Preschool Christmas Party

On Carter’s last day of school, the whole family got to join him for a Christmas lunch. We decided not to send him back in January {for various reasons} so we made sure to say goodbye to all his little friends at the end of the party. The teachers had worked hard preparing some adorable crafts for us to take home and I have them displayed all around the house! It was bittersweet knowing that C wouldn’t be returning and as much as I thought we had made the right decision in sending him, it definitely wasn’t the right time for C to be in school. It was too long of a day for him and he was miserable. Even though it was only twice a week, he dreaded going and I couldn’t justify sending him knowing he was so upset about it. We will try again at a new school in the fall when he is three and a half, but for now my little man will stay home with me again full time. These are terrible cell phone pics, but you know I had to document the event anyway!

The Nativity handprint placemat!

Reindeer Food that we will spread next year!

It was impossible to get a group photo. This was the best I could manage :/

Baby Brigade Secret Santa

Can you believe the Baby Brigade now has 13 mommies and 22 kids? By this spring we will have 25 children. So what do you do when almost everyone RSVPs that they can make it to the holiday party? Rent a clubhouse!! On January 3rd the Baby Brigade had its third annual Secret Santa Exchange and the turnout was great. Our friend Beth rented her neighborhood clubhouse, there was a bouncy house, we ordered in pizza, and all the mommies brought in treats for us to eat! The kids were absolutely wild and even though it was a bit overwhelming with SO many in one space it worked out so much better than trying to cram into someone’s house. With a group so huge, it’s inevitable that someone won’t be able to make it but I’m glad that almost the entire group was in attendance and able to celebrate! I am also amazed that we got everyone {semi} cooperating for an updated group picture! It only took a little photoshopping on my end to ensure all the kids were included in the shot since we had a few runaways in between but with only two actual pictures to work with I’d say we did pretty good!

Top: Me, Nolan, Allison, Isabella, Carter, Krissy, Nicholas,

Halie, Kayden, Evan, Anita, Miles, Kerri

Front: Shari, Parker, Noah, Spencer, Beth, Kinley, Trenton,

Nancy, Adam, Dylan, Macey, Laurie, Aubrey, Camp, Katie, Bennett

Still hard to believe that we started with only five of us. Whoever would have guessed our group would have grown to be so huge in just three years! As always, I am so thankful for these ladies, all the kiddos, and the fact that my boys get to grow up in the greatest playgroup around ;) We even popped a bottle of champagne that morning and toasted to many more celebrations in the years to come!

Christmas 2012

As is tradition, we pretty much spent all of Christmas day opening presents! My family takes our time, with only one person opening a gift at a time so usually hours go by before we finish! This year we took a brunch and dinner break before we were through and the little boys didn’t even get to their stockings until two days later!! One of my most favorite presents was a manger my father hand crafted for my new nativity set (see below). My boys also surprised me with some gorgeous earrings. Even though I was sick, it was an amazing day with Santa Hattie & Poppy spoiling all the kids, big and small!

A precious reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2012

This Christmas was extra special because we were able to celebrate as a family of four! It was so much fun to include Nolan in all our yearly traditions and I think he enjoyed getting lots of attention and snuggles! We had a slow start to the morning running a few last minute errands while the boys napped in the car but then spent the afternoon hanging out at my parent’s house and watching the kids play before church. That evening we donned our nicer clothes and attended service at Johns Creek UMC. I spent a good portion of the sermon pacing the hallways with baby N but the message was great. I really love that we were all able to go to church together and even though it meant sitting in the overflow room instead of the actual sanctuary, it was a nice way to kick off the night and get our hearts in the right place! After church we headed back to my parents and prepared our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of shrimp and pesto pasta. We opened our pajamas from Santa but then just like last year we all decided to go to sleep and save the rest of the presents for the morning!

Ryan, Nathan, Kristin, Alex, Alan, Carter, Lincoln

Poppy, Nolan, Hattie, and Me

Family Playtime

Love my boys! And love nights when we’re all home together!