Merry Christmas Eve!

How exciting! Christmas Day is almost here. This morning was a little ruff, having to drag myself out of bed to come to work. Not to mention the lack of sleep because we have a little sick boy on our hands. Nothing too big yet, just appears to be a cold and a major runny nose. I cant remember the last time I had to work on Christmas Eve. I am trying not to fuss too much because I am very thankful that I have a job, even if they are making us work today. There was no traffic this morning, hardly anyone is here, the phone is not ringing and there seems to be only one client that was scheduled to come in.

BUT I am really excited that it is CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!

On my work today, I remembered we were out of Diet Coke at work and I will admit, I have an addiction to DC. I have to have my DC each day. So I decided to stop at the Spinx store to pick one up and a pack of those delicious Little Debbie chocolate donuts. Nutritious, I know. But it's Christmas time. Walking to the car, a gentleman wished me a Merry Christmas and I thought it was sweet for a stranger to say it. It just makes you love this time of the year when everyone is in good spirits.

We are leaving work at noon today in which I have to run to the store to pick up ingredients to make sausage balls (a must have for my hubby). I have several things that has to be done before we head over to my in-loves for our Christmas. One thing is we have to get Santa ready for Cohen. I know he still want really understand but a mommy can be excited. Looking forward to spending some time with our family tonight and tomorrow.

I hope that everyone has a great Christmas and enjoys every minute. But between all the fellowship with family and friends, the wonderful food that will be prepared and that perfect gift you will receive, stop for a moment to remember the real reason for this season and wish Jesus a Happy Birthday. He is the reason we are able to celebrate and have this wonderful time. And know that he loves you and is always there for you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!!!!

The family get togethers begin....

Saturday, my side of the family joined us at our house. It was a nice time to get to see everyone and spend a little bit of time together. We enjoyed great good, fellowship and of course, cant forget the gifts. This year the adults decided to draw names and just buy for the little ones. We let the two little ones go first and I have to say, it is getting a little more exciting to see Cohen's reaction to opening the gifts. I am sure it will be totally different next year. He still likes those boxes, especially the ones he can climb into. It was also a joy to see Cohen and Kayla interact together. Kayla will be turning one this coming Saturday and she is such a sweet little girl. Thank you Hardees, Nabors and Owings family for coming over and celebrating Christmas in our home. Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Tradition

As far back as I can remember, my mom always would purchase a Christmas Ornament. So I wanted to start that tradition with Cohen. Last year, being his first, I had a hard time trying to find that Baby's 1st Christmas ornament that I really liked. I did finally find something which holds a picture. I decided that every year I would buy a frame ornament to place a picture from that Christmas in. However, this year I had hard time just buying that one. So I figured it would be alright to get two. I purchased one from Pottery Barn Kids that is just a simple red rectangle with his name printed (not hanging yet until I get a picture). He has also received ornaments from his grandparents and close friends. To add to this tradition, I wanted to also pick out a special book to give him. This year I purchased his second ornament to go along with a book. Here are some that he has received.

2007....

from Mommy & Daddy

from GG & Pop, along with "The Polar Express" book

from Grandma & Papa

So far for

2008...

from Cathy & John Crabtree, along with "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book

from Mommy and Daddy, along with the "Gingerbread Friends" book

16 Months

Yesterday our adorable little boy turned 16 months old. And it seems that he has changed a lot in the past month. Few of those changes are signs of a little temper, trying to speak more words and is becoming a climber. He gets into everything and of course, you try to tell him "No" or direct him somewhere else and he thinks you are being funny. A few times it has been hard because he so darn cute and when he turns around and smiles, you just want to laugh. He now has learned the word No (it is hard, but I recommend trying to stay away from the use of that word). When you ask him a question, his little sweet voice says "no". We go to the Doctor next week for what should have been his 15 mo check up. I am anxious to see what he now weighs and the changes in his height. He is a growing little boy and it is exciting to see it each day.

Santa @ LTAT

Santa dropped by to see all the little ones but Cohen wasn't even going to attempt it. He wouldn't go near him or even allow mommy to. We tried taking a picture with me holding him sitting on Santa's lap and he just screamed. I guess it is to be expected though. But it was nice getting to see all of the other kids and hear them tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. They even received a gift from Santa. Cohen's attention seemed to be not on Santa but an adorable little girl, much older than he is of course. It appeared he took a liking to one of my dear friends and co-worker's daughter. It was so cute. He would just stand there and hold her hand. I believe he had a little crush. As far as Santa goes, again, there is always next year.

I'm ready for Christmas

The gifts are wrapped and waiting to be distributed to all the loved ones. I took this past Thursday and Friday off to finish up some vacation time and finalize my to-do list for one of our family get togethers at our house on Saturday.

Thursday, I dropped Cohen off with GG and Pops which he took a road trip to Georgia to meet his Great-Grandpa Gibson and Libby's Aunt Francis for the first time. It appeared he enjoyed himself and I am sure they were thrilled to get to meet him as well. My mom and I decided to do some shopping and spend the day together, followed by a yummy lunch at PF Changs, one of my favorite places.

Friday, I desperately needed to get some house cleaning done. I sure do wish I could stay on top of keeping it clean. Later that day, I picked Cohen up to go see Santa at my work and of course, it didn't go to well, which I figured it wouldn't but he looked adorable (pictures to follow).

The weekend turned out pretty well and also very tiring. I was glad we were able to have one of our Christmas get togethers on Saturday because it just gets so hard trying to do them in two days. And looking forward to seeing everyone else in a few days.

LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!

It took having a kid

But we finally went. A little joke between the hubby and myself. Saturday, we, along with GG and Pops, decided to head out to see the lights at Roper Mountain. On the way there, we were able to pass some houses with lights and it was funny to hear Cohen say "wow" which sounds more like "whoa". So this mommy was getting excited because I couldn't wait to hear his reaction to the Roper Mtn. lights. However, I guess all of his wows were gone because there wasn't any enthusiasm, which is OK, I have plenty more years to see it. He did however want to check out Santa at a distance. Mommy passed on the roasted marshmallows and Hot chocolate to enjoy one of her favorite treats, Cotton Candy. It surely is fun making memories even if a 15 month old want remember.


On our way, I caught a glimpse of a very well lighted house and told them that we had to come back to go look at this house. Picture isn't all that great but you get the idea. Crazy!