Christmas Reel

Can it be, has December 25th already come and gone? Trash bags full of toddler torn wrapping paper and recycling bins brimming with toy boxes-it's true, Christmas has come!

 

This year we enjoyed every ounce of the holiday with our boys. We began the season with shoeboxes participating in Operation Christmas Child, baked our fair share of holiday sweets, decorated sugar cookies with friends, enjoyed a fun fellowship dinner and Christmas service with our church family, and were spoiled by a wonderful visit from Grandma.

Christmas Eve brought first sips of hot chocolate, a special viewing of "The Polar Express" and our traditional birthday cake for Jesus. At 2 and a half, Evan was super fun this year and a ball of Christmas cheer.

We spent Christmas morning at our house, where Evan opened his favorite gift-his mater monster trucks! We bought the boys this circus tent from Ikea as a joint present and that was a huge hit. Evan loves to play in it and was especially cute hoarding all his presents in there lol. But, even the tent was not enough to contain his excitement...as you can see below, my camera can barely capture it!

 

After opening gifts at our house with Grandma, Grandpa Tim and aunt Paige, we headed over to the great grands in Wilson for lunch. Of course, I left my camera at home but blog assured, it was a great time with Chris' family. :-)

Next, we headed onto Goldsboro for Christmas with Gigi and Poppy! Three grandbabies in Christmas pajamas and an Ipad surprise made for an amazing Christmas. Not to mention how excited I still am over my new sewing machine-thank you Mrs. Claus aka mama!

(Yes, my dad's got the paci's in his mouth!)

 

One of the best parts of Christmas this year for me was seeing and spending time with family. We were able to get together with awesome aunts and uncles we don't usually see much, had a great time with Grandma in town and also were able to share Christmas with my sister and baby Jake this year. We are truly blessed!

  

Time to go relax in some cozy Christmas pj's!

Evan-isms

"Nock-a-lers....I see you!"

Here we are in the middle of December, and I just wanted to take a quick moment in the midst of all the hollidazzle to jot down some fun "Evan-isms" lest we forget how darn cute 2 and half can be.

First of all, Evan is really getting into superhero's and all things rescue related. Most notably, firetrucks and policemen. Chief Evan is all about saving and rescuing, and is likely to be heard yelling "rescue meee!!!!" from the top of the stairs at any given hour of the day.

Thanks to mommy and Team Umi-Zoomi, he is all about counting these days, and often says "Count (with) me!" to just about everything. Also, he's turning into quite the manners man and often says "please, thank you and your welcome" unprompted.

His favorite things are cars and chicken nuggets. Below are a few pics from Wilson's annual Whirlygig festival last month-a visit from the Chic Fil A cow and a real live car were the highlights of his day.

Because we're potty training and not above bribing/rewarding successful potty times, gummy bears are his new favorite candy. "Yaayyyyyyy....gummmyyy bearssss!!!"

Like the "Cars" character Lightning Mcqueeen, Evan's favorite color was always red. Now, I've noticed he's gotten to the age where things like favorite colors change every day(more like every hour). It's pretty adorable-until it comes to food-and then it's pretty frustrating!

Other cute Evan-isms...
"Ooospie Daisy"
"Ohh myy!"
"Don't worry" (As in, if the batteries in his chuck truck are dead..."don't worry, I fix it")
"Slippy slidey"
"to the rescue!"(On that note, he can imitate just about any specific siren sound)
Where he used to say "Ready, set, goooo" he now says "Gentlemen, start you egines!"

Favorite songs-Michael Buble's "Jingle Bells" and Mark Broussard's "Emily."
He calls his brother "B bear" just like us, and has also assigned the family animal names. Evan is the rabbit(except at gymnastics, when he turns into a monkey while hanging on the rings.), daddy's a horse and mommy is the mouse. Not sure how I got stuck with that one!

There are many other fun things he says but for now, I'm glad to have taken a second to write these down. Kids really do say the darndest things.

First day, December

I'm linking to one of my favorite blog stops this week for "first days." Basically, here's a look at what the Scott family was up to on the first day of December.

To start, a lazy Saturday morning filled with Team Umi Zoomi cartoons, playing cars, and a tiny two year old tandrum(not pictured).

I usually grocery shop on Friday mornings, but as our busy week would have it, we took a family trip on Saturday instead! First to Harris Teeter and then to Food Lion...since this is my maiden journey with "first days" I wasn't as vigilant to keep my camera with me-if I remember January I will document better! Evan is pretty adorable pushing his "customer in training" cart. Of course, as luck would have it we forgot his shoes and so he was cart bound-just imagine the picture here.  Note to self, you really can't leave shoes at home when your kiddo is 2 and a half. ;-)

Earlier in the morning Chris kindly informed me that the microwave was in desperate need of a deep cleaning. To be fair, it was pretty gross. So, cleaned it was!

 I had not one but two sweet baby showers on my calendar for this weekend. Here's my super cute shopping buddy at Target-did the red cart give us away?

The first day of December also brought the Wilson Christmas parade. This is our third year going and Evan was especially into the candy this year. It was 65 degrees today, I'm not sure December got the memo...

And last but not least here are two random snapshots from the day-cream cheese iced cupcakes and the start of operation Christmas present wrapping.

Happy first day of December!

A nine month pay day

I can't imagine a better way to spend 9 months. Bennett bear, there is no where I'd rather be today and every day, than right here with you. Oh my, look at how you've grown!

There is no better way I can imagine spending my time. How adorable are your rosy baby lips and big, curious eyes?

You are a good gift from the Father above and I am daily humbled by this precious calling to be your mommy.

  

Truly, there is no earthly reward more worthwhile than simply being your mama. :-)

Trick or treat

Late October had us up to our ears in spray paint, glitter, and tootsie rolls. This year, Evan adamantly refused any "as seen in Target" type Halloween costumes. I had wanted him to be a dragon or monster so badly to match his little brother, but apparently those types of costumes can be scary for a two year old. Go figure. So, I got over myself and my vision of a perfectly paired duo, and Chris and I set out to make...drumroll please....a police car costume! Not a policeman, but a policecar.

Presenting Officer Evan in his stylish cardboard car.

 

Bennett made the most adorable little monster. Click here to see this costume's first time around the block. :-)

 

Last Friday my mom's group got all the kiddos together at the park for a Halloween playdate, and of course to try to get a group picture of the kids in their costumes. Scary!!! Best picture of the bunch below LOL-and I believe we're missing one or two that wandered off onto to more exciting things like slides and dirt. :-) It goes without saying that capturing a still, smiling 2 and under is difficult-let alone a group. Oh well, this is life!

 

 

Halloween night was filled with fun and candy! We tricked and treated at two local church's "trunk or treats", a friend's fabulous backyard Halloween party, and were even able to stop by some homes in our neighborhood. Wooosh, being on the other side of this trick or treating thing is exhausting! Needless to say, Chris and I scooped our fair share of Evan's candy loot as soon as bedtime struck. ;-)

Fighting camels and date knights

Have you ever seen a camel in person? 

As a proud Campbell University alumni, my boys and I had the pleasure of meeting my former school mascot face to fur. Not only did we get to see a real, live camel, but we also got to see our first Campbell football game during this past homecoming weekend.

A beautiful sunny afternoon spent touring the campus turned into the perfect cool night for a lighted football game. Go camels! With two small boys and bedtime approached, we were happy to make it to halftime before packing up the sit n' stand for our ride back 95. I loved every bit of my time at Campbell, and look forward to many more homecoming visits to share my college memories with my boys. Who ever would have thought back in 2003 that I'd be taking this picture below in front of the famous fountain with these two handsome fellows?

Another exciting headline this week was the annual "mother son date knight" at our local Chic-fil-a. The theme was super cute-ahem-handsome and knightly. My one on one time with Evan is numbered at best these days, so I cherished the opportunity to take him on a special "date." It was precious. I just love his cheesy grin here!

 

I can't say enough good things about our Chic-fil-a here in Wilson, they really out due themselves in Southern hospitality and good chicken. With all you can eat nugget nights and fun events like these, it's no wonder it's Evan's favorite place to eat. 

 

 My knight in shining armor...and vanilla ice cream.

Eight months, pumpkins and deep fried cookies oh my!

Bennett turned 8 months old at the beginning of the week-I can hardly believe it! If you ask me, 8 months is much too close to one and just plain crazy talk. Time has not heeded my requests to slow down, and so we are left in it's dust with an army crawling, wide open mouth giggling, tiny but mighty puller up-er of a baby boy.

Evan is terribly two these days, and I mean that in the best way possible. ;-) At times I wonder if he's accidentally ingested some super hero substance to make his energy level shoot through the roof, and at others I'm sure he's taken a que from Oscar the Grouch or, more fitting to his appetite, the Cookie Monster! Every hour of the day holds different challenges, new discoveries, lessons to learn(and teach), and an explosion of new words.

 

My boys

We've dabbled in potty training with some success, but decided to slow down and put it on hold for a month or so until he's a bit more articulate with his "number 2's." Oh boy! In other Evan news, we've enjoyed an awesome mommy and me gymnastics class at our Y. It's the perfect outlet for his 80 mile an hour energy, and not to mention good for lessons in patience, listening and waiting your turn-sigh. Plus, if you haven't seen a 2 year old donkey kick, it's stinkin adorable. Every week there is a new skill, fun stretching exercises, an obstacle course and some colorful parachute time complete with "popcorn" balls. Oh, and Evan is a pro front roller now-take that 2024 Olympics!

A few weeks ago my sister came back stateside with a new addition to our family-baby Jakey! I am pretty sure I'm his favorite Aunt. :-) Anyways, we are happy to have them back in our neck of the woods for the next 6 months or so, and kicked off their stay with a Fall family get together(in 85 degree weather no less!). We ate, ooed and awed over the babies, and decorated pumpkins-good times!

 Cousin Vive's pumpkin won first place!

This past weekend we hosted Chris' sister and new boyfriend on their Fall break. The highlight for sure was our annual trip to the state fair...hello, it's tradition!

 

Yes, I ate a deep fried girl scout cookie. Let's call in a once in a lifetime experiment LOL.

With the start of MOPS, new babies to shower and little birthdays to celebrate, it's been a busy season. Stay tuned for adventures in Halloween costumes and hopefully some yummy Fall recipes!