Christmas - Round 1

last weekend we got to celebrate Christmas with Justin's Mom and Brother and family.  We all met at Callaway Gardens to visit Fantasy of Lights and have some time together.  Mrs. Pam rented a fabulous house and we had a blast.  Collier got up Friday morning asking when he could go fishing with his fish'n pole.  We went to see the lights on Saturday night and Collier got to see Santa and even one of his reindeer.

    

Buzz put some serious time and effort into this tractor and Collier loved it. Thank you Buzz!

 this sweet girl just keeps growing and growing!  She is just precious and we had a good time seeing her walking and almost running!  Wont be long before she is keeping up with Collier.

 this was our failed effort to get a picture of the two babies together.

There was also an outdoor fireplace that we enjoyed both nights.  The kids were in bed before we actually got around to making s'mores.  But I believe the adults [especially the pregnant one] enjoyed it as much as the kids would have.   We all gathered around the fire place to keep warm.  It was so much fun.   There was also a rather large bath tub in one of the bathrooms that I got to enjoy all alone in complete peace and quite on Friday night - this made me so happy!  

Here are a few lights from our trolly ride through Callaway

Sweet Memories!

Project Big Boy Room

**NOTE: I started this post in October**
I have always said that I wanted to keep Collier in his crib as long as I possibly can.  I think that I've done that.  Although he is short of my goal of age 15, but with another munchkin on the way I thought it may be time to start moving in that direction.  I good friend of my Mom's gave us a full bed they were wanting to get rid of.  I went back and forth about what would be best to transition Collier to... a twin bed or a full size bed and this was just the Lords way of saying 'Here, go with the full and quit over thinking it'.  I am so thankful and very excited.  The one catch to this is that the headboard and foot board were once unfinished furniture (many years ago) and they have been stained, painted, painted again, and moved and chipped.  They need some special attention and that is exactly the plans.

After a few cans of paint and even a few spray paints, I finally found the one I liked the best.

I am very happy to report that this is our second week third month in the big boy bed and we haven't even looked back.  His crib is still up in his room....just in case he didn't do good but I do think that we are now clear for taking that down for a little while (at least until after baby arrives).  He loves his bed.  The first weekend he even went and got in it and took a nap all on his own....it wasn't even nap time!  I was shocked!  We were all in the den, he disappeared and I heard him in his room, checked the camera and he had crawled in the bed and gone to sleep.

I still have a few things to do/find.  I don't really LOVE the sheets but they work for now and I forgot to buy a mattress pad.  Plus I don't have a bed skirt yet and I think that we're going to have to make one because the bed is pretty high.  All things I hope to get done in the next few weeks (UPDATE: none of these things are done yet and the honest truth is that it will probably be after Christmas before it does get done).  He still calls for us when he wakes up in the morning (doesn't get out on his own - even though he can), I am happy about that as I am not ready for him to get himself up just yet.   But for now, I am just very happy to report that he is doing great and I am super proud of him.

I will probably move the art work above the head board.  My cousin gave me some book wall shelves that I am thinking to put next t his bed instead of the pictures!  Again...all to be done after Jan. 1.  

I looked at him sitting on the couch this morning before we left for school and my heart fell a little because he is getting to be such a big boy.  His features are looking less and less like my little baby and more and more like a big boy!  

a day

It has been a day already.  I woke up, after not sleeping good and having crazy/disturbing dreams, and was not wanting to get out of the bed.  I was already behind schedule.  By the time I got myself put together and Collier fed I decided that I wasn't going to take him to school and my mom needed to leave her house by 8:30 to meet a friend.  Collier has had a runny nose and a slight cough and I decided to keep him out of school to just be on the safe side.   I was trying to hurry and Collier wasn't in any hurry and not exactly cooperating which resulted in me getting frustrated with him and myself.  My attitude is bad today and the bad part is that I realize it.  I remind myself that it is a choice that I make of if I adjust my attitude or not.  All of this going through my head on the way to work....as I keep telling myself that I don't want to go to work and just want to go home and get in the bed.  My back hurts.  I did make it to get a flu shot and then to grab lunch at chickfila before coming to the office.  The lady giving me my food looked at me and said 'I just have to thank you, you have been smiling the entire time and I really needed that today, so thank you'.  She wished me a good day and off I went and then I cried.  Little did she know (and I should have told her) how much I needed to hear that!  A simple smile that requires so little effort makes such a different.  I know that God put her in my path and I know that it was He who was telling me that.  I am a wreck today and I am trying to pull it together.

And you want to know why I am just crazy today?  because I have been out of God's word for a solid week now.  I haven't touched my bible and I can feel the result.  I can feel satan, the world creeping in and taking over and distracting me.  I don't like it and I have the choice to resist and turn to my loving God who came to this earth for me.  The Son of God, who is the creator of all things, who is fully God yet became fully human (the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John 1:14). He chose and so today, I choose too! I choose to look to Him instead of the things that are to be done. I want Him to be my every thought instead of my to do list. I want Him to fill me with His joy instead of the temporary joys this world can falsely give. It is after all HIM that we are here to celebrate for Christmas. No matter what we do and try to do to make Christmas our way, the bottom line is that if not for the birth of Christ, there would be no Christmas. No gifts, no lights, no celebration, no gather, no point. It is all for Him and it is just my desire to keep focused on Him.  I am really trying to teach Collier that Christmas day we will celebrate Jesus' birthday.  I have no idea what is sinking in and what is going clear over his head, but I promise that I am talking about it.  Now if I can only reflect Jesus in my attitude for Collier to see more clearly I think I would be much better off.

I then just get mad at myself for letting myself get so out of balance. Needless to say I am going to wake up early tomorrow morning and dive straight into His word for some much needed quiet time. I am not going to allow the busyness of this season to be a reason for me to stray away and not bind myself to the One who is the whole point of everything that we have going on.  

Birthday

It was this cuties birthday this weekend.....

 he melts my heart

I love him in a million pieces

he cracks me up

he stole my heart many many years ago and I am so glad he did!

Happy Belated Birthday to my Justin.  I love him so much, I am thankful to have him.  He is an awesome father and wonderful husband.  I would say that laughter defines him and I am thankful for that - he helps me to laugh at myself and silly things that I do that I would normally get frustrated with.  He is a great provider and takes good care of all of us!  I couldn't ask for anything more!  Happy Birthday Just!

Our weekend was a little crazy and I did a bunch of baking.  I was taking brownies and cookies to a dirty santa party plus made red velvet cupcakes for the birthday boy!  Collier helped me decorate the cookies and then was my tester on the brownies!  We are sort of on a sugar overload around here!

Hope that your weekend was extra SWEET too!

The Picture

It is just hard to capture the right picture, especially with a busy two year old little man who doesn't really care for the camera.  I don't even try to get all three of us but one day I would love to do a family picture.  It is hard enough to get a 2 year old (and a dog) to cooperate much less my husband :).

Right now collier makes this 'cheese' face and it is so extreme and over the top and he closes his eyes while saying 'chheeeeessssee'. Simply beautiful, right? ok so as his mamma I think it is sort of funny and cute.  There, I said it.

And then when I asked him to please open his eyes and give me a sweet smile this is what he gave me: yet again extreme with popping his eyes open and trying to keep a smile on his face.  This is way to much to think about.  This one makes me laugh.

All the while I keep thinking that if I can't get a decent picture there will be no card this year.  Which I am not sure who would actually miss that :0  Here are the rest of our attempts...

Oh the expressions can be so silly and most of the time I just have to laugh and then click to view the picture on my camera and wonder....could I use this one?

 Oh and then you have all of these very serious faces.  Which make up about 90% of all of my pictures of him.  The blank/serious face is the norm and the rest are just silliness.

I am glad to say that I found one that was good enough to use...thanks to a little editing I think that it did turn out ok enough for our 2011 Christmas card.

A weeks worth of catch up

Hold on tight, here we go:
It is December and I can hardly believe it.  Did you see that...it is December people! I am excited and afraid it is going to go by way to fast!  I'm trying to take it all in but feel so busy at the same time.  So, I am going to catch you up in pictures real quick:

Our Elf 'Miles' arrived and brought CH a nativity set.

 He really likes the nativity set and plays mostly with the donkey and cart..We are wroking hard on keeping in perspective what Christmas is all about!

 December 1st also brought the first day of our Advent Calendar.  hooray, I actually got it done (well almost, I still have a few more 'ornaments' to make but 20 of the 25 are done!) and we get to hang an ornament after breakfast each morning!

We went and go our tree!  And Collier wanted to help the boy scout's in showing off all the tree's.

 After allowing the tree to 'fall out' [according to my Christmas Elf - that is Justin, not Miles -  that is the rules] we got lights and ornaments on and it looks awesome.  This is just a fun year as he is starting to learn and understand all that goes into Christmas.

 As Justin and I were putting the lights on the tree, Collier kept wanting to help and be able to do what we were doing.  He stood on a stool while we were on chairs trying to get the top portion of the tree.  After a few minutes he hung his head low and slumped his shoulders forward and said 'I not tall, I too small...I just no big'  It was just too pitiful and I almost fell off of the chair laughing.  He is just devastated to be 'small' right now.  I assured him that one day he would be big like Daddy but it just takes some time.

He has decided that he likes to sit on Daddy's head...aka his shoulders...but he wants to crawl up there all by himself.  Not exactly fun for Daddy, especially as he is crawling up!  Thanksfully Daddy is a good sport and love this little boy a lot.

 trying to give Brink hugs.  

I worked from home one day last week and got a break long enough to get our outside lights up.  When I went and picked Collier up and he saw them for the first time his mouth dropped open and he said 'My lights, oh wow, we need more'. He is JUST LIKE HIS DADDY!  Way to funny.

Collier's helping attitude continues.  He was thrilled that Justin pulled out the blower and rake to clean up the back patio and yard.  They worked for a solid hour and Collier was still upset that Justin was taking a break.  The child just loves to help.  Another example: we went and got our hair cut on Friday and Mrs. Ginger asked if he wanted to get the broom with her.  Well, little did she know that he would want to sweep the entire store and actually get it into the pick up bucket thing.  The child just loves to work.  He told her that there was 'more mess to clean' when she tried to get him to put the broom up.  

I'll share more this week on trying to get that right Christmas card picture.  It is a lot of work...but I finally figured out that marshmallows work great...for Collier and Brink!

It was a fun weekend I think that we got the majority of our Christmas stuff up and out and even the boxes back into the attic.  I am ready to sit back and enjoy this season and adventure through the eyes of my little man.  Two and a half years is really a fun age.  Have an awesome week and I am going to honestly try to do a few updates on a few things this week.