Christmas Day

We woke up in our house Christmas morning to see that Santa had been very good to two special boys this year! Owen's big gift this year was a train set & he was amazed to wake up & walk downstairs to see it. Evan got some clothes & great toys to "grow into" which at the rate he's growing & changing, won't be long for sure! It was an extra special Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Savior as a family of 4 this year! Gracious, we are blessed beyond measure!

Stunned to see the train Santa brought

Opening stockings with my sweet boy

Owen giving Daddy the gift he picked out especially for him

Evan content to watch everything from his new bouncer!

After breakfast we headed to my grandparents' house where we got to see the first snowflakes falling of our White Christmas! We had a yummy Chrismas lunch with the family, our gift exchange & a good time visiting with each other. The boys sharing a sweet moment with their great grandmother, Nonnie

A pic with Nonnie for Matt & I as well

Enjoying the beautiful snow with my hubby :)

Owen excited for a quick moment to play outside

Sweet Evan helping BeeBee open gifts

(and tolerating the bow on his head for a silly picture!)

After lunch we headed to Tony's uncle & aunt's house where we enjoyed time with them, another gift exchange & seeing the snow start to come down even more! The boys with Noni & Grandpa--Evan was one tired little fella by this time!

Our family--excited to be growing by 1 more now that Chris & Lauren are engaged!

Lauren & I in our matching scarves from Robert & Kelly

Super excited to be getting this beautiful girl as my sister! :)

Christmas Eve

We had 2 full days of celebrating Christmas with our family this year! We started out the festivities with brunch & family gift exchange at Noni & Grandpa's house on Christmas Eve late morning. Owen was so cute & enthusiastic with gift opening this year

Excited about his super cool robot from Uncle Chris & (soon-to-be!) Aunt Lauren

Pure sweetness :)

It took team work to get the toys unpackaged--sealed like a vault!

One of Owen's favorite gifts--a play rug for his cars!

After naps, we went to the afternoon Christmas Eve service at our church. From there we headed back to our house with BeeBee & Pops & Uncle Matt for Christmas Eve dinner and our family gift exchange. Yahoo, an awesome dump truck from Uncle Matt!

BeeBee & Pops loving on Evan

Hooray, some new baking dishes :)

Eating dessert--ya want some Pops?!

Evan checking out the loot from Uncle Matt's lap

Catching up with December

Whew, what a whirlwind month! So many wonderful events, yet so little time to sit down & blog about it :) Here are the highlights leading up to Christmas...

Evan turned 4 months old at the beginning of December. He got a great report at his wellness checkup & we got the okay to start him on cereal as soon as we were "ready". If you don't know this already, Evan likes to eat. I mean, for real. I tried to elimate his 10:00 pm feeding when he was 4 1/2 months old. It worked for about a week before he started waking up in the middle of the night, screaming for more food! ...& now almost 1 1/2 months later, he's STILL eating at 10:00 pm. Oh well, I'd rather feed him at 10pm than 2am! I think he was born ready for solid food cause this kid eats solid foods like he's been doing it for years. We didn't delay in introducing solid food & Evan seemed to be excited about that :) He's tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, squash & apples and has had no complaints. Whatsoever.

At 4 months old, Evan...

weighed 14 pounds, 10 ounces (50th percentile)

measured 26 inches tall (90th percentile)
had a 42 centimeter head circumference (50th percentile)

Enjoying his 1st bites of cereal, yum! yum!

Owen also had his preschool Christmas program in December. It was so adorable & we enjoyed watching Owen sing and dance (well, make hand motions, really) with the sweet children at his school. We were pleasantly surprised to see that he knew quite a bit of the words to the songs and also participated in dancing a little bit as well. I was one proud mama to see my little guy up there on the stage singing about Jesus and how God sent him to earth to be born for us.

Christmas in 'Sippi

Well, that's what Owen used to call it at least...now he can say the full "Mississippi" but I just love that he used to call it "Sippi" :) We celebrated a week before Christmas with the Stimpson side of the family filled with great food, great company, a gift exchange, a visit to see some great Christmas lights, & even a fun game of football for the boys.

Reese & Charlie playing football

Adorable Banks watching from the sidelines

Celebrating a great play with Daddy!

Charlie strategizing with Owen

Quick break for a family picture (minus Evan who was napping)

Owen checking out his gift with Charlie

Happy boy Evan watching the gift exchange

Evan getting a little help from big brother with opening his gift

Banks & Owen enjoying some yummy cupcakes

3 Little rascals up to mischief in the kitchen--

they got out the plate of leftover ham & ate the ENTIRE thing!

Looking at the Christmas lights--

this place had hundreds of blow up decorations & thousands of lights!

Evan all snuggled up for our walk through the lights display

Sitting with Daddy D

Sitting on Santa's Lap

Well, sort of. Evan was A-okay with Santa, Owen not so much. It was a marked improvement from the last 2 years though, no screaming or thrashing to get away from the jolly man, just not quite sure he wanted to actually sit on his lap. No worries though, we did some quick thinking, found a plastic folding chair, & Owen agreed that sitting next to Santa would be acceptable. By the end of our visit, Owen even told Santa what he wanted for Christmas--he was about 6 feet away and whispering, but the task was accomplished all the same.

Evan's 1st visit with Santa--LOVE this precious face :)

Both boys with Santa--not quite the conventional picture, but it works!

A quick family picture--a little too close for Owen's comfort & Evan's about done too

Okay that's enough--time to go Mama & Daddy!

We figure maybe by next year Owen will be okay with sitting on Santa's lap, but by then Evan will probably be scared of him! Oh well, I think it's a rule that Santa pictures are some of the worst pics kids take all year. At least that was the case with my brother & I growing up. Seriously, some of the most atrocious pics I've taken. Ever. Something to look back at for entertainment at least :)

To the Mountains!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed to North Carolina to my aunt & uncle's mountain house--very appropriately named "Hallelujah"--for so many reasons, each and every one of them realized the very first time you watch the sun crest over the hills shedding the day's first light on the mountains surrounding you. This is hands down one of my very favorite places. Ever. It's an amazing place to bask in the greatness of our God and the earth He created for us. I feel like no matter what stresses & worries I come with, they melt away during my stay & I leave feeling relaxed & refreshed. It's a rejuvenation for the soul!

"I lift my eyes unto these hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."
-Psalm 121:1

Some of my favorite things about Hallelujah...Spending precious time with my family

Snuggling on the couch in jammies with these two cutie pies

Watching the sunrise...coffee in one hand, this little fella in the other :)

Did I mention the sunrise?!

Playing outside...the air doesn't get much fresher than in the mountains!

Capturing sweet moments of my boys


Running around the yard with my best lil' buddy

Hallelujah!

Blogging...what's that?

My goodness, it's been a while :) I've had a busy, busy, season business wise with Christmas cards this year! It has been such a blessing to have so much business, but time sure passes by quickly when your face is glued to a computer :) I haven't had any time to blog & I'm WAY behind on so many great things that have happened in our lives over the past month and a half! Here are highlights from what's been going on...

*Halloween...

ARRRGH!!! We celebrated Cap'n Owen's 3rd & 1st Mate Evan's 1st Halloween as pirates...well except Tony, he was a Gator fan since the Dawgs were playing them that day! We had our annual Halloween Bonfire & Party with 13 families & a whopping 27 kids over to our house to celebrate Halloween, it was a crazy, exciting, fun, chaotic party & we had a spooktacular time :) Our band of pirates with a Gator fan in tow

*Evan turned 3 months old...

Our sweet, happy boy turned 3 months old! No dr. appt. until 4 months so we didn't get any growth stats at 3 months, but he's a growing, healthy boy! He rolled over for the first time just a few days before his 3 month mark. Also at 3 months: he gained a lot more head & upper body control, the sweet smiles increased, & a few laughs started coming out every now and then. Our sweet Evan at 3 months old!

*Tony had a birthday!...

My amazing, wonderful husband and equally amazing & wonderful daddy to our beautiful children celebrated his 31st birthday in November! Owen was my BIG helper with baking his cake & we celebrated Tony with family & some of Tony's long time buddies from high school as we watched the UGA vs. Auburn game at our house. Owen helping make daddy's chocolate praline birthday cake..yum! yum!

*Trip to the mountains...

Just before Thanksgiving we took the boys up to my aunt & uncle's mountain house in North Carolina. My parents went with us and we had a much needed vacation before the busy holiday season began. Surrounded by some of God's most amazing creation, we had a relaxing & restful long weekend at "Hallelujah" (the name of my aunt & uncle's house) VERY appropriately named, because Hallelujah! check out this view at sunrise from the back deck...... a separate blog post to follow soon--this short tidbit simply won't be enough :)

*Thanksgiving...

We sing praises to our AMAZING God & are so very thankful for the many, many blessings He's showered over us! We spent Thanksgiving surrounded by our wonderful family, eating lots & lots of delicious food! The first part of the day was spent at Tony's parents' house & the second half at my parents' house. We are so thankful to live in the same town as our parents--not only for the love & support they give us, but for the same love & adoration they give our boys (and the free babysitting is great too, hehe!) Evan with my grandmother & his great grandmother, Nonnie on Thanksgiving Day. So thankful to have my wonderful Nonnie whose face absolutely lights up any time she's around her great-grandchildren! Such a proud great-grandmother :)

Whew! Okay, so that catches us up through the end of November....more on our trip to the mountains & the 1st part of December to come shortly!