Merry Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas. We had Christmas with my family on Saturday in Blountville. On Sunday we went to Maryville to have Christmas with Scott's brother and sister and family. We came back to Clarksville and went to our Christmas Eve service. Scott's mom joined us. It was so nice and just what I needed to put me in the Christmas spirit after all of the traveling. Christmas morning was a lot of fun. Blake awoke at 6:00 am. I managed to hold him off until 7:00. We all got up and sure enough, Santa came. Blake's favorite toy seems to be his train table and Thomas trains. Blair was most interested in the wrapping and bows. Most of the pictures are from Christmas Eve. We took a lot of video of Christmas morning. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are blessed in the New Year.

Santa

After church today we went with our friends Heath and Kathy to "Brunch with Santa". Blake did okay. He wouldn't sit in Santa's lap but he told him he wanted toys and gave him a high five from the safety of Daddy's arms. Blair, of course, could've cared less. Although, she did grab a big fistful of Santa's beard, and yes, it is real. I have also included a picture of our friends' daughters Alison and Erin.

Playing

Blair really enjoys playing at her learning table. She is working on a top and bottom tooth.

Wounded

Poor Blake! He did a nose dive into his tent upstairs and made direct contact with the corner of the wall! He's fine but he was pretty subdued for the remainder of the morning.

Christmas Pictures

What was I thinking?? I had to bribe Blake with Smarties and Blair just kept crawling towards me and not sitting where I put her. Oh well! I think I got some good pictures. Any ideas on who Blair looks like?

Blake Having Fun on his Tricycle

Trimming the Tree

Over Thanksgiving we went to North Carolina with my Dad and Uncle Charlie to get a Christmas tree. It's something that we've done for several years and it has become a tradition. You might ask why Scott and I would get our tree in NC and then drive it all the way (5 hours) back to Middle Tennessee. Well, after seeing Christmas Tree harvesting (which begins in late October early November) in action we have deduced that if we get a tree at Thanksgiving and put it up, it will be fresh at least as long as it would be if we bought it somewhere off a lot. (Faulted logic, I am quite sure) As we were getting on the interstate with our baled Christmas tree strapped to the top of our Volvo station wagon (think Griswald's here) Scott says, "You know, one of these days something is going to happen to make us stop this." Well, this year may have been the year. About three miles into the trip the tree whips sideways on top of the car. We pull safely off to the side and manage to shove it IN the car! Blake was mortified! It was wrapped in a sheet so there were no needles in any babies eyes or anything like that. Needless to say the trucker with the pine tree shaped scent thing in his window didn't have anything on us! We made it home safely and the tree is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Thanks Daddy!

Blair the Bruiser

Blair is weighing in at a whopping 14.2 pounds these days. She has also discovered that the view from her crib is much better if she stands up! Scott went to get her this morning as this is how he found her, trying to stand and then standing--success!

Halloween

What a BIG day! Blake's class dressed up at school and they had a little party. We trick-or-treated in our neighborhood this evening. It was great! He went up to the houses, rang the bell, said "twick-or-tweat", "fank you" and "happy hawoween" in that order! I wasn't so sure how it would turn out this morning when he REFUSED to put on his hard hat and tool belt (he was Bob the Builder). When we got to school and he saw the other boys and girls dressed up he decided to put on his costume. Blair was her sweet self and went along for the ride! She is trying so hard to crawl. It won't be long before we'll be chasing two!

The Zoo

We took Blake and Blair to the zoo with our friends Dave and Heather and their little girl Molly. We had a great time. Blake loved seeing the elephants and the giraffes.

Dollywood

Last Saturday Uncle David and Aunt Harumi treated us to a day at Dollywood. My parents enjoyed some one on one time with Blair and we had a day with just Blake. We all had a great time. Blake was worn out at the end of the day. I also included a cute picture of the two of them from today. Blake loves to make sissy laugh!

Big Brothers & Little Sisters

Amy brought Caleb and little Maddie for a visit. For a few seconds we were able to get the boys still to hold (or sort of wrangle) their little sisters. It was sweet. Blake and Caleb are very good with their little sisters.

Game Day

Despite the loss to Cal. we had a great day. Blake wanted his hat and "gasses" just like daddy before we went on an early morning walk. Kathryn and Caleb came to visit. Blair and Caleb posed for some cute pictures. They didn't quite know what to think of each other. Blair watched the game on her tummy for quite awhile before SLEEPING ALL NIGHT! Yeah!

The Weaver's

We spent last weekend in Kingsport and attended a Weaver Family get together. It was the first time that Blair had met some of her cousins. We had a good time seeing everyone. Blair got very cozy on Aunt Louise's shoulder!

Aunt Becky's House

We spent a great day on the farm at Aunt Becky's with my parents, Uncle David, Aunt Harumi and Taylor. Aunt Becky gave Blake a belated birthday gift--a trampoline. He loves it! He got right on and knew just what to do. I can see this gift paying dividends in the future! Uncle David and Aunt Harumi gave him a trip to Dollywood when the weather is a little cooler. In the meantime he got a bag of M&M's. Notice him dumping them out on the trampoline and the full cheeks as he shoved them in his mouth as fast as possible before we could limit intake!