Christmas Eve

This year we celebrated our Christmas with Gigi on Christmas Eve.  It was nice spending the evening with my mom, brother and sister so that we could all be at home on Christmas morning with our own growing families. 

Luke really enjoyed Christmas Eve at Gigi's house.  He loves being around family -- Rarah, Yon, Nina, Bubba, Layla, and Gigi!!  He caught on to the whole present thing quickly, but was sweet and made sure to tell everyone thank you with an accompanying hug and kiss.  Of the gifts he received, I think that the puppy dog blanket was one of his favorites.  He walked around with that thing on his head for quite some time.

Benjamin, on the other hand, was passed out on the couch almost the entire time.  He did get a stocking and a few gifts, but Luke and I enjoyed opening them instead!! 

Unfortunately I did not take very many pictures of the festivities, but thankfully my mom is the picture queen and got several group shots.

Thank you Mom for a wonderful Christmas. We love you!

3 Weeks Old

Matching Jammies

I still haven't decided if I am going to be the mom who dresses the kids in the exact same outfit or not, but I am pretty sure I will be dressing the boys in similar outfits from time to time.  For example, I found Luke a sleeper that was similar to Ben's outfit that he came home from the hospital in.....I just couldn't help it!!  Here is the evidence :)

Goodbye Frida

Frida recently left us to go and live at a new home in Athens, Texas.  This was a very bittersweet goodbye for me.  I got Frida during my second year of pharmacy school and she has been by my side ever since.  Unfortunately, as our family grew Frida was getting less and less attention.  Because of this Andy and I felt like she would be happier in a new home.  Andy's co-worker found her a home with a lady who has always wanted a Yorkie!!  Andy recently got a report and she is adjusting well and I know she is being loved on.  Frida's new home is on some land.  Turns out the new owner cannot leave her outside by herself for very long because she goes and torments the neighbor's cows!!  Ha, Ha -- that is the Frida I know!

Looks Good in Blue

Benjamin didn't really have very many newborn clothes when we first got home from the hospital so I sent my mom out to buy him some to get us through the first few weeks.  She bought this blue and white zippered sleeper that ended up being a favorite of mine.  Well he wore it for the last time the other day and I had to snap a couple of pictures of him in it.  He looks good in blue.

Talking Zoo

Luke really loves animals, in fact, he practically demands that he "play animal" at least one time per day.  Because of this I asked my dad to get him the Little People Talking Zoo for Christmas.  Since Papa was going to be in Columbia for Christmas I let Luke open his present early (with Papa on the phone).  Turns out that the Talking Zoo was a BIG HIT!!  Luke really loves to put the animals on the platform and hear them make their noise.  Thank you Papa for this really great gift!

Luke was a big help to daddy with the screw driver, love it!

 Is this not the cutest picture of Luke "reading" the instructions?

Mommy & Ben

I am trying to be better about getting in more pictures with my kids!  When I looked back at Luke's first year I realized that I was in very few pictures.  Surely someday my boys will want to look back at pictures and know what mom looked like, right?

2 Weeks Old

Benjamin turned 2 weeks old the evening of the Christmas party with the Johansens & Usserys. That morning Andy and I took him for his 2 week check up with Dr. Terk.  He weighed in at 9 lbs even (50th percentile and almost back to his birth weight) and was 21.5 inches long (75th percentile).  If you remember it was documented that Ben was only 20 inches long at birth.  We now see that the original measurement was probably a little off because it is highly unlikely he grew 1.5 inches in just 14 days, just sayin'.  We didn't sit down for a formal "photo shoot" that day so here are a couple of random pictures I happened to snap from the day he turned 2 weeks old.

 

Christmas with Friends

We celebrated our annual Cloud, Johansen & Ussery Christmas last Friday night.  Everyone was nice enough to drive over to our side of town (in traffic) so that we didn't have to take Benjamin out.  Sarah made a lasagna pie and Britt made a salad and they both brought dessert (yum).  It was really nice having everyone over and I love that the boys, Luke and Colin, were able to open and play with their presents.  I am so thankful to have such great friends.

Luke opening his present from the Usserys

 The boys checking out Colin's new trucks

 I'm pretty sure this is evidence of Luke not sharing with Colin

 A party is never complete without tears

 Luke playing with his pots & pans from the Johansens

 My family of FOUR

 My besties, Brittany & Sarah

 Thank you hugs

 Colin is getting so big

Merry Christmas Caleb

Caleb, Luke's friend from swim lessons, and his parents (Kelly and Steven) came over last week to visit baby Benjamin and let the boys do a gift exchange.  They were also kind and brought us some dinner, too!  These boys are about 3 weeks apart in age (Caleb is older) and we are thankful to have met them.  Here are some pictures of the boys opening their gifts from each other.  Luke got a Cars book and Caleb got some train bath tub squirters.  I love the one at the end of Caleb giving Luke a thank you hug.  So cute!

 

Hat On

Luke loves being Benjamin's big brother.  Ever since we brought him home from the hospital Luke has been very concerned about Ben wearing his hat.  If Benjamin doesn't have a hat on Luke will keep repeating "hat on, hat on" until you put a hat on him.  Luke has also enjoyed wearing his hat around the house like his baby brother.  You can't help but love these hat wearing boys!

Pajama Day

For the last day of school for 2011 Luke got to wear his pajamas to school.  Here is a picture of what he looked like right before he walked out the door.  I don't think it gets better than jammies, boots, camo jacket, milk and a (frozen) waffle!!

My Boys

Bucket Head

We have different buckets/pails to help us keep Luke's toys organized.  Lately, Luke will dump the toys out and then put the bucket on his head -- most of the time covering his eyes.  He really thinks it is fun to walk around like this or ride his truck like this.  As a mom it makes me really nervous when he starts walking around...

The other night Luke made me chuckle because after he put the bucket on his head he told me to "take a video."

Away in the Manger

We recently got out the Little People nativity playset for Luke to play with during this holiday season.  We feel like this is a good way to teach Luke about Jesus and why we celebrate Christmas.  Andy read to him the story about baby Jesus from the bible and then read him a children's book about the birth of Christ. We have left the nativity set out on the table in the living room and Luke has been playing with it daily.  In fact, before he left for Grandma's house this morning he asked "baby Jesus Grandma's house?"  I love to watch him play and look forward to each Christmas that we can get the playset down and continue to teach him about Jesus and the true reason for the holiday season.

Luke loves to press the button on the top and listen to Away in the Manger.

This is Luke showing me baby Jesus.

 I love this picture because Luke is putting the baby Jesus figure over the baby Jesus picture in the book.

 Luke brough all of his other animals over to the manger to see baby Jesus!

Here is a picture of Luke playing with the nativity set last Christmas.  Look how much he has grown over the last year!!

Brothers

Last weekend I was determined to get a picture of the 2 of my boys together wearing the big brother/little brother shirts.  I was a little worried about how Luke was going to do, but turns out he didn't mind the photo session.....in fact I would say he did quite well.  He loves his little brother and doesn't mind holding him.  Next we need to work on looking at the camera!  I was even able to get a couple of shots to use on our 2011 Christmas Card.  Merry Christmas from my little boys!