All I Want For Christmas

So, maybe some of you recently remember Carson's problems not wanting to sleep in his room. At first he claimed he was scared of monsters, and then it turned into the fact that he didn't like his room and wanted a "new room!" Big request from a not even 3 year old huh? Anyways, for weeks, every time someone would ask Carson what he wanted for Christmas, he would reply, "A new room!" Of course, Derek and I both knew that we couldn't give him an actual "new room," but we could make his room look a little more grown up and change things around. We knew just making a few adjustments would make him feel as if he had a whole new room. Carson was sleeping in his toddler bed, which used to be his crib. He had Elmo sheets, blanket, and pillow, and his room was still a little babyish. Here is some idea of what I am talking about, this is his before bed Derek and I decided we would make things a little more grown up for him, go with a twin bed, and new bedding, plus room decor. I shopped around and remember I got that GREAT DEAL at Kohl's on bedding? Well Christmas eve night, we got Carson to sleep in our room and we got busy. We took out his toddler bed, and in return added a twin. We added his new bed set, book ends, and wall decor. Derek changed out his light fixture to a very cute and modern one, and before we knew it, Carson room really did look NEW! Here are some pictures:




I was so proud of how cute everything looked, and could hardly keep myself from waking Carson up right then to show him. Don't worry, I DIDN'T wake him up, but the next morning I was probably more excited than he was to take him to "see if Santa brought a new room!" I told Derek I would go in an wait and then he could bring him in because I wanted to get the look on his face when he saw it for the first time. The look was PRICELESS And his new room was a big hit! He totally loves it, and although I still find him crawling in our bed in the middle of the night, he really has embraced his "new room!"

Christmas was great, I think we all have no complaints. Everyone got things they wanted and it was another blessed year! Praying everyone has a super New Year and a blessed 2010!

Its Tradition

Growing up, I cannot remember our family having very many traditions. I guess we weren't anywhere close to being a typical family, so traditions were not really "normal" for us. The only tradition I can even remember, is the one we did at Christmas. I cannot think of one Christmas, that my mom didn't let us open that one special present on Christmas eve, and we already knew we were opening new pajamas. My mom would always tell us of how her mother did the same thing for her and her siblings as a child, and she really cherished those memories. The point is to open the pj's on Christmas eve so you have these brand new, cute pjs on when you wake up the next morning, and you look cute in Christmas pictures. Now that I am a mom, I wanted to keep that one cherished family tradition going, and do it for my own children. We have faithfully done it every year since Carson was born(Well that has ONLY been three Christmas eves, but STILL...) and I plan to keep it going. This year I went with matching pjs for the boys, because they are now at that wonderful age where it isn't "fair" if one gets a different pair. Rather than having to listen to Carson explain he wants some like "Bubba's" I'd rather just see them in the same pair. So, christmas eve, I handed them those special boxes and sure enough it was..... CHRISTMAS PAJAMAS! Camden LOVED his And both my boys looked ADORABLE!
I decided I wanted to start this "tradition" for my sweet baby girl Peyton too!(Ok so maybe she isn't MINE, but I stillget to spoil her :-) ) So I found the most adorable pair of Pjs and that was out Christmas present to her!

Doesn't she look so stinkin cute? I am going to try and keep this tradition going for her as well, and give her a "special" pair of jammies each year for Christmas!

The Birthday Prince

So my husband was the BIRTHDAY PRINCE yesterday!
and although we had already celebrated his birthday at the "joint party", I wanted to do a little some extra for him on his real birthday. He has done so much for so many, and works so hard, that I knew he more than deserved some special treatment. Since my mom, sister, and brother are in town and staying with us for the holidays, I recruited them to help me. First, we agreed to cook one of his favorite meals. He wanted prime rib, baked potatoes, and rolls. we cooked broccoli too, but that was probably a little more for us than him, because he isn't a fan. Anyways, the food was delicious, and it was truly a feast fit for my birthday prince
Trust me, it was GOOOOOOODDDDD! He was blessed with some gifts, which was special too because I really don't think he was expecting anything. I had already given him the gift I got him at our joint party, but I did get him a really sweet card that told him just how I felt about him and how much he meant to me! My mom and my sister got him some things he was able to open on his real birthday though. My sister got him a GORGEOUS Tommy Hilfiger shirt I love the colors and I know he is going to look GREAT in it, and my mom got him an hour massage, which he he was SO thankful for. He is a macho man, but he LIKES being pampered too! Then it was cake time, and I think this is the part my baby boys had been waiting all night for! Camden was so excited when he saw that beautiful, chocolaty, deliciousness coming his way! Carson helped Daddy blow out the candles and Camden was getting impatient quickly. That impatience turned to total MELTDOWN when he thought he wasn't getting any of that yummy cake

But then after he realized I wasn't the meanest mommy in the whole world, and all I was trying to do was cut him(and everyone else a piece), all was better! Carson was LOVING the cake too, can you tell? All in all I think he had a great birthday. I wish I could of done more for him, but I am pretty sure he was pleased and truly felt like a birthday PRINCE! :-)

I have the BEST

I truly have the best friends and family anyone could ask for. Keep in mind, I said the best, not the most PERFECT! :-)

I love them so much, they make my life special and warm. This past Saturday was our annual "joint birthday party" where we celebrate, Mine, Derek's and his Mom's birthdays. We all get together and eat a good meal, and exchange gifts. I love it, because its not about what everyone is getting, but more about spending quality time together as a family. Usually, its JUST family, but this year I invited Aaron, Stephen, and Peyton too, because at this point I feel like they are just as much family as our really family is. I am glad they came, because it made the night just that much better! Peyton was SUPER happy to be there, as if you couldn't tell from the picture!

For my birthday(even though my birthday is technically not until the 24th) my SUPER, AWESOME, AMAZING, hubby, hired a sitter, took me out to my FAVORITE restaurant(Osaka's) and then took me to the mall and let me pick out a few things I wanted! To me, that is about the BEST gift he could give me. It was so nice being out together, and alone. We didn't have to RUSH out of a store to calm one of our crying children, or worry about diaper changes, it was just about being together and well lets face it, SPOILING ME for the night! I love that he knows JUST what to do to make me happy! Thanks babe!

Tomorrow is HIS actual birthday and I plan on doing something special for him too! Unfortunately for y'all, SHHHHHHHHHHHHH that will have to be a surprise for later. Its nothing SUPER BIG, but just lots of things I want to do to show him how much he means to me!

So totally off that subject, but still talking about the BEST family. I think I got the BEST mommy award Friday, when I made special cookies for Carson's Christmas party at school. Usually, when his school has little parties, they ask each parent to bring something. This year, they asked me to bring Christmas cookies(HOW EASY). I could have picked some already made ones up from the store, but instead I wanted to go that extra mile. I decided I would come up with someone creative and make Carson PROUD! So, I found a cute recipe for some cookies and went to work. Well, in all honestly, I didn't actually MAKE the cookies, but the decoration is ALL ME! :-)

It was lots of fun, and all his teachers just raved about how adorable my "reindeer" cookies were!! Yes, I think I made my boy proud!

Well....for now that is all I have, I will let you know how Derek's birthday goes tomorrow! :-)

Childhood is CALLING :-)

One thing that I absolutely LOVE about having children is getting to relive things through them. There are certain things they do, that put a smile on my face and take me back to my own childhood. Take for example these pictures:
I can totally remember as a child making bubble beards and mustaches. Those are the great things about being young, you basically LIVE off your imagination. You can turn something into an adventure. I miss that! I haven't made a bubble beard in many years haha, but its nice that I can still enjoy that innocence and imagination through my children.

I can also remember loving to make pallets as a child, and snuggle up to my mom, dad, or sibling. When my boys do it, I think its the most precious thing in the world. I love seeing them all curled up, with a blanket, watching some cartoons. I am so glad I had them so close together. I know when I was pregnant with Camden, I was very uncertain of how things were going to play out. I had this somewhat guilty feeling that Carson was going to hate me and that he would completely resent this new little brother I was bringing into his life. Boy am I glad that was just those LOVELY pregnancy hormones talking! Not only is that not even close to being true, its actually the complete opposite. These two boys couldn't be more crazy about each other! Isn't it obvious?
Ya, I'd say it's pretty undeniable! And aside from Camden's beat red cheeks, I don't think ANYTHING could come between them :-)

Speaking of nasty red cheeks, Camden's skin seems to be taking this winter far worst than last year which totally STINKS! Infact, with the recent FROST we had, Camden awoke one morning to these lovely, rashy, itchy legs
I hate that he is still having to suffer with this junk, and if I can ever figure out what triggers it(other than cold weather), he and I would both be alot happier. For now though, I am just keeping him SUPER lubed up and moisturized.

Christmas is rapidly approaching and I am almost ready! I have sent out my christmas cards, got our tree up(even if it is our small one) and I am 90% DONE shopping. I must admit, I was not happy about having a very small tree again this year. See, the problem is we have very large leather furniture, and no where for a big tree to go. I was still holding out hope that this year though, that we'd find a place for a big, beautiful, decorated tree to fit, but after much thought I knew it just wasn't going to work. BOY AM I GLAD IT DIDN'T!!! As beautiful as it may have been, I am already spending LOTS of time during my day smacking little hands and explaining that the ornaments are NOT balls. I can only imagine what I'd be doing if the big tree was up. So I will settle for our, little, but CUTE tree and that will be just fine with me!! December is a crazy month for us though, so even though I am on a break from school, I am really not "breaking" at all. With 4 family birthdays this month(including Mine, Derek's, and his mom's) we are spending lots of time AND money on family this time of year. I love it though, and even though this month is always hectic, its so nice to be all about FAMILY and Fellowship during the season. One thing for SURE though, I have vowed to make sure I try VERY VERY VERY hard to not bring another December baby into the family. I think December is a full enough month for us, DONT YOU?! :-)

Sleep positions

My little bear can sleep just about anywhere, and in just about any position! It never fails to amaze me how I may find him sleeping in his crib(or other RANDOM places!) I try to grab my camera and take a picture each time because they are the CUTEST memories! Now I will share some of his many sleeping positions with you! :-)

Camden sleeping before I could get lunch to him!


Asleep at the crib in the hotel. Obviously he fell asleep while sitting up to end up in this position!


I love this one! His little feet where sticking straight through the rails!


Oh and lets not forget the infamous BUTT IN THE AIR position! Got to LOVE it! :-)


This last one was in the car on the way to Orlando. Doesn't he look so precious and sweet?