Christmas

Snow, snow and more snow

Not so happy in the snow

Snowman on Day 8 of the snow

Southern car

Carter loved the snow until he got stuck

The journey began

We are back from Christmas in upstate New York. Our journey began on the evening of December 19th. We packed the car and headed to NY at 6pm that Friday night. The plan was to drive straight through the night. According to different maps the trek was to be 14-17 hours. It ended up taking us close to 19 hours due to snow and ice! The kids and the dog did great. Once we got to New Jersey, the temperature dropped to about 20 and my southern car went in to shock! The windshield washer fluid froze because of the cold temp and the fluid they have down here doesn't have enough anti-freeze to keep it liquid. Due to the snowy, slushy roads the windshield needed to be washed often to be able to see. We had to stop about every 20-30 minutes to wash off the windshield! Therefore it took us a while to get there. But once there everyone was happy to get out of the car! We got there just in time for a huge snow storm! They got a total of about 24 inches in a matter of 2 days! Carter had so much fun in the snow! Thankfully Brandon's mom (Mim) had snow clothes for the kids! Carter made a snowman, snow balls, snow angels and even snow ice cream! Campbell wasn't too impressed . . . she was so bundled up, she couldn't move! So on the 3rd day when the roads had finally been plowed and were drivable we were to drive up to Brandon's dad's house. Because of the cold weather my car battery was obviously low because it was dead! So we had to get a new battery and while at his dad's house Brandon and his brother thawed out the windshield washer fluid in the garage and put in some fluid that wouldn't freeze! Needless to say we had a rough start. The temperature the first part of the week stayed at about 12 and one morning the temp was 5! Burrrrr! We had a week of parties at various houses and enjoyed a wonderful white Christmas at Mim's house with Uncle Gary and Dandaddy too! The kids had fun and got so many wonderful things! On Saturday night the 27th started the journey home and it went much smoother. Could have been because of the 50 degree temp we drove in to! The drive was long but worth it to be with friends and family during such a wonderful time of year.

Poor Bailey

Bailey didn't want to miss out on the excitement! Sunday afternoon while Bailey and Carter were playing, Bailey ripped off his dew claw! Ouch! We called the vet and he said to try and stop the bleeding and bring Bailey in on Monday. Bailey was at the vet first thing on Monday and thankfully he made a clean break so didn't require surgery. He has a cute little bandage for a few days and only walks on 3 legs! Lessons learned about not staying on top of nail trimmings!

Look what's under our tree!

Since we are going to be in New York for Christmas Santa knew that it wouldn't be really easy for us to get his bring present back home; so he decided to let Elfie bring an early Christmas present. Thank you Santa for being so wise! Carter and Campbell received the best table of all . . . the Pottery Barn Activity Table! Carter has a toy bin for storage and so does Campbell. They can play trains, house, farm, or whatever their little hearts desire . . . without making a huge mess on the floor! Santa knows that I like organization or at least try to be organized so he decided to put in his contribution!

Where in the house is . . . Elfie!

Elfie has been very busy exploring all the different resting spots in our house. I wish I could go with him to the North Pole every night to hear what he tells Santa. I would say that the "watchful eye" of Elfie isn't totally helping Carter stay in line this holiday season! It is fun to watch Carter as he tries to find Elfie each morning. He comes down the stairs and starts looking; when he finds Elfie, Carter says, "Elfie awake!" The past few nights we have taken Carter to look at Christmas lights. He LOVES them all . . . the beautiful and the not so pretty ones too! I love his pure excitement. As he ohhs, ahhs and squeals over each house, it is as if he is seeing lights for the first time. I love the innocence of children. Life is wonderful watching through a child's eye!

Carter's Christmas party

Carter singing "Jingle Bells"

Carter and Mrs. Tammy
Carter and Miss Olivia

Carter had his Christmas party at school today. They sang 2 songs; 1 of which Carter decided to provide the entertainment by jumping up and down laughing like the Hallmark snowmen! Carter was "that kid" - you moms know what I am talking about! I even have it on video if I can figure out how to upload it. They made stockings then had a birthday party for Jesus. When they brought out the "birthday cake" for Jesus Carter announced that it was his birthday (only 4 months ahead of schedule buddy)!

A visit with Santa

Well at least Carter isn't screaming and crying like he did last year. He now looks like one of Santa's reindeer that has just been spotted by a little kid with his bright flash light! I was hoping Carter would share with Santa what he wants for Christmas. I guess we will have to relay the message, since Carter seemed scared of the jolly old man! Carter tells me he wants Santa to bring him a ball, a race car, a boat and an airplane! I have no idea where the boat and airplane came from. No matter how many times I ask Carter and no matter what he is doing when I ask him, he says the same 4 items! Okay Santa, better get working, I know the boat and airplane were a surprise!

11 months and counting

Meet "Elfie"

Day 1 - Carter's chair

Day 2 - Play kitchen

"This small little elf has a special job to do as he sits on a shelf watching over you. He goes back to Santa each night to say who's been naughty or nice each winter day. So make sure to find him in a new place each day so he'll be sure to tell Santa to bring toys Christmas Day!"

Happy turkey day

Waiting patiently . . . very rare to see this!

Where's Santa?
Madi, Carter and Campbell

Grandmother enjoying time with Campbell

Tired from turkey

Happy Thanksgiving!

Carter and Madi

Enough of the Auburn game, I will go look through Mimi's cabinets!

War Eagle anyway!

Bella and Campbell playing ball

We had a good Thanksgiving in B'ham even though Carter was getting over a sinus infection and Campbell was battling double ear infections! Campbell had her first taste of turkey and seemed to like it. My parents house was full . . . the 4 of us plus Bailey, Mom and Dad, Kirk, Lacy, Madi and Bella and my Grandmother for the day on 2 days! Campbell enjoyed exploring Mimi's unlocked cabinets and Carter enjoyed the unlocked pantry! After Thanksgiving we did lots of shopping . . . although I have only bought 4 gifts so far! Even though it was a busy few days and the stress of being in a different place on Central time with 2 routine driven kids did get to us we had a good time and were reminded how thankful we are for our family and the ability to get together. Being relatively close enough to my family to drive over in only a few hours is a luxury that will probably be missed before too long!

Recognizing Fall

Carter: "Oh no . . . what happened Mom?"

Me: "What are you talking about Carter?"

Carter: "Look, look, what happened?"

Me: I walk over to the bay window he is standing in front of and say, "What happened to what Carter?"

Carter: "What happened to the leaves on the trees; they are gone?"

10 months down

10 months

Check out my teeth!

I can not believe that Campbell is almost 1! Where does the time go?! I am sad that she is slowly moving out of the baby stage but also excited to see her move on to bigger things. It seems like every day she is doing something new. This past weekend, she pulled up for the first time. Brandon and I were both standing there watching her so that was fun for both of us. She is constantly moving unless she is asleep. As soon as she is put down she is off. Took me a while to get the above pictures because she just wanted to crawl off the chair! Yesterday she fed herself breakfast for the first time; yummy cheerios and banana pieces - which made for a nice mess too! Her 5th tooth is appearing but she still loves to put everything in her mouth; Carter's stickers are her favorite!! She babbles a lot and has the perfect little high pitched squeal that every girl has! Not sure of her exact weight but she is somewhere in the 17 lb. range. Here we go, the next 2 months are about to fly on by!

Happy Halloween

Lightning McQueen "Trunk R Treating"

Ladybug Campbell

Happy little pumpkin

Happy 1st Halloween

Wagon ride to the park

Loves playing with paper

Hugs from Jacob the pirate

Getting ready for the Halloween party

We had a busy Halloween week. It started with Trunk R Treat at our church on Wednesday, followed by a parade in our neighborhood park early Friday then trick r treating and the week finished up with a Halloween party on Saturday afternoon. At least we got good use of the costumes! Carter was the infamous Lightning McQueen and after he got over the initial embarrassment he enjoyed it. He loved all the candy though! I think he is still on a sugar rush! Campbell was a ladybug and couldn't have been more perfect. While I toted Campbell in the wagon Carter practiced his nice manners in hopes of getting lots of candy on Friday! Now, if the kids could only get use to the time change all would be good!