Meeting Santa

We went to Sammie's for lunch one Saturday afternoon, and Big Red just happened to be there. Our favorite BBQ AND Santa...wow. I wasn't sure how Cooper would react to Santa this year based on last year's experience. But, phew...when Cooper saw Santa he was wide-eyed and excited to meet him

He went right up to Santa and introduced himself, "I Cooper."

Serious discussions about Coop's age, where Santa's reindeer were, and what Cooper wanted for Christmas. Cooper told Santa he wanted a traffic light. (News to me!) And Santa said, and I quote, "I"ll make sure to bring you that traffic light, Cooper." with a little wink to me. Thanks, Santa!!

Austin was snugly asleep in the Moby, but we jumped in for a quick picture with Santa, too.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

My bestest friend and talented designer, Sarah Post, designed our cards again this year. I love that we were able to announce our sweet Austin and wish our friends and family a merry Christmas all in one card. Merry, Merry Christmas!!

Looking at Christmas Lights

I remember as a child how much fun it was to go look at Christmas lights every year. We did this in Brownwood and in Dallas, and I just remember how much I loved it and was amazed by all of those bright lights. It's something I've always been excited to do with my kids.

We've been trying to do fun Christmas activities with Cooper now that he understands Christmas a little more and knows to get excited about those special outings. Tonight we decided to head to a nearby neighborhood and check out the beautiful light displays. This is the same area of town that we would "tour" when I was little, so it was fun to take Cooper there, too. With most of these houses, no expense is spared when it comes to Christmas decor--lights, decorations, music, moving displays, nativity scenes, reindeer, nutcrackers and lots and lots of Santas!

When we told Cooper we were going to look at lights, he wasn't quite sure what to expect, so he didn't act excited initially. But once he saw all the twinkly lights and huge trees wrapped in blue, white or colored lights and all the characters in front yards, he was loving it! Several of the houses have displays where you can get out of your car and get a closer look. Coop really liked those houses!

This house was voted "Most Outstanding" in the neighborhood. It was like a candy land mansion. Lights everywhere, huge packages, Christmas jack-in-the-boxes, over-sized lollipops and candy canes, trees dripping in white and red lights. They even had a small candy land play house in the front yard. There were gates around the house, so we couldn't get close to anything, but it sure was amazing.

This picture is blurry, but totally makes me laugh. He was trying so hard to get inside that candy land!

Our last stop was a little gazebo. The last time I had been to this gazebo was with Philip. It was before we had kids, before we were married, even. At least nine years ago? It was Christmas time and we decided looked like a fun place to exchange our Christmas gifts. So we sat in the middle of the gazebo and exchanged gifts. It was fun to be back there, not only with Philip, but with one little guy running circles and the other little one wrapped up in my arms.

I'm looking forward to making this an annual tradition with my sweet boys.

Three Days Until Christmas

I found these two enjoying the Christmas tree together.
"You like those lights, Baby Austin? Santa coming down chimney! You cited?!"
Happy Christmas!

Eight Weeks

Austin is eight weeks old and we are all in love...

Sharing a Cookie

Last night Cooper made my heart melt. Literally...puddle on the floor.

He was sitting on the kitchen counter after naptime, eating half of a freshly baked gingerbread cookie. He broke off a corner, handed it to me and said...

Cooper: I share this with you, Mommy.
Me: Aww, that's ok, Baby. You eat it; it's for you.
Coop: No, I want to share with you. (Handing me the corner.)
Me: That is so sweet. Thank you for sharing with me!
Coop: You know why I share with you?
Me: Why?
Coop: Because I love you so much.

And...puddle. It wasn't only the words he said, it was the way he said it, and the way he looked at me. Just the shear, genuine way about him at that moment meant so much. Amazing how at such a young age, they really do know love.

Santa Came Early

Santa came to our house tonight. He came on his sleigh with his reindeer, down the chimney. (He did, however, have to ask where the chimney was first.) He had a red oven mitt filled with treasures flung on his back. And he had the cheeriest "HO HO HO" I've ever heard. Santa handed out gifts to me, Daddy, and Baby Austin and just as he was about to fly away on his sleigh, he discovered the lights were broken and they needed to be fixed because "I have busy night tonight!"
Do you think someone is excited about Christmas??

The New Dessert and a Movie

When you have a toddler and a new baby in the house, you have to get creative when trying to actually spend time with your spouse. Philip and I had dessert and a movie night last night--dessert was s'mores made in the fireplace and the movie was watching the kiddos on the video monitor. Both kids were asleep, but we didn't mind. We completely enjoyed watching them.

Around the House Today

Today, while sweet little Austin was napping,

and I was trying to be productive,

a busy little three-year-old played in his one little world. Every time I looked up, he was doing something different, but he was completely focused on his current "project." Cooper has always, always had little treasures he hangs on to and plays with throughout the day. From the minute he could grab a toy, he's done this. But now, those little single item treasures have turned into piles of treasures, or what he now calls his "trash piles." Today, he made a lot of trash piles all over the house. And while they literally might look like trash piles to you and I, he can tell you exactly what is in each pile.

We even played trash truck today--the fireplace was the truck and Coop and I were the trash men. He would drive the truck and tell me when we were at the next house, where we jumped off the back of the truck and emptied the trash cans. It was so fun to hear what the "scene" looked like in his head--the green truck we were riding on; the big buttons that made a loud noise; the sounds the truck made when it was moving and crushing the trash; the handles we were holding on to; the different places where we stopped (Poppi's office, Daddy's office, Nana's house, and school); and the different trash that we picked up, some of it was even smelly, apparently.

Coop decided that under the Christmas tree was the perfect spot to park his trash truck, dump truck, and Lightening McQueen car. And that Santa needed to ride in Austin's car seat.

I love Cooper's creativity and I love that he is so good at playing by himself. At times I feel guilty that I'm not right there and entertaining him or playing with him the whole time, but I know it's good for him to play independently. And, he's totally happy doing it. He can sit and play with his cars or his little animals and his barn or his train set all morning, talking and creating a whole scene for what's happening.

Oh, and at seven weeks, someone loves his activity mat! He is really focusing on the little toys hanging down and will just stare at them like he's really trying to figure them out. All while kicking his legs and waving his arms like a bird. We do tummy time several times a day, but he doesn't stay on his tummy for very long because he keeps rolling over. Coop gets so excited for Austin after each roll; he cheers and claps for his sweet baby brother!