water
4. Parking garages
5. Someone breaking into my house while I’m home
6. Hurting someone’s feelings by saying something stupid
7. Waking up and realizing that I’m still in highschool (I dream this all the time)
8. Having a wreck with my kiddos in the car

8 Things I Wish For:
1. Family Vacation
2. Traveling more
3. Living closer to my family
4. Friends to find Godly husbands
5. Good friends for my kids when they go to school
6. Going to Europe
7. A cookies n cream milkshake
8. Less “clutter” in my life

8 Things I Watch on TV:
1. Curious George
2. Survivor
3. The Amazing Race
4. The Brady Bunch
5. The Cosby Show
6. Andy Griffeth
7. NCIS (thanks, Dad)
8. Christmas movies

8 People I Tag (no pressure!!):
1. Lori D.
2. Rebekah
3. Aimee
4. Haley C.
5. Kaylane
6. Jennifer B.
7. Chris B.
8. Summer B.

As an update to my previously mentioned wish for a cleaning fairy…
My cleaning NINJA (just as stealth and elusive as a cleaning fairy, yet way more studly and handsome) provided some major help at my house this weekend while I was out of town with the boys. After being gone less than 24 hours, I came home to a dusted, vacuumed, cloroxed, and mopped house. Someone had an idea that the chores I needed to get done before the Christmas festivities were weighing heavily on me and took it upon himself to ease the load A LOT. Have I mentioned how blessed I am?

…with special assistance from chef KJ.

FIRST

Rollout the dough. Be sure to use plenty of flour on the dough and the rolling pin (and might as well also cover yourself, the entire counter, chair and floor…just to be sure nothing sticks).

SECOND

Cut the cookies into your favorite Christmas shapes (circles work if your Momma couldn’t find any Christmas cookie cutters).

THIRD

Pat gently to the perfect thickness (pounding with your entire hand might be required) and place the cookies on the pan

NEXT

Put your cookies in the oven (and be sure to run by frequently to check to see how they are coming along)

THEN

Add the necessary toppings…we like icing AND sprinkles at our house

ALMOST DONE

They just need a taste test before the last step…

AND FINALLY

Share some Christmas cheer by making a plate of cookies to share with a neighbor (and definitely deliver them very close to your 2-year-old’s bedtime so that he’ll be nice and wild during your visit).

KJ and I had a blast making cookies together and he was so proud when we took some to a couple of friends. Please don’t tell him, though, that might not be necessary to roll, cut, and pat slice and bake cookies…especially if you are just going to cut them into round cookies. He had way more fun this way. Why ruin it for him?

ABL