We started our week of Christmas at my parents' house. We decided to go Monday night in hopes the kids would sleep the whole way, but Christopher was too excited to sleep... until the last 45 minutes. When we got there we put on pj's and they watched the train go around the tree. Christopher went NUTS!! He actually slid all over the floor to watch it go from one end to the other. It was great!




Here I am watching the kids help Grammie bake Christmas cookies Tuesday morning. They were so into it and the cookies were really yummy too!





Everyone else arrived on Christmas Eve and I had to get a shot of the stockings hanging from the stair railing. We are actually missing two of them!



Christopher showing off his crane that he got from Santa to Uncles Kyle and Trey. He drove that thing all over the house and tried to see how many different things he could carry with it.

Sophie opening gifts in her own way. She'll put anything in her mouth. You have to watch her!

Sophie was excited about her new toy. She got 3 baby dolls as well and loved all of them! It was cute to see her playing with something besides a truck.

The kids' gifts from Grandpa. He's an artitst and I always love to see what he creates for us. We were all so excited to have him with us this Christmas.

The boys playing with their new Thomas the Train pieces that they got. We didn't bring enough track to use, but they didn't seem to mind that everything was packed onto one tiny track.

Sophie and Sophie wearing matching dresses made by Grammie. When we found this doll with our little one's name we knew she had to have it. Thanks Grammie and Pop!

On Saturday we headed to the Hemphills to celebrate Christmas again and the kids had a blast there too! Sophie is enjoying her new Tinkerbell ride. Don't worry, that's just the wind blowing. She hasn't figured out how to make her 4 wheeler go yet.

The babes playing with Camille's toy we gave her. Ame bought matching dresses for the girls to wear. When we went shopping that afternoon we had people ask if they were sisters. They are only 4 days apart.

Christopher on his new tractor with Cameron going for a ride in the back. He has had so much fun riding on this, as you can only imagine.

We took a family photo before Ame and her family had to leave. This was actually really good considering how many people are in it!

Sophie got a new kitchen from Mimi and Papa John for Christmas. It was already at our house, so I put it together when we got home. Christopher has had a blast playing with it too.

She's not quite tall enough for it yet so I grabbed a stepstool for her to stand on. She loves it!

I haven't had a chance to go through all the hundreds of photos from Christmas yet (have 3 different cameras downloaded on here!) and so I thought I'd write about some of the funny things that happened yesterday.

(Note: this may be too much info for some, but it's really not that bad!) After putting Sophie down for a nap in the morning I went back to get ready for the day and had to go to the bathroom. Christopher comes back and I guess he thought I was having trouble b/c I was sitting down. (He goes #1 standing and assumes anyone sitting is doing the other.) He says, "Mommy, it's hard isn't it? Let me help you." and makes a fist and pushes it on my leg making a grunting noise. I try not to laugh. Then I realize I'm all out of toilet paper so I ask him to go get me some. Of course he brings back half a square wadded into a ball. I tell him to just bring me the whole roll, not sure if he knows how to do that. He comes back saying, "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sorry, Mommy." over and over. I realize why when he brings me a soaking wet roll of toilet paper. Just so you know, there was enough dry spot I was able to use before tossing it in the trash can.

A little while later we went to run an errand and when we got home he wanted to ride his new tractor. (He got a ride on tractor from Santa Hemphill, we had no idea he was getting it.) He's riding it around the neighborhood and I have to go to the bathroom again (sorry, didn't realize most of this was about me going to the bathroom, but I'd had a lot to drink!). I tell him we need to run home really quick and then he can keep riding. He tells me to go home and he'll wait there for me. Not going to happen so I convince him to go home with me and he tells me, "You go potty like a big boy?" I tell him I go like a big girl. He doesn't understand this so we go back and forth a little before I explain I'm a girl and he's a boy. He just says, "Oooooooohhhhh." in his most Southern accent he can make.

After his nap he is having a hard time waking up and is sitting in his little red chair holding lambie, froggie and Pluto with his pacifier in his mouth. He is just staring off into space, not blinking or anything. Suddenly he jumps up and everything flies out, including the pacifier, and says, "I have a GREAT idea!!!!" He runs back to his room telling me to follow him. He says, "Me put some pants and shirt and shoes on and go ride my tractor!" I die laughing. We go outside and ride his tractor.

Just so you know, he did play with all the other toys that he got for Christmas, he basically runs from one thing to the other, but the tractor just happened to be a part of the funniest things I remember. He talks to his trains and cars when playing with them now and it's adorable b/c you can tell he thinks they are real. It's cute! I'll try to get photos on here soon, but I have a massive pile of laundry to tackle, a toy kitchen that still has not been put together, a tree to take down and oh yeah, we are going out of town again this weekend. So, the blog may have to wait a little longer.

We are at my parents for the week and looking forward to having my brother and his family, my sister and her husband and my Grandpa all together for Christmas this year. We haven't had the cousins together since the summer and so it will be great to watch them play together again. We will go and have Christmas with Brandon's family this weekend and I'm looking forward to that as well b/c we haven't seen them since the summer either! I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed Christmas, whomever you are spending it with!!

I don't know who knows, but Brandon had surgery this morning. He has had a hernia for years, but didn't realize that is what was causing the occassional pain he'd been having until just now. The pain was never strong enough or lasted long enough for him to bother getting it checked. Turns out he didn't have one hernia, he had two! The doctor said he did great. Brandon was a little nervous about having his co-workers operating him (not b/c he didn't trust them) and becoming the patient instead of the doctor, but he was able to let go of it and relax. I was proud of him for doing so well and actually following the doctor's orders by letting me take care of him.

Yesterday I started explaining to Christopher that Daddy was going to go to the hospital to get a boo boo fixed instead of being the one to take care of other people's boo boos. At dinner tonight he was so cute and told me that Daddy would feel better if he watched his digger movie. And later told Brandon that he could use his Lightning McQueen ice pack to make his boo boo feel better. Before he went to bed he crawled up with Brandon to watch a soccer game that was on and Christopher said, "I love soccer," which of course melted Brandon's heart. (Such a sweet boy!!)

Thankfully my mother-in-law was able to come down and help me with the kids and I don't know what I would have done without her! And Tiffany too. She was awesome and picked Christopher up from Mother's Day Out for me b/c the surgery took longer than expected. The upside to all of this is that he has all of next week off! Unfortunately he won't exactly be in great shape to enjoy it like he'd want to, but it'll be nice to have Christmas with family now.

Ok, you will probably think I'm crazy, but when I have a night when the kids are in bed early and I'm all alone I love to "blog hop." Months ago I came across one of a girl I recognize from Auburn and loved her blog! (I am friends with people who know her, but I never actually met her.) I was so amazed by all that a mom with 2 girls and a newborn could accomplish. Sewing, remodeling a house that nobody would buy b/c it was so bad, canning food, you name it, she does it. Made me feel lazy for not doing a fraction of what she does! Well, I forgot how I found it and what her name was and so since then I've been in a search to find it again. And tonight, I found it!!! I'm adding it to my favorite blogs so you can see it yourself. I actually came across her twin sister's blog first and kept looking until I found the one I was searching for. Her sister sounds amazing too, so I added hers as well! (If you girls ever read this, I hope you don't mind!) I didn't want to lose these again. If you're wondering it's the Stickler family and Urban Grace Interiors. I love seeing what they do and hopefully I can learn from them b/c they are both very talented. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Oh, and I've added other favorites as well.

I thought I'd put some recent photos on here so you can see what we've been up to, besides being sick.

Anytime Christopher sees an empty box or bin he HAS to take a ride in it and always wants Sophie to join him. She's not as excited about it as he is, but they still have fun together.

The annual smashing of the pumpkins. This is a tradition that was started when we were dating and seems to be even more fun now that Christopher gets involved.

Ta da!!! Here's the Christmas card photo. Like I said, it took three different days and giving up on nice clothes and hairbows to finally get a decent one. I knew it was hopeless to think they'd sit perfectly still smiling and posed. So this is what we ended up with, the kids in their natural form, laughing and being silly.

Sophie catalog shopping for Christmas presents. She sat here for about 20 minutes just turning the pages one by one and then starting over again when she would get to the end. It was so funny! Usually she just rips them apart, but I guess she likes Pottery Barn Kids and wanted to take a closer look. She was very serious so I had to get a photo. I should have gotten the video camera so you could see her going. I couldn't believe it!

Today it rained, but it was a really good day. I'd post photos, but Brandon took the camera to work. I actually enjoy days like this b/c I don't have to worry about running errands with kids who hate running errands. We usually turn on music and dance around and read books and pop popcorn to watch a movie. Chrisotpher helped me make cookie dough for some Christmas cookies later and then helped stamp our Christmas card envelopes. (This will explain if you get yours and it looks like a 2 year old got a hold of it.) After we mailed those, Sophie woke up and he decided he needed a bath. After a snack and reading of some books, we are sitting on the couch watching the rain in the front yard and here are some of the funny things Christopher said,

"Mommy the rain is making a puddle for me to jump in later!" (guess that's what we're doing when the rain stops)

Then the thunder starts and he says, "We better run to our beds and take a nap before the thunder wakes us up."

"Whoa!!! The thunder is booming!!"

"Hey, it's raining out here too." (said after Christopher walks to see the backyard)

When turning on some music, I asked if he wanted country or Christmas music, his reply was, "Crunchy!!"

We had success going potty and later took a trip to the BX with Brandon. We decorated our Christmas cookies and even got a surprise visit from our neighbors Matt and William, which is always fun. Overall, it was just the day that we've been needing around here. Hopefully we'll have more of them now that everyone is feeling better!

I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining all the time, but we're tired. Sophie is over the fever stuff, but not has this rash covering her whole body. Just means she had some virus. It looks like it's very irritating, but we have no idea if that's why she's fussy or if it's something else. We can't seem to make her happy and the things that used to make her laugh don't work anymore. She is eating and drinking half of what she used to, but thankfully she can miss a meal or two, if you know what I mean. I thought we were past this clingy stage, but it seems like we are back again. She hates riding in the car, she hates it if you aren't holding her, she hates it if you are holding her, she hates eating, drinking, etc. Bath time and swinging are the only things that make her happy. Oh, and playing peek a boo every now and then. I know they say babies can sense when their parents are stressed and become stressed too, but I really can't help it! Who wouldn't be stressed in times like these???? She isn't sleeping well at night anymore and Brandon and I are exhausted. I think we were up for an hour last night with her. Anyway, I just pray that God will have mercy on us and help her to feel better soon. It's so frustrating when your child has a problem and they can't tell you how to fix it. I just wonder if she's fussing b/c something is wrong or she just isn't getting her way. I think it's more the latter than it used to be! Just part of life, kid! (That goes for you too, mommy!)

Little Sophie has been sick for the last 4 days and we aren't sure when we'll see the end of it. On Wednesday she felt a little warm, but we just wrote it off as wearing a jacket too long. Thursday afternoon, Brandon was home early from work and when she woke up from her nap she was burning up. We took her temp and it was 103.8, the highest either child has ever run a fever. We gave her some medicine and waited. After a while, Brandon, of course knowing way too much, started to get a little worried about what it could be, and knowing he was probably just overreacting decided to call one of the doctors he works with and was told to bring her in. We found out she has an ear infection. I wasn't too surprised since she's been cutting teeth like crazy and Christopher had an ear infection twice around this age. We were sent home with some meds and told to just watch the fever and let them know if it was still acting up. Friday I took Christopher to Mother's Day Out, went to get my haircut and pick up a few things at the store and poor Sophie looked terrible! She crashed when we got home and slept for 2 hours. Woke up with another fever, still 103.9 and I gave her some IB and called Brandon to give him the update. I was told by her doctor to give her Tylenol as well and call in an hour if it was still high. We go to get brother and she can barely keep her little puffy eyes open. I called Brandon back to tell him we were just going to come straight there b/c I didn't want to wait for naps to be over and be "that person" who shows up at 4:30 on a Friday with a sick child. The nurses were amazingly sweet and it took 3 of us to hold little Sophie down as they gathered urine and blood samples. It killed me to see her screaming like that, but knew it had to be done. We found out she has a virus on top of the ear infection and just have to keep doing what we're doing. Saturday her doctor called to check on her while headed out of town with his family (he's so sweet!) and told us what to do if we needed anything. Her fever came and went throughout the day, hitting 104 by the afternoon, but she's a trooper and hanging in there. The good news is, she's sleeping harder at night so I'm not as tired as you'd think I'd be. Hopefully today will be a good day and she'll just start getting better.

After three attempts to get a decent Christmas photo of the kids, I finally got one. I gave up on dressing them in nice clothes and taking a pretty picture. I was crazy to think that was even possible. The evening after we got back from Thanksgiving holidays we bathed the kids and put on their new Christmas pj's (thanks Mimi!) and decorated the tree. They were having such a good time I wanted to take advantage of it. Sophie was extremely excited to be next to Christopher and wouldn't sit still, but we happened to get one where they were both facing the camera and had smile on their faces. I'm going to wait until the cards actually come in to show you the one we picked, but here are some of the others. You'll see why this was a challenge.

I did it. I can't believe it, but I did it. I packed up most of my baby items and took them to consignment. I've been looking forward to opening up more storage space, but it's strange to think that it's all gone, not just out of sight. I also took my maternity clothes. I let my sister pick out what she wanted and the rest of it is gone. GONE! I'm definitely not going to miss my maternity clothes, but knowing that the bouncer will never be tripped over or the swing playing in the kitchen again is kind of sad in a way. I did it so fast I didn't have time to think about it and dwell over it. I still have a few things, the exersaucer and the jumper, but that's about it. Let's just hope there are no surprises any time soon. Ugh, the thought of that just gives me a headache. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Now I just need to drop off the bags of regular clothes we don't wear anymore...

I'm tired.

I'm tired of waking up at night to give a pacifier that they can reach themselves.

I'm tired of leaky diapers adding to my pile of laundry.

I'm tired of hauling two kids to the store complaining about being at the store to get things that they need and want.

I'm tired of being screamed at b/c I'm not doing something fast enough, right away or at all.

I'm tired of getting milk.

I'm tired of giving baths.

I'm tired of cleaning up.

I'm tired of cooking dinner while kids are screaming.

I'm tired of not finding Christmas gifts. (And I'm not even looking for a "perfect" one, just trying to find anything!)

I'm tired of teething. (waaaaaay tired!!!!)

I'm tired of potty training.

I'm tired of washing my hair.

I'm tired of never feeling human.

I'm tired of literally wrestling my child to put on a diaper and clothes.

I'm tired of being sleepy.

I'm tired of being hungry.

I'm tired of not brushing my hair and teeth until nap time, or worse, bed time.

I'm tired of being frustrated that my wonderful family drives me so crazy.

I love my kids. I love my husband. I love my life. But today I don't. Today, I'm tired of anything and everything. I'm just wish I could be away from home, all alone and it's quiet with a fireplace, a blanket, a stack of movies that have nothing to do with kids and a couple good books.

Tomorrow will be a better day. It has to.