Merry Christmas

The baking is done,


The stockings are hung,


The presents are under the tree.


We have no turtle doves,
But we send you our love,
And hope your Christmas is merry!

Fire Trucks & Dogs

One of our sweet little friends from church ( & her mom) had a fun event last week. They invited us to tour the local fire station and then have lunch at their house! About 20 kids and their moms had a blast as we explored and learned.

The fireman and all of his gear

An attempt at a family picture with the truck. Apparently I was the only one interested.

Josiah was more scared than excited about being so close to a fire truck that day, but now he can't stop talking about it. I bet it will be fun to do again in a year or so.

And now for the dog...

Everyone knows that Bella drives us crazy sometimes. But, every time we think about how life without her would be a little easier, we get reminded that she is truly a part of the family. I walked into the living room the other day to find this...

They were just standing there, looking out the window, Siah's arm around Bella. Siah just loves to hug her and Bella actually stands still and lets him! Oh...a boy and his dog.

Photo Shoot

We had an impromptu photo shoot of the little guys last Sunday in their church attire.

If we were sending out Christmas cards, we would use one of these, but since we already sent out birth announcements this year we're not doing Christmas cards.

So...let's pretend...

You go to the mailbox. "Oh look! A card from that great Wood family. I can't wait to open it and see what they're up to these days." You excitedly tear open the envelope. "Wow! What a sweet picture of those dear, well-behaved, always cheerful boys. Their home is clearly a calm, organized, happy place where only lovely words are spoken. Andy & Amy apparently have this parenting thing totally under control. I'm so glad to have gotten this Christmas card!"

Well friends, obviously your above statements are completely accurate. And we didn't even have to send a card to prove it!

Truthfully, the past few weeks have been a constant reminder of how helpless we are and how much we need Jesus (funny how kids bring you to the end of yourself soooo quickly). We hope you have a joyous Advent season!

This is what happens...

When you leave a 2-year-old alone for TWO minutes with some markers...

Literally...we were coloring a little craft that came with 3 little markers. I left the room for two minutes to change Cooper's diaper and came back to this. Siah was so proud of his artwork!

Advent

It's hard to believe the first week of Advent is almost over! This is one of my favorite times of year - I love the excitement and hope as we prepare for Christmas. We are establishing some traditions in our little family and are using an Advent Devotional this year that was created by another Raleigh PCA church. It has been great!
You can find it here - http://www.ctkraleigh.org/advent/

We also pulled out Josiah's little nativity set on Sunday. If you remember last year, he was mostly interested in the donkey. I was curious to see what would capture his attention this year! Well, in 2-year-old boy style, here's what happened.

We set up everything. He correctly identified Baby Jesus, the shepherds and the animals. We talked about Mary & Joseph, the angel, and the star over the stable. It was a delightful Norman Rockwell-esque picture of a child learning and playing. Then it got violent. Mary body-slammed one of the sheep off the table. A shepherd threw the cow overboard. The donkey started pulling Joseph around in its cart. The angel was pressed NONSTOP to play "O little town of Bethlehem". Next everyone took a spin in Josiah's cement mixer. After dinner I found this sight...

Apparently the entire crew needed a ride in the fire truck. Awesome. So I guess we'll be looking for pieces of the nativity all over the house for the next month. At least he enjoys playing with them!

Yes, We're Still Here

Yes, the Wood Family is still alive and kickin', just not blogging! We've had a busy month full of a baptism, a birthday, teething, colds, ear infections, entertaining, traveling, Pampered Chef parties, turkey eating, online Black Friday shopping, and more colds. In the midst of all of that, I haven't taken hardly any pictures! The above shot is from our gerbera daisy plant that is blooming like crazy right now. Andy & Josiah got it for me for Mother's Day and apparently it loves its little corner of the garden.

I promise to be better about updating y'all on happenings at Casa de Wood. Thank you for your faithful reading!

Cereal & Camels

It has been an exciting weekend here at Casa de Wood. Cooper started eating rice cereal! And, to no one's surprise, he loves it! Here are some pictures from the first rice cereal experience...

The first night he ate just a few spoonfuls and most of the cereal ended up outside of his mouth. The next night, he was ready and seemed to know what to do with the spoon, swallowing, etc. Now I cannot get the cereal in fast enough!

At this point you may be wondering what cereal has to do with camels. Well, they're unrelated but this story was too funny not to share. Josiah has a stuffed camel that he has decided is his favorite this week. He now sleeps with it and carries it all over the house. The camel has a tag sewn onto the bottom of one of its feet (hooves?) with the manufacturer's name on it. Josiah came to me (Amy) the other day with a question and here is the subsequent conversation:

Siah: "Mommy, what does this say?" (pointing to foot/hoof tag)
Me: "That tells us who made the camel"
Siah: "God made the camel. This says God"
Me: "Well, actually (long pause, do I really explain all of this?) ...yes Siah, you're right, that says God"
Siah: Yeah! (runs away with camel)

So I guess we'll have to explain later that Fred or whoever made the camel is not in fact God, but for now that answer is sufficient. Oh, that boy makes me laugh!

Cooper is 4 Months Old!

Cooper has reached the ripe old age of 4 months, as of this past Monday, November 2nd. He had his check-up at the doctor yesterday and is doing well!

He currently weighs 13 lbs 12 ozs and is 24.5 inches long, putting him in the 30th percentile for both height and weight. Even though he started out bigger than Josiah at birth, he's smaller than Siah was at 4 months. He's currently obsessed with his feet and trying to get his entire hand into his mouth. He is almost rolling over and his legs are moving constantly. I think he may be our little speedster!

Cooper's Baptism Weekend

"For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."
Acts 2:39

Cooper was baptized this past Sunday and we made it a weekend-long celebration! We were able to spend time with lots of family and had a great time.

Gram & Pop Wood with all of their grandchildren

The cousins - now why would we think it was hard to get 4 kids ages 3 and under to sit still and look at a camera?!?


Photo shoot in the christening gown. Both Amy's male cousins were baptized in this gown and now Josiah & Cooper have both worn it!

Mimi & Papa with Cooper

An attempt at a family picture...Josiah sure looks grumpy!

Gram & Pop with Cooper at the church

Recent Pics

It's been a full week here at Casa de Wood. We're having lots of fun, but are definitely ready for the weekend (not that it will be any slower)! Here are a few pictures from the past week.


Some brother pictures from last weekend

In case you were wondering what bath time looks like at our house...

And Cooper's big smile

Brothers Gotta Hug

During our last afternoon at the beach, Andy & I ran out on the porch to watch a crazy thunderstorm that was rolling in. When we returned inside, this is what we found!

Josiah loves Cooper and especially loves giving him hugs. He is usually sweet with him, although we constantly find ourselves saying "give short hugs" and "be gentle". Just recently, Cooper has become very interested in watching his older brother and giving him great smiles. It's so fun!

We were both trying to take pictures and of course Andy got the best one on his iPhone, which isn't the greatest quality, but you get the idea :)

Soon I'm sure we'll be saying "quit wrestling" and "don't hit your brother with that baseball bat", so for now we'll enjoy the hugs.

Beach in October

YAY for last-minute trips, friends with time shares at the beach, and awesome weather in October!

Some friends from our church have a time share at the beach that they were only able to use for part of the week. So...we had the great fortune to use it for a few days! It was an oceanfront "villa" in a resort and was fantastic - plenty of room, a fabulous view of the ocean, lots of sand to dig in, pools to splash in, and even a Starbucks downstairs. The weather was fabulous - sunny and in the upper 80's!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, Josiah LOVES the beach. When I told him we were going he started jumping up and down and spinning in circles. Personally, I think that in order to make him truly happy, someone in the family needs to purchase a beach house (hint, hint grandparents) or offer us a job at the beach. I mean, is there ever too much to ask for the sake of a child? I digress.

I was able to eat breakfast both mornings on the porch overlooking the ocean as the sun came up. Here is my wonderful breakfast date, and the reason we were eating so early. He just couldn't sleep past 6:30 am when there was digging to do and waves to jump.

Our View

One of the pools had a slide that Andy was able to ride with Josiah. I think they must have slid down at least 1,000 times. You can see the pure joy on their faces.

And here is what sweet Cooper did while we hung out at the pool. Who doesn't love a good nap poolside in a shady lounge chair?!?

Our time there was sweet and of course too short. I did get an hour by myself on the sand, thanks to my wonderful husband. Just dozing in the sun and staring at the ocean. Perhaps it will sustain me until next summer!

Blessings

Cooper is blessed to have 4 great-grandparents around to love on him. This past weekend, we were able to take him to meet 2 of his great-grandmothers.

Here he is laughing with Great-Grandma Jean Wood

He also got some cuddle time with Great-Grandmommie Rickman

We love y'all!

And some exciting news...Trader Joe's is coming to our area on October 30th!!!

24 days and counting...