Happy New Year!

2012 flew by for us, and 2013 promises to be an exciting year for our family! We had a fun night with friends tonight...

6:30 pm - Let's get this party started... by taking a nap!

With his best buddy "Mamie" (Amy)

Being Silly

New word for the night - "snake!" He liked it as long as it was in the cage (he takes after mommy on that!)

Happy New Year!!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was as busy as Christmas Eve - we had our traditional breakfast with friends, then we had family dinner. E opened his presents in shifts because he wouldn't stop playing with things to open the next present.

First look at the tree:

The flashlight was the favorite - we barely got past it! 

Workbench - a joint effort by Papa, Daddy, and Mommy!  :)

He had to try out the race track!

 New jammies, new slippers, and new backpack! He had a great time playing with friends at breakfast!

He loves Aunt Toni's soft carpet! A cool cell phone from Maw Maw.

Playing with his new "choo choo"

Christmas Eve

We always seem to pack in lots of things on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm so grateful to have family and adopted family to spend time together and make memories. We had a busy day today, starting with spoiling - I mean breakfast and presents - at Gigi's house. After that, we drove to Raleigh to pull a J&J. They both have to work today and tomorrow so we surprised them at the hospital with goodies. E loved the play area on their children's floor. And he loved seeing his aunts! Tonight, he opened his jammies and we're all ready for the big day tomorrow! As I looked at him laying there, I realized how blessed we are to have such a sweet, loving boy. We're also blessed to have so many people who love our family.

Friends

The last few weeks I have been so grateful for my wonderful friends who have helped out while we have taken turns being sick with one thing or another. On Friday, J&J surprised me by being in my driveway when I got home from work. My bah humbug mood immediately lifted and E was a perfect angel for his "aunts." I was able to get some important errands done, and we had a great time too. One of the highlights was E walking around in Jenn's shoes. It was hilarious!

Christmas

We finally got the tree up and Emmett is fascinated with it. He loves when we turn on the lights and he loves the ornaments with photos. But what makes me happiest is how much he loves playing with his toy nativity set and the magnet set from Grammy. We're trying to have a simple, Christ-centered Christmas this year, without all the hoopla. It feels so much happier and much less stressful!