Gingerbread Night & Winter Party

(Viewer Note...You have to see the pictures from the bottom to the top to make them go in order!)
Merry Christmas!!

A Day at the Park

We had the BEST time as a family at the Dinosaur Museum at Fair Park on Saturday. Tucker's cute little friend had a birthday party out there...what a great idea! It was a total trek and the trip to Downtown Dallas took a little while, but the kids did great in the car and it was so worth it! During the party the kids got to do a dinosaur dig and then walk around the animatronic dinosaurs, which were a big hit. It was cute that Tucker's friends were there for him to explore with...and it meant that Patrick and I had a more even ratio with the babies!! Tucker loved the animatronic dinosaurs, and he and his friend Liam kept trying to 'attack' them with their cool dinosaur hats! Carter and Presley proved to be really brave too and they never cried. In fact, Presley kept laughing every time they roared, and she would say "ha ha ha...Cha Cha!" which is what she calls my sister's tiny little pug!! Every dinosaur and every roar was "Cha Cha!"

When we got the kids home and bathed at the end of the night, Presley kept us all in stitches as she ran around the living room, crouched down like a dinosaur, roaring at all of us! It was the funniest thing, and I'm so mad at myself for not getting it on video. So, so funny, and a great family memory.

After the Dinosaur Museum part of the party, we went downstairs to the Children's Museum, and that was so much fun as well! There were all kinds of things for the kids to do like make giant bubbles, see a tornado, and experience an interactive play area. Presley "drove" the fire truck the whole time, and did not want to get out at all. It makes me want to get her some sort of car -- she just loved "driving!"

I had include this picture of what she looked like the next morning...she had taken her jammies off during the night and thrown them on the floor. Good thing she didn't take her diaper off!!

And if you can ignore the laundry that was in the process of being folded, you can see my little BFF's laying in my bed watching "The Polar Express" on Saturday morning. It was so cute -- the first time they've ever laid in bed and watched a movie, alone or together. Even Presley was entertained by the 'choo choo movie'. Glad to have captured the first of many movie watches together :o)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Yea! It's Christmas time! I love this time of year, even more so since I've become a mom. I had fun decorating the house and the tree for the season (yes, I had fun...I don't allow the little ones to help! LOL I like it to look nice and neat! I know I need to let this go!)


Notice how many dang stockings we have this year! Our family has grown from three to five in such a short time.

And the lights that I wrapped around each branch since the prelit tree's lights went out, have started to go out as well! It's just not my year for the tree I guess.

And here's our 2010 Christmas card, on it's way to a mailbox near you! I stinking love how great they came out.

Can't wait to post all the fun things Christmas time brings. Merry Christmas!

Carter...Finally!

Finally...a post that is all things Carter! I can't believe I have totally neglected my perfect third child on my blog, in pictures, and all those things I did with Tucker & Presley that I just haven't done with poor Carter! (I had vowed to not make these mistakes with my third, since I myself am a third and have almost no pictures from my childhood! LOL)

Carter Jackson will be six months old in six days, and we have loved every second with him! He is truly the perfect baby. He is so laid back, so easy, and so sweet. He sleeps about 13 hours at night and takes three long naps during the day. He just started eating food four nights ago; he's enjoyed sweet potatoes and suffered through peas. Developmentally he's still 5 weeks behind, so he hasn't been able to eat until now, and he has been starving! He is almost 20 pounds -- he's our tank! -- and we are all glad he's finally getting some real food in his tummy. He has jumped from the bottom of the charts (at or less than 10) to the top (in the 80s) in height, weight, and head size.

Carter just rolled over for the first time a couple of days ago, which I had looked over just in time to see.

My sweet dad came over this weekend and painted Carter's room, so he spent his first night in his bedroom last night. He did okay, but we heard him up on the monitor a lot. We never went in to check on him, and this morning when I went to get him he was like an ice cube! Poor little guy -- his room was so cold!

We are so lucky to have our little tank! He is just so loved by all of us (especially Presley), and we all fight for enough time to get to hold him. We are just so thankful that our little NICU baby is doing so well.

WatchDOGS

Yesterday was a special day because Daddy was on campus being the daily Watchdog! What's that you ask? Our school is participating in a national program called WatchDOGS (Dads of Great Students). We are trying to have a greater male presence on campus, having a dad/uncle/grandpa/etc every day. Yesterday was Patrick's day, and it was adorable! Patrick helped with getting kids out of cars, was on the morning announcements, was in Tucker's room for an hour, went to lunch/recess/computers with Tucker's class, spent time in the art room with 4th grade, and in PE with 2nd grade, helped a 2nd grade class learn about the election process, and listened to stories read in a 3rd grade class. It was such a fun day! (He was wiped out by lunch!) My student teacher is in her total-teach window, so I was able to hang out with the fam for the day :) What a great day at school!