He was so excited...

to go get our tree today. He seemed to remember each step about getting the tree, putting it up, putting the star on and then the lights and at last, adding the ornaments. He was excited and anxious to help - I love how it looks and how much he loved helping me put the ornaments on. I have to laugh looking at the bottom of the tree though - I thought it would bother me more, but I love that he put those bottom ornaments on himself and every one is placed just so. I love that he did it and how proud he is. It is definitely going to be a special Christmas this year. Noah is so into it this year. He gets it and it's wonderful.

A gingerbread train...

We found this gingerbread train at Target and Noah went nuts. He was so excited to get a 'Christmas train'. He wasn't quite sure what the heck it was until we started building it, but he knew it was a train and he likes any kind of train. So, after an hour of working on this crazy thing we finished it. Noah helped more than you would think. I did all the icing and he stuck a lot of the candy on and ate quite a bit of it too! He was so careful... I had no idea he could be so careful and steady. About halfway through decorating it he decided it must be his birthday though... and this was his cake. I had to explain that no, this was our Christmas gingerbread train and it was just for fun (although he is as we speak, singing happy birthday to himself in the kitchen... heh he). He also wanted to know if we could build a gingerbread castle next... Fun stuff.

She's just so darn cute...

...ofcourse, I am extremely biased... ;)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

I took these pictures of the kids while trying to get a cute picture for our Christmas card this year... Taking a good picture of two kids at one time is not an easy thing - nearly impossible, if you ask me. Especially if you are trying all by yourself. You get things just the way you want them, pick up the camera as fast as you can, pray it's in focus, snap... and the kids moved, the dog ran in front of you and you figure out how crazy you are for trying to get a picture at all. ;) But sometimes you get a couple that are worth all the work and they make you smile... a lot.

Puzzles & Birthdays

We thought this puzzle might be more of a challenge for our little guy, but he can work it in about 5 minutes flat. He loves puzzles and this one was so cool because it is a big Thomas floor puzzle he got on Rachel's birthday. He likes how big this one is and also that it is Thomas - that ofcourse, is always a hit. He is certainly a busy bee... He sang Happy Birthday to Daddy this morning when he woke up. There is a lot of birthday talk around our house right now with Rachel's birthday and Doug's birthday. He likes to tell people these days that he is 'almost 4'. We asked him what kind of party he might want for his birthday and he let us know he wanted a Thomas one again this year right away. Then yesterday after asking him again and talking about all the different themes he was still set on Thomas... until about an hour after talking about it he came to tell us he might want a 'Lightning McQueen' birthday this year (Yay for Cars!). I guess we'll have to wait and see... he does have plenty of time to decide.

Happy Birthday Doug! He hit the big 30 today. We hope you've had a great birthday. We love you!!

Santa Claus Came to Town...

to make his list and see what everyone wanted for Christmas this year. Noah wanted to tell him that he wanted the blue Thomas bridge for Christmas but really didn't want to sit with Santa. We later discovered he had a fever of 102.5 - no wonder he wasn't all that excited. He did manage to let Santa know about the bridge though. Rachel wanted nothing to do with Santa and the only thing that kept her from screaming in terror was the photographers jingle bells (Bless her!!). As long as she didn't turn around to see Santa, she was okay. Rachel did enjoy her candy cane and the stuffed snowman he gave her though!

Baby Love

Rachel got this baby doll for her birthday and she was so excited that we couldn't get it out of the box fast enough. She kept bouncing and grabbing at it while we were taking it out of the box. She loves to give it kisses and hugs. She would much rather chew on the baby's bottle herself though, then feed 'her baby'. So cute.

Good Times

We have had such a good time with Mamaw, Aunt Amie, Uncle John, Olivia and David visiting these last couple of days. The kids had fun playing together and kept extremely busy with each other. The babies enjoyed chasing each other through the tunnel and playing in the tents together. It was fun for us to just sit back and watch them. We played at the house, in the backyard, took walks, played at the park. The weather has been amazing at almost 70 degrees making it a beautiful weekend for time outside. We missed all of you who weren't with us this holiday weekend and know you were all in our thoughts and close to our hearts.

Happy 1st Birthday Rachel!!!!!

I can't believe it has been a whole year with this precious baby girl. She is amazing and just when we think we couldn't love her any more, we do. She had a wonderful day eating cake and other yummy stuff, opening presents, being with family and playing all day long. She and Noah are both such beautiful blessings in our life. So much to be thankful for...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday and eats lots of yummy stuff! ;) Give thanks, eat too much, take a nap and watch a little football! Happy Thanksgiving!

They make me so happy...

and I am so very glad to have them in my life. Noah is really growing and changing so much everyday. It is funny some of the conversations we have with him. He has definitely turned that corner leaving all signs of babyness behind. He is becoming more interested in things beside trains - some of his new favorites being pirates and knights/castles. We hear a lot of "Mommy (or Daddy), come build a castle with me." thrown in with the mix of "Let's play Thomas" or "Let's build a train". Doug and I are somewhat relieved to see him becoming interested in other things.

Rachel has 'fallen' into that stage where she is constantly tumbling over or banging her head on tables, chairs, the floor, etc... you know, the stage where they just start to walk and everything becomes a hazard. ;) She is also getting two more new teeth- the two bottom cuspids, which brings her to a total of 10. She is a happy baby who is constantly on the go. She races around the house and has recently really become interested in toys. She will sit for long moments in the playroom next to the shelf with her toys just playing away. We can't believe her 1st birthday is just a couple of days away.

There's something about plastic bowls and wooden spoons...

that babies can't resist... Rachel loves to tear the kitchen apart while I am preparing meals. She especially loves the tupperware drawer and also the oven mit drawer. She will tear all the oven mits, placemats, etc out and laugh with glee. She loves to bang on a tupperware bowl with a wooden spoon and also pretend it is a hat or a tamborine. Too funny... I love to watch her play and see what she'll come up with next.