Mommy's Little Helper II

The first picture is of S in February 2008. The second is of C in tonight. WOW!!

Sweet Boy

SNOW!!!!

It SNOWED!!

M and I were so super excited that it snowed! S was too! She woke up Sunday morning and the first thing out of her mouth from her room was "It's 7. Can I play in the snow now?" Most definitely sweet girl! First, though, we had to get everyone fed and dressed. Whew!! So many layers for all of us that at 10am we were FINALLY walking out the door. We were going to leave C with M's mom and take S up to the mountains where they got about 6" of snow so we could do some fun sledding. But, naturally, I needed some pics of C in the sled before we left. So, I got him all dressed in his coat and gloves and put him down so that I could get his bottle made and my coat on. In a matter of only about 5 minutes, this is what I turn around to find. He reminds me of the kid from A Christmas Story (his arms were sticking straight out even though you can't really tell from this picture!):)


Hmm... obviously he was not so much interested in getting his picture made in the snow but he sure was warm and cozy in his get up:) I was determined, though, to get a picture since I did go through all the trouble of getting him dressed!

Okay, enough torture for the little guy. We were off!! Our first stop was at Landrum High School in Landrum, SC. Fun, but we still wanted MORE snow! Next stop, an Equestrian Community in Polk County, NC. Ahhh!! Now this was perfect! We all had SO. MUCH. FUN!!

Christmas

Christmas morning S woke up at her usual 7am (C missed the present opening as he slept until almost 9am) and we corralled her in our room until she went potty and we could get dressed and turn on the tree lights. When she walked out and saw all the presents under the tree, she wasn't quite sure what to make of it all!! She opened each present so slowly and then wanted to play with each one. I thought she would have just torn through all of them and been done in about 10 minutes!

After we finished we packed up and headed over to my in-laws house for lunch and dinner with all of the cousins! We had so much fun and S and C really enjoyed all the attention as they are still the only little ones - but not so for next year! We'll have at least one more little one to share in getting spoiled:)

And, for the first time since 1963, it was a WHITE CHRISTMAS! We ended up getting about 1.5-2" total throughout the day and night. Such a beautiful way to celebrate!

God Jul(...Och Ett Gott Nytt Ar!)

Merry Christmas(... and Happy New Year!)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we decided to celebrate Christmas Swedish-style this year. It was fun to research to see what they used to decorate, eat and other ways that they choose to celebrate.

We decorated our tree with the Sweden flag, hearts, candles and dala horses. The table included poinsettia (Julstjarna) and our Christmas Eve (Julafton) meal. We had Julskinka (Christmas ham), Risgrynsgrot (rice porridge) and Pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies).

We told S about the traditions of St. Lucia, Tomte and the Jul Bok. Although, truth be told, M and I were more interested in it than she was!

Next year, we are going to do a Chilean Christmas!

Christmas Adam

We had our annual Christmas Eve Eve dinner tonight (Christmas Adam... get it? Because Adam came before Eve!). There was so much food and fun and craziness with the cousins! S and Will played and played and had a great time together. I think their personalities are just different enough where they don't fight when they play but similar enough that they have a blast together! They even got their very own kids table and thought that was so cool! Next year, C is going to be tagging along behind trying to keep up with the big kids. While others watched the crazy ones, the mommies and daddies were able to sit and have an actual conversation - Wow, I'd almost forgotten what that was like! We had a wonderful night and it is always so nice to see everyone!

Other Things Christmas

Over the River and Through the Woods...

to Grandmamma's house Stella goes!!!:)

Last night S stayed at her Grandmamma and Granddaddy's house for the first time while M and I (along with C-man) went out for a friend's birthday! I told S when she got up from her nap yesterday that she was spending the night with Grandmamma and she was SO excited! We packed her "suitcase" (maybe I should actually get her one) and off we went.

It was so nice to be able to go out and know that she was in good hands and having fun!

Hollywild

Ahhh... our annual trip to Hollywild was awesome!!

We went kind spur of the moment and it couldn't have worked out any better! I fed C (and then he slept the ENTIRE time - woohoo!), we stopped and grabbed Chick-fil-A on the way and drove out preparing to have to wait in line since it was a Saturday night. NOPE!! We drove straight in:) S loves sitting up front with us and hanging out the window while we drive through the lights. Our attempt to lure the HUGE cow, zebra and deer to our car for some yummy crackers failed, but it was fun trying! When we got out we warmed up by the campfire, petted the animals and fed them some food!

This is definitely one of my favorite traditions that we've started! Next year should be very interesting (and probably picture-less) with TWO kids hanging out in the front seat with us:)

Gingerbread Fun

Well, not so much fun for me, but S enjoyed it! I bought this kit with a vision of a beautiful gingerbread train masterpiece like the one on the box... hmmm... not quite how it went down. I read a horror story on a friend's blog about her experience with her gingerbread house, so I had been forewarned. Our kit came with the gingerbread already cooked which helped, but the icing was SO hard to get out of the packets and S couldn't do that by herself. I had wanted her to do the decorating alone so that she could "express her creativity" or maybe it was to give me a break and have a little quiet while she was otherwise entertained. Instead, I sat with her and put the icing on the train while she covered it with candy. She had fun decorating, but was probably more interested in eating the icing! I am not so sure we will be doing another gingerbread train or house anytime soon, but I am glad to say we at least gave it a try.

C-man was playing happily on the floor on his play mat when we began our little project, but Sir Rolls-A-Lot kept getting flipped over on the hard floor and throwing a fit because he has a hard time rolling back over so into the swing he went! He is rolling a lot these days and wants to sit by himself so badly. He is becoming stronger and more independent each day. Now if only he would sleep without his swaddle we'd be set:)