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!

Annual Bowl-a-thon

Okay, so the title isn't quite true, but we do have an annual (or in our case bi-annual as we miss out on the Conrad-Carney Thanksgiving every other year when it is held in Miami) bowling day every Thanksgiving weekend.  I didn't get many pictures this year.  I really should have taken a picture of the scoreboard though so you could have seen that I kicked my hubby's butt! :)

Uncle Rob and Mom up to bowl

 Strike for Aunt Debbie!!

 Daddy and Katelynn up to bowl!

 Yay, Justin!  (He is learning to cheer like Aunt "W"!)

It's pretty wild to think that next time we will join the Conrad and Carney Bowling Weekend, we will have three kids all wanting to bowl since Ryan will be 2 by then!  Crazy how time flies!