We're Back!

WHEW! After traveling for 2 weeks, we are so thankful to be back home! We had a fantastic Christmas...we saw MANY relatives, got some much needed TLC from both of our families, and even went to Oklahoma for a wedding. Everything was fun, but it's great to be home. Hopefully we'll get back into some sort of routine this week. Meanwhile, here are some Christmas pics for you to enjoy...

He looks ready for the arctic, but it was actually fairly warm here on Christmas Eve & Christmas day...



Our attempt at a family shot. At least you see a true depiction!



Our first Christmas morning at home! We woke up in our own beds, each opened a present, and then got on the road...it was still nice to wake up here. Josiah is fairly obsessed with guitars, so he got his own! Daddy showed him how to use it and now he's a pro.



Josiah & cousin Campbell got to play ALL day on Christmas...they had a blast and even shared fairly well for toddlers.



There are thousands of pictures, but these will do for now.
Wedding pictures to come later this week!

Oh, and baby news, for all those who have asked: I'm 14 weeks along, we're due July 7th, and we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl on February 2nd!

Siah's Video

It's December 22nd, technically 3 days until Christmas...

Our stockings are not hung by the chimney with care, because I never got around to making them.

We just finished shopping today. Nothing is wrapped.

Goodies have yet to be baked for friends and neighbors.

No Christmas cards have been sent.

Why am I not on top of my Christmas game?

Here's why...(watch video, turn up sound)

I have no idea

Seriously, we have no idea where he comes up with this stuff. Andy & I do not walk around the house with plastic tubs on our heads, I promise. One day, Josiah was playing in the tupperware cabinet and came running into the other room with this...he was so proud of himself! I don't know how it stayed on his head, but he got it to stick.

We have quite a little character on our hands!

Christmas is Coming!

To our faithful readers...

Thank you for checking the blog, even though I haven't posted in eons. We've been busy doing Christmas-y things around here and there just hasn't been time to load pictures and come up with witty postings. I would say that I promise to be better, but that would be lying, at least for the next month or so. So, I'll just post when I can!

Josiah is at such a fun age right now and it's been a treat to teach him (attempt to teach him) about Advent and Christmas. It's great to watch him as he sees lights and Christmas trees and everything else for the first time!

One of those new things is a Fisher-Price Nativity Set that Josiah got for Advent. It arrived via UPS during his nap one day, so I set it up nicely on the coffee table, with visions of him playing with all the characters and putting them in their places around the stable. Not so...here is what happened when toddler King Kong disrupted peaceful Bethlehem...



We're trying to use it to teach him about Mary, Joseph, & Baby Jesus. About the shepherds, angels, and wise men. So far, his favorite is the donkey pulling a cart. This donkey goes "vroom, vroom" all over the house and has given rides to all of the other people and animals. Now he even points out the donkey in any Christmas story we read. At least he knows something about the Christmas story!

Thanksgiving Nibbles

I have been a photography slacker recently! Our lives are full of fun events and travels and I am currently failing to document them properly. For example, we traveled around Virginia and saw all sorts of relatives & friends, and I came away with about 10 pictures. Shame on me...

So, here are some Thanksgiving "nibbles" - a few shots of what we did.

Andy & I hosted a "Practice Thanksgiving" on the Saturday prior to the actual turkey day. We invited a bunch of young couples/families from the church and had a great time! Here is our table for 30...

And no, that is not our house. We ended up having the party at the church, due to the large turnout :)

Then it was off to VA for a week of visiting family and friends. We got to meet our new nephew - Seth - on his 2 week birthday! I forget how small newborns are...

Proud Uncle Andy getting some cuddle time

The 3 kiddos - Josiah and Campbell played together all day and had a blast!

Josiah and Papa (Amy's dad) played cars & trains constantly while we were there. He would wake up and want to play first thing! One morning, he didn't even let Papa eat breakfast, it was straight to the cars. Here are some shots of that morning...somehow Papa snuck out of the picture. I think he was still in his pj's.

Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving - let the Christmas festivities begin!

Oh, Boy

Our little boy is ALL BOY and getting more adventurous every day. We've been outside a lot recently, enjoying the crisp fall weather. He ALWAYS has 2 sticks in his hands, inevitably bigger than he is. He digs, rakes, and fights bushes with them.

He has recently become a climber. Auntie AK, have you been teaching him bad habits from a distance? Tonight after dinner, he decided it would be much more fun to stand on his Mickey Mouse fire truck than to push it or ride it sitting down. I, of course, let him stand on it (after making sure he wouldn't fall on anything hard) and laughed the entire time. He was so proud of himself!

I'm King of the World!

I can stand and still push all of the buttons

Look, Mom, I can ride it backwards

Oh, what adventures await us!

Charleston Visit

Last weekend we finally got down to Charleston to visit some great friends. The Clarks became South Carolinians a little over a year ago and it was so fun to see their home, their new city, and of course just be with them for a few days...

We went to the aquarium - a first for Josiah! It's right on the water and is a beautiful facility.

The weather was great and we played outside a lot . Coleman showed us all how to play baseball. We batted, ran the bases, fielded, and cheered.

Josiah learning how to bat.

Running the bases, with Coleman and Bella in hot pursuit!

We also got to see Coleman in action on the soccer field...they were amazingly good for 5-year-olds.

After the game we headed downtown to the Farmer's Market, where we ate yummy crepes, wrestled and played with dogs in the city square, and people-watched.


Then it was off to the College of Charleston for a quick tour!


Thank you, Clarks, for a fun weekend! Somehow I managed to only get pictures of your cute kiddo...next time we'll get one with all of you...sorry!