Sister Wives

I took the boys to Winston-Salem to visit my sister-in-law, Helen and nieces, Anna and Mia for 2 days in the middle of January. Brooks says he's gonna marry all 3 of them, so I call them his sister wives. He can't choose just one of them, but they're happy to share him :) It was Carson's 1st overnight trip, so I was a little nervous, but he did great! Brooks on the other hand was the whiny one who cried for the last 30 minutes of our trip home. It was so nice to spend some time with the girls and to have real girl talk! I swear Helen and I save up everything until we see each other, then talk for hours. I truly cherish those talks and feel like I get some of my sanity back.

B and Mia

B, Mia, Anna and Car

Car and Anna

Snow Day, I Mean Week

We had a TON of snow during the second week of January...way more than we have had in a while! My In-Laws came down from the mountain to stay here with us and we all were snowed in for 5 days. Brian was off for a few days, so it was extra special to have him home. Some might think, "snowed in with my in-laws, ahhhh!," but it was actually awesome! I'm pretty lucky to have awesome in-laws and they love to play with the boys as much as possible, so I saw it as I had 5 days worth of babysitters! I had a cruddy sinus infection during that week too, so I actually go to take a nap...I had forgotten what that was like. Brooks had a blast playing out in the snow and Brian built our 1st igloo! At the end of that week Bri and I went out on a date! My Mom came over to watch the boys and we went to dinner and a movie. I was super excited because it had been since August 1st since we last went on an actual date! It was wonderful and we are going to try and make it happen at least once a month. Well, we'll see :)

He looked like the kid from A Christmas Story

Catching snowflakes

Playing in the igloo

Hami and Car

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Brooks was so excited and he was finally understanding that "I better be good because Buddy was watching." Buddy is our Elf on the Shelf. B totally believed that he was watching him and would report to Santa every night. If he started to act up I would say, Buddy is watching! He would immediately stop what he was doing and check to see if he really was watching...and he was! He would start being a good boy after that! Parents need something like Buddy all year long!
Christmas Eve we let the boys open one present. I started this tradition 2 years ago...and the present is always pajamas that they wear that night :) Not super exciting to a kid who's ready to tear into all of his toys, but I liked the idea. I tried to pose the boys in front of the tree for a picture, but it became really tough to get both to look at the camera at the same time! 
On Christmas morning B was up bright and early and ready to see if Santa came. He didn't wanna wait till Carson woke up, he was too excited! So I got my camera and turned on the tree lights and gave him the go-ahead. He was so happy Santa came and wanted to jump right in and play with his toys! That gave us time to eat something and get C now that he was up. (C of course had no idea today was different than all the others). Then we opened presents. B opened his and C's and tried to open all of ours too! B was ready to play with EVERYTHING, including C's presents. He wanted ALL of them opened asap! So we spent the next hour or so getting everything out and put together....oh how I miss the days when he was happy just playing with the wrapping paper!
We all got ready and headed to my parents house for lunch. We opened presents wih my parents and sister before the rest of the family came over. Once everyone arrived we ate a wonderful lunch and spent time together. Then there was more present opening, which made Brooks and his cousin Avery happy!
We headed home afterward and made a fire and relaxed while B played. I can't wait til next year when C can join in on all the fun!!

Christmas Eve picture

Daddy and C (and yes, that's a "real housewife" on the tv...it's my new vice :))

B wearing his new jammies!

Santa came :)

SO excited!

B was showing C what he got in his stocking haha!

He was tired of watching B open all of the presents

Playing with his new toy :)

Bri and C at my parents house

Brooks painted us his masterpiece

My Dad and C

B and Avery, who is 5 months older than B!

Evan, our baby cousin who is 2 months older than C!

Throwin up his gang signs haha!

Sleepy boys

Family of 4

Us, my parents, sister and grandparents

Brooks' 1st visit to Santa

I took Brooks to Roper Mountain Lights to see Santa. We parked and went through the winter wonderland to Santa's workshop. I wasn't sure how Brooks would act because he's usually scared of people dressed up in costumes (like the characters @ disney), but he just jumped right up on Santa's lap. This was his first time meeting Santa and he was SO excited he got to tell him what he wanted for Christmas! He talked and talked and Santa told him to listen to Mommy, to be good and to go to bed early. I told B he better listen to Santa! He kept telling me "I met Santa!" Then we got some hot chocolate and marshmallows to roast over the fire. After we walked around for a while, we got back in the car and drove around looking at the lights twice. He loved the lights and didn't want to leave. I see another trip there in the near future :)

The past few months...

So I've been pretty bad at blogging since Carson was born, but now that I feel like a normal human being again, I'm going to get going again! We have decided not to move to Greensboro and Brian has been back home since the 1st of November. SO relieved we're not moving because I love our house and being here with all of our friends and family! And a HUGE plus is having both of our parents here to help out with the kids :) Carson is such a blessing and a joy to be around. He smiles and talks to us all the time. That little smile just melts my heart! Brooks is the best big brother and likes to "help" when he can. He keeps saying that when C gets bigger he's going to share his toys...little does he know that he has no choice, but it's good that he wants to share them. C started sleeping through the night at 7.5 weeks. Now by sleeping through the night, I mean that he would sleep about 3-5 hours. He has had about a week of 12hr nights that were incredible!! But now its back to 7-8hrs. That is way better than I could have dreamed of...Brooks was a nightmare as a baby and never slept, so we are counting our blessings! It was hard at first to adjust to having 2 kids, but now I can't imagine it any other way! We've just been spending time with family and friends and trying to get back into the swing of things. Brooks turned 3 on November 20...I can't believe how fast the time has flown! We had a wonderful party with his friends. Then we hosted Thanksgiving at our house and had about 28 people here! It was nice to spend it with both sides of our family. Now we can't wait for Christmas!

Brooks helping to feed Carson

                                         

Me and the boys on Halloween

Brooks' 3rd Birthday

The kids eating at the party

Carson sitting next to his cousin Evan (they're only 2 months apart!)

Brooks painting a tree at the art center

Brian and I on Thanksgiving

Our niece Mia holding Carson

My sister-in-law Susan and her husband Harold (he cooked the turkey and it was AWESOME!)

Me with my 2 nieces Anna and Mia

Anna, Carson, Brooks and Mia

Me, my sis-in-law Helen and my sis Blaire

Car Car holding his head up like a big boy :)

Como was so happy to put Car to sleep :)