Christmas Whirlwind!

Our family had such a wonderful Christmas! We made cookies for Santa and Thomas wrote his letter to Santa. I was so proud that he sounded out the words and wrote a few sentences. I took the boys to Christmas Eve Mass. There was a children's choir which I think Thomas really enjoyed. This was the first time that I ventured to church with both kids and they did great. I think Thomas really enjoyed the company of an older lady that sat next to us. I'm sure she didn't get a lot of praying done since Thomas wanted to play twenty questions! Afterwards, we came home and got ready for Santa. We put out reindeer food and set out the cookies. After reading some classic Christmas stories, Thomas was eager to get to sleep so that Santa could come. He slept until about 8am and was so excited and surprised that Santa brought him the Fisher Price dinosaur that he had been wanting. It was so much fun watching Thomas' reaction and seeing Nathan scooting to play with his toys. That morning Ken opened the blinds and to our surprise Santa brought us a playhouse with a working doorbell and fountain. He even brought a mailbox and had time to place a letter inside for Thomas. Thomas was in and out of the house the entire morning playing with some toys inside and out. For lunch, we went to Ken's aunt and uncle's house and we got to visit with all of his family there. Thomas was able to play with his cousins, too. After that we headed down the street to visit Ken's mom and sister. The boys were spoiled yet again and by 7 o'clock, Thomas had reached his limit and the baby was ready for bed. It was a very busy day, but we truly enjoyed all the commotion. We will continue our holiday celebrating on Monday when we celebrate with my side of the family for our traditional homemade spaghetti and meatball dinner and I'm sure...more presents! We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy the pictures!

Christmas with the Coffaro's

Last night we celebrated an early Christmas with Tom and Emily. We ate a yummy dinner and even better dessert! The kids got to open their presents. Thomas was shocked when he opened the Toy Story Mania game for Wii. It was on his list for Santa! He also got a Toy Story PEZ dispenser and a sleeping bag. (Which he slept in on the floor in his room!) Nathan got to rip open the paper from his package. He tore off every little piece and tried to eat it! He got a monkey rattle toy, some socks and a few shirts. One of the shirts said, "I'm kind of a BIG deal!" Love it!

Here are some highlights from our celebration.

"Mommy and Son" Day

This weekend we were invited to a "Mommy and Son" cookie decorating party by Thomas' best buddy, Luke and their family. We wanted to bring Nathan but he was feeling a little warm, a result from his Friday visit to the doctor where he received 5 shots! So, Thomas and I were so excited to go! We brought lots of little candies to make a gingerbread house and man. I have to say that Thomas had so much fun just playing with Luke and the other boy that were there. The kids didn't care too much for decorating, so that left the moms to be the decorators. We had tons of fun! It was nice to be able to talk to other "working-outside-of-the-home" moms and discuss the craziness of a morning routine, daycare schedules, and how to balance it all. I hope that we get to have more playdates like this one!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

On Friday, we visited Papa for his special birthday. We met at the Tijuana Flats in Altamonte for some dinner. Then, we headed back to their house for some special cake and gifts. We got Papa a University of Alabama cake and a digital frame. I think he loved both. Everyone had such a fun time. Here are some highlights...

Nathan's Half Birthday

On December 16th, Nathan turned six months old. It's amazing how fast the past six months have passed. Nathan is now sitting up unassisted, eatting one jar of baby food in the late afternoon, and rolling all over the place. He is currently learning to scoot and loves puppy dogs. He thinks Thomas is the funniest thing and laughs all the time. He has such a sweet personality. He's been sleeping through the night since he was 14 weeks old which we are so thankful for. We couldn't have asked for a sweeter addition to our family. Happy Half Birthday!

Holiday Wishes

My goal for this season is to try new things that we have not yet done as a family. Things get really busy around here with school, work, baby feedings, and the typical holiday bustle. I want to be sure that we take time as a family and actually ENJOY it! We have already started some new family traditions that we are really excited about. The first one is our "Elf on the Shelf". Thomas named him Buzz and he flies to the North Pole to report to Santa about Thomas' day and if he should be on the nice or naughty list. Each morning, Thomas awakes and finds that Buzz, the elf, has moved to a different place in the house. The best part is children can not touch or play with the elf or else the Christmas magic will be lost. I have a feeling we'll get many more years of magic from our new elf!

We also began decorating for Christmas. This year we decided to place the tree in the playroom in front of the windows facing the backyard. We thought this would be fun, just in case Santa brings us something for the backyard (wink, wink). Thomas got to place the star on top like he does every year. Ken hung lights on the house and we decorated the tree. Thomas is ready to wrap presents, although I don't know why since he told Ken everything we got him!

Another fun thing we did this week was go to the lighting of the Winter Springs Christmas Tree. We bundled the boys up and got there in time to visit the local booths and even go on a train ride before the tree was lit. It was fun to see it "snow" (mini-bubbles) on the sidewalk. Afterwards, we ate at a little pizzeria. On the way home we went through the neighborhood where Thomas' school is and saw lots of pretty lights. Four deer even jumped across our path! It was so neat. It really made it feel like Christmas.

"Big Boy Brother Bath"

On Sunday, the boys got to have their first bath together. I admit it was in efforts to save time and get everyone to bed on time. It was a hit! Thomas had fun playing and squirting water on Nathan's belly. They both laughed so much.

So Thankful...

We are especially thankful this year for our sweet Nathan. It was fun celebrating as a family of four. Nathan looked so cute in his "First Thanksgiving" outfit. It was hard not to think that this time next year, Nathan will be chasing Thomas around in the yard with all his other cousins!
Our family celebrated Thanksgiving twice this season, which always is a yummy way to celebrate! We celebrated Thanksgiving day with the Rhodes side of the family. I think we had almost 20 gathered for Thanksgiving dinner. It's nice that everyone brings a little something for the feast. We had fun catching up with everyone and talking about the next big holiday, Christmas!



















Speaking of Christmas, I celebrated Black Friday again this year. I was at the first store at 4 am. I only went to a handful of stores (Kohl's, Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, Bealls, and Gymboree) but I got such amazing deals. I was home by 10am and took a two hour nap. By late afternoon, I caught my second wind and we went down to I-drive so that Ken could go to Bass Pro Shops. Santa was already there. Thomas even said, "I didn't know Santa worked here!" Thomas has been rather afraid to see Santa and we decided to all see him together. It brought tears to my eyes when he told Santa the things he wanted. (The Big Dinosaur, more train pieces for his GeoTrax, jammies and Gator Golf). He is growing up so fast! Santa said that he has email now, so if he thought of anything else, we could email him! How funny! They took our first family of four holiday picture!



















Then, the Saturday after Thanksgiving we always go to my Mom and Dad's to celebrate. I have to admit it is less stressful when celebrating a few days after the main event. Everyone just enjoys hanging out. This year we played Trivial Pursuit the 1980's trivia game. We had so much fun! Mom did a great job on the yummy meal and dessert was delicious! I even allowed Nathan to try mashed potatoes. He enjoyed the few bites I gave him. He even learned a new trick! Watch....

Rite of Passage

On Friday, Thomas had another "rite of passage" as a boy. He got his first set of stitches. The day started off just fine. I dropped him and Nathan off at their schools and then went to work. I was visiting a teacher friend of mine, when the office paged me over the intercom. Turns out that Thomas' school was trying to reach me. He had slipped on the tile floor at school and bumped the eye on the corner of the sand and water table. They weren't too sure if it needed stitches and suggested that I come right away. Ken was on the river fishing so it was faster for me to get there. I quickly called Ken and told him to get home. I picked Thomas up and he was being so brave and calm. I took him to our pediatrician and they saw him right away. The doctor said it needed two stitches. They had to place Thomas in a straight jacket type board so that he would stay still. It was heartbreaking for me to watch. He was so brave! Luckily, I was able to meet up with Ken at my school parking lot to drop Thomas off to him. The crazy thing is that my class had their Thanksgiving show that morning and I was within minutes of it starting. My adrenaline was high the remaining part of the day but I am glad that Thomas is doing well after the whole ordeal. We go back next Saturday morning to have them removed. Here's a picture of what it looks like now.

Gobble, Gobble

Today was Thomas' Thanksgiving program. He was so excited to wear "dress up" clothes to school. He even got up without much convincing and got ready on his own. The program started at noon and Nana and Papa were able to come watch, too. The kids sang quite a few songs. They were so cute! We think Thomas sang the loudest. (A future American Idol winner for sure!) The program was followed by a picnic lunch. Nana packed us a great lunch and we were able to chat with Thomas' friends and teachers. Luckily, I took the rest of the day off , so he was able to come home and play for a while before we picked Nathan up from "school". It's hard to believe that this is the last preschool Thanksgiving show I will go to for Thomas. Next year we will be sitting in a Kindergarten classroom watching his special performance!

Boys in the Hood!

I bundled up the boys to go to school this morning. They looked so cute that I had to stop and take a quick photo. (Thomas has a bandaid on his forehead from bumping into a metal counter in his school cafeteria. ouch!)

Sitting Up!

Nathan showed us this weekend his new trick! When we place him in the sitting position, he can now balance himself and sit up. He seems rather proud of himself, too!

New Jammies

Nathan finally fits into his new jammies. Yes, they are size 6-12 months and he's only 4 months old! Thanks Aunt Emily!

BOO!

Well, I have to admit, there is a huge difference between being a working mom of two children. I typically would have had portraits made of the kids in their costumes, sent out cute Halloween cards, and made special treats for their teachers. Well, not this year! I barely bought their costumes in time and the teachers got Halloween note pads and dish towels! Thomas had a huge costume dilemma. He couldn't decide if he wanted to be Inspector Gadget, Andy Griffith (crazy, I know.) or Spiderman. Luckily, he decided to go with Inspector Gadget. I am so glad that Emily and Tom found him the perfect hat while they were out shopping. Nathan was a cute little horse. I found the costume several weeks before I bought it while having dinner with Ken's family at Cracker Barrel. Good thing I waited! I bought it one week before Halloween for 70% off! I love $6 costumes! I liked how it was a thin cotton, too. We had a fun Halloween. We started Trick-or-Treating at Nana and Papa's house. Then we went to a few houses in our neighborhood and then went to Emily and Tom's neighborhood for some Trick-or-Treating. Everyone had a great time. It was so neat watching Thomas walk up to houses by himself to collect candy. Gosh, he has grown up! Here's some highlights of our Halloween fun!

Thomas' First Field Trip

Thomas went on his very first field trip today to the pumpkin patch. He was so excited to ride an official school bus. He talked about how you have to be quiet on the bus so the bus driver stays focused. He went over basic stranger danger rules, just to be safe. I was so nervous to let him go since I was not going to be a chaperon. Ken assured me that he would be safe and that it would hurt his feelings if we didn't allow him to have this special experience with his classmates. I even placed a note in his pocket that read, "My name is Thomas Rhodes. If you find me, please call my mommy." In the end, I am so glad he got a chance to go. Turns out that Luke, Thomas' best buddy's dad followed the bus and hung around to take some pictures of the boys. I am so glad he captured the moment for me. Thomas brought home a mini pumpkin as a souvenir. He also told us about riding on the bus with a little girl named Leah. When we asked him about her, he said that she had an "L" in her name and that she had "beautiful" hair. Seems Thomas is already a charmer. Ha! Next month their class is going to Publix on a field trip and at the end of the year they plan to visit the zoo. I have to admit that the zoo is too far out of my comfort zone, so I think I will be calling in sick that day so I can go with Thomas and his class.

Green Meadows Farm

We went this weekend for our 3rd Annual trip to Green Meadows Petting Farm. Although, we picked a super hot day to go but we mangaed to still have tons of fun. We met Thomas' best buddy Luke and his family there. We had a picnic lunch before we started the tour. Thomas was so excited that he couldn't eat his lunch! We got started with a great tour guide. She kept the group moving especially since it was so hot. We enjoyed seeing all the animals and going on the hay ride and train ride (that was the only time we felt a breeze!). At the end of the tour we visited the pumpkin patch. Thomas picked out one for Nathan, too. Nathan did wonderful especially with the hot temperature. He only had one bottle while we were there and he even managed to take a nap. I should have brought a battery operated fan to attach to the stroller. Now I know for the next time we go to a theme park or attraction. I took over 100 pictures, so here are some of the highlights from the day.

The boys ran the entire time! I'm glad Ken got a picture of them holding hands. They were so cute!

This is a chicken coup, but Thomas thought it was a grill! Ha!!!