Christmas 2013

Another busy holiday season is in the books and we've finally had time to recover.  You'll have to bear with me on this picture heavy post as I cover all of our gatherings at once. 

We started our Christmas celebrations the weekend before Christmas since Christmas fell on a Wednesday this year.  On Friday, we left for my mom's house as soon as Sam got off work.  Part way there, we started encountering some severe freezing rain.  Thankfully, our car is all wheel drive so we were able to slow down a little and make it safely.  That night, we celebrated Christmas with my mom, step-dad, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew.  I didn't really get any pictures from that night other than this one of Joseph after he was ready for bed.  Both boys wore cowboy hats around most of the night and enjoyed riding the tractor as well as playing with smaller tractors.

After a long night of crying babies, we headed to my mom's parents' the next morning.  Since the roads were pretty slick, we didn't leave too early in the morning, so that was nice.  While at my grandparents, the boys continued getting spoiled including all the pie and jello they wanted.

Both boys got a trycicle.  I love their tongues in this picture, they were sure trying to figure out their new rides.

After riding them around the living room and bumping into things for a few minutes, we took the "bikes" outside.

While the boys were riding their tricycles, Sam knocked the ice off of the roof rack and cargo net of our car.  The boys then started picking up the chunks of ice and throwing them into puddles as well as stomping on them. 

 

 

Sarah stayed inside where it was warm and enjoyed the extra attention she received.

 

Before too long, both boys discovered the joy of jumping in freezing cold water puddles and had to come inside where we stripped their pants off so we could stick them in the dryer for a bit.  They will thank me for posting this picture someday.  

They didn't mind too much because they got to eat more pie.

We then attempted a cousin picture since they all had on their matching shirts that I made them, but Joseph didn't want anything to do with it.  Bryar, on the other hand, continued his love fest for Sarah. 

Aunt Moo attempted a picture with both of my kids too, but Joseph didn't want anything to do with it either.

Late afternoon, we left Cache and headed to Lawton to my dad's house.  This is the only family picture we took during the entire Christmas week and I think it speaks volumes.  Notice how extremely tired we both look, the fact that Sarah won't look at anything but Joseph, Joseph's lack of one sock and his desire to get off of the couch as soon as possible.  Yup, those were all reoccurring themes throughout the week.

Poor Sarah and her scared eyes.  Maybe someday she'll grow into them.

Dad had this big box that some of his gifts were shipped in, so he decided to put it in the living room for the boys to play with.  At first, Bryar enjoyed driving his tractor in there. 

 Then it was propped on its side and Joseph sat in it.

Bryar thought it looked like a good place to sit too.

Joseph wasn't too sure about sharing his spot,

but tractors make everything better.

We decided to push our luck and attempt a cousin picture one more time while they all had their matching shirts on.  This is the best we could do.  Joseph's natural response is to stick his finger in Sarah's mouth when she cries if he can't find a paci right away (I'm constantly reminding him that hands don't go in mouths). 

After another long night of restless kids (Joseph does not like sleeping in bed with us, but we wanted Sarah in the pack and play), we woke up and opened presents.  Since the box was still in the living room, we threw all of the wrapping and tissue paper in it.  The boys loved playing in there with all of the paper.

After getting dressed, we headed over to my dad's parents' house for lunch.  Somehow I managed to not get any pictures of any of the kids riding the bouncy horse, but I assure you they loved it.

Sarah decided she HAD to eat at the same time we were all supposed to be eating lunch, so Sam and Joseph ate with the family while I fed her.  After I fed her, Sam volunteered to take over and put her down for a nap while the rest of us ate.  A while later, I realized I Sam still wasn't around, so I looked in the other room to find this.  Poor guy, he was exhausted.

Soon, all of the grandkids that were present and awake migrated to the giant Santa doll my grandma always puts out.  It took many attempts and a game of peek-a-boo to finally get some decent pictures of all four of them.  I have to admit, scrolling through all of them makes me giggle, but I decided to narrow it down to a few of my favorites for you. 

 

And I have no clue how I did this, but here you go.  Hopefully it works.

Of course, I had to zoom in on this picture of my boy.  Isn't he handsome!

After reading the story of Jesus' birth from the bible and opening gifts, we headed home.

Sam had to work Monday and Tuesday, but came home a little bit early Tuesday so we could go to the Christmas Eve service at our church.  Both kids were great throughout the entire service!  I only had to get one small snack out of Joseph's busy bag that I had brought with us.  When the time came to light the candles, Joseph repeatedly told us and anyone within hearing distance they were hot. 

Christmas morning, we slept in until 8:30!  Well, the boys slept in until then, Sarah and I got up around 5:30 so she could eat then fell back asleep in the recliner until the boys got up.  It was so nice to not have to worry about being any where by a certain time or even getting dressed.  We took our time opening presents with just our little family, then Sam's parents came down for lunch and to spend the afternoon. 

I only took a few pictures that morning then put the camera away because I wanted to be present instead of worrying about capturing the moment.  I'm happy with my decision.

Sam spent a little time cuddling with the kids while I picked up the breakfast dishes.

The kids both got new toothbrushes in their stockings because that's one of the things I always remember getting in my stocking.  Joseph loved his and didn't put it down for a long time. 

Since Sam and Joseph often play guitar together, Sam bought him his own guitar.  Someday, if he is still interested (and I hope he is), we'll get him a real one.

I kind of love the sequin bows I found for Sarah's stocking.

Joseph loved watching the Disney Christmas parade.  Especially when he got to use Daddy as a pillow.

We kept the fireplace going all day which I loved.  One of my favorite things to do is sit in front of  fire.  Joseph decided it was a good place to sit too. 

The next Saturday, we went to my step-dad's family Christmas, but I managed to not get any pictures while we were there.  Joseph's favorite thing about that gathering was going outside to look at the tractors.  As soon as someone would bring him inside, he would walk to another person and ask them to take him outside to look at the tracties as he calls them.

Overall, it was a wonderful Christmas.  I'm so thankful for all that God has given us including the opportunity to spend time with family.

Sarah is 3 Months Old

On Christmas day, Miss Sarah turned 3 months old which means I'm (once again) a little late with this post.  I keep telling myself that someday I will get this whole life with a toddler and infant thing figured out and actually have time to craft and blog again.  Oh well, I sure enjoy spending all of my time and energy with them. 

Sarah is still the sweetest little baby around... until she gets hungry.  When Sarah gets hungry, she definitely lets you know with a full on cry/scream fest that causes her whole body to turn bright red.  She doesn't do this every time, just when she's been trying to give you subtle clues and you still don't feed her.  The other 95% of the time, she is as sweet and easy going as can be.  When she turned 3 months old, she was still making some cooing noises and smiling a little, but nothing extreme.  She was also still sleeping A LOT.  She even slept through an entire Christmas celebration.  So far, noise doesn't bother her when she sleeps.  I think it's because of her loud older brother.  Speaking of Joseph, Sarah loves him.  She smiles more for him than anyone else and watches him as he moves around the room. 

Sarah - Month 3

 

Sarah had her first real scratch this month.  Lucky for Joseph, she was laying on one side of me while he and I played on the floor when it happened so I knew she did it herself and he wasn't to blame. 

 



Thankfully, her old man hair fell out and Sarah is now growing hair the same length all over her head.

And she still has "scared eyes" most of the time.

When Characters Come to Life

For his birthday, Joseph's Uncle Ty and Aunt Emily bought him an awesome book called Hello, Pistol Pete. 

At first, he was semi-interested in it.  We would read it occasionally, but it wasn't in our regular daily rotation.  About a month ago, that all changed.  I don't know if it's because we've been watching a lot of OSU sporting events or what, but Joseph suddenly fell in love with this book or, more accurately, the main character of this book.  Suddenly, he was pointing Pete (as Joseph called him) out every time he spotted him be it on TV, a sign, a shirt, or merchandise in a store (and trust me, living in Stillwater Pete is everywhere!).  A couple of weeks ago, while picking up some hair bows for Sarah at The Downtown Market, we learned that Pistol Pete would be there that coming Sunday.  Considering that Joseph was walking around the entire store waving and saying, "Hewo, Pete" I knew we had to come back for a visit. 

Fast forward to Sunday.  I dressed Joseph in a cute orange and black shirt for church knowing we had some errands to run afterwards then we were going to go see the big headed man himself.  As we walked up to the store, Joseph began pointing out every Pete he saw as predicted.  I then opened the door and Joseph froze mid-sentence.  He didn't know what to think about a living, moving Pistol Pete (even though he sees him on TV during football games).

Luckily, we were the only customers there at the time, so we had a little time to shop and let Joseph get used to Pistol Pete.  He kept his distance for a few minutes, but never took his eyes off of Pete.  After I picked out a cute top (I bet you can't guess what colors it is), Sam and Joseph attempted to approach Pete again.  He still wasn't too sure about the moving Pete.  Pistol Pete even sat on the floor and gave Joseph a bullet (spent blank) as a peace offering.

Once Joseph was OK with being that close to Pete, Sarah got in on the picture action (she was asleep and I didn't want to wake her, so she stayed in her car seat).

After taking a few pictures, we ventured to the back of the store to look at the wall of hair bows and other little girl goodies.  While we were checking out, Joseph got brave and decided to approach Pistol Pete on his own. 

It helped that the owner (I think) of the store was close by. Although once he got within touching distance, Joseph froze in his tracks.

 He did let me pick him up and carry him over to Pistol Pete for another quick picture before some other customers arrived and we left (although he didn't want to smile).

I am happy to say that we have since had another "Pitol Pete" (as Joseph now calls him) encounter and it went significantly smoother.  In fact, Joseph spotted Pistol Pete by the foot of the escalators after the basketball game the other night and acted like he wanted to go over.  As Sam approached Pete carrying Joseph, Joseph held his hand out wanting a high five then looked right at me so I could take a picture of the three of them (too bad I only had my phone with me and it turned out blurry).

I have to say, if my son is going to be obsessed with a character, I think Pistol Pete is a good choice. 

Sarah is 2 Month Old

I might be a little late writing this post, but I'm proud to say that I actually took Sarah's 2 month picture on her 2 month birthday which was November 25th.  Sarah is still a super easy going baby which is really, really nice.  At night, she sleeps a solid six hour stretch from 10-4, but likes to eat a little more frequently during the day.  Unfortunately, the kids still haven't synced up their nap schedules, so I almost always find myself with at least on kid awake during the day (although Sarah has started overlapping her afternoon nap with Joseph's a little bit).  When she turned two months old, Sarah had just started smiling and occasionally making noises (although I wouldn't call them cooing).  She also has great core and neck strength and likes to be held upright so she can look around.  As stressful as her pregnancy, delivery, and first week of life were, I'm happy to be at the point we are now where we can sit back and actually enjoy our life as a family of four. 

Sarah - Month 2

One beautiful afternoon, while brother was taking a long nap, I decided to take a few pictures of Miss Sarah.  Someday I will find time to start editing the pictures I take of the kids.  Today is not that day.

Sarah has huge eyes that we lovingly refer to as scared eyes.

She also has old man hair right now (no hair on top, but hair on the lower sides and back). 

We love you, little girl.  Please stay this sweet forever!