Christmas!

(Warning: This post is L-O-N-G, but my memory is not good these days, so I thought I better write it down.)

Where to start? This year has to be my favorite of all time! I don't know what it was...(maybe 2 little boys that live around here!), but we were IN THE SPIRIT! I loved the decorating, the cookie baking, the shopping, the wrapping...all of that was fun! Mainly, though, I LOVED teaching Sawyer about Christmas (maybe Eli picked up on something too. He definitely look like he understood about the excitement sometimes)!
We have talked A LOT about the birth of Jesus and Jesus's birthday. So, when we'd pull up to the stop light, and a candycane or Santa Claus was hanging on the light pole, I'd say, "Look! They've decorated for Jesus's birthday!" So, after a few trips to town, Sawyer would say, "LOOK, MAMA! There's a candycane for Jesus's birthday!"
How can you beat that?? Walker and I teach first grade Sunday School, so as we'd teach them about the star of Bethlehem, we'd make sure Sawyer knew all the answers too. I LOVEDDDDDDDDDDDDDD when I'd ask him a question, and he'd smile and say, "Baby Jesus, Baby Jesus!" (Y'all know what I mean!)
So...the whole thing was fun! We had "Owen" (our Elf) in our house for several weeks. He'd come flying in from the North Pole and land on a tree branch or hang from the ceiling fan. Sawyer would get up every morning on a hunt for Owen. Another highlight was the personalized message from Santa from the "portable North Pole." HOW COOL IS THAT??? Santa Claus even had a picture of Sawyer in his big book! I was impressed!

We had Christmas with the Williams in Clayton on Saturday before Christmas. All the Williams' cousins are WILD! So, Sawyer fits in perfectly! They run all over Granny Beck's house the whole time they're there. Sawyer and Eli love it! One highlight of the night was when Gracie got a Jason Aldean cd with the song, "Big Green Tractor." THANK GOODNESS Sawyer knew it well (he fit right in)! :) Some years, they may do Christmas carols, this year they did "Big Green Tractor."

for the record-Sawyer says we have 2 songs...."Mama it's our song...." One is "Big, Green Tractor" and the other "I run to you!" (just didn't want to forget that!)

We came back home Saturday night, and headed for Hartselle on Monday morning (my parents' 35th anniversary). While they went out on the town to celebrate, the Braddocks and Williams went to Huntsville to Santa's Village. It was CROWDED and COLD, but it "snowed," and they got to run around in the Christmas lights with their cousins, so it was fun!

The Brown house is FULL of grandchildren. It's fun to be there! Sawyer and Eli love Katie's girls and Caleb, so they had a ball.
Can you tell who the antagonizer of the house might be?

If ANYBODY asked Gmama what she wanted for Christmas, she'd say, "I REALLY want a dog!" (kind of in a dramatic, pitiful way!) Katie surprised her Wednesday and fulfilled her request with a precious lab/golden mix, "Lady." So, we had seven grandkids and a new puppy! :)

Eli really wishes we had a puppy like this at our house.

Another highlight for me real quick-My parents, Al & Wes, and Walker & I played Catchphrase Wednesday night...my dad was on a team with Allyson and me. We have never seen my daddy laugh as hard as he did at the answers Allyson and I were giving.....
The one that threw him over the top...His clue, "I think he said, 'Give me liberty or give me death."
My answer: (after 2 seconds) Thomas Jefferson...
He was laughing SOOOOOOOOOO HARD-I'm sure thinking what doe-doe kids I have! :) I was dying laughing too! (in my defense I took tech & Civ at Auburn!)

Gmama out did herself with gifts and food. She's REALLY good at that! Everybody got LOTS, and we went home with full tummies Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve night we put out cookies for Santa.
That was almost too much to handle, because Sawyer was bouncing off the walls at this point while I'm trying to put him in bed. I layed down with him, and he had 50 questions.
"....but how is he going to get in?"
"How do you think he's going to eat those cookies?"

Christmas morning both boys were excited! Sawyer's one request was a BIG dumptruck and Eli a little dumptruck. Santa had both boys' dumptrucks wrapped inside with a few games and their stockings. Sawyer was THRILLED with his big dumptruck. Eli liked his too. (I think.)
Santa also left a note on the tree that said there was more in the garage....They were EXCITED about what they found.

Walker is still taking time off from work right now, so I know we are all four getting spoiled having him home. It's really fun having him around. Today, Eli and Walker made tracks in the backyard on the lawn mower chasing Sawyer in the new Jeep.

I am definitely in love with these boys! I am thankful for their health, their sweet hearts and for the amount of time I am able to spend with them!
Did you know Jesus was with God since creation? As a mom, I try and relate to the sacrifice that God made when he let his son come live on Earth. Then, he let him die to save me of my sins. Thank the Lord there is a happy ending that He now sits at the right hand of God. The whole story is amazing!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ;)

THANKFUL!

I didn't want to just skip over a Thanksgiving post, so for the record-I'm THANKFUL!
I'm thankful for a 2-year-old that reminds me A LOT about how much we have to be thankful for! When we (me and Al) were camp counselors, the director told this story about working on a mission trip in Mexico. It was H-O-T down there, and when the wind blew every so often, he'd hear some of the Mexican men, say "Gracias, el Dios." They were thankful for the breeze. Anyway...the point of the message was to say that we should be thankful for the little things as well as the big.
Anyway...the story stuck with me! So, when Sawyer-man started talking, and it was 105 degrees in Enterprise, AL and the wind would blow, we'd say, "Thank you, God!" This carried over into other things too. For example, when he sees (one of his many) bruises getting better, he'll say, "Thank you, God!" I'll say, "That's right!" Or when I tell him Eli's nose is not running anymore, he'll say, "Thank you, God!" (Some things I'd just take for granted, but when he'd say it-it would make me thankful and think...Lord, thank you for a child whose bruises heal!)
Anyway...he's reminded me all year about how much I have to be thankful for! Our blessings abound!
Walker says one of his dad's favorite sayings when he was in trouble was, "I'm going to turn that attitude into an attitude of grattitude." (have y'all ever heard that?? I LOVE IT!)
Anyway...Hope you and yours had a fabulous Thanksgiving!
Our little crew of four headed to Hartselle on Tuesday. We played, shopped, ate and helped Katie move into a new(er) and improved rental house. It's a little crazy with ALL of us at my parents' house, but we all really had a good time!
THANK YOU, LORD, FOR OUR MANY BLESSINGS AND FOR BEING SO GOOD TO US!!!

Another One...Full-Speed Ahead!!

We've added a new "walker" to the family this week! My baby is WALKING! 12 months and 2 weeks into life...Eli is walking! :) He actually took his first steps the night before his first birthday party, but since then, he has really gotten the hang of it. (I guess he found out Caleb was walking and thought he better get on the ball!) The last few days he's been pulling up on something, really thinking about it, and then letting go with a destination in mind. Today, he's taken about 20 steps solo before he falls. I think that qualifies him as a full-fledge walking machine!



(The jay bird shot is for Allyson and Katie who think I never put clothes on my children.)
In other news....Did y'all know I'm raising a genius? ;) I took Eli for his 1-year checkup, and I told the doctor about how Eli WILL NOT let me feed him. He's been strictly a finger-food eater since he was 11 months old. Therefore, if it's food that requires a spoon (applesauce, yogurt, baby food, etc), we don't do it. So, anyway...at first the dr seemed concerned, but he asked a few questions like -does he walk holding onto things? -Can he say a few words? The answer to all those questions is yes, so Dr. Bang explained his guess for this is that he's developing his sense of autonomy at an early age, so he thinks Eli will either be very stubborn OR very intelligent. I'm going with choice #2 and holding onto that. After all, his head is in the 97th percentile! I told Walker about that, and he was excited and started calling him his doctor.

E's other big accomplishment was he made his FIRST trip to Auburn this past weekend (where I'm sure he'll do his undergaduate work before going on to medical school) to join his cousin and future roommate. We enjoyed our day despite not going to the game. It's just fun to be in Auburn. I LOVE that place!

Sawyer's big news is he made his farming debut. He went to Clayton a few days last week to help Walker. Walker took off work a few days to go help his dad and brother pick cotton, so Sawyer got to ride in the cotton picker AND "drive" the tractor. I wish I had pictures to share! He was even paid for his day on the job! I'm just glad they were able to pull him away and got him to come home! HE LOVED IT!ps-I ordered my first "blog book," and for those of you who are interested in, I really like mine! I used "blog2print.com" and it was EASY. I am very pleased! My only complaint is that some of the captions for my pictures did not print beside the picture, but I think that's minor. Maybe I'll get another blog book in about 5 more years.

Trick-or-Treatin'

This Halloween was probably my favorite of all time! Who knew I liked Halloween so much?? BUT...When you have a two-year-old that loves candy in general and combine that with his friends and a hayride, Sawyer was about to BURST with excitement. He was a proud cowboy and even more proud of his little cow! :) He'd say, "Awwww...Eli looks SOOOOOOOOO CUTE!"
Growing up, we never lived in a neighborhood, and I was jealous of our friends who did on Halloween. So, we took advantage of "neighborhood life" and had our friends come join us to trick-or-treat. The Woodalls graciously brought a BIG trailer-large enough for all of us and the hay. After everyone got here, I took Sawyer to the potty, and he kept saying, "All my friends came to see me trick-or-treat!!" He was beyond excited!!

Getting Ready to Go

Mickey Mouse, the cow, the cowboy, Minnie Mouse, the doctor, and WoodyWoody & his sweet mama
Tucker & Sawyer

Aren't they cute!?!

on our way to "GET MORE CANDY!"

E-li, E-li, OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

My sweet baby boy turned 1 today! He was born at 6:15 a.m. on this very day one year ago-if you'll remember my epidural did not work, so it's a crazy memorable day to me!! I am happy to say I survived the first year!! Really...I always thought in the back of my mind that Sawyer got SOOOOO MUCH easier when he turned 1, so if I could just make it (survive) until Eli turned 1, we'd be good to go! We're HERE! :) HOORAY!!

I can honestly say that this year has been one of my favorites yet! I am crazy more than half the time, and I'm always thankful to have a shower these days. I am constantly cleaning the floor or a face or some hineys, but I wouldn't trade these little doll faces that I live with for anything.
Eli Williams is SUCH a JOY and such an amazing addition to our little family. He still makes goo-goo eyes at me, and his smile is extremely contagious! He loves his brother, and the feeling is mutual. He says, "Mama" all day right now but can also say "Daddy" "bye-bye" and wave. Today he "played" with Sawyer in the sandbox, and I just watched. It was FUN!!!!!! I am definitely a proud mama!
It's crazy to think about what's in store for us this coming year and how much he's going to keep changing and growing!
Anyway...Happy Birthday, SWEET ELI!!!

We had a party to celebrate on Saturday in our backyard. I can not complain about the weather for an end of October birthday. It was chilly but nice. We had mostly family and our good friends the Woodalls over to celebrate. The party had a barnyard theme, so I made haystacks, pigs-n-a-blanket and animal crackers. We also had hotdogs, hamburgers and played several games. I made a bean bag toss and had a pin the tail on the cow game for the big kids. I enjoyed myself immensely! We don't "entertain" over here often, so when we do, I want everyone to enjoy themselves! Hope everyone that came did!

We missed the Braddocks, because sweet Julia had a fever, but we'll try again next year! A special thank you to Aunt Al. She got here on Wednesday (which I LOVED), and she helped a ton!
Here's a few pics from our party! :)

Roughies!

Katie mentioned today on her blog that her girls roughhouse...It made me want to share a video I took of my boys one day last week. I live with some rough little boys! In fact, Granny Beck who had 2 boys of her own and has 3 other grandsons said, "I've never seen a little child as rough as Sawyer." Bless Eli's Heart!!!

When Eli wakes up from his nap, he cries and says, "Eli's up, Mama. Let's go get him!" Sawyer always wants to crawl in the crib with him. I usually let him, and they play. Sometimes they'll stay in there 15 minutes laughing and playing before they yell, "MAMA!!!" They BOTH love it. Walker's mentioned that the rougher Sawyer is with Eli, the more Eli likes it. That's about the truth. I am SOOOOOO THANKFUL that these boys LOVE each other. They are DEFINITELY all boy!

They had been playing for about 10 minutes when I got my camera. Sawyer's saying, "Go baby. Go baby." He had been kicking with his feet up in the air and then Eli was copying him.
Anyway...Hope this brought a smile to someone else's face today!

I Can't Help Myself!

Here are my little pumpkins in a few pictures I took yesterday. I kind of like these boys! I may have a slight obsession, but I guess that's okay since I'm their mama! I need a lesson on how to get a good picture of a 2-year old and an 11-month old together though. This is the best I could do! :) Walker's taking off tomorrow, and the four of us are going to the zoo. I'm excited! Pictures coming soon!

By the way...When I'm not pretending I'm a passenger in Sawyer's car (that's really his bed), I've started going to Gold's Gym for aerobics these days. On Monday mornings, they have Zumba. Has anyone else done it? It is F-U-N! It's full out dancing to good music! It's too fun not to blog about! So, if there's a Gold's near you, I'd totally recommend checking it out!