Snowy Sunday

We arrived home in Charlotte on Christmas day, after leaving tons of snow in Burlington, to find NOTHING on the ground here! ;( Savannah kept talking about playing in the snow with daddy so I told her she needed to pray hard for Jesus to send snow! Thankfully we awoke Sunday morning to find everything covered in about 4 inches of snow. It was beautiful to say the least. After breakfast and playing with a few new toys we all bundled up and headed out to play . . .

Daddy was a big kid throwing snow balls at mommy

Savannah loved playing and making snow angels

But this kid wasn't big on the snow. Maybe it was because he had a hard time walking in really deep snow or maybe it was the mittens without fingers, but he was quickly ready to go inside!

What a perfect way to end the Christmas weekend!! Now we just have to find places for all of these new toys before Grammy and Papa arrive on Friday for Christmas round 3. ;)

A White Christmas

Christmas this year was amazing! It began as we woke up early, had french toast (although it still doesn't compare to mom's, it was decent), and opened Santa presents and our gifts to and from each other.

A little sibling love

Savannah loves her new big girl car seat!

Preston enjoying his new basketball goal

We then quickly got ready and packed up for a trip to Burlington. As we were driving the snow started falling and by the time we had eaten the delicious meal at Grandmas, the ground was covered! So for the next hour we were able to watch the snow fall all while being surrounded by our precious family. Priceless.

Cousins (except Taylor) before opening gifts

Now let me tell you, it was pure chaos once we started opening gifts, but the kids had a blast!

Preston loves his new chair

This kid came alive opening presents at Grandmas. I mean he was tearing into EVERYTHING!! Of course he wanted to open each box too, but we had to make him wait since there were so many presents. We did give in and let him open the bowling set, which he went crazy over!

Preston and his favorite Uncle Mark

Mr. and Mrs. Santa with their grandkids

We had planned to spend the night, but after watching the snow quickly accumulate, we decided it might be safer if we headed back to Charlotte the same day. It was sad to have to leave after anticipating spending the night for so long, but it was still a super sweet day! We truly have much to be thankful for!

Merry, Merry Christmas to our friends and family!

Christmas Eve

Family nativity picture ~ Savannah finally got to be Mary!

We are so excited to be in our home for Christmas Eve again this year! There's just something sweet about being here and being able to attend our own church's Christmas eve service and waking up on Christmas morning with Santa gifts and kids with wide eyes. Now Christmas Day is for the big family so we'll pack it all up late tonight so that we're ready to leave first thing after opening gifts in the morning, but for today it's been a treat to be home! Our church had a beautiful service all focused on how as much as we want Christmas to be perfect, it just will never be. See the only perfect Christmas was the one thousands of years ago when Christ was born . . . and even that one wasn't picture perfect with the smelly animals and all. :) So, to remember that Christmas isn't about being picture perfect our church set up several different areas where families could take pictures together. As you can see from our photos, they aren't perfect at all, but what a special way to remember a sweet day.

18 months!!

It's hard to believe that Preston is officially 18 months old!! He had his well check up today and he is 34 inches long (75-90th percentile) and 27 lbs, 4 oz (50-75th percentile). Dave and I continue to be concerned about his lack of speech so the pediatrician has referred us to a speech therapist. We'll start with basic testing and see what they recommend. Although he isn't talking, he still finds ways to communicate, hence why the doctor isn't worried at all. I have to say that there is never a dull moment unless said child is sleeping, but boy what a delight he can be! Just yesterday he and Alex played together for hours at our annual Christmas dinner with mom's family. Oh and let me tell you about the dinner . . . delicious. Cherry pulled out all of the stops and we had a feast fit for royalty. We even brought left overs home that we'll enjoy this week. So here's to a week filled with fun, and a little chaos too!

Cookies and Craziness

This week has been crazy already. I don't know what is going on but I just cannot get caught up! It just seems like Christmas gets closer and closer to Thanksgiving every year. Maybe it's just that as Savannah gets older she wants to do more and more . . .

Anyway, on Monday, our day to stay home, we decided to jump right into making cookies. We always make goody bags full of special "homemade" treats for the trash men, recycle men, our pediatrician, the neighbors, and a few other special people so we got a good start. Savannah loved making and decorating the cookies and believe it or not, we didn't eat even one! The goody bags are all wrapped up so now I just have to brave the weather to deliver them. Buurrrrr!

When All is Quiet . . .

I should KNOW that Preston is into something . . .

Today's something was a candy cane. Yep, he took it out of the pantry, unwrapped it, and managed to eat over half of it with only 8 teeth!!! He even has a red sticky face and lots of sticky fingers to prove it.

Dance Recital

Last night Savannah had her winter showcase dance recital. I had been feeling awful all day and after Savannah had thrown up several times Friday night we weren't sure we would make it to the recital, but we did!! It was complete chaos and there was standing room only, but she was adorable and loved every minute. This is the best picture we have (she's second from the left) but hopefully this will be the last far away picture we ever take because my new camera should arrive this week!!! :)

Santa and the Elves

Savannah with her first ever picture with Santa . . . Preston would have no part of this!

Yesterday we ventured uptown with our friends the Marions to participate in Santa's Bag. It's an event put on by the Children's Theater of Charlotte where kids go in with a list of people they want to buy for and are guided through the shopping with their own elf who carefully helps them select gifts for each person on their list. Gifts are priced from $.25 to $4.00 and you can set a limit on what the child can spend. When they come out everything is already wrapped with a name tag on it. Savannah and Anna Kate had a blast doing their own shopping!!

The girls anxiously awaiting their shopping time!

Savannah with her very own elf helper

The kids playing in the chimney

Wrapping up the morning by writing letters to Santa!