5th member of the family

This beauty is the newest member to the family. And I know it is wrong to love an inanimate object but I really love this couch. It is hands down the most comfortable piece of furniture we have ever own...even more than our bed. And if it wouldn't put a huge rift in our marriage, I would recommend sleeping on this bad boy each night. But more than the comfort of this newest addition to our basement family room is my excitement for what it represents. When D and I went looking for a sectional for the family room, we envisioned many family nights where D, The Mayor, Love Bug and I would curl up on this couch and watch movies and just enjoy being together. Tonight we had our first family movie night. After bath time, we hunkered down in the basement to watch "Cars". The Mayor cuddled up with D on the chaise portion of the couch (D's assigned seat) and Love Bug and I cuddled in at the corner piece of the couch (my assigned seat). As we watched the movie, I just looked at the four of us and was so happy. After such a busy 2 weeks with Christmas and family it was so nice to just be quiet and enjoy cuddling with our sweets.

Aunt Nat and the crew rolled out around lunch time and just as expected, we had one sad little boy. The Mayor burst into tears as he watched his cousins walk to the car and drive away. I am sure he will be asking for Luke and Trey for days.

The rest of the afternoon was spent being lazy and enjoying the quiet of the house. I am hoping several days of no plans will get The Mayor well rested where his head isn't bobbing up and down from almost falling asleep while eating dinner at the table.

It is hard to see in the picture, but The Mayor is almost comatose here. He was just staring off with half open eyes while he ate. He was so tired.

Such a big girl! Becoming a pro at pulling herself up

need a whole new word

Fun doesn't even describe what The Mayor is having with his cousins here. We need to come up with a whole new word. Something that combines unbelievable fun with absolute exhaustion. The Mayor is so excited they are here that he was up at 6:21 AM this morning.

After breakfast and showers, we loaded up and headed to the mall. The Mayor wanted to walk with his cousin Luke...his best buddy. The Mayor would only hold hands with Luke. It was really precious. But after a couple of hours of walking, eating lunch and the fact that he woke up at 6:21 this morning, by the time we were home at 3 this afternoon, he was exhausted. So tired that while he was sitting at the table eating a snack, he started to fall asleep. He got the heavy eyes and his head bobbed. He was so tired he didn't even want to cuddle up in D's lap, he asked to take a nap and laid in the middle of the family room floor. In the 3 years and 2 months of The Mayor's life, this has never happened. He is the type of child that will only sleep in his bed or his car seat. He won't even fall asleep in this stroller. Seriously, since he has been out of the car seat carrier he has only fallen asleep in his stroller once, and that was a few months ago. He laid on that floor, asked to be covered up and a few minutes later, he was out like a light.

Thank goodness for the cat nap because we just got him to bed at 9:00 tonight. 2 hours past bedtime...such a rockstar. But with his cousins only here until tomorrow, sometimes you just have to break the rules.

Disappointment doesn't even describe how The Mayor will feel when they roll out tomorrow at lunch. Need to come up with a whole new word for that one as well.

they are here part 2

Aunt Nat, Uncle Tom, Trey and Luke rolled in around 6:00 this evening and it was non-stop fun until bedtime. The Mayor was beyond excited that they were coming. He has been talking about them all day, in fact, he woke up asking for Nick. We had no idea who he was talking about until he finally said "Trey, Luke, Uncle Tom and Nick are coming". So Aunt Nat is now Nick. I don't know...

The only bad part about them coming is they eventually have to leave. And this time they have to leave Thursday morning which will sadden The Mayor tremendously, so we have to soak it all in. Tomorrow will be one jammed packed 24 hours. Can't wait.

And just so I don't forget, here is an "our 3 year old is way too smart for his own good" story. We do not allow The Mayor to just go into the refrigerator or freezer. If he wants something out of there, he has to ask. This afternoon he walked up to the freezer and asked for a popsicle. "Popsicle please" is what he asked. We told him no because he had already had enough sweets for the day. So a few minutes later, he was playing in the kitchen while D was eating an apple and I was in the family room playing with Love Bug. The Mayor looks at D and very sweetly said "dada, go see momma". D looked at him and asked him what he said and The Mayor repeated "dada, go see momma". So D comes into the family room and whispers to me "I think he wanted me to come in here with you so he could sneak into the freezer". Sure enough, we could see The Mayor's reflection in the windows and that little stinker opens the freezer. He quickly shut it and D walked back in the kitchen. The Mayor asked him to "go see momma" again so D left the kitchen, hid around the corner and waited for The Mayor to open the freezer again. D popped out from the corner and scared the daylights out of The Mayor. I don't think The Mayor is going to attempt to outsmart us in the popsicle arena anymore.

dancing with her daddy

eating chili for the first time...hoping it comes out as smoothly as it went in

The Mayor wanted to get in on the action. Because D was feeding her, he had to help as well

he walked this phone around like a puppy

waiting for Luke, Trey, Uncle Tom and Aunt Nat

greeting Luke

Trey giving kisses to Love Bug

opening gifts with Aunt Nat and Uncle Tom

Luke and The Mayor

better late than never

Ok, so I lied...I never got around to posting pictures from Christmas on the 26th like I had promised. On Sunday we just enjoyed the quiet of the house and the quiet from the snowfall that popping open the laptop just wasn't on my priority list. Monday we spent shopping and returning and then D and I had a much needed date night. Today we are prepping for Christmas number 3...Aunt Nat, Uncle Tom, Trey and Luke arrive this afternoon. The Mayor will be so excited that his buddy Luke will be here. The Mayor is Luke's shadow whenever they are together. Can't wait!

Back to the recap of Christmas...here are some of the over 300 pictures I took. The highlights...

Santa came!

Her first Cabbage Patch Kid! She loves her!

He's so excited!

Watching the snow fall

merry white christmas

I have over 300 pictures to go through and am exhausted from the all day Christmas celebration, so this will be short. I promise to blog more detail tomorrow and include more pictures...

Love Bug's first Christmas was more than we could have hoped for. MeMe and Big Daddy were here which made it extra special and then it snowed! The snow is still falling and it is starting to accumulate. It is breathtakingly gorgeous! A white Christmas in Georgia...super rare and the fact Love Bug's first Christmas is a white one, means the bar has been set high!

The Mayor still doesn't quite get the whole Christmas and Santa thing yet, but he had no problem opening his own gifts this year. And it took hours, literally, to get through Christmas, which made it even more perfect. After each gift, The Mayor wanted to play with it instead of open a new one and Love Bug was more interested in crawling around the pile of gifts then she was in sitting still to open them. We had to open gifts in stages and that was fine by me. All of the planning and anticipation of the day, I was happy that it was prolonged.

Round two was this afternoon at Mamie and PopPop's house and it was just as magical. Spending Love Bug's first Christmas with Bennett was so much fun. They are just little best friends. I can't wait to watch the two of them grow up together.

We have a house full of toys and nowhere to put them. The project for this week: create a new playroom.

I promise...pictures will be posted tomorrow.

preparation

We were busy, busy, busy today. So busy we never got out of our PJs...except me and that was around noon when I had to run to the grocery store.

This morning we baked gluten-free sugar cookies (which are actually quite good...you wouldn't know you were eating a gluten-free cookie unless I told you) and then The Mayor decorated them. This year he only ate 2 while decorating...much bigger improvement on the 5 we lost last year while decorating. Each of us took our turn helping The Mayor...he just couldn't get enough. He was so sweet sprinkling the sugar, sprinkles and icing on the cookies while every now and then stopping to take a bite from one already decorated cookie. Love Bug looked on...and then went down for a 4 1/2 hour nap. That girl can sleep!

After cookies, we snuggled on the couch to watch "The Polar Express". The Mayor sat in D's lap for almost the entire movie...totally made D's day. After the movie, MeMe and I baked. She made pies and I made holiday braid (our Christmas morning breakfast).

While the kiddos were being bathed, MeMe and I got started on our huge Christmas Eve dinner (which we will be sitting down to enjoy in approximately 18 minutes) and then we went outside to sprinkle the reindeer food in the yard and place Santa's cookies on the table. A few pictures of Love Bug and The Mayor in their matching PJs and they were off to bed. Both sound asleep before 7:00. Now, we just wait for the big guy to arrive with all of the Christmas goodies. I can't wait to see The Mayor's face in the morning and to watch Love Bug feed off of his excitement. It is going to be such a magical day.

sprinkling the reindeer food in the front yard

merry christmas eve eve

After a trip to the gym, where I ran 2 miles without stopping thank you very much, Mamie treated Meega and me to a pedicure. Gotta love a woman who makes pampering a priority. After my pedicure I went home to a house full of fun. Love Bug was worn out from the morning errands she ran with D, MeMe, Big Daddy and The Mayor that she was already napping and The Mayor was playing with what else, his trains.

After I fed Love Bug lunch, the kids and I went to visit some of our dearest friends in our neighborhood. Sue is one of my most favorite people, and her daughters are the best kids...they are what I hope my children grow up to be like. Stephanie and Meghan are both home for Christmas so we stopped by to help decorate some cookies and meet Sue's family. The Mayor was his normal self until he met Sue's sister, then he did his "I am shy so I am going to squeeze my eyes so you can't see me" face. Love Bug was abnormally whiny. I had to wake her up to feed her lunch and I think she was punishing me for that. D said as I was leaving the house, "you never wake a sleeping baby". Yes, I know.

Sue and The Mayor decorating his gluten free cookies

Stephanie and Love Bug

Meghan and Love Bug

After The Mayor decorated his cookies and ate them all, we came home for Love Bug to go down for a much needed nap. She woke up just in time for dinner and then we had a giggle fest and photo session in our family room. At 7:19, both kids are sound asleep and the adults are relaxing. Tomorrow is a big day of decorating cookies, baking, going to church, eating a large Christmas Eve dinner and getting ready for the big guy in red to make his appearance.

trying to stand up

MeMe, Big Daddy and Love Bug