CHRISTMAS HAS COME AND GONE, SO HAS MY VIRGINIA FAMILY!

What a wonderful Christmas! I couldn't have asked for better. I wasn't on bed rest, I had all of my boys with me, and they had so much fun. This year Tucker really understood what was going on. He was giddy with excitement the night before as we read The Night Before Christmas.

Tucker put together a plate of cookies and milk for Santa. He even put out some magical reindeer food.

Santa came!!!

Santa ate all of his cookies, drank all of his milk, and wrote a letter back to Tucker.

Tucker loved the "Macaw" that Santa brought him. He refuses to call it a parrot, because Diego calls it a Macaw.

Some Christmas morning playtime.

Carter is getting the hang of this

Uma and Upa gave all of the grandkids Bilibos. They have over 1000 uses. We use them as a chair...

and sometimes a helmet!

The day after Christmas, my family drove up from Virginia. My Mom(Nana), Dad(Pop-Up), brother Mason(May-Make), and his girlfriend Sam. It was nice to have them all here. Nana and Pop-up stayed at a hotel nearby, and Mason and Sam stayed at our house. Tucker loved waking up May-Make every morning. Unfortunately my Dad was very sick the entire time. So was Carter, he had a bad cold and conjunctivitis and had to go to the doctor. So we haven't had very much sleep the last couple of days. Carter is feeling much better now, but Dad is still miserable and on his way back to Virginia.

Nana and Pop-Up gave Tucker his very own tool set. It has real tools inside.

May-Make loved his new tool set!

Raspberry Time!!!

Tucker enjoyed riding May-Make like a horse.

We chose the worst day in history to take Sam to see Niagara Falls. Luckily it is only 10 minutes from my house. It was so rainy and windy, but we had to show her the Falls. So we got on our rain gear and headed out the door.

May-Make, Sam, and Tucker-Man standing by the rapids leading to the Falls.

The American Falls. All of the fog and mist in the background is where the Canadian "Horseshoe" Falls are, but the weather didn't permit us to see them.

If I could just reach a little further...

The last night that they were here, we went to my in-laws for dinner. We had a great time and great food.

May-Make held Carter most of the night.

Mommy and Carter pose for a picture, before heading home for bed.

My family headed home at 4:30 this morning and are somewhere in PA as we speak. We had a great time.

We hope all of you had as special of a Christmas as we did.

SUNDAY BRUNCH WITH SANTA AND A WICKED WINTER STORM

This morning we braved the winter storm that we have been having for the last 3 days and went with our cousins the Dieterles to have brunch with Santa. Jeff took Tucker last year, but Carter and I were laying in the hospital keeping each other company. So we missed out on all of the wonderful food and seeing Santa. This was the best brunch. All of the kids were on their best behavior because Santa was watching them.

Who needs food when you have spoons?

Tucker, Gage, and Landin waited patiently for everyone to finish eating to go see Santa.

The Brunch Gang

Gage loves his little sister MacKenzie

MacKenzie did not love Santa

But Tucker had no problem telling Santa all about the soccer ball, baseball, and football he wants for Christmas.

Carter was okay for about a minute.

Then he started wailing. Look at that adorable face!

He didn't seem to mind the fake Santa.

There is a picture of a creepy little elf circulating at my in-laws house with question where it came from. I can assure you I didn't take it. But I did take this picture of a creepy little Santa.

It has just been snowing non-stop for what seems like forever. We have a boat load of snow, and it is still falling. These are from yesterday. We have probably gotten 5 more inches since then, and 5 more on the way by tomorrow morning.

Jeff LOVES his snowblower! And thank god we have one!

Next blog...CHRISTMAS!!! I can't wait.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CELEBRATING LIFE

I have a hard time around this time of year remembering that Parker and Grace are not with us to celebrate Christmas, to see what Santa left under the tree for them, and go to family parties with us. They would have been 2 years old this year and I think that they would have loved all of their new toys. I hang their ornaments on the tree for everyone to see. That even though they are not here, they are still apart of this family and we will remember them on Christmas.

This is their plaque hanging in the NICU of Sister's of Charity Hospital. Parker and Grace's Memorial Fund raised almost $6500 for the NICU and they honored my children with a beautiful plaque for all to see.

In this world loved ones pass away, and babies are born everyday. With the grief we have celebration. And today we are celebrating Hayden Christopher's birth to our dear friends Jill and Chris. He was born in the wee hours of the morning on 12/17/08. Jill and Hayden are doing great. Hayden is in the NICU being monitored for his breathing and heart rate, so we are all keeping him in our prayers. Having Parker and Grace's plaque there, helps me believe that they are watching over him. HE will hopefully be able to go to the normal nursery in the next couple of days.

Isn't he sweet! Yes, Chris and Jill let me go up and see him. I was honored!!!

He is a perfect mixture of Mommy and Daddy.

Awwww, I just want to kiss those little toesies!

Tucker and I made cut-out cookies last night. It lasted all of 20 minutes before my patience ran out, knowing I had almost 150 cookies to make and it was already 8 o'clock at night. We both had fun though, and Tucker was so proud. Not to mention, there was a lot of taste testing.

And Carter was so proud of himself today. He finally got the pop-corn toy to pop all by himself.

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

Yesterday we went to visit Santa Claus. Tucker was so excited and Carter was his usual happy self. The line was ridiculously long, but both boys (and both parents might I add) endured the crowd to sneak a peek at the man in red.

And here is Carter playing with a few of his favorite toys.

O CHRISTMAS TREE, O CHRISTMAS TREE, HOW LOVELY ARE THY BRANCHES!

This past weekend we went on our annual Christmas Tree Hunt. This year I think that we found the perfect tree. It's not too tall, not too small, not too thick, not too thin. PERFECT! Tucker really enjoyed being a part of the hunt and the decorating. He really gets it this year. I know I said that last year, but he really gets it this year. He understands that Santa comes and brings you toys if you are good. And the cutest thing...Tucker asked me how Santa is going to come through our gas fireplace. "Mommy, is Santa going to knock on the fireplace window and you can let him in to bring me toys?" OK, how cute is that?

Bundled up ready to go find our tree!

Tucker was in awe of all of the trees.

He really wanted to take the string off of the tree and watch it spread its branches.

Go Tucker Go

Daddy and Tucker going through ornaments. Tucker is only 4 years old, but we counted 12 ornaments with his name on them. He kept wondering if each one had his name on it. If it did, he had to hang it.

He even hung them up high. Although we found one branch with 10 ornaments on it.

Hey, finally a picture of me! Well, the side of my face.

We have started giving Carter a spoon to let him learn how to feed himself.

"I think I would rather use my hands."

Here are the brothers in their usual position to watch Baby Einstein.

Carter has Daddy's hat on while brushing his 2 teeth.

"I think it looks better on me than Daddy!"

"Give me the camera Mom, no more pictures!"