Happy Birthday Sophia!

We celebrated Sophia's 2nd birthday last night with close family in our home. She had a better time opening presents this year than her first birthday. And Chasen was better at letting her open the presents, though he insisited that she open up and share her PEZ candy! She filled up on the appetizer crackers and missed out on the homemade lasagna that I made. But, she had some for lunch today so she's now in my lasagna fan club! Yesterday started a lot of changes for our baby girl. We swithed her crib to a toddler bed so she now has the freedom to get in/out of bed. This is good and bad. She's had the toddler bed for 2 nights now, and she's ended up in our bed both of those nights! We had to lock all of the doors last night so she would finally go to bed. But she ended up crawling in with us about 3am after all when she found the door open. We also stopped all bottle use-yes we are a year overdue for this one. But she loved the bottles so much! It has been difficult, but she will have to adjust. I've had about 5 sippy cups thrown in anger at me today. That's a few less than were thrown at me yesterday so we are getting better! Just wait, another few months and we will have to start potty training!

Christmas time is here!

What a great Christmas! Chasen was so excited about Santa coming this year. We made a gingerbread house to show off to Santa and left him lots of cookies and milk. Chasen tried to stay up, which was not too fun for me. But he missed Santa, he must have come while we were sleeping! This year was a Star Wars theme. Chasen got Darth Vader toys and books. Sophia got her first real doll and both kids now have fake gerbils to play with! We went over the Millers for brunch and the Thompsons for dinner. I think Sophia's favorite present was the pretty pink tutu dress from the Millers. And Chasen's favorite gift was the magic set from the Thompsons. We have been hearing a lot of "abrakadabra" around the house! Thanks everyone! Ho ho ho!

Christmas fun...

I had to post these pictures, just to prove that we did a few things Christmas-y! We went to "Cookies and Carols" at my parents' church last Sunday. There were more cookies than carols for us! Sophia screamed her carols which was a bit funny and embarassing all at the same time. We then went to the church we have been attending for their Christmas concert. The nursery didn't work out so we had to watch the kids during the performance. Peace on earth, peace on earth, peace on earth....... All in all in was a pretty chaotic Christmas adventure but at least we can say we tried!

Our kids belong in a zoo!

Zoo Atlanta that is! This week has not been the picture-perfect Christmas break I had imagined. The rain really made the days long and a bit boring. Our family needed an outing so we took advantage of an early Christmas present from my parents-Member passes to Zoo Atlanta! The weather was in the 60's so it was pretty nice out and there weren't a lot of people at the zoo. So we were able to see the animals without having to fight crowds or wait in line. The zoo is great for families. We can park for free and bring in our own food! We look forward to our future year as zoo members, surely when it's spring and they are in full swing again!

Santa's video to Chasen

Santa's video to Chasen

2 for 1

Consider this 2 Christmas blogs, all rolled into 1 for your holiday convienance!

At the beginning of the Christmas season, we went with my family to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for their "Garden of Lights" show. It wasn't too cold (which is becoming the norm for this Georgia December) and was a nice experience for the kids. The gardens were lit up with different types of lights and Christmas decor. It just made Justin and I realize how badly we wanted to see the garden in the springtime! Justin has really gotten into gardening and he was curious about a lot of the plants. But it's hard to see the plants in the dark! The kids had a good time, though we know in the future that we need to hit McDonalds before we go! We paid $30 for soup and water! Lesson learned....

We have also been to visit Santa. Right before we got into the car to go see Santa Chasen scratched Sophia in the face with one of his toys (on purpose). We were so upset! I mean come on-family picture time and Sophia looked like she had been attacked by Wolverine! So, we told Chasen that he might have made his way to the "naughty list" for that one. When he saw Santa he was shy at first. But then he got in his lap and told him the toys he wanted, such as a Star Wars light sabor. He then told Santa "I'm on your list- the naughty one"! Santa asked if he could be good until Christmas and Chasen said he could. (No comment on if that has happended). He then had a counseling session with Santa about how hard it was to be a big brother. He told Santa that he didn't think that Sophia liked him because she hit, pinched, and bit. This is all true, but I think babys don't qualify for the naughty list so she might recieve some toys this year afterall!

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