December Highlights

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we are trying to find ways to keep "the main thing the main thing." This year we started a new tradition of doing a Jesse Tree Advent devotional with the boys. We sat down each night as a family to read a devotional related to the lineage of Jesus and added a corresponding ornament (a paper cutout colored by our artist-in-training Carson) to our Jesse Tree (small tree on the left in the picture above).

We were excited to spend Christmas Eve with our dear friends, The Harveys. They introduced us to a new Christmas tradition called Christingle that symbolizes Jesus as the Light of the World.

We let the boys open their stockings on Christmas Eve where they found their new Christmas jammies to wear to bed that night.

Timmy loved taking in the sights and sounds of the Christmas season this year. Last year, he mostly slept through the whole thing.

My family was in town to celebrate Christmas with us.

November Highlights

As you can see from the pictures, November was quite a busy month for us:

Carson was in his first school play. His class did a "skit" about the pilgrims and the Indians (at least, I think that is what the play was about).  They sure did look cute up there. 

Charles and I took an anniversary trip to West Palm Beach. We were celebrating our 10th year of marriage and decided to celebrate in the city where we met. We loved touring  PBA (the university we attended and where we met) and relaxing by the beach. We had a blast visiting our old stomping grounds.

The big event this month was celebrating Timothy's first birthday. I can't believe how quick that first year flew by. We had a small family birthday celebration on his birthday (November 21st) and had a birthday party for him while we were camping at Disney at Thanksgiving. Timothy took it all in stride. 

Timothy is playing with his birthday presents in this picture. Yes, that's right -- I gave him Dasani water bottles for birthday presents and he loved them. I filled them up with rice, sand, beans, pipe cleaners, and colored water. This kid has always loved playing with water bottles so, in reality, I gave him exactly  what he wanted.

These are the friends he got to celebrate his birthday with while camping at Disney. Obviously he likes to hang out with the older crowd.

He is going to town on his birthday cookie cake. Everyone just kept giving him piece after piece after piece. There was no way he was saying no to that!

We have this same picture with Carson the first time we took him to Disney. He was 15 months old at the time. Now he is five and a little tougher to carry..but still just as cute. 

Daddy and Timmy posing for  a picture in front of the RV we stayed in while camping. 

We didn't take the boys into any of the Disney Parks, but we did give them a chance to ride a horse -- it's almost the same thing, right?! 

Nana & Papa took us to an ice sculpture exhibit at the Gaylord Palms Hotel while we were in Orlando. It was beautiful but very, very cold.

October Highlights

Considering the fact that I am 5 months behind in posting to the family blog, I decided to update by month instead of by event so here are some of October's highlights:

 Flew to Ohio to celebrate Grandma's 70th Birthday. Timmy's first time on a plane and he did great. The boys enjoyed hanging out with cousin's Mason, Maelynn, and Mavrik. 

Auntie Joy was in town a few days before Halloween and decided to whip up this homemade Transformer costume for Carson. It even had working headlights! It was awesome!

Timothy wore pumpkin pajamas for Halloween just because I thought the pumpkin bottom was so cute!

Photo shoot gone awry at the pumpkin patch.

Carson loves making things with his tinker toys -- this is one of many robots/transformers that he has made. 

First Day of Pre-K

Carson is officially "in-school."  His attends First Baptist Smyrna Weekday Education program and his first day was August 26th. He was pretty excited about starting school. He didn't shed a single tear...shoot, he didn't even look back when I dropped him off in his classroom. I waited until I got back out to the parking lot before I started to cry. We found out that there is another "Carson" in his class, so we told his teachers that they could call our Carson "CJ" (since that is the nickname we call him anyways). After his first day of school, he told me the thing that he was most excited about was the transformer in his classroom (transformers are his current go-to toy). He also says he tries really hard everyday not to get any "checks" by his name because if he gets no checks all week then he gets to choose something from the class treasure box on Friday. While I appreciate his efforts, I remind him he should obey his teachers because God tells us to obey those that are in charge of us (like parents and teachers). He politely nods in agreement, but lets face it...treasure boxes are pretty good motivators.

Vacation in Southport

We spent labor day weekend vacationing in Southport, North Carolina. Uncle Terry and Aunt Polly graciously hosted us again this year. They are so hospitable with us and helped us with the boys. It really was such a relaxing trip. We spent time at the pool, at the beach, and in a hammock -- what more could you ask for on a vacation! We also enjoyed a day trip to Wilmington where Carson and Timothy were able to explore a children's museum and even had time for a bike ride before we left town.

Carson loves spending time on the beach...but not in the water. He would rather build sandcastles than play in the waves (he gets that from his mother :) )

The boys with Uncle Terry and Aunt Polly at the beach.

Carson and Allie -- good buddies.

Terry's dad, Howard, is living with them now in Southport. The boys provided him with lots of entertainment.

 Hammock Time!

 Watching the sunset at a park near Polly and Terry's home.

 me and my snugglebug!

Family picture in front of our "home away from home" 

Timothy at 9-months-old

Our sweet baby boy  passed the 9-month mark on August 21st. He is such a little cuddle bug and brings so much joy to our lives. His favorite things are playing with water bottles, playing with his brother, and jumping in the jumper. He doesn't even mind that the jumper is pink (we borrowed it from cousin Cali). He hasn't started crawling yet but does some serious rolling all around the room. Our Tiny Tim measures in the 4 percentile and weighs a little over 16 pounds. We love this little guy!

Timmy loves blueberries

Hanging in the jumper

Tummy Time

Carson turns Five!

It is hard to believe that my firstborn turned FIVE on August 7th. Carson is such a sweet and loving boy and I am so blessed to be his mommy. I really enjoy watching his ever-evolving personality develop. At the moment, he loves (in no particular order): butterflies, grasshoppers, transformers, going to church, tinker toys, and his little brother. He does not particularly care for putting his head under the water at the pool or taking baths (don't worry...we make sure he does the latter).

We opted out of a birthday party this year and instead decided to take Carson to Stone Mountain (again) to do the "ride the ducks" tour (one of those amphibious vehicles that can go on land and in the water). He was excited that cousin Cali and his friend, Charley, were able to join him for the fun. I also attempted to make cupcake cones for his birthday (major pinterest fail) -- he did have fun icing and decorating them so not a total bust.