Christmas with Elijah and Ethan

A few days after Christmas cousins Elijah and Ethan came over to open up their gifts from all of us. They were in Atlanta for Christmas visiting other family and so we had Christmas with them a little late this year. The 3 older boys had fun opening gifts and playing with one another. Elijah got to feed Logan his desert and both of them really enjoyed that. We had a nice visit and will see them again on New Years day and over the weekend.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning Braden woke up, ran into our bedroom and got into bed with us. No mentioning of gifts under the tree or anything. He ran right past it without noticing anything. Travis and I got up, made his chocolate milk, and showed him the tree. The next thing we heard out of his mouth was "Take it, I gotta see what Santa brought me". I told him he had to wait until Logan got up, which was within 5 minutes of us getting up, and then we could start opening gifts. Santa brought Braden 2 Razor scooters (1 for him and 1 for Dadda, until Logan can ride), the Crayola Glow Station, the Crayola Glow Dome, the Crayola Glow Paint, and many other cool things. I think his favorite gift of them all had to be a Magic 8 Ball from Dadda. He consults the Magic 8 Ball before doing anything. It's too funny!
Logan got some cool things as well. He has some clothes now, some puffs and yogurt melts (he loves them), a bath toy, some toy trains, and a new rubber ducky. He was very happy.
After we had opened gifts and showered, Lanie and her boyfriend Michael came up for Christmas Brunch. I made French Pancakes (toast), eggs, bacon, hash brown casserole, and Lanie brought cinnamon rolls. Yum! We were stuffed!!!!! Lanie gave Braden a Dr. Seuss game and Logan got a ride / push toy. He loves playing with the little toys on it, but soon enough he will be pushing it around the house.
Later that afternoon Nay-Nay and Pop (my mom & dad) came over for Christmas dinner and gifts. Logan got a cool toy table that he can already pull up on and sit on his knees and play it. Braden got a Price is Right game for the Wii and we have played it tons of times already. They both got some clothes and other good stuff as well.

Christmas Eve

This year instead of trying to squeeze both families in one day we decided to split Christmas, that and Travis's sister, Angela, had to work Christmas day so that helped in the splitting as well. Christmas Eve afternoon we arrived at Travis's sister Angela's house and spent the day opening presents with Grandma, Grandpa, Cousin Abby, Aunt Angela, Uncle David, Grandpa's Cousin Christine and Aunt Eleneva. Braden and Logan made a killing! (Abby did too.) Braden's favorite gift from Grandma and Grandpa, I think, are his Lightening McQueen Roller Skates. He can put them on all by himself (he still cannot get his shoes on by himself) and skate around the kitchen holding onto the table. He loves it. Logan got everything a little boy who loves monkeys can get. His toy his plays with the most is his toy hamster in a ball. Thanks Grandma! Fun was had by all and the kids were ready to pass out by 3 pm.
After Christmas with the Allen family we headed off to 4:00 mass at church. We have always gone to the children's service and Braden really enjoyed watching the kids come in as Mary, Joseph, shepherds, and angels. Next year Braden will be old enough to join them. We were very lucky this year as our new bishop said mass that day. It was very nice too.
Once mass was over we were off again to my Godmother's house for Christmas Eve dinner. We have been going there for a long time. Mom doesn't even remember when we started the tradition. Braden played with Madelyn (Ryan's girlfriend's daughter). She's just a few months younger than Braden/ They had a blast playing with their toys Mary and the family got them. I didn't get a picture, but Braden was helping Maddy dress a Barbie head and fixing her hair. It was too cute!
The only picture I was able to get of the evening was of cousin Abby trying to hold Logan.

Logan is 7 month old!

I cannot believe that 7 months has gone by already! Logan is getting so big! He weights about 18 pounds now and is wearing 9 months clothes. He LOVES eating any kind of fruit, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. He absolutely cannot stand peas! He cries when we feed them to him. Poor kid, I guess we will lay off of them for now. He is crawling like a pro and he is very fast at it too! He is sitting up when he put him on the floor, but he doesn't know how to sit up himself just yet. He has 1 tooth, on the bottom left, but the bottom right one is not far behind. He has this thing with his tongue. He loves it! It uses it to feel his tooth and he always has his tongue out when he laughs. It is very hard for me to get a picture of his tooth when he always has his tongue out.

Ugly Sweater Party

Ok, our dear friend and one of Logan's Godmothers, Elaine (Lanie for short) has been wanting to have an ugly sweater party for a LONG time. She finally had the chance on Saturday (Dec. 12). Everyone was supposed to wear the ugliest sweater they could fine, holiday or not and bring a bottle of wine to share. Not only was it an ugly sweater party, but it was also a wine tasting party. Travis and I got all decked out in our sweaters. Travis wore one of my dad's along with a gold turtle neck of my dad's as well. I wore one of my mom's old Christmas sweaters that still had shoulder pads in it. I also made sure to find all of my holiday pins and jewelry to wear with it as well.
There was a contest for the ugliest sweater and . . . I won! My prize included a bottle of wine and a #1 finger ornament. We had a blast, thanks Lanie!

Our First Gingerbread House

I am pretty sure as a child I had made a gingerbread house or two, but today while Logan took his morning nap Braden and I worked on his first gingerbread house together. Ok, he pretty much licked the icing and ate the candy while I did most of the work, but he did help place some of the candy (that he didn't want to eat . . .yet). As you can see on one of the roof sides there are 3 letters. B: Braden, L: Logan, and M: Momma. This was Braden's idea and for some reason Dad was left out. Sorry Travis!
Braden enjoyed asking me every five seconds if he could lick the icing off the top, side, and walls of the house. I kept trying to explain to him that the icing was like glue. It keeps the house together and all of the candy on it. He looked at me and said in the most serious voice "Momma, you cannot eat glue and this is NOT glue it is icing. So I will eat it." He ate some of it, not all. He was very proud of his work. Next year Logan will have to help us out.

Funny photos

Friday evening after we came home from the Fantasy of Trees to rest for a bit we were back out into the Christmas festivities downtown. They had the lighting of the tree down by the movie theater and hot chocolate, plus Santa. We didn't get a chance to see Santa, we will before the holiday is over, but we did take part in the dancing (Braden did) and the hot chocolate. Here are just a few photos of the evening. The kids got free antlers, but Braden didn't want to wear his, Logan on the other hand didn't have a choice.

Fantasy of Trees

For the past 25 years one of the big events in Knoxville around Thanksgiving has been The Fantasy of Trees. This is a fund raising event for our area Children's Hospital. Local business, school and churches can decorate a tree to be purchased for various amounts of money ranging from $95 - over $1,000. It runs from the day before Thanksgiving through Thanksgiving weekend. Our Moms & Tots group at church has been decorating a tree there for the past 2 years and we have enjoyed every minute of it, plus it gets us free tickets to the event (bonus). Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Travis and I took the boys ( & we treated Nay-Nay to a free ticket as well) to a day of Christmas festive fun. Braden and Logan rode the carousel. They both made pot holders with their hand prints, Logan did his foot print. We had a blast and ran into so many friends as well. Braden enjoyed riding the carousel with his friend Gracie. Aren't they so sweet! I think someone has a crush.

Happy Thanksgiving! (A little late)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Ours was pretty nice. We hosted Travis' family at our house this year and boy were we busy getting ready. Travis cooked the turkey and it turned out very yummy! Braden and Abby had a blast playing together and were very sad to say good-bye when it was time for her to go home. We will see her at Christmas and that isn't too far away! Happy Turkey Day!

6 month check-up

Today Logan went for his 6 month check-up with shots included. He is a very healthy little guy and very cute (according to Dr. Roberts and Nurse Lou). Here we go with his stats . . .

weight : 17 lbs. 5 oz. (45%)
height : 26 inches (33%)

The poor little guy had to get his 6 month set of shots, AND his dose of the regular flu vaccine and the H1N1 (first dose). He was very upset with Nurse Lou when she was done. He just looked at her and turned his head very sharply into my neck. He was MAD at her! All was forgiven though when she and Dr. Roberts brought in bubbles and he started grabbing for them and smiling. He was all smiles by the time we left the doctor's office. We will see if he remembers when we go back in 1 month for the 2nd round of the H1N1 vaccine.

Logan is growing so fast!

Yesterday we hit a milestone at our house. Logan turned 6 months old and he has been crawling for the past week. Well, he sort of crawls. He pulls forward with his arms, pushes his knees in and hops forward. It's too funny, and he loves doing it. He gets around so well now. He turns around like a little merry go round, it's funny! He loves eating too. I mean he LOVES it! He has mastered bananas, applesauce, we are currently working on prunes. (Yum!) He goes for his 6 month check - up this coming Wednesday so I will have all of the latest stats on him then.

Hanging out with Friends

Over the weekend we attended Maureen's (one of Logan's Godmother's) 30 birthday party out in Norris, TN. I didn't get a picture of her, funny, just Braden and his new friend Atticus. Atticus's dad and I went to high school together and our boys had a blast playing with one another at the party.

Halloween Night

Elijah and Ethan came over with Pop to go Trick - or - Treating with Braden. The boys had an absolute BLAST! They ran around the neighborhood like wild things getting all the candy that they could. Braden made a killing. Ok, I know Braden doesn't look like Drew Carey anymore. He decided this evening that he didn't want to be Drew Carey because Drew Carey doesn't have a light saber. (Elijah and Ethan were Star Wars characters and they had light sabers so Braden wanted one too). First he was going to be Optimus Prime w/ a light saber, but then he wouldn't wear the mask, then I had him agree to be Captain Jack Sparrow w/ a light saber. Yay!!!!! (I've had the costume for a couple of years, thank you after Halloween sales at Target.)
Elijah was a Clone Trooper, Ethan was Darth Vader, and Braden Space Age Captain Jack Sparrow. The boys had fun with Pop and I, while Logan stayed at home with Dada handing out candy and watching the UT football game.

The Shriner's Circus

Sunday afternoon Pop treated all of us to tickets to the Shriner's Circus. I haven't been to the circus is a very long time, so it was interesting to see what all the fuss was about. Braden, Elijah, and Ethan loved it! Pop let them chose one animal to ride before the circus started. Elijah and Ethan rode the elephant and Braden rode a pony. I was very surprised that Braden wanted to ride a pony because at a birthday party the summer they had pony rides and he wouldn't even go near the pony let alone ride it. Oh well, kids change with time. Everyone had a nice time, even Logan. Logan enjoyed watching all the people and all the lights. He slept through the first part, but woke up in time for the second half.
During the Tiger act, Ethan looked over at Pop and asked him if he could ride one on the tiger's after the circus. Um . . . I don't think they'd let him do that. The boys enjoyed cotton candy, watching the clowns, acrobats, and the motorcycles on the tight ropes. I think their favorite parts were riding the animals, watching the guy get shot out of the cannon, and when Pop bought all 3 of them light up swords (light sabers). Pop better save his money. Next year there will be 4 boys to enjoy everything and ride the animals.

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Breast Cancer has hit not only our family, but our Moms & Tots family as well. Mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer back in Sept. 2002 and then just over the summer one of our moms and good friend Summer Babis was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Mom is doing well and has been cancer free for 6 1/2 yrs now. Summer is doing well with her kemo treatments and is getting better every day. She was unable to do the cancer walk with us this year, but next year she will join us. We had 7 of us walk in honor of her. I also walked in honor of my mom and Karen walked in memory of her mom. It was a cold, wet day, but we didn't care. It was a nice morning to be out and kick some cancer butt!