A Few Christmas Eve Pictures

Here are a few pictures we took after church on Christmas Eve. Andrew looked so cute in his sweater vest that I wanted some pictures. My silly little husband practically ran from the car to the closet to put his pajamas on, so there are no pictures of him, just Andrew and me!

I'd just like to say, that yes, I know, I'm huge. I've been telling y'all, but no one believes me. And I still have at least 5 weeks to go...Poor little Andrew, you can hardly see him back there.

O Christmas Tree

We've put up our Christmas decorations! I just love the way it makes my house feel and look. I feel so cozy and warm when there are lots of twinkling lights throughout the house. I just want to snuggle on the couch with a blanket and two cute boys (and a tiny baby girl, but she's snuggling with me in a different way right now!)

Our Christmas tree is in the living room/den this year, since the old family room has been remodeled and converted into Andrew's bedroom. Putting up the actual tree took about oh, 3 minutes! We bought this 7 foot, pre-lit artificial tree three years ago at an after-Christmas sale for $25! It's in two pieces, and you just plug it in, and fluff up the branches. Done.

Andrew was really into putting the ornaments on this year. In fact, he felt that every. single. ornament needed to be on the same branch. So, ever so discreetly, Brian or I would go behind him and move a few to other areas.

In keeping with my family tradition, Brian hoisted Andrew up to put the Angel on the top. Here's a little background on the Angel. My grandmother made that Angel when I was (Mom, help me out...) two or three? And it became a tradition that every year my daddy would pick me up to put the Angel on top. And so, in a box somewhere, we have at minimum 23 pictures of daddy picking me up with the same Angel. When Andrew was born, we passed the tradition on to him. The first Christmas he was only 6 weeks old, so he lucked out on the labor part, but Brian still held him up there for the photo op. The Angel isn't the most beautiful tree topper, but it was made with love and is being honored year after year on the family tree!

A Couple of Random Photos

I wasn't sure where to throw these pictures in, so I'll just put them all together here.

The first is of my little Thanksgiving Indian. In his skivvies. Since we're 99.9% potty trained (can I get an Amen?) when we're home, his typical outfit is a pair of underwear and a Hanes t-shirt. He looks so much like a little boy wearing this, it always makes me grin. I can't say what a blessing it is that he goes potty now. He doesn't even want help! If I make a move toward the bathroom when he's in there I get a "Nooo!" and a big fat 'talk-to-the-hand.' Which, really, is fine with me.

The next picture is Andrew and Brian reading bedtime stories together in Andrew's big boy bed. He's been in this bed for about six weeks now. And talk about an easy transition. It's so nice for all three of us to be able to lay together and read in the evenings. I liked this picture because of the way Andrew has his hands behind his head...chillin'.

This last photo is Andrew wearing his Elmo hat & gloves set. He wears this in the house, all day, sometimes without any other stitch of clothing on. He even wore his Elmo gloves to church one day. Whatever, you choose your battles, right?!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

I'm a bit behind in posting. I've been so tired lately that when I feel like a have a few minutes, all I want to do is sit down and close my little eyes. I suppose it's the 3rd trimester sleepies sneaking up on me.

November 13 was Andrew's THIRD birthday! How that happened is beyond me. Last time I checked he was a little baby bouncing in his exersaucer. But, lo, now he's three, and there ain't a thang I can do about it.

Brian has been working horrendous hours at work for the past six weeks, which includes him working weekends (but having Tuesday and Wednesday off), so having a birthday party for Andrew was sort of out of the question. I didn't feel like I could do all the cooking, baking, and hosting by myself at 26 weeks pregnant, so we opted to just celebrate with the three of us. And besides that, Andrew didn't even notice we didn't have a party, he was quite happy to have his daddy home with him!

I made a cake that evening, and let Andrew put the sprinkles on. I thought he would take a handful and throw them down on the cake, but instead he took individual little sprinkles and placed them strategically around the whole top of the cake. After several minutes of this, Brian stepped in to help speed up the process.

He enjoyed his presents from his Mommy & Daddy, too! A new Mr Potato Head, and new book, and some blocks were just what he wanted!