Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Our neighbors had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party this weekend that we were able to attend.  It was nice to have some adult conversation for a bit with no kids!  We did our best with the sweaters.  We found Jonathan's sweater at Goodwill but wanted to ugly it up some more so we added the tree and extras to it.  If only I would have had time to add some lights to it that really lit up, it would have been so much uglier :)

Wrapping Paper is YUMMY!

At least that's what Ryan thought when he got a hold of some....

Pre-K Christmas Performance

I can't believe it has already come time for school to break for the Christmas holiday, but somehow it has!  Today was Katelynn's last day of preschool until the New Year.  They ended it with a fun Christmas Potluck and put on a performance for all the parents.  They sang several Christmas songs and even played a variety of instruments.  Katelynn played the triangles for two songs!

And in case you want a taste of the performance, here's a quick 2-minute snip of it.  They didn't play instruments the entire time, but I only taped a short bit and they happened to be playing them the entire time I taped.

Up, Up, and Moving!!

Wow.  I feel like Ryan hit 5 months old and just took off on the milestones.  Every day I feel like he changes!  Off the top of my head, he has learned to sit up, play actively with toys, and now he is semi-mobile!  We are so very, very close to crawling!  In the last 48 hours, he has made improvements literally every few hours it seems!  When he went to bed tonight, he was officially getting on all fours and moving one knee forward.  He would push off with that one knee and kept rolling over instead of going forward, but he didn't get upset.  He just kept rolling back to his belly and going again!  For the most part, he is moving backwards rather than forward, but he is moving!!  Earlier today he started at his playmat and made his way to our Christmas tree without any help from anyone!

And just because Mommy couldn't get enough of his sweet face, I kept on snapping pictures of my BIG, BIG boy as he played and continued to move around!

While I should be in tears that my baby is getting big so quickly (and blowing his big brother and sister away on the milestone markers), but I am actually hoping he full-fledge crawls before the first of the year.  Jonathan leaves for France for several weeks January 2nd, and he is already upset that he might miss such a huge milestone.  So, for the sake of my husband, please baby boy start crawling before daddy leaves!

More Santa Babies!

They may not be babies, but they will always be MY babies so I can call them Santa Babies if I want to :)

Santa Baby

With two weeks still left before Christmas, it's probably safe to say you'll see plenty more "Santa" pictures of Ryan since it is his first Christmas.  Here's my first favorite from the little photo shoot I put him through tonight!

Almost Perfect Picture of Three

I keep trying to get that perfect, framable picture of my three cuties, but it is HARD!  We went out to eat after visiting Santa today and since they were all dressed up, I decided to give it a try and snap some pictures.  They were looking at everyone except me and the camera for most pictures like this one...

 .. but finally I at least got them all to look.  If only I could have gotten all smiles and thought to have Katelynn spit out her gum, it would have been perfect (oh and the wind wasn't blowing her hair!).  But, I think this might be the best picture yet that I have of them so I'll take it!  I love how blue Ryan's eyes look in the photo to!

Visiting Santa 2011

Today we decided to get the kids dressed up and head out to visit Santa.  We went to Bass Pro Shop to see their free Santa, and we were very impressed with the setup they had there!  We probably spent an hour enjoying the games and visiting with Santa!

Here's the best picture of my kiddos with Santa.  Katelynn was a bit shy...

It took Ryan a bit before he realized a strange man was holding him..

Justin wasn't shy about telling Santa exactly what he wanted.  I'm not sure Santa understood everything, but Justin made sure to tell him.  Katelynn just told Santa she didn't know what she wanted so he requested that she mail him a letter.  Then he told the kids to be good for mom and dad and he would see them in a few weeks.  Justin nodded his head after everything Santa told him.

Katelynn's letter to Santa:  "Please Bring me Cinderella shoes."

 Mailing their letters to Santa...



Speaking of growing up...

Look who is sitting up!  It's still that hunched over sit-up, but he can do it and stay up pretty well!  I say this counts!

Brothers!

I am in love with this picture of my two boys!  <3

Growing sooo fast!

It seems like all of a sudden our little baby boy is getting so big!  He is so interactive now.  He loves to "talk" and laugh and holds so much interest in what his big brother and sister are up to.  He is grabbing and playing actively with toys now, rolling around and pushing his weight on his hands and legs.  I might be wrong, but I wouldn't doubt if he is crawling in no time, which will be yet another milestone he will blow his older siblings away with (they didn't crawl until 8 and 9 months!).  Already, he can turn around 180 degrees and is scooching ever so slightly from one place to another.  I can't believe how fast he has grown!

I know some people don't agree with letting your baby stand at this age, but I'm posting these pictures anyway.  He has so much motivation to be a big kid.  Obviously we don't let him put pressure on his legs and stand on his own very often, but isn't it amazing that he has the strength to hold himself up already?  

The Stocking Were Hung...

Our house is officially decorated for Christmas, and there is something about having five stockings hanging from my mantel that make me smile.  My little family of five could not be more perfect <3

Rock Hill Christmas Parade!

Tonight we took the kids to the Rock Hill, SC Christmas Parade.  It was held at night and was so cool!  We have never been to a nighttime parade, but the kids loved seeing all the lights.  One guy even had himself decorated in strands of lights!  Ha,ha.   We ended the night with hot chocolate and Christmas music for our drive home.  Have I mentioned how much more fun life is with Daddy home to enjoy it with us?

Loving Every Minute With Daddy

I cannot even begin to tell you how much better life is with Daddy home every night.  We are loving every single moment with him.    Justin is sleeping through the night, with zero tantrums since Daddy has returned home (which means I am getting more sleep.. a little more anyway).

The kids and I have plenty of fun together, but there are just certain levels of fun that no one but Daddy can create for them.  He is awesome at coming up with some pretty wild and crazy activities RIGHT before bedtime (of course it's before bed, right?), and tonight was no exception.  Tonight he was the gatekeeper and was not letting anyone get into Ryan's room to get Mommy.  Just wait until Ryan can play the game... then I am pretty sure Daddy will not succeed in keeping everyone out.  He barely was able to keep the two of them from entering let alone trying to keep three out.  :)

It warms my heart beyond anything I can explain to hear their laughs with Daddy!  This is what life is all about right here. 

It"s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Now that we are home from Georgia, it's time to get our house looking like Christmas!  I am still one of those few that refuses to decorate before Turkey Day, but now that it has passed, I say BRING IT ON!  I'm ready to be in the Christmas spirit.  This year has been quite different for me.  It is the first year that I can remember since Katelynn has been born that Jonathan has been home to decorate with us.  It felt strange and so wonderful not having all the responsibility of decorating be on me!  Jonathan is home all week on vacation, and after him being gone for some long traveling, we are loving every single minute!

 

So, I am pretty sure the kids have almost every ornament in one little spot on our tree, and there are at least three branches that are holding three to four ornaments on the one.  And guess what?  I didn't even move them once the kids were asleep.  We are still sporting an "unevenly decorated" tree.  We will see if I leave it or decide to make it look right.....

The best little tree decorators a mommy could ask for!