CHRISTMAS WITH THE GRAHAM'S

The other day, we went over to Sunny's house for dinner and to exchange Christmas gifts with her and her family. Sunny has watched Owen since he was 11 months old and has been like a Grandmother to him. We've always felt like the Graham's were apart of our family. They all have been so wonderful to us. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. We just love them so much. Here are some pictures of all us the night we went over. 

FAMILY PICTURES

CHRISTMAS DAY

This December was more hectic than usual. Jason was working around the clock to complete all of the Christmas gifts he had to make for his customers. I had just gone back to work and was trying to fit in Christmas shopping with taking care of the kids plus staying on top of the laundry. I must say somehow we managed to do it all this year.  

Owen found his presents from Santa 3 different times before Christmas. The last time he found them it was Christmas Eve and they were wrapped under the bed. Owen came running into the room I was in and told me Santa had come early. I couldn't think of anything fast enough, so I told him that's where Santa must of put the presents for later and we better not touch them until the morning. The next day, he woke me up screaming in excitement saying Santa came, he moved the presents! I just hope that I can find a good hiding place next year. 

We hosted the family Christmas Dinner that night, due to my mother-in-law still in rehab. The kids were having fun playing, Jason and Justin spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen and the rest of us were sitting around talking to each other. Dinner was delicious and it was nice to have the family over, but it wasn't the same without Jason's mom here. We all got to see her after dinner and she looked good. It was a good day and we have so much to be thankful for.

DECEMBER PICTURES

DECORATING THE CHRISTMAS TREE

RANDOM PICTURES OF THE KIDS DURING DECEMBER

THE BOYS WITH SANTA

Tonight we went to see Santa Claus. After standing in line for what seemed like an eternity, it was finally the boy's turn to sit on Santa's lap. Up to this point, Owen was so excited he could hardly contain himself, but when I tried to take his hand, he began walking backwards asking if Daddy could pick him up. I quickly grabbed his hand and told him he was fine and as we were walking towards Santa I could tell Owen was getting excited again. This Santa was so much better than the one that's usually there. He talked to Owen and introduced himself before sitting him on his lap. After the pictures were taken of the boys, Santa asked Owen what he wanted for Christmas and his answer made me want to cry. Owen told Santa that he just wanted Grandma Kemp to come home. Isn't that sweet! Owen has such a gentle spirit! Merry Christmas everyone! May the New Year bring peace and joy to your lives.

TAYLOR'S BIRTHDAY

Yesterday, was Taylor's birthday party. Once again, Owen was in heaven playing with all of his cousins. He couldn't wait to give Taylor his present. I had taken Owen to the store with me to help pick out a gift and he went nuts over the Air Hogs no gravity & something car (I can't remember the entire name, all I know is it can ride up the walls). Anyways, as soon as Taylor opened it, Owen started telling him, "It's sharing time now" and when that didn't work, Owen went over to me asking if he could have Taylor's car to keep ofcourse. It didn't matter that I told him if he were a good boy Santa might get him one for Christmas, he just wanted Taylor's. Go figure!

KAYLYN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Today, my niece Kaylyn turned 10 years old. We all went to my in-law's house to celebrate and then stopped by the hospital to visit my mother-in-law who is still recovering from a stroke. I had forgotten that Owen loves to blow out candles. Whenever we go to a restaurant that has a candle at the table, we always have to move it out of his reach, because otherwise he'll blow out the flame and constantly ask us to light the candle again. Anyways, when Justin lit the candles on the cake, without even hesitating, Owen ran over to blow the candles out. At least he waited long enough for everyone to finish singing Happy Birthday. Luckily, Kaylyn was a good sport about it. Happy Birthday Sweetie! We all love you!

GAVIN

Gavin is growing so fast, it's hard to believe he's 9 weeks old now. He coos and smiles when he looks up at me and then last week he started giggling. When I think about going back to work next week, I get overwhelmed with sadness because I know that there are going to be things that Jason or someone else is going to see first. I wish I didn't have to work! Anyways, I thought I would post these pictures for my own sake so when I'm working I can go online and see my baby.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

PLAYING OUTSIDE

I've been feeling so guilty because of all the television Owen has been watching since the baby has been born. So last week I decided to be brave and go to the park on my own with Owen & Gavin. I had treats (to bribe my son when it was time to go back home) and my cell phone in case I needed reinforcements.

Owen absolutely loved playing at the park. He kept saying, "I'm so excited". It was great to be outside and get some fresh air. And it turned out I didn't need to bribe, threaten or yell to get Owen to go home, all he wanted to do was push the stroller.

A couple of days later, we decided to take a family excursion to Sugarloaf Mountain. My little monkey climbed every rock he could find. It was so much fun to spend time together and get out of the house a little bit!

TRICK OR TREAT

For Halloween, I had bought Owen a costume at the last minute. He kept asking to be things for Halloween that I couldn't find anywhere so I took matters into my own hands and told him, you can be a shark or a hamburger, which costume would you like to wear? For the record, HE CHOSE THE HAMBURGER! The night of the Halloween party, as we were getting ready, Owen decided he no longer wanted to be the Hamburger as planned and wanted to be the cow (a costume he wore last year). I thought it wouldn't fit, so I told him he had no choice, he had to be the hamburger. He looked so cute in it for the short amount of time that he wore the thing, but at least he wore it!

Jason was trying to get Owen excited about wearing his Halloween costume. I warned him ahead of time that I would post this picture to the blog.

However, on Halloween night when it was time to go around the neighborhood, Owen refused to wear the Hamburger outfit. I wasn't in the mood to argue, so lucky for him, the cow costume fit.