Peace out 2009!

Well, after Christmas weekend, the fun continued with some visitors...

Brent and Emily (affectionately called Bent and Emmy) came into town on Tuesday and stayed until New Year's Day. Needless to say, we had a blast. Jackson spent most of his time requesting Emmy to read him books (his first crush perhaps?), and Charlotte could not have enjoyed playing with Brent more if she tried. It was so fun to have them here for several days now that we have a guest room! :) Justin and Tricia joined the fun on Wednesday, so we had a full house and a great New Year's Eve celebration. There was lots of good food, conversation, and story telling. And I will say that I have not stayed up past midnight so many nights in a row in quite some time. I am still recuperating. :) It was worth it though.

Jackson's first haircut (a la kimberly)

train outfit from Nana Kathy (Matt Davis's grandma)

Emily read and read without complaint. :)

B's New Year's Fire

The feast...yes that is 120 nuggets and four large fries...chump change.

Brent chose some delicious sparkling wine

Brent and Emily NYE 2009 (3 years and 1 day married) :)

Justin and Tricia NYE 2009

toasting the New Year

Me and B!

Keeping warm and watching fire works

Now after this week of fun, we packed up and headed to Midland on New Year's Day, for Christmas round 3! We rolled into town in the afternoon and had a yummy late lunch fixed by the marvelous tag team of Grandmother, Grandmommie, and Aunt Brittany. And despite three tired kiddos, we couldn't wait any longer for presents to be opened. So the fun began. I am pretty sure Jackson opened all of his gifts, Charlotte's, and Grandmommie's at least. He is more interested in opening then in playing at this point. Camryn and Charlotte would have eaten all of the wrapping paper if they were allowed, but I guess that is part of the fun of babies at Christmas. We received so many wonderful gifts and several I never saw until we got home due to the crazy baby present opening party we had! It was so much fun hanging out that day and the next. And even though Charlotte decided to stay up until 3:30 am, we all survived! Net, Jim, and Kevin Dean were in town, and that made it extra fun to catch up and visit.

It was a fast weekend, but we always enjoy seeing everyone in Midland and Jackson especially enjoys snuggling with Grandmommie at night. Watching Charlotte and Camryn made me wish we lived closer because they are so funny together. Camryn was teaching Charlotte some of her pulling up and walking around the table moves, so hopefully that will stick. And Charlotte will inevitably teach Camryn how to deal with Jackson over the years. :) I cannot believe that these kids are growing so fast and turning into little people with their own personalities. Precious Camryn is only a few weeks from her first birthday! Time flies is all I can say.

Not sure who is assisting who here. :)

Train hat on and opening his tool set.

almost there

matching dolls!

new socks

perfume for Grandmother

Grandmommie covered in her babies!

This was a crazy year but a good one at that. Charlotte Avery is a sweet gift that I didn't expect or deserve, so that alone makes 2009 precious to me. I realized while we were in Midland that I don't take time to observe her and just kiss her like I did with Jackson. I practically coached him through everything, and she just starts new things seemingly over night without any help from me. She is growing up so fast and sometimes it is nice to just slow down and watch her changing. I guess you could say that is one of my goals for this year. Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas 2009

As Brandon says, the rest of the year drags on, but November to January is gone like that! It is the truth. We have been in our new house for over a month now and it seems like a few days. Christmas was spread over several weeks for us this year which probably added to the blur. We opened some presents here on Christmas Eve Eve, and then went to Austin for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to celebrate with my family. That was craziness of course, but we had a good time seeing everyone and I got some quality cuddle time with Cooper (our newest nephew). We are back in San Antonio on Christmas night and then had the weekend to recover before our visitors arrived. That is for another blog though! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas

Believe it or not, just one year ago.

And here is my sweet boy this Christmas!

opening gifts

the loot (at least some of it)

our stockings hung neatly in a row

enjoying her toys on her first Christmas

a little breakfast

little Christmas princess

my little j. crew model

well, Merry Christmas to you too, Jackson.

total focus on Harold the helicopter

Merry Christmas!

Cooper's first Christmas...we coordinated our outfits nicely.

annual Christmas morning pic

Frosty the Snow man was a happy, jolly soul...

Our house is a jolly place these days. Shopping is done, presents are wrapped, and most importantly, Brandon is off of school for a month! The kids are beyond excited to have him around in the evenings now and follow him all over the house when he gets home from work.

This is a great stage of life in so many ways. Charlotte and Jackson are both growing like weeds and LOVE playing together. And I love spending time with them. They make me laugh with all their antics. Jackson has discovered how to load dvds, which means we have to keep all non-kid friendly dvds out of his reach. :) He is quite the little helper. He turns the Christmas tree on and off, keeps an eye on Charlotte, and brings me random items from around the house. His new room and big bed are still the best things in the world for him, but we did get him some cute stuff from IKEA for Christmas (including a little table with stools and a toy organizer), so he is pretty much in Heaven. He is really into snow men this year too, so don't worry, I know the words to Frosty the Snow Man by heart. :) And if you sing that song while we are driving around looking at Christmas lights, you will officially make his year. It is so fun to actually have conversations with him now. I have a feeling he is going to have his dad's sense of humor. :)

Charlotte hit the 9 month mark yesterday and she is all over the place. She is pulling up on everything, knocking everything over, and eating like a champ. And she LOVES her daddy. The feeling is mutual which means she can pretty much get away with anything at this point. It is all good though because I am the same way with Jackson, so it all evens out. I wish I could capture her smile for you, but pictures just don't even come close. That little girl's entire face lights up...it is unreal.

This is going to be a fun Christmas with both kiddos. Jackson finally understands that he is getting gifts and Charlotte is going to thoroughly enjoy all of the wrapping paper. I know celebrating as a family of 4 will be very different this year and a lot more fun. I am trying to soak it up because it feels like my kids are growing right before my eyes. I seriously don't want them to get any older sometimes. Oh well, I will enjoy it while I can.

Caught her in the act!

Singing and playing

My sweet babies

Thanksgiving, the big move, and visitors!

Well, I am finally catching up on the blog. We had a crazy Thanksgiving weekend, moving into our new house and bringing loads of furniture down from Austin. We were able to have Thanksgiving lunch with my family at the Marietta's house, which I was grateful for. I wasn't sure how I could go on without some turkey and dressing. :) After that little break, we spent the rest of the weekend moving everything and by Sunday had everything in the house at least. This past week we were unpacking and organizing...that process is still happening though. It is crazy how moving throws me off my schedule too. I keep thinking I am forgetting something when I go to sleep at night. Hopefully after a few weeks things will settle down more.

Grandmommie and Gerald came to town this past weekend too! We all had a blast playing and showing them our new home, but I think the kids were the most excited. Jackson loves to show everyone his new room and train set. And Grandmommie brought his bike down from Midland, so that is the only thing on his mind these days! It was very cold all weekend too, but no snow here. Too bad because I actually do have some snow boots that could stand to be put to use. We got the Christmas tree and stockings up as well, so the house is at least looking festive while we are putting everything else together.

So, now we will have our first Christmas in a new house which is the best gift I could have received. It is crazy how fast things can change. Charlotte decided to start crawling the day we moved in, so she is all over the place of course. It is funny how Jackson still sets up his toys to play right next to me, even with more rooms to play in and Charlotte peaces out all over the place to explore. You can tell that he spent the first few years in a small apartment where I was right there and she is more interested in what she can find without me around! :) It is going to be interesting to see how the next few months go as we get used to so many changes. But this is the best time of year for it.

Chickens are that way!

Sweet Charlotte

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jackson played this marble game the whole time. Erin's Granddad made it 20 years ago!

Cooper didn't budge from this position the whole afternoon,.

Some sugar from Uncle Stephen

Me and B

Rocking away

Mom and Stephen. Seems like yesterday he was Jackson's size!

My babies at our new house!

No one smiles as big as Charlotte :)

Hey there!

Grandmommie and Charlotte enjoying some puffs.

pretty girls

Our attempt at pictures was crazy...oh well, at least we tried.

They do better with daddy holding them

I love that little man

Grandmommie got a smile out of Charlotte at least.

Little miss festive!