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Christmas Day 2012

The kids woke up right around 8 on Christmas morning. I, however, had been up since 7. Making coffee, casseroles, getting the tree on, Christmas music playing, really just ready for them to wake up :)

Santa came!!

All Simms wanted was a bike with a baby seat (well that and a pink Jeep but she started asking for it a little too late)! She got it and loved that it was purple and turquoise!

She also got the perfect sized little kitchen and she is obsessed with it! It was reallly left for both of them, but you know, she thinks it is just hers. Santa had hidden kitchen accessories behind the curtains and she loved finding those!

Cope got all things pirate and dinosaur. Both fit him perfectly! He LOVES his tent. And his tool box full of tools!

Hard to make this picture out, but that is the pirate in his tent looking through his PirateScope!

My sweet girl..so excited!

Ready for an early, cold, Christmas morning bike ride. Notice her cabbage patch twins. They ended up being girls, Stephanie and Emily.

I knew she wouldn't eat what I made for Christmas breakfast, so on our way through Montgomery Sunday we stopped and got doughnuts. She was so excited to have a chocolate glazed one on Christmas. She LOVES them!

Our pirate on Christmas morning!

It was so nice to not have to rush and pack up the car to travel on Christmas. It has been a few years since we were able to stay home and just relax on Christmas morning. We did lots of playing with our new things and enjoyed the day with just us. Later that night, my parents, Miles and Katy, and the Kirks came over for dinner and to swap more presents. It was so much fun. Once again though, just like last year, I didn't get a single pic. Ugh! We went to bed exhausted and happy! This was a wonderful Christmas season for our family. I smiled every time Cope would point to Mary or Joseph, or his favorites, the Kings, and tell me who they were. Or when I would hear Simms telling the story of the birth of Jesus to Cope. The presents are fun, but it means way more to us that they know the true meaning of why we celebrate, and I love seeing their little hearts and minds take all that in!

So glad to be caught up so far! One precious rascal turns 3 on Sunday, so as soon as I blog about his birthday I will be back tracking with Halloween and Thanksgiving. See, told you I was behind!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

Christmas Eve 2012

Our little family was up bright and early on Christmas Eve to help deliver gifts with our church for Operation Empty Stocking. Simms understood what we were doing, as we had "adopted" a little girl to buy gifts and clothes for, so it was important to us that she be a part of it! It was a rainy morning but I am so glad we got up and did it. The rest of the day we spent getting ready for Christmas. Simms and Cope baked cookies for Santa and had so much fun doing that!

Simms and Cope put the cookies and milk out before we left for Meme's that night. She and Cope also sprinkled reindeer food out!

Cope in Dru's outfit from the 80s. You will notice in the above picture he had it on with wallabees. I have to compromise with Dru when we dress Cope now.

We hardly heard a peep out of Simms on Christmas Eve at Meme and Grandaddy's. That is because the child was obsessed, and I do mean obsessed with my cousin Jimmy and his wife Amanda's new mini schnauzer puppy, Harvey. She babied this thing all night long. It was precious.

Cope enjoying dessert. We caught him licking the plate shortly after I took this..

Cousins at Meme and Grandaddy's. This was my 30th Christmas Eve there. So happy my children experience the love and excitement that Christmas Eve's are full of their house! Cope is holding his DreamLite. Meme got them each one and they love them. You know you want to sing the song from the commercial...:)

Glad we put out cookies and milk before we left, because we didn't get home until almost 11 and the kids were fast asleep. Dru and I had lots of work ahead of us when we got home and we didn't get in bed until 1 AM. Here is Cope asleep sitting up before we headed home..

I was so excited for Christmas morning that I couldn't sleep anyway :)

Christmas at the Lake

We did Christmas with Dru's family a few days before Christmas this year. We went to the lake on Friday, the 21st and came home that Sunday, the 23rd. The cousins were so excited to be together and to be celebrating Christmas at the lake together!

They woke up Saturday morning so excited to open up their gifts. I must say they had a great Christmas! We all did. The Goodwins did way too much for us!

Ready to open gifts and go through their stockings!

All dressed in their matching outfits and ready to go to lunch. Simms was thrilled Catherine's was open even though it was Christmas. She associates it with her summers :)

Cope playing on his new Innotab. All of the kids got one and they all call them their iPads. Whatever works.

They are great!

Before we all parted ways on Sunday the kids made Christmas cupcakes and had so much fun!

It was a wonderful Christmas with the Goodwins & Allgoods!

Things we did in December

Trying so hard to get caught up..hoping to complete 2 more blog books soon, so I HAVE to get updated. Here are some of the things we did this December, beginning with visiting Santa and then mailing him our letters!

Not sure what happened to this picture :(

We made our family's Advent wreath at our church's annual family Christmas night..

We celebrated with Uncle Miles and Aunt Katy at their wedding on December 8. Simms was a beautiful flower girl and did so good. This was the first wedding she'd been in.

We made a gingerbread house and a gingerbread train. Simms & I did the house and Dru & Cope did the train. Good thing Dru has the mind of an engineer, or maybe an architect. I was glad ours was easy :)

We also had Simms' preschool Christmas party and program. Such sweet songs that they sang. Santa surprised them and then they enjoyed milk and cookies with him. All in their Christmas PJs...

December has been a fun month for us! We will wind it up by celebrating Cope's birthday on the 30th. Can you believe he will be 3? I can't. That means time to potty train him. Ugh. Dreading that one!

Catching up with the BIG NEWS first!

So much to catch up on on this ole' blog...but first things first...

In early July 2013..a new baby will join our family!

Simms is so excited {it did take about a day} and will be such a big helper. Look how grown up she looks here!

Cope is thrilled too..as you can see!

And today, at 9 weeks, I was able to see our third baby and its little heart beating away at 171 BPM. Answered prayers!

So thankful. After the ultrasounds leading up to my miscarriage, and the first ultrasound with this pregnancy being too early to show much, I was a nervous wreck going into today's appointment. Shaking like a leaf and heart racing. But after one last prayer, I physically felt the Lord calm me and let me know he was right there. Please keep our family in your prayers as we begin this journey!

Next up, hopefully tomorrow, I can catch up with Halloween and Thanksgiving. Then this weekend is my brother Miles' wedding to Katy! We are so excited for that and I need to have this blog up to date by then for sure!! 

Simms turns 5 and has a party!

Our sweet firstborn turned 5 on November 1. There is something about the age 5..I guess it is just hard to grasp how fast 5 years has flown by. Because it has. I am so thankful for 5 years with our sweet Simms. She woke up and the celebrating began with her favorite breakfast..a chocolate doughnut. This one had 5 candles though and she was thrilled.

After we sang to her, she discovered a big balloon and a few presents from us and Cope, which she opened immediately.

Then it was time to head off to school, where we took chocolate cupcakes and lemonade..

Her class sang to her, she got to wear the birthday vest and she got her 5 birthday spankings!

Even Cope got to enjoy the birthday fun at preschool!

After spending the afternoon resting after all of the morning's excitement, we celebrated again! My Aunt B made her a delicious chocolate cake and my grandparents, Aunt B & Uncle Rick, Minnie & Ninnie and Uncle Miles & Aunt Katy all came up to celebrate with Simms! And you will notice all of this celebrating, including her party on Saturday, took place with my kitchen cabinet remodel still in the works. I just had to get over it!

I think the highlight of turning 5 was her gift from Aunt Katy. She so kindly GAVE Simms her barbie mansion from when she was little. This thing is no joke. It is huge. And she brought ALL of the accessories that went with it, including every food item you could imagine, even a pool that works with real water. So sweet. Simms is in Barbie heaven with this thing!

We took it easy Friday so we would be ready for the big birthday party on Saturday. Of course by this point it seemed like we'd been celebrating for a few days, and I guess we had, but I told myself it wouldn't always be like this and she is worth it!

We had a small party on Saturday. Simms invited 3 friends and her cousins to come and decorate canvases with their hand prints and jewels. My talented friend Julie did the canvases and the cake, which was a piece of art itself. Simms was SO happy that that was HER barbie cake..

Here is a closeup of the cake I hated to cut, but that tasted as good as it looked..

Some more pics of the cake, in the kitchen with no cabinets..

The girls were really excited about doing their art!

Bennett enjoyed doing his too. I wish now I'd had one for Cope to do..oh well. I didn't think he'd want to or be interested but of course he was!

Some of the girls' canvases drying..

Singing Happy Birthday!

This sweet girl and her mama and sister Lilla came all the way from Mississippi for Simms' party!

Kids enjoying cake & ice cream in the yard!

Waiting to open presents!

Cousins and their canvases. I was so sad I didn't get all of the sweet girls together with their artwork before they left.

And just when Simms thought all the celebrating had ended and she was about to get her Saturday night bath, she unexpectedly got to go and visit  Aunt B's where cousin Jimmy and his wife Amanda were in town visiting, and they had her one last present! She was thrilled! Welcome to the family, Josephine!

Happy 5th Birthday, Simms! We love you so very much!

Whew! This post was long! And as soon as I recover from doing it, I will do a post on our fun Halloween night!