Merry Christmas...Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas everyone! We started off our celebration at Mimi and Papaw's that night. Mimi bought Sophia an apron and hat with her name monogrammed on it. It was sooo cute! I hope I see her cooking in her little kitchen with her outfit on.
Mimi and Papaw with the girls.
Love, love, love this headband on her. She would not wear one for the longest time and that day she decided she like it. She looked so beautiful...I can't wait for Ashlyn's hair to grow.
Amber and Luke together. We draw names and Toby was Amber's Secret Santa. We bought her a Coach wallet to match her purse. I was so excited to give it to her...I think she liked it.
I am going to cherish this picture. Lately, when you ask Sophia to smile she looks as if she is growling or something. Here is her pretty smile which we know and love. We hope all of our friends and family had a wonderful and safe Christmas. We will see you all soon, but until then...Happy New Year!

Christmas morning

Christmas 2008. I was so exhausted. We went to church at 11:00pm the night before so by the time we got home, put Santa's cookies out, got the girls in bed, and presents around the tree... it was 2:00 am. Ashlyn of course got up at 7:00 am sharp. It's amazing no matter what time you put the little monkeys to bed...they get up at the same time everyday.
Toby opening his presents from the girls.
Ashlyn is so good. She just sat in her Exersaucer and played with her Zoobie.
Sophia got a scooter with a helmet. Toby thinks I am going to make her a nerd, but what can I say...her mom is a nurse.
First thing we did was go through the stockings. She was so cute and excited. I wish that excitement still lingered in me. I remember as a child not being able to sleep the night before. Where and when does that magic go?

Christmas Evening

Toby opening presents.
I do not know if Sophia cared what she received from everyone, all she kept saying was she wanted "more presents!" I do not if it was the unwrapping or what?
Jason and the girls. (Sophia and that smile.)
And lastly, Grandma and Ashlyn. Everyone got great gifts, I- phones, pots and pans, digital frames and lots of toys.

Christmas Evening cont...

Ashlyn received new pearl earring to match Sophia and I, but she only seemed to care about the bag in which it was wrapped.
Poppa with the girls Christmas evening.
I have heard about this puppy named Biscuit since September. Sophia asked every Santa we came in contact with to bring her this dog. . Turns out, her and Tim were doing her breathing treatment one night and she saw a commercial on TV for it. She asked Tim to get it for her. He told me he was getting us the dog and at the time I thought it was real and told him do not be upset if it ends up at the pound the next day. To my great surprise, it is indeed fake-no hair, no barking, and no peeing in the house... that is my kind of dog.
Sophia and mommy.

Toby with the Girls

Toby and Ashlyn together. She is so cute and makes my job as a mom pretty easy. Toby looks silly in this picture and Ashlyn looks as if she is not impressed.
I love this picture of them. Sophia has slowly been turning on me these past couple of months and I hate to even think it, but I think she is going to be a Daddy's Girl.

Great Wolf Lodge

The girls on Friday night after a very busy day of no naps, junk food and a lot of swimming.
Mimi, Papaw and the girls on Santa's chair.
Amber and Luke together...they just celebrated their one year anniversary. So a big Congrats to them! We were so glad you all could go.
The lodge is breathtaking when you walk in the doors. Everything is decorated with lights and it is gorgeous. I wished our home looked like this... it was magnificent. Every time we walked through the lobby I was awe struck. Kudos to whoever decorated the lodge, I was impressed. I think this may be a trip we take every Christmas. It was nice to spend the weekend with family, we had a great time... see you all on Christmas Eve.

Ashlyn with Papaw.
The Great Wolf came out after story time was over, but their were so many kids he did not make it around to Sophia... so she was kind of bummed. Then out of now where I was just taking pics of Sophia and Toby...and he just plopped down for a photo! She was so happy,( in case you cannot tell by the mega watt smile!) I thought that was really great and I wish I could tell them that they had made her night.
She listened so intently. Mimi and Papaw sat with her off and on and do not think she ever knew they got up. She just held her wolf and sat in amazement. At the end they had snow that came down from the ceiling that decipated before it hit the ground
We came in October and they had a different story, this story was especially for Christmas... it was wonderful. They had fake snow everywhere and every thing that stood had a lights on it.

Were back at Great Wolf with family. Sophia loves it here and would probable stay forever, it is a kids wonderland. Here is her on her first water slide of the trip.

Playing hoops with Papaw.
Do you think she is excited?
The girls with Mimi and Papaw before the fun began.

Christmas with friends

Ashlyn is so funny, she looks so bored. Everyone else was having a blast.
Sophia and Samantha are so cute, but especially cute when they get together. They both ran around the house in princess costumes with their crowns on inside out and with the "made in India" tag fully exposed on their foreheads.
Sophia loves games and I never think of getting them for her. Thank you to the Zaboronak's for the great gifts, we have played them several times. (And there is the tag hanging out.)
Can you see the tag hanging out?
Sophia and all the kids waiting to open presents. We have added two more babies to the gang, so this Christmas was especially crazy and wild, but so much fun. Merry Christmas to all of our friends! We love getting together and celebrating every Holiday together-not just Christmas. Here is to many more memories with one another.

Pictures with Santa

Sophia was so excited to see Santa. Every time we went to the mall, she would ask "Is today the day?" I was waiting to get them both dressed in Holiday wear. Ashlyn thought he was a cozy recliner and Sophia gave him her long list of Christmas wishes.

I have never done anything crafty before this year. I decided this is the perfect year for Sophia and I to start our yearly Gingerbread house tradition. Nothing ever goes as planned... the gingerbread house was a nightmare. I brought the type that you have to make the icing, never again. I had powdered sugar everywhere...on the walls, counter tops, and floor. Next year I am getting our good friend Brent who owns a bakery to make the house and leave it bare and we will just decorate it. Some may call this cheating, but I do not care, starting from scratch is a lot harder than it looks. I have resign myself to the fact that I do not have a crafty bone in my body, and I am finally okay with that.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot 2008

The pics are out of order for some reason. Ashlyn had enough of the photo shoot and ended it after about an hour of me screaming at Sophia to hold still, smile, look at the camera...whew, what a work out. At the end, I thought, am I seriously yelling at them about a Christmas card photo? And just decided to deal with whatever I had taken and did not put me or the girls through another shoot.
Great one of Ashlyn, but Sophia... not so much.
There are both looking at the camera except the facial expressions do not match.
This one would have been great, but Sophia's smile is scary. Not Christmas card material.
I thought this was it, but Sophia's head looks huge and Ashlyn's looks incredible small. I promise their heads are not unproportionate to their bodies.

Happy Thanksgiving

Ashlyn and Daddy together. I can't decide who she looks like. She has my eye shape and my feet, but so far those are the only features that resemble me. She is so quiet and reserved, we are thinking she has Toby's personality. She is almost Five months old...my goodness where does the time go. It is so funny how you really can't recall life before they existed. She so wonderful and I find having her, although at times is crazy, also gives me a sense of peace.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with Mimi, Papaw, Uncle Luke, Aunt Amber and Amber's family. We have so much to be thankful for... a strong, healthy and happy family and great friends. I hope everyone had a great day and feels as thankful in the world as we do. It was a wonderful celebration and we look forward to a long weekend with family and doing some serious Holiday shopping.

Sophia's Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Sophia's Preschool class had their own Thanksgiving Feast and we were invited to attend. When we arrived they put on their Pilgrim hats that they made themselves and sang two cute little songs.
Sophia as a flare for the dramatics. She wants all eyes on her, and when she gets them she really performs.
She looks like she is rocking an air guitar, but she is just jumping at their grand finale.
Their feast had a cute idea behind it, but it was kind of gross. All the kids brought in whatever they wanted... and I mean whatever. They brought Long John Silver's fish, pizza, yogurt, sour patch kids and I am embarrassed to say what we brought...it was Bologna. Sophia loves it and eats it almost everyday for lunch.
Toby and I were looking around the classroom and noticed a bulletin board that had what all the kids were thankful for. Most of the stuff was pretty typical, mom, dad, dogs... Sophia wrote she was thankful for Chris. I hope everyone can read it, it was pretty funny.