Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Okay, so it has been a while since my last post. As you can tell from the pictures, this Christmas Holiday has kept us very busy!! We have had a wonderful time hanging out with family and celebrating Jesus' Birthday. Even today Shelby said that she wanted to go to NeNe's house to celebrate (and she really did use that word) Jesus' Birthday. I am so thankful that our savior's birth is what still stands out to her most even after the Christmas season has past.

On Christmas Eve we went to our church for the Christmas Eve service. I always love this service as it evokes so many wonderful childhood memories for myself. After the service was over we picked up the kids from the nursery and immediately Shelby asked for a cookie and to see Rob. Sadly there were no cookies or Rob that night, but she quickly got over it when we told her that there was something special waiting for her and JP at home. To care on a Christmas Eve tradition that I grew up with, Shelby and JP got to open up their Christmas pjs. Shelby was so excited and JP was nearly too tired to care. Christmas morning we were up nice and early. Shelby was a little tentative at first as she didn't know what to make of all the presents under the tree, but as soon as JP made a move for her new tricycle she was out from behind my legs and in the thick of things. It was such fun to watch the excitment build with her. The very first present she unwrapped was a new pad of drawing paper and she got so excited!!! JP also jumped into. He was beside himself with trying to figure out what to play with first. After we had our little family christmas time Aunt Suzy, Uncle Patricio and Meme came over. Shelby got to open more presents and JP took a little nap to recharge. We spent some time with them, opening presents and eating. Shelby took her tricycle for its maiden voyage outside. After JP woke up we went to Papa and Grammie's house. It was like a Christmas dream walking into their house with the living room overflowing with presents. Uncle Jake was there and got a lot of loving from JP. Once again we opened more presents and ate. That night we went to the Ussery's house for the first ever Feliz Navidad party. It was great fun! We had mexican dip, mexican lasagna, those little mexican sodas, and even a pinata. The kids had a great time running around and JP really got excited over this little ride in car. The highlight of the evening was the pinata. After the kids took a few swings at it the daddies took over. Of course my husband's zeal for life found him flying through the air and ripping the pinata out of the tree; at which point he wrestled it to the ground and tore his head off. For a minute I thought Shelby would be scarred for life as she came to me quite distraught saying, "Daddy broke the bunny." over and over.

A few days later we had Christmas with my family. It was great fun, and don't worry Matt, I forgive you for not saving any dressing for me. We had ham, mac-n-cheese, baked beans, green bean casserole, etc. Rob joined us and we just had a wonderful time. Of course this Chrismas party was filled with gifts of Clemson. I am so excited because tonight I am going to wear my new Clemson skirt (khaki skirt with little tiger paws all over it) for the Chik-fil-A Bowl game.

Well, I have tons more stuff that I could bore you with in this post, but I am going to have to run because JP is screaming for me to come get him out of his crib. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!

PS-Great-grandparents, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you. I just haven't made it to the UPS store to mail your gifts. Hope to do it soon!!!

Strike Two

Tonight was the Annual May River Montessori Christmas program. We started out the late afternoon/early evening with high hopes that just maybe Shelby would get up on the stage with all of her school friends to sing "Jingle Bells". She talked about it all the way there and I thought that just maybe this would happen. Like true parents we were snapping pictures of our sweet little angel before the show to document this momentous event, and well, that is all we got....before pictures. No during pictures. When it came time to get up there she was a no show. Oh well, maybe next year when she is older and wiser.

Funny thing, as I type this I can hear Shelby over the monitor singing "Jingle Bells" in her bed. The program was quite cute. Some kids had speaking parts and some kids sang solos. During the toddler's rendition of Jingle Bells one little girl just sat there on the stage with the look of shear terror in her eyes and her little lip sticking out so far. It was so funny.

Today was once again another beautiful day in the Lowcountry. I am telling you, if you don't live here, you should!! We spent the lunch hour at the playground with some friends. In fact, I think that this little impromptu playground outing is becoming quite regular. So regular in fact, that Pratt woke up the this morning and said, "So, are you going to the playground today? Don't you guys usually go on Thursdays?" At any rate, we had a great time and look forward to doing it again soon.

JP has really taken a liking to the camera. He has really figured out how to make the cutest, funniest, cheesiest smile that I have ever seen.....eyes squinty, mouth wide open, and head tipped back. I just love it. Below is an example of one of his "I am the cutest baby in the world" smiles. He has just grown up so fast, right before my eyes!!



The big dump truck continues to be a source of never ending entertainment for the kids. Although, now JP is doing more of the pushing while Shelby gets to ride. While I was watching this video I was amazed at how stable JP appears. It may be only a matter of time before we have a little man walking all around the house. Also, Aunt Suzy, listen close to the end. Shelby sends you a little shout out; Hey girl, Hey!!!!

Before I close, I have to give props to Pratt. Every couple of days I have been able to go back to bed after I nurse JP in the morning. He gets Shelby up, feeds both kids, and entertains them while I get a little bit of extra sleep!!! Thanks so much!!! I love you!

Trucker

Here is a video of my little trucker climbing into his truck. Everytime I take him out he just climbs right back in.

All about the Girl

Well, you can probably guess that since it has been nearly a week since my last post that the Festival of Lights trip that I was so excited about didn't turn out to be as great as I had invisioned. After almost five hours in the car and a not so impressive light show we were home and fell wearily into bed. Shelby did pretty good the whole trip. We only had to stop twice for false potty breaks. JP, on the other hand, was non-to-thrilled to be in his car seat that long and cried most of the five hours. Oh well, maybe next year when the kids are older.......

On Friday we went to Aunt Leslie's house for a little Happy Birthday Jesus party!! It was so much fun! Leslie is so great at stuff like this and I am more than grateful that she is my friend as I never seem to have it together enough to even think of putting something together like this party. It was the most beautiful day. There were tons of kids there. First we started out with some singing time with Earl Stephens. I tried to get some video of them, but of course I was one step too slow and only ever caught the last note of the songs. After that it was craft time. The kids made this little linky thingy (see Shelby modeling hers below). It has a little star at the top with a little poem and you take a link off each day. On Christmas day you take the last link off and have your star.




As the kiddos finished their crafts they played outside. Let me just tell you that the weather has been gorgeous here!!! I love it! Anyway, then cake time! We gathered all the kids around and they sang Happy Birthday to Jesus!!! It just melted my heart. There is nothing more sweet and innocent then hearing children's voices singing about Jesus. Once again I tried to capture this moment on video, but well, that didn't work. Good for me though because I have the memory in my head, stinks for you because I can't share it:)

The weekend went on without too muck incidence. We had a great time on Sunday as we were blessed to have Ross and Erik join us for church and then we all went to lunch at Hampton Lake afterwards. Shelby just loves those guys (Rob, aka Rob-a-Dob; Erik; and Ross). She is forever talking with them on her pink cell phone and asking when they are going to come over.

Just for kicks I had to include these two pictures that we took of Shelby modeling her daddy's Clemson belt. I don't know much about that business, but I think she might have a career in it. We got the biggest kick out of her pose and all.

Today we had lunch with Erin, Jack, and Baby Finn! It was great fun to visit with them and try to begin getting back into our weekly lunch dates. Shelby and Jack had fun eating pizza, talking, and coloring. I think that Shelby finds Jack's new glasses very mature and attractive;)

Now for a little bit on JP....he is growing like a weed. I am sorry that I don't have a picture for you, but he is so cute!!! This weekend he has really started getting into daddy. He actually reached for Pratt from out of my arms!!! What a huge victory for me; maybe this "mommy only" stage is taking a breather. It is so wonderful to see JP's little face light up when he sees Pratt and he takes off crawling towards him. Remember a while back when I posted that picture of JP in the back of Shelby's dump truck??? Well, he has now figured out how to climb up into it. I have to keep that thing hidden in a closet or he would never do anything but climb up in it and sit there all day....hey, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing, hummmmm. Anyway, Shelby thinks that this is so funny and once he is in she takes off with him all over the house. He just laughs and laughs. For the most part they play so well together. What a blessing to see them engaging each other and laughing together.

About JP

I just realized that I hardly said anything about JP in that last post. Today he is 11 months old!!! How fast did that go by!?!?!?! The year of Kim will be here before I know it!!! Anyway, the following picture may be a little gross for you non-moms out there, but it was too funny. JP has so much going on. He has started teething again; so that means that his little cough is back and his runny nose is back and well, just general irratibility. Yesterday I took him to the doctor because he started running a little fever, and it ends up that he has an ear infection...so sad, I know!! Well, as I was feeding him dinner last night he got a little piece of bread stuck in the snot running from his nose (I know, but there is just no better way of explaining it). Being the mom that I am, I found it somewhat funny, somewhat amusing, and somewhat cute so I had to take a picture...and here it is....

Happenings....

This week has been a whirlwind of a week. Well, I think all weeks are like that these days. Can you believe that we are only two weeks away from Christmas!!! Oh man, I had better get moving on somethings.

Monday was a great day. Shelby went to school and JP and I hung out. We had lunch with Meme and went to the grocery store. That is all that I can really remember from that day. I had a great night though, I actually got to get out of the house for a little bit with one of my friends. We went to Starbucks and just got to relax without any kids hanging on us like little monkeys. It was great to chat and catch up with Heather. I hope that we will be able to start seeing each other some more.

Tuesday Shelby headed off to school again and JP and I went to CBS leadership. I truly love this time that I have on Tuesday mornings. Sometimes it seems hardly worth the effort of getting there, but once I get settled in I love it. The ladies and Al (our brave lone man of the leadership team) are always such an encouragement to me.

Now to the big day, Wednesday! This was our last week of CBS before the Christmas break. The children's program had their little singing show. It was so cute! I don't know what is wrong with me, but as soon as those sweet children started marching in the room waving their ribbons I had to start fighting back the tears. It was one of the most precious sights. There were tons of daddies and granddaddies there too. Anyway, this was the big test....would Shelby stand up there with her class and sing the songs that they were learning???? And the answer is.....NO. Most of the time she sat with me and JP. She started to walk up at one point, but then she got a glimpse of her daddy and that was that. Oh well, maybe we will have better luck at her school program. Afterwards we got to have lunch with Grammie at Hampton Lake. What a great week for Shelby, she got to see three of her five grandparents. (PS-while we were at lunch we learned that Uncle Jake was in the throws of finals, so Happy Finals Uncle Jake!!! We can't wait to see you soon!)

Oh so close!!!!

Today is the most beautiful day so once again we packed up and headed to Hampton Lake for a little afternoon play time. Shelby, Jack, Gracen, Neely, and Eliza ran around playing on the slides, in the sand, and the little treehouses while mommies plus baby Finn and baby Pavin hung out and talked about all sorts of things. What a perfect day!!!

I am so excited about tonight that I can hardly wait for the kids nap to be over....wait, did I just say that???? Just kidding, they can nap as long as they like. The longer the better, in fact. But, tonight we are heading up the Charleston to the Festival of Lights. It is going to be so much fun and I can't wait to see Shelby's face when she sees all those lights. They also have a little Christmas village set up with a train, Santa, and a place to get hot chocolate and make smores. I think that it might be too warm for the hot chocolate, but we may have to get some just because.

We Survived!!!!

Well, we made it!!! Last week started out with a lot of uncertainty on my part as to whether I could take on the job of being a single mom for the week. I tell you what, after just 5 days by myself with both kids, I now have an even greater appreciation and respect for military families!!! Think about it, I just had five days of non stop kids, but our military families go months and months as a single parent home. Thanks so much to all of you who are serving our country!!!

Pratt left Sunday afternoon for a CCIM course in Atlanta. I was very sad and nervous. For some reason him being gone all week sounded like such a long time to me. Thankfully we made it through and the week just flew by. Sunday night it was just me and the kids hanging out. Monday we got up and got Shelby to school and there was just no looking back. Before we knew it the end of the week had come and Pratt was on his way home.

Probably the most fun thing about last week was on Thursday. It was my dad's birthday; oh wait, really sweet story....in our family we always call each other on our birthdays and sing happy birthday. In years past it almost seemed as if we were having a contest over who could call the earliest, but thankfully that has changed to just getting several calls throughout the day (no offense family, but 6:30am is a little early). Anyway, I called my dad and told Shelby that when grandpa answered the phone to say Happy Birthday. Well, she did and then she sang "Happy Birthday" to him. It was so cute!!!! So anyway, after the kids nap that day we went down to visit and have a birthday dinner. When dinner was over we packed up the car and took Shelby to see the lights on Dove Street. As soon as she saw all those lights she got so excited. I can't wait to take her to the Festival of Lights this week.


I had to post this picture because Shelby actually has something in her hair. She is definitely an "au naturale" type girl. She never wants anything in her hair!!!! She really doesn't even like it when I brush it. Of course, she does let grandpa brush her hair during their play time in his truck. Anyway, I was out getting the kids Christmas outfits and she picked out this headband and wore it the rest of the day. She hasn't worn it since, but isn't she so cute!!!

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here. Some people are upset, they say it is too hot for it to be December, but I say it is wonderful. The kids do so much better when we can get out of the house and here is a picture of JP and Alex at the playground last week. They were both so fascinated by the bottom of the slide. I am sure that they were trying to formulate a plan on how to climb up it, but they weren't sneaky enough because Sheila and I were on to them.

JP is really growing and developing. He is so fast and he loves to climb on, in, around everything. The other day I was doing dishes and all the sudden Shelby started laughing so I stopped what I was doing to see what was going on and found JP stuck underneath her highchair. Somehow he figured out how to climb over the lower bar and get in there. Everyday I learn more and more that I am going to have to keep a close watch on him.

Well, one final comment....Aunt Lala and Uncle Matt, good luck on those finals this week. We are praying for you!!! We love you and can't wait to see you.

Elf Maddness

Since everyone else is doing it, I decided to jump on the elf wagon....hope you enjoy.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1162884256

Shout out to Daddy....

Hey Daddy! We hope that you are having fun!!! We love you!

The completed Gingerbread House

Day of Crafting Fun

For those of you who don't know me, Martha Stewart has more craft sense in her pinky toe nail than I would ever hope to posses in my life so today has been quite a stretch for me as a mom. We started off our "day of crafting fun" with making ornaments with pinecones and lots of glitter. What a mess that turned out to be; and mainly because when I tried to take the cap off of the green glitter I spilt it everywhere!!!! Then Shelby grabs the purple glitter and ever so gently twists off the cap and hands it to me. Not a single piece of glitter came out......go figure!! Anyway, Shelby had a great time painting on the glue and then sprinkling glitter on the pinecones. Pratt also joined in the fun and made one for himself. I just supervised.

Once Shelby got bored with that we went out on the back porch to put ribbon on our Clemson Tree. Shelby supervised as I cut and tied the Orange and Purple ribbon on the tree. I don't have a picture of the tree just yet so I will show that on a later post.


Around 12:00 my dad came out and we loaded up the kids for Hampton Lake. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch there. JP loved just looking around at all the neat memorabilia they have hanging up and we even got to hear a stuffed moose sing a Christmas carol....I know, who would have thought. After lunch, Grandpa took on the task of keeping JP entertained while Shelby and I decorated a ginger bread house. It was great fun....no, I didn't eat all the icing and candy, but I can tell you some one who did enjoy a couple of gum drops....Shelby. Yeah, it is a Christmas miracle that she ate them, but she told me, "Those are my favorite."



Santa came by for a little visit; and as interested as Shelby has been in him, she wanted nothing to do with him. In fact, she didn't even want to be in the same building; so grandpa came to the rescue and took her outside while I took JP to get his first picture with Santa. Isn't he so cute??? He was a little unsure of this big man with a hairy face, but he didn't let his lower lip hang out too long. I think that he is even halfway smiling in this picture.