The Rest of December

December is full of fun, but I'm pretty sure everyone would agree it is a bit of a crazy month. So, here are a few moments I never got a chance to tell you about.

Gingerbread House decorating (again, sans shirt)

Playing Elefun with cousin Emi

My tech guys: Jack with the iPad, Sam with Jack's LeapPad & Josh checking out Angry Birds.

"Mom, look! We made a bus!"

Taking in some hoops and rooting for the Bulldogs with Mema.

Boo Boo update

In case you were wondering, the boys are all on the mend from their pair of post-Christmas boo boos. You may remember Jack's happened the day after Christmas just a couple hours after Josh had left for his shift in the ER. Thankfully, daddy was able to find time for a VIP and get Jack patched up with a little derma bond (super glue for skin). About 24 hours later, we were hosting Josh's cousin and his family who were in town from New York for the holidays. Sam apparently thought he'd been accident free for a few too many days and catapulted into a door, splitting his sweet little forehead open. But as you can see from the photos below, they are both recovering nicely.

And how on earth did I manage to have these two bathed, in pajamas and eating dinner all before daddy got home? Extreme motivation...it was date night, and the babysitter was on the way.

A Whole Lot of Christmas (part 3)

Christmas morning arrived bright and early for Spiderman-clad Jack. I feel like my parents must have a dozen photos of me looking exactly like this on Christmas morning. Sam was still snoozing, so we got to experience the excitement of Santa's bounty twice. Jack was excited to see Santa had brought the big boy bike he requested, but was even more excited about the treasures his stocking held. The airplane set Santa left was also a hit. Jack also loved his helicopter, ice cream cone set and Batman Cave, his gifts from Mommy & Daddy.

Soon Sam was up and ready to see if he'd made the nice list. He loved the Weebles Treehouse and McQueen tent and tunnel from Santa. Sam was totally disinterested in opening any gifts, but did love the Ring Pop he found in his stocking. He kept saying, "candy paci." Later Mema & Pop (my parents) came up to see what Santa had delivered. It was a fun day full of sweet memories of two excited boys.

A Whole Lot of Christmas (part 2)

So, our Christmas fun with family continued on Christmas Eve with a big breakfast. Josh's family were on their way back home and my family arrived. So, we all enjoyed a big, tasty breakfast before the Garrett clan left. Shortly after our breakfast settled, there was more gift exchanging...

So many pretty packages...

His very own cash register. Ding, ding!

One of Sam's favorite gifts: his very own Molly pup. Named after Uncle John & Aunt Lisa's sweet dog. Hoping this will teach Sam to be more loving (and less torturous) to the real Molly!

Lisa's crafty wrapping included stamps. Maybe Jack could help out next year?

So true.

"Mom, take my picture with my tower!"

Speaking of towers, this one is coming down! The big blocks are a hit, Uncle John & Aunt Lisa!

Later that evening we all headed to my grandparent's house just outside of Athens for our annual Christmas Eve feast with extended family. The gathering is a tradition, but the menu is anything but. Featuring low country boil, fried shrimp, hushpuppies and fries, it's definitely not your typical ham and turkey. It's always a house full when we get together, and all the great grandkids make it a fun time. Here they are all patiently waiting their gift to open.

Everyone, except Sam, who couldn't care less about opening a present. He is much too busy to sit down and open something!

Shortly after the gift opening it was pajama time. We loaded our boys up and headed home. The boys watched Elf on the way home, and the last thing we did before turning in for the night was put out the cookies we made for Santa and strawberry milk (as Jack requested).

Stay tuned for the final installment of Christmas. Part 3 coming soon!

A Whole Lot of Christmas (part 1)

Christmas has come and gone, and I managed to get almost all my decorations packed away before 2012 rolled in. In my book, that's a huge accomplishment. Everyone knows how un-fun it is to put the decor away. While the decorations were still up though we had plenty of Christmas fun.

We started by hosting Josh's family for a couple of days. After we had tucked the kids in bed (much too late) on the night they arrived, we decided to go ahead and exchange gifts with one another. I'm sure some of it had to be with the late hour, and the rest you can blame of just being a family that loves to laugh, but we really enjoyed ourselves. There was much silliness involved...

Grandmommy got a real kick out of her very own pink pom-pom gloves!

And Aunt Kristy has a great sweater now for her growing neck. This was purchased at a giraffe super store :)

Who has the warmest head and ears around? Grandaddy!

We started the next day with an incredible breakfast at Natalie Jane's in Clarkesville. The poor boys were so ready to finish and get back to open their gifts. They were incredibly patient, and they were not disappointed once the fun began...

"What is it, Sean??" Jack even managed to do okay with taking turns.

Ready to explore with his very own binoculars!

Jack was soooo excited about his "iPad" from Aunt Cindy's crew.

Sam loved this rockin' Elmo and ALL his instruments...once we convinced him to actually open some gifts!

The big reveal felt a little like the Showcase Showdown from the Price is Right! They jumped in immediately!

Sam didn't know exactly where the seat was. Lounging in the floorboard with his arm up. I was hysterical at how comical he was.

Oh, look someone showed Sam where to sit, and not a moment too soon...

Hey, wait a minute!? Shouldn't this steering wheel be attached??

Sean & Jack breaking a sweat with the wii. Jack was too hot to wear a shirt apparently.

I have no idea what they were playing, but they were into it for sure!

Our Christmas dinner spread. It was even better than it looks in this photo.

Sweet potatoes were a hit...especially at the kids' table!

Stay tuned for part 2.

Merry merry

It was an incredibly merry Christmas at the Garrett household. I'd like to upload a bunch of wonderful photos from our celebrations with family this weekend, but I'm in full recovery mode already. I'm busy trying to sort through the cardboard jungle, organize all the new toy instruction guides, downsize the enormous baked goods/sweets collection that has accumulated over the last several days, prepare for one more set of visitors and host a post-production party. So, for now, you'll just have to trust me when I say it was a very merry Christmas for us. Hope the same was true for you and yours!

Oh, and almost forgot to mention a visit to see Daddy at the ER tonight, and unfortunately it was not for mere fun! Jack took a tumble and went flying towrds the ground, but the first thing to hit was his face on the corner of the keyboard tray of the computer desk. Thankfully, a little glue is all Josh thought it needed, and Jack was incredibly brave and didn't cry at all while Dad preformed his magic.

Remember that time...

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to take Jack ice skating as they set up a rink at our local park. I wasn't sure if he'd like it, but he gave it a whirl. He kept saying, "I can do it, mommy!" He liked holding onto the side so he could do it alone. He said several times, "Ice skating is slippery!"

Since that night, he's said on a number of occasions, "Remember that time we went ice skating? That was fun!"

Whirlwind in the Windy City

Want to know what I did this weekend? Well, it's a long story, but that's why you're here, right? I got a call Thursday morning from a friend who had gathered some buddy pass plane tickets from her family and hoped to pull a girls' weekend in New York together for fun and to celebrate her birthday. For those that have been, you know New York City can be a magical place. But, NYC at Christmas is beyond magical. I've been to NYC a few times and one of those was in December. It truly turns you into a child as you gaze with wide-eyes at the winter wonderland surrounding you. So, I was excited about the opportunity to see the Big Apple at Christmas with some of my greatest friends and fellow mommies. We all needed a weekend away. After my sweet hubby convinced me that I wouldn't be messing up anything and that it would be a perfect weekend to be away since he'd be mostly working and trying to sleep. Thankfully, my mom & dad were willing to look after the boys all weekend, which I greatly appreciated!

On Friday afternoon, the chances of all of us getting on a Saturday morning flight to NYC looked iffy at best. So, spur of the moment we decided to change our itinerary to Chicago. We left Habersham pretty early Saturday morning. All five of us managed to get on a 7:25 flight. By 9:30 a.m. (central time), we were stepping out of a cab onto the streets of Chicago exploring the city in a beautiful snowfall. We crammed as much fun as we could into our 30+ hours in the Windy City.

Huge thanks to my husband who encouraged me to take advantage of the opportunity. Big thanks to my mom & dad who gladly took care of the boys all weekend. Enormous thanks to my sweet friend, Katie, for the invite. It will be hard to top this birthday celebration, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try!?!

22 & a Talker

Dear Sam,
You just hit the 22-month mark last week and are quite the conversationalist these days. I don't want to forget all these wonderfully cute and incredibly hilarious things you come up with. So, I'll do my best to record them here. We really never know what will come out of your mouth.

You were right alongside me the morning I put the Christmas trees up, but you & brother were both napping when I finally managed to get ornaments put on the following day. You had already impressed me the day before by repeating after me, "Kissmas Tree!" On the way down the stairs after nap, you said excitedly, "Kissmas tree!" When I took you in for a closer look, you turned to me and said, "I wove it!" I was so tickled, that you just kept saying it over and over again. Now, it's part of your bit. If you want to make me or your daddy laugh you just say, "Kissmas tree. I wove it!"

Your other favorite phrases:
"Bubba. Stop!"
"Daddy truck!"
"Choo choo outside," which today developed into "Choo choo outside. Scare. Wowd!" I heard a train approaching when we were in downtown Cornelia this afternoon, I hurried to get down to one of the stop signs by the track. You love trains, so I rolled down the window. Well, a horn sounds a lot more appealing from 3/4 of a mile away. From 50 feet away, it is apparently terrifying! You burst into tears. So, now it's "Choo choo outside. Scare. Wowd!"

You love to brush your teeth and prefer your big brother's toothpaste. "Bubba toothpaste, peas!" Your favorite bedtime stories are your VBS photo album, which you affectionately call your "Addy Book" (for all the pics of Ali Harris), and your "Monkey book." Your dad and I were impressed by how quickly you've learned to recognize the numbers on each page. You also like to do the silly voice of the doctor on the phone with the monkey mama, it sounds like this "No mwuh wah dah wah bah yah BED!"

Last week, we were just hanging around and someone said something about Sunday. You immediately said, "Muhday...Tueday...Whenday...Thurday!"

You're still a couple months shy of two years, and I can't remember your brother knowing anything about a single cartoon character at this age. You on the other hand are a huge fan of "Coos Coos" a.k.a. Blue's Clues and Cars. You love "Queen" and "Mater!" When it's time for bed you know we have to put "Queen Baket!" (in the basket.) I started keeping the basket on the gated staircase so you can only reach in and grab a few at a time because you and Jack kept dumping the whole basket out. Lately, you've managed to talk brother into letting you on the stairs, but you usually just line up your cars until the step is completely full.

You know that Santa says "Ho ho ho!" and your two favorite songs are "Jesus Loves Me" and "We will rock you." You sing them both with great enthusiasm. Sometimes in the car you will just start yelling, "Jesus Song!"

You will try just about anything food wise and like most of what you try, with the exception of pastas. You love to eat "cacakes" on the "choo choo plate!" (Pancakes on the Thomas the tank engine plate.) You also love bacon morning, noon or night...you don't care. You call it "bay bay," which I hope stays around for a while.

Your big brother is really starting to enjoy your company. You don't always enjoy his. Jack loves to play with you, but sometimes you'd just rather play with your cars alone. Try to be patient with him. He's still figuring this big brother thing out. Jack likes teaching you new tricks, which mommy and daddy don't always approve of. He doesn't mind sharing his popcorn, ice cream cone and other snacks with you. Sharing his chocolate milk is a different story...

Thanks for treating everyone around you to so much fun. We love your sweet smile and silly phrases. I really love the "hungs" you've started giving. You can squeeze my neck anytime!

Love,
Mommy