Yup, we had one of the south's bad storms come through the other day and Brandon came home early from work since everything in town was closing as a result. Since we couldn't go outside and play we decided to set up the tunnel that Christopher got for Christmas... all 13 pieces. It took over the house, but it was worth it because the boys had a blast crawling around in it. Then, once the storms ended Brandon and Christopher got ready to go play in the puddle that used to be our front yard. (Everyone's yard drains into ours, so you can only imagine what a good rain will do to it!) We put on Christopher's new fireman dress up clothes, but they didn't last long since they are about 3 sizes too big and he couldn't walk in it very well. At first he wasn't sure about getting dirty (he loves to play in it, but doesn't like to wear it) and after laughing at Daddy enough he decided to join in the fun. Once they were done, being the Mommy, I made them come in through the garage so they could just strip down and put their clothes directly into the washing machine and not track it through the house. (I still have grass in both machines.) They had a blast and now Christopher wants to go out and play in the water, but he doesn't understand that it's all gone. At least until the next big storm!

Burt, Melissa and big brother Nicholas welcomed the newest member of their family on Thursday afternoon. Joshua Liam Khan came into the world weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long. He has a full head of dark hair and looks very much like his big brother did when he was born! We are so happy for them and can't wait to meet him. Of course it will have to wait, since we are due with #2 in about 3 weeks or so. Congratulations guys and we wish you all the best!! (Brandon had a chance to swing by and meet Joshua the other day on his way home from Atlanta and snapped these photos of the boys. Aren't they cuties??)

Again, we continued with our tradition of spending New Year's with the Khans. I think this was our 5th year (missed one when Brandon was deployed). A couple days before, we met Grammie and Pop in Birmingham so they could keep Christopher for a few days so we could have some alone time before the baby comes. We caught up on movies we haven't seen (I think it was about 6 total) and did a few things we've been wanting to do around the house, but mostly just caught up on sleep and were lazy. It was wonderful, but we couldn't wait to get our little man back either. We woke up early Sunday morning and headed down the road. We were anxious to see the Khans since Melissa was due any day with #2 and Nicholas had recently broken his arm. Thankfully, Christopher fell asleep on the way to their house and Nicholas had just gone down for a nap, so we had a great start to the trip. After naps, we went for a walk to see the construction that was being done and the boys went nuts when they saw all the bobcats (or "tractors" as they called them) that were still hanging around. On Monday we loaded up in the van and headed to the mall to let the kids burn some energy by running around and they really enjoyed riding the "choo choo" (a.k.a. train) and the other "choo choo" (a.k.a. carousel). After lunch and naps, Brandon and Melissa took the boys out back while I ran to visit with a friend for a little while and Burt started cooking dinner. After putting the boys to bed early, Melissa and I relaxed on the couches and the dads headed out back for their guy time. We were all in bed before midnight, something we haven't stayed up for since the kids were born. The next morning we had breakfast and then loaded up the car to head home. Christopher was very excited about getting back to all his new toys and more importantly, his own bed. It was another great start to a new year and we always enjoy looking back to see what has changed in the last year and what's to come in the new one.

This year we stayed in Huntsville for the holidays and had Brandon's family come up and over to celebrate. His parents and Nana surprised us by arriving Saturday morning when we thought they were coming after lunch. It was a very welcome surprise though. Aunt Ame, Uncle Drexel and Cameron arrived later that afternoon and Christopher was so excited to have his cousin here to play with, after the shock of having so many people coming on one day. After fixing dinner we loaded up in the cars and headed off to Santa's Village so the kids could see the real reindeer, fake snow and meet Santa. Christopher was not happy about the beaded wonder, so we didn't make him sit on his lap. He preferred Mrs. Claus' story time and the room full of trains instead. The next morning, Christopher woke up bright and early ready to play, but not everyone felt the same way. After we all showered and gathered back at the house we had an early Christmas and opened up our gifts, to which the kids had more fun than I think we anticipated. They each got a new bike to grow into, but still tried to ride, among many other new toys and games. We actually had to take a break in order to start our Christmas dinner, but we quickly went back to opening gifts again. We had a wonderful meal which was followed by much needed naps. That evening we were going to head to the Botanical Gardens to see the Christmas lights, but got a much later start than planned and once we saw how long the line was to the entrance we turned around and headed home. It was a good thing b/c we got a phone call from "Mrs. Claus" that "Santa" was going to be coming by to visit Christopher any minute so we all waited on the edge of our seats for the knock at the door. Again, Christopher didn't want anything to do with Santa, but happily took the chocolate he was given as a pre-stocking gift. We sent Ame, Drexel and Cameron on their way back home and then all headed to bed looking forward to a good night's sleep. Christmas Eve felt more like the day after Christmas and we just hung around the house, ran a few errands and took more naps before heading to church for the Christmas Eve service. We were all worn out from the previous activities and again called it an early night and I think we were all asleep before our heads hit the pillows. Christmas morning we woke up and Christopher couldn't wait to run out and see what was in the den. We showed him his stocking full of goodies and he had more fun pulling it all out. Didn't take long before he started saying, "more! more!" everytime he reached inside. Brandon and I just laughed. Then he immediately went for the few presents we left under the tree for Christmas morning. It was great! He was most excited about the new Thomas the Train set that he got and wanted it out of the box before we could even get all the paper off of it. We fixed taco soup for lunch and helped Mimi and Papa John load their gifts into the truck and then said goodbye. I think Christopher took one of his longest naps yet that afternoon. As we went for a family walk that afternoon we reflected on all the amazing thing we were given and how incredibly blessed we are. It was definitely an unforgettable Christmas and we could not have asked for more.

We had our friends, the Khans and the Shaffers come up one weekend to visit mid-December. We were really looking forward to having Christopher and Nicholas together again, they haven't seen each other since we went to the beach in August and we were all looking forward to seeing John and Lisa and meet their newest addition, Sonora. Burt, Melissa and Nicholas arrived Friday afternoon and the boys immediately hit it off and started chasing each other down the sidewalk on their bikes and playing golf in the front yard. That night we were going to take them to see the Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens, but changed our minds when we realized they weren't going to stop running around long enough for us to catch them and get them in the car. We had bought each of them a big stuffed animal and so we decided to pull those out and let them tackle those for a while, they went nuts! They spent the rest of the night running and diving onto the big bear and puppy, pausing only to get a quick drink or take a ride on their dad's back. Saturday morning, Melissa and I woke up with the boys and had breakfast while they played and stopped every now and then to see what Pooh and Tigger were doing on tv. Around lunch, John, Lisa and Sonora arrived and somehow got all the kids down for a nap at the same time. That afternoon we played in the backyard and then came inside to start dinner while the boys continued to play some more. On Sunday we tried to get a photo of the three kids together, but it never happened. Christopher was very fascinated with Sonora and every now and then would go sit next to her on the floor and then turn around to find me and say, "Baby!" while pointing at her. It was cute! We played outside some more and then it was time to grab some lunch and everyone had to start packing up to head home. It was a wonderful weekend and we are already trying to figure out when we can do it again.

We have been very busy this month with all sorts of activities. We started off by trying to take our Christmas photo. It actually went better than we thought it would, but was over quickly. Brandon thought it would be fun to do one similar to when we were pregnant with Christopher. Now Christopher likes to get Brandon's stethoscope and try to listen to the baby for fun. Then a few days later Christopher and I had the neighbors over to decorate a gingerbread house and have lunch. It was a lot of fun watching the kids work on the house, but Christopher was more interested in eating the candy. THEN a few days after that we celebrated Brandon's 30th birthday! He was on call the night before so he didn't want to do anything big, just dinner at home with us. So when he got home Christopher and I left so he could get a much needed nap in. Christopher then helped me fix Daddy's favorite, Chinese, for dinner. I was really hoping that he wouldn't want to rush into having birthday cake as soon as we finished dinner because the neighbors were coming over to surprise him. He had no clue anything was going to happen when they all showed up and was very surprised. He said it was the best birthday he'd had in a while. For what happens next, read the above posting! : )