Meeting Santa- 2011!

Many people have told me that last year's Santa picture was the "best one EVER!!!". This is not because it was actually the greatest picture ever taken with Santa, but instead it was because my children were absolutely terrified of Santa, and the picture captured the true essence of the moment :).

This year, we had higher expectations. Trey is a little bit older, Carrington is extremely friendly, and Santa brings presents (which Trey is acutely aware of). We got dressed in our "Santa best" and headed over to Bass Pro Shops to meet Santa. When we got there, Santa was going on a break, so we decided to grab some dinner and try again in about 30 minutes. This was our first mistake. By the time we got back from eating dinner in the food court, the Santa line was 2 hours long, and you needed a ticket to "get in". What?!?! 30 minutes prior to this chaos, the store had been empty! At this point, it was 7:30pm, the kids were getting tired, so we decided to quickly head back into the mall and visit the friendly Concord Mills Santa. No big deal, except that about 2 blocks down (Concord Mills is huge, and separated into neighborhoods), I look down at Carrington, and she has taken her shoes off (which I was able to locate), but her hairbow is M-I-A! Doug turns around to retrace our steps in search of the missing red headband. After Doug had been gone for about 5 minutes, and I was pretty sure it was a lost cause, I quickly raced into Gymboree and purchased a replacement. Whew- crises averted! :) I mean, no respectable girl can meet Santa without a hairbow, right?

We are back on track and heading right to Santa! The line is relatively short, we speed on through, and Trey hops right into Santa's lap! I couldn't believe it! Santa asks the dutiful "Have you been a good boy, and what would you like for Christmas?" and Trey happily replies "Rylee (his cousin), 3 drivers (which are screwdrivers), and a wrench!" I can't even begin to explain where these answers came from, but I am happy :). At this moment, Carrington decides that all is not right in her world, let's out a wail, and the magic is gone. That's ok, this actually went much smoother than last year!

A House Full of Family- Christmastime 2011!

This year we all wanted to make Christmas extra special for Grammy and Papa, so almost the ENTIRE Logan family came down to Charlotte to be together. Uncle Robert, Aunt Andrea, Rob, Bonnie, Grammy, Papa, Big Daddy, NaniJay, Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn all came down to celebrate, and although it was crowded, we all had a wonderful time.

A few of my personal favorite moments were watching Uncle Robert bake bread on Christmas Eve morning, having a gingerbread house making contest (I was the WINNER, of course) with a $5.00 cash prize (we are big spenders around here), dressing everyone up in matching jammies for our annual Christmas Eve picture (I feel like we are getting cheesier every year, although Molly didn't get a new pair of pajamas- and that would have really been the "icing on the cake"), listening to Papa read the Scripture on Christmas morning before we open presents (this will forever be my most treasured memory of Christmas this year), and seeing Trey and Carrington's excitement over all the gifts. Trey especially loved his new raincoat, rain boots, and umbrella! He was adorable! Carrington got a brand new kitchen, which I need to take pictures of, and Trey's "big" gift was an Innotab! We call it his "computer" and he loves it! The kids also received a giant teddy bear (it is awesome, again, I need to take pics of these things), and Grammy bought Carrington a child's tea set in the Old Country Rose pattern (it's been my family china pattern for several generations). This was also incredibly special to me since I have wonderful memories of Grammy and I having tea parties growing up, using her special china, and now I know that this can be made special for Carrington too. We played Dance Central 2 on Christmas night and the kids stayed up WAY past their bedtime every night!

The "girls" spent time shopping, and Doug took the "guys" Christmas Even shopping, and then also took them down to the city center in Charlotte on Christmas Day. Papa gave Grammy a garnet ring- a gift that he has promised her he would one day give, and it made Grammy cry. My hope is that Papa will be able to remember that moment. We all ate way too much food, and I can honestly say that this was the very best Christmas we have ever had, so far.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit!

This holiday season has been insane! We have been so busy- and between traveling, working, and preparing for company, I was starting to feel like my kids and the special moments were getting lost in the shuffle of life!

So I set aside a Sunday afternoon and baked a bunch of dough for Christmas ornaments. Once everything was done baking, Doug and I put the kids in their highchairs, got out all of the markers and glitter pens I could find, and we spent the evening coloring all over gingerbread men, bells, teddy bears, and holly. The kids loved it- they were able to eat the dough if they wanted (which was inevitable for Carrington), the markers were all washable, so it didn't matter where they colored, and every time Trey saw "his" ornament on the tree, he was extra excited!

This was definitely a tradition I will do every year!

A Christmas Program at School!

Although blogging my kid's life can sometimes be stressful and frustrating, it is important to me to be able to document as many memories as possible. I was thinking about this while I was trying to organize my thoughts, especially since I am attempting to go back 3 weeks and remember specific events! Thank goodness I take tons of pictures, so my camera acts like a little "memory keeper", and as I look at the photos, I remember the special moments.

A few weeks ago, December 15th to be exact, was the Memorial United Methodist Chrismtas program. It was a 7pm, so we took the opportunity to have a quick dinner at Mama Ricotta's before we headed over to the church. The restaurant was awesome at making sure the kids had EVERYTHING they could possibly want- and were even easy going when Carrington peeled off her shoes, and then socks, and proceeded to fling one of her shoes onto a neighboring table. :)

The Christmas program was a success! Trey stayed up on stage the entire time, although he mostly hung in the back and picked his nose. It was a proud moment for Doug and I, as his parents. Although Trey wasn't interested in being the center of attention, I was still thrilled that he didn't scream, cry, and pitch himself off the stage. Yay!!!! The songs were adorable and the kids had a great time!

Thanksgiving and Surprises!

I have thought about catching up on our blogs for weeks, but I am just now sitting down to write. And I am mostly doing it now because Christmas is next weekend, and I don't want to be so far behind that I can't remember the difference between the two holidays! We went back up to Virginia for Thanksgiving, which the kids loved, but Doug and I felt completely worn out! We had already been in New York the week before, and we were going on vacation the week after Thanksgiving, so this was definitely a lot to handle, but we really thought it was worth it. Every year, my family goes out on the Dandy, on the Potomac River, to celebrate the holiday. And, every year, we get this silly picture taken in front of the boat. Surprisingly enough, most years this picture has actually turned out great! This year, not so much... It is the memory that counts, not what the actual picture looks like, and that is what I will keep telling myself! :)

When we got back from Virginia, we frantically started throwing up Christmas decorations. We did the best we could at the time, but the truth is, we didn't actually manage to get our real tree up until this past Monday! We had a super special surprise in the mail, though! While we have been scrambling to get ready for Christmas, Santa has also been putting in a few extra hours up in the North Pole to write letters to Trey and Carrington! He assured them that they have been good boys and girls, and that he will be making a visit to them real soon! :)LOVED getting this in the mail!

Doug and I spent a few days in Mexico, to celebrate our anniversary, and it was wonderful. We wouldn't and couldn't have changed anything to make this vacation any more perfect. The weather was amazing, the resort was unbelievable, the staff and room were to die for, it was really the best few days! The only downside is that we missed Trey and Carrington so much, I actually physically hurt. I wanted to call them all the time (but Doug wouldn't let me) and I was devastated when we couldn't get the Skype working (the WiFi in our room was spotty, at best). Luckily, Grandma was able to come and stay with the kids while we were gone, and we knew they were in good hands, but it didn't make being away from them any easier. Grandma spoiled them like crazy- going on toy trips to Target and Toys R Us, and taking them over to play with Uncle Adam, Aunt Shannon, and Allie. Trey was talking about Uncle Adam for days! :)

When we got back, I took Trey to get his hair cut. This is not unusual (we go once a month), but this time, the lady literally cut off ALL his hair! When we got there, she said to me, "a 4 and a 6, right?"- I have no idea what this means, so I respond by saying, "whatever is in the computer, whatever they always do is great!". Next thing I know, she took out her clippers and shaved his head! She saw the look on my face, and knew that this was NOT what we always do, and NOT what I had in mind, but at that point, it was just too late. I had to admit, it doesn't look too bad, but Trey looks like he is 5 years old, and I miss his little baby hair. But, it's only a haircut, and hair does grow back...

Ok, now to the milestones of today- Trey is IN LOVE with Dora the Explorer. This is a completely new thing for us. Up until this point, Trey's obsession has been exclusively Yo Gabba Gabba. Dora is new and he asks about it constantly, which is kind of nice, since it gives us a small break from Yo Gabba (although he still loves that too). I'm secretly excited about the new Yo Gabba Gabba episode coming on television this Sunday. Tori Spelling is going to be a guest, and I love her! Finally, Trey and I both are excited about a Yo Gabba Gabba show!

Carrington is 100% fully walking- no crawling pretty much at all. She is growing like a little weed, and I can tell that she is definitely getting taller! She cracks me up all the time- her sense of humor is hilarious! She loves playing hide and seek with Trey and her Daddy, and her favorite food of all is pasta. She is definitely like her Mama! :)

We have a great routine with school and Miss Jean's house- the kids are at preschool from 9am to 1pm on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and they go to Miss Jean's all day on Tuesday and Thursday. This routine is working out WONDERFUL for us, and I couldn't be more grateful for all the fantastic people in our lives! That's all I'm going to pack into this post! I have more to write about Trey's school Christmas program and more, but I'm going to go into those details later!

Life Before the Holidays!

We have been busy, busy, busy! We spent this past weekend in New York for my grandma's 90th birthday! It was a lot of work only going up for the weekend, but you only turn 90 once, right? This trip was Carrington's very first plane ride, and she did fantastic! Trey was much more of a challenge. He did NOT want to stay buckled when the plane took off, he did NOT want to stay in his seat for an entire hour, he did NOT want to use both hands when drinking his apple juice out of the cup (with ice) that the flight attendent gave him- and just so we are clear, Trey managed to spill his cup of juice on all 4 flights we took this weekend. Trey also did NOT want to keep the tray in it's upright position during take off and landing. Trey did NOT want to stop kicking the seat in front of him. You get the picture, right? You are probably wondering why we even continued to allow him to have juice on every flight, in an adult cup, with ice. Let's just say that if we didn't let him have this, the alternative would have been very, very bad, so instead we gave in and dealt with wet, apple smelling clothes. Honestly, Trey wasn't that bad, it's just that he has a definite opinion about everything now, and he doesn't understand that things aren't always the way we want them. My personal favorite plane trip moment: When Trey announced, at the top of his lungs, that his "bum-bum hurt and he needs to poo-poo and have cream" (FYI- cream is Desitin, in case you were totally grossed out). I'm sure everyone was thrilled to hear that. Everything went fairly smoothly- we almost missed our connection in Philadelphia and had to literally sprint through the airport to not miss our flight, when they changed our gate at the last minute. And Doug forgot which long term lot he parked in at Charlotte, and we wandered around the dark, empty airport parking lots until we found our car at 12:30 in the morning...

But staying at Grammy and Papa's house was a lot of fun! Trey and Carrington got to play outside, and the weather was beautiful! Doug spent all day Saturday hunting, and although he didn't kill any deer, he did have a "close one", so the thrill of the hunt was a success. Mom and Dad also drove us by the church where they got married, and it was so pretty, I had to get out and snap a few pictures. Grandma's birthday party was nice- it's tough asking 2 children under 2 to stay nice and happy for 3 straight hours, so that was a little bit of a challenge. The best part was definitely getting to see Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn!

So, today we are back to trying to find our routine for this short week. We forced ourselves to fly back to Charlotte late on Sunday, because today was Trey's Thanksgiving Feast and Thanksgiving performance. I was so excited about this, and Doug was even able to leave work to watch the play. Unfortunately, Trey took one look at his Daddy and wanted NOTHING to do with singing and performing on the stage with his classmates, so I only managed to get one picture before Trey cried and got down. :( I was really bummed, but what can you do? Trey LOVES his Daddy, big time! The songs were super adorable, and the kids did a fantastic job!

Other things happening in our lives... Trey took off all his clothes and bent in front of the fireplace the other night. When I asked him what the heck he was doing, he said: "I'm warming up my bum-bum". Well... OK. He definitely learned that from his dad! He is still in a major hot dog phase and wants them for every meal of the day. This past weekend, we didn't have any hotdogs, and in the airport on Sunday, he leaned over and told the pilot on the airport shuttle that he "likes hot dogs a lot and wants hot dogs for dinner". The pilot was so nice, and assured Trey that they sell hotdogs at the airport.

Carrington has a rash all over her face, and the doctor has continued to tell us this is just from the moisture, but the rash has started spreading up near her eyes, and I really think it is some sort of allergy. We are going to try and make an appt. this week, before we head back up to Virginia for Thanksgiving. Carrington is also walking like a pro, and loving life! She is so cute when she walks, with her arms outstretched, trying to find her balance. I forgot how adorable this stage is. She is eating everything- she loves food, but her favorite is definitely peanut butter and jelly!

We are all looking forward to the coming weeks- it's going to be crazy but fun! Our total visitor count for Christmas is 13, so including our family of 4, we will have 17 people staying in the house!!!! I'm SO excited! :) Doug and I are looking forward to a mini-vacation in Mexico for our anniversary, and we are heading to Virginia this week. Like I said- lot's of fun coming up!