Feliz Cumpleanos A Ti

Happy Birthday Dad (Pop, Papa John)

Christmas Pics and Baby Update

Our Christmas festivities began Christmas Eve when Grandma (Jason's mom) came over for Christmas Eve mass. David fell asleep in the car and then slept in Jason's arms and then my arms the whole time which was a blessing since he didn't get a nap that day. Once we were home, Jason started a fire in the fireplace and we all watched Polar Express. That is easily becoming a family tradition. Christmas morning we woke up in our own house which is the first time that has happened since we've been married! That in itself was an awesome gift. David seriously could have been happy to stop after opening his stocking. He got 4 new wooden Thomas trains and he refused to even acknowledge there were other gifts to be opened for the longest time.

Here he is playing with Emily and Toby.
Charlie had a bone wrapped up for him under the tree. He was able to sniff out which one was his present and even opened it by himself! Another tradition in the making. After a short time here we loaded up and headed to my parents house.
Nephew Ben as a black power ranger-our gift to him. This kid loves any kind of super hero costume.
David in his new Bob the Builder tool belt and hat.
Pop helping David ride his new tricycle. Surprisingly he needed no instruction at all!

My poor mom with her booted fractured foot.

Despite having to wait to see doctor after doctor, specialist after specialist during holiday schedules/hours she remains in good spirits.
Nephew Will who is wearing David's Christmas outfit from last year. I really enjoyed seeing that since we've been able to use so many of Ben's old clothes.

All in all it was a great Christmas. David made me so proud by one thing in particular on Christmas day. My mom had the grand kids sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, but first one of the kids (which ever one was willing) had to take baby Jesus out of hiding and put him in the manger scene crib. David was up for the task and didn't have to be asked twice if he wanted to do it. For normally such a shy kid to take the lead with no problem

was really nice for me to see especially for such an important job.

*****Baby Update*****

In less than one month we will hopefully learn the sex of baby #2. I'll share with you the names we've picked out. If its a girl we will use the name we had ready last time which is Anna Catherine. If its a boy we've decided to go with Wesley James. If you ask David what is is mommy's tummy he says "baby sister". We shall see if he is right...I for one have no preference either way. If its a boy we already have lots of boy stuff. If its a girl then we will get to know what its like having a daughter. Either way its win-win. Even though we didn't think about it at all when choosing the names, I won't have to change the name of the blog-Royal Family it remains!

Merrry Christmas

From the humblest of places...

...came the greatest of gifts.

"Ouchy Foot" x 2

We're baaack! On Friday we left for Hilton Head, SC for Jason's company Christmas party. We so look forward to it every year. This year my parents were supposed to come with us, but my mom had an unfortunate accident last week. She had just finished putting some boxes up in the attic and was coming down the stairs. She thought she was on the last step but she wasn't and she lost her balance and fell. She fractured her foot similar to the way I fractured my knee in high school. She's been a trooper and continues to have a positive attitude about it. Crutches don't bode well for traveling so Jason's mom came instead. Thanks for doing it on such short notice Pat! Also, thanks to my sister and her family for agreeing to watch Charlie Dawg at the last minute too.

I didn't get any pictures of Jason and I all dressed up but some of his co-workers did and if they e-mail any, I'll be sure to post them. Here are some pictures of David enjoying the windy and frigid waters of the beach.

Friday night grandma was trying to get David excited about going to the beach and talked to him about playing in the sand. David told Grandma "but Charlie chewed my shovel" which is true, so she was quick to buy him a new set at the gift shop. He tried to get as close to the seagulls as possible.


The water was freezing and I could hardly stand to get my feet wet. Not true for David! He just loved watching the waves hit his feet and legs and could care less about the water temperature. Jason had to use his best tactics to get David out for his own health!

Aunt Marilyn (Pat's sister) drove over from St. Simons to visit with us for a few hours on Saturday. When we were waiting for her in the lobby David said something that just cracks me up every time I think about it. There was a statue of a bird dog pointing (similar to the one above). David saw it and said "Ouchy Foot". As the son/grandson of avid hunters, he will soon learn that is not the case!

For Jason

In case you couldn't tell when you get home from work, your boys really miss you a lot during the day. You get to see their excitement when you walk in the door, but I thought you might enjoy seeing what happens leading up to your arrival. "And now the rest of the story"...

Good Grief Charlie Brown and Weekend Pics

My version of "A Charlie Brown Christmas". We've been watching that movie a lot around here. David just cracks up laughing during certain parts. He's a kid after my own heart. By the way, you don't have to tell me that isn't the real Snoopy sitting by Woodstock in the above picture. I've loved Snoopy for a long time and I can easily spot a "fake"...
This picture of me was taken way before I left Snoopy at a McDonald's on one of many trips my family took to Missouri. By the time I/we realized he was gone, we were too far to go back. My parents tried a pretty neat trick though. They went to the store and bought a new one and told me that they had found Snoopy. Too bad it didn't work. I quickly replied "That's not Snoopy!". Good Grief Charlie Brown. (If you enlarge this pic you can see I'm also wearing a Snoopy necklace.)

Moving on to some cute pics taken this weekend. Saturday we had dueling Drew birthday parties, and Sunday we had our prayer group Christmas party. Drew and David. We went to Drew's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. He got a train table and lots of other train stuff. Its amazing to me there are other kids out there who are as obsessed with trains as David is!

Here are Ben and David at my brother-in-law Drew's birthday later that evening. I just love the moment I captured above. David is pointing to a baby picture and Ben is saying "that's me!".


Elena and David. I wish I could take credit for these two shots, but our friend Jason took them. His son Bobby was sick and had to stay with grandma. Hope you are feeling better Bobby!