My Little Buddy - 5 Months Old

Alexander is the sweetest, most lovable, happiest little boy.  He smiles, giggles and has lots of new noises and sounds.  He has learned to get others' attention by making eyes and smiling.  He likes sitting in his little chair for short periods of time, wiggling on the floor, snuggling in the baby bjorn and going on walks.  He loves all the noise making toys. He is reaching, grabbing, holding, transferring things in his hands. He is wiggling, twisting, spinning and working on rolling from back to tummy.

Silly Clown

After a walk with the four kids, Anna emerged from the stroller like this....

Please note, her pants are inside out and yes that is her underwear on her head! :)

Final Christmas Celebration of 2014

Liz, Emma, Grandma Mary and Papa D joined us for a mini Christmas celebration at our house.  We had some good play time, opened presents and ate a yummy ham lunch. These five cousins love each other so much.  The bond they have is absolutely priceless.

Christmas

We enjoyed a magnificent morning together as a family.  The kids were most amazed that Santa and his reindeer ate everything we left for them and a white feather suggests that Santa had a cookie party with someone...

 Sewing, My Little Pony, and Lego time kept kiddos occupied for hours while Peter prepared yet another seriously amazing meal!

 The kids excitement for all things Christmas filled the house 

with so much happiness and cheer all month long!

Alexander's First Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve gets its own post because it is Peter's favorite day of celebration.  He spends weeks tweaking his menu which required four different grocery stores.  Mimi, Pop Pop, Aunt Anita, Jenny, Andy, Roman and Bennett helped us graze this incredible spread for hours!

 Crafts, Tea Party and Play Time

 Gifts from Mimi and Pop Pop

 A very special day with very special people!

Farewell Elfie

Kate wrote this note on her own Christmas Eve.

Christmas Tea

For the past four years we have been joining Mimi and Pop Pop for Christmas Tea at the O'Henry in Greensboro.  It has turned into such a sweet and simple holiday tradition for our family. Thank you for sharing this tradition with us - it is so special!

 

Santa Claus II

Our realtor, Lucia Cooke, puts on the Santa party each year.  She is not only an exceptional realtor who will carry around your kids and bottle feed them between houses, she also does wonderful photography work of her own. As a special treat for all the parents she shared her photos from the Santa visit.

Santa Claus

We had the incredible opportunity of listening to Santa tell stories and getting a chance to talk with him one-on-one.  The most incredible part was that he knew EVERY child's name and even remembered what their favorite gift(s) were last Christmas.  All three kids were equally excited to be in the presence of Santa.  Kate was just gleaming from ear-to-ear with every little detail Santa shared.  Max was soaking in all the details and taking note of all the other kids' questions. Anna could not wait to sit on his lap. Alex was all smiles when it was his turn on Santa's lap!

Christmas Lanterns

Aunt Sue (aka YVBA) sent all the supplies needed to make these super cute holiday lanterns as an early Christmas gift.

 

Thank you Aunt Sue - this was a huge hit!

Polar Express Day

For the last day of school before break, the kids are having a school-wide Polar Express Day.  Every grade/teacher is doing their own "learning experience" (read: party) and the specials teachers are doing a grade level fun day.  When the kids got to school in their PJ's (which is simply exciting enough) they had donuts and hot chocolate.  Anna, Alex and I walked up to school after the bus picked up the kids and joined the fun which Anna thought was so exciting! Fun times for all.