Well our holiday season continued right along last night with the annual McCool family gag gift party. Matthew and I hosted but could not have done it without the help of the entire family. This party is one that you never know what you will get and is always a guaranteed good time.
What I loved about last night was sitting and watching all of the kids. They sat there together and watched everyone open their gifts, they are all close and they all fold my little ones into their group - they protect them and take care of them. It warms my heart to know that even though there are 6+ years in age difference these young adults get that my little ones look up to them and enjoy spending time with them.
Of course there were lots of good gifts given, Adam gave himself a gift - that was a first, Andy was gifted gear for the shot spot, Doug and Ashley learned that their LaRosas obsession can now be remembered everyday with their photo of Josh, Eddie got yet another card to remind him of the snow blower, Kasey and Brady were introduced to the exchange with great gifts and Candy got a dog. There were many more gifts, too many to share.
What I can share is that the McCool family is truly an amazing and fun group. I am honored to be a part of their family and so glad that they could all join us for our fun times last night.
I cannot wait to see the couples photos, Aunt Cathy picked up a fun photo opt for us, hopefully I will be able to share some soon.
I love Christmas and I love all of the family time that comes with Christmas, the gifts are fun but they aren't want is important, our time together is priceless and I am so glad that we were all able to get together last night to kick off our week of Christmas!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Where we are at this time of their lives
Over the last few days I realized how much more my children have changed and grown. I see it everyday but the little things are starting to really show so I am going to take a few moments to write them down so that we can remember this time in our lives. As I write, Maggie, Caden and I are sitting down to watch Charlie Brown's Christmas - one of my favorites.
Caden - he is a solid 41lbs and almost 42 inches tall - wow - where did that 4lb 10z baby boy go?
He is super excited for Santa to come and ask almost everyday when his Beyblades that he asked Santa for last weekend will be here. He wakes every morning and looks for our Elf - Santa's Little Helper - to see where he is hiding out. He did a great job last night at his Christmas concert, he sat up there and sang with all of his friends and really just surprised me that he even participated. He loves to "rock out" with daddy every morning on the way to school and just last weekend we finally created him his own play list on the iPod so that we don't have to keep looking for the same 4 songs. Of course all 4 songs are songs that the Reds players come up to bat with but he loves them and sings along - really a 4 year old singing Riot - guess Rock on the Range when I was pregnant with he and Maggie set in! Caden is very emotional right now, many times we hear, "I am so upset." and the reason why following. He is a better big brother to Mallory and Cale then I could have ever imagined. As long as they are not taking their toys he loves them. Caden is finally trying new things and interacting with his friends at school, he takes his time but once you are a friend he talks non stop about you. And of course his blanket is with him everywhere he goes. He is our little Linus.
Maggie - what can we say about Maggie, she lives in Maggie's world and it is simply an amazing world where everything is wonderful and the fun never stops. She only weighs 31lb 8oz and is 39.5 inches tall, she is a peanut but a very determined peanut. She is enjoying dance class and loves to practice her ballet at home. She enjoys playing with her babies and being a mommy. She thinks that I am, "the best mommy in the whole wide world" and that daddy is, "the best daddy in the whole wide world" and of course we do not disagree. She LOVES to dress up and her #1 item on her Christmas list is a Jessie outfit with a pink circle hat. I sure hope Santa can deliver. She actually wrote Santa a letter and sat on his lap this year. Maggie sang her little lungs out at their school performance and is doing great in school. She is coloring in the lines and very proud of it, she even took one of her first "in the lines" artwork to show and tell the other day - she had colored it about 4 weeks prior - she is as proud of herself as her momma is proud. Maggie loves the Christmas lights and of course sweetly convinced her daddy that we needed to decorate our house. Poor daddy has had a fight with those lights! She is a baker, she is learning Memaw Donna's secrets for Mrs. Kraus's cookies. Her favorite line right now is when it is time to close our eyes and go to sleep, "but my eyes won't close." We will have our hands full with Miss Maggie but for now I am enjoying my adventures into her world.
Caden and Maggie as twins, they do fight with each other but they are playing together better than ever and playing nicely together. They are still the opposite of each other but they love each other and that twin thing - yeah it's there.
Mallory - oh Miss Mallory, you are amazing your momma with just how much you know. She knows all of her body parts, she knows lots of animal sounds. She has learned to say Santa and walks around the house saying, "ho ho ho" however, when it came time to sit with Santa she had a death grip on daddy. She is just a funny little girl and makes lots of cute and silly faces. She will discipline with the best of them, most of the time it is Cale who just followed her and did what she just did and got in trouble for but her NO is stern. When you ask her, "did you have a good day at school?" her reply is, "Yeah" like she knows what you asked her. Her favorite sayings right now are: "I stuck" - for when she is trying to climb up on something, "I pooped" for when you asked her if she pooped, "Melmo" which is for Elmo, one of our current obsessions, "blank" for her blanket, "Hi Friends" for everyday when we walk into her classroom to say good morning to our friends, and "mine" what else did you expect when there are 4 kids in a house? She LOVES art and holds her crayon beautifully. Just tonight she pointed to an apple on the wall and knew what it was, "apple" of course it took me 3 times before I realized where she was pointing but that made me proud, she is learning. She can repeat each family member's name and probably says Caden or Papaw best (well besides momma and dadda). She is just a sweet heart, she will be our quiet trouble maker and probably always blame her brother.
Cale - he is definitely ALL BOY! He is as much lovable as he is a bully. He has a BEAUTIFUL head of curly hair - and no I am no where near ready to cut it. He has taken to Curious George just as his older brother did at this age and proudly carries George and his "blank" with him every morning into school. He is a climber - on everything and anything. NOTHING scares him. He loves playing with cars and right now his favorite is a fire truck. He lines up his cars just as he has seen his big brother do a million times. His favorite word is probably, "No" but he says many other things. "Spoon" which goes for a fork or a spoon, "more" for usually more food, "Nana" as he LOVES bananas and would eat 2 a day if we let him, "milk" is another must have for him and "push play" anytime he sees a TV that is not turned on. He never sits still and loves to explore. He is a ham when you pull out the camera and definitely loves to see his photo after you take one. He can "sing" his ABC's and loves to count to 3, usually when he is running to jump in his ball pit. He is a creature of routine and I am okay with that as he makes it easy to get up and put to bed that way. But you better not be late for getting lunch, he will come to you, grab your hand and lead you to the pantry - the kid is on an eating schedule as well. He is a brute and will not hesitate to jump in the pile to have fun, but he is a snuggler too. And again, for the record, no I am not ready to cut his hair.
Mallory and Cale as twins, they too are very much opposites. They eat their bananas different, Cale starts at the pointy end, Mallory at the part where we broke it in half to share with Cale. Cale would rather dump the box of crayons or eat a crayon than color. However, they can share with each other and both love their blankets. They are getting too big, they are transitioning to cots soon for naps at school but their teacher isn't worried, she said just the other day, "you could throw their blankets on a pile of rocks and they would grab it and go to sleep!" And yes, they too have that twin bond thing going on - it is truly a blessing to watch.
I am so honored and proud that God chose Matthew and I to be the parents of these amazing little people. It isn't easy but nothing matters more than the smiles on their faces, the holding of a little hand and a hug and a kiss that can make anything go away. They are teaching us more about the world and ourselves than I could have ever imagined. I am so looking forward to creating more holiday traditions with these kiddos and cannot wait until Christmas morning!
Enjoy a few photos from a quiet moment tonight when they all sat down to color - this was their doing I just made sure everyone stayed of the table top! It only lasted about 15 minutes but I will take this sweet moment and I am so glad I captured it - don't mind the missing clothes - if you know our house it is the norm!
Caden - he is a solid 41lbs and almost 42 inches tall - wow - where did that 4lb 10z baby boy go?
He is super excited for Santa to come and ask almost everyday when his Beyblades that he asked Santa for last weekend will be here. He wakes every morning and looks for our Elf - Santa's Little Helper - to see where he is hiding out. He did a great job last night at his Christmas concert, he sat up there and sang with all of his friends and really just surprised me that he even participated. He loves to "rock out" with daddy every morning on the way to school and just last weekend we finally created him his own play list on the iPod so that we don't have to keep looking for the same 4 songs. Of course all 4 songs are songs that the Reds players come up to bat with but he loves them and sings along - really a 4 year old singing Riot - guess Rock on the Range when I was pregnant with he and Maggie set in! Caden is very emotional right now, many times we hear, "I am so upset." and the reason why following. He is a better big brother to Mallory and Cale then I could have ever imagined. As long as they are not taking their toys he loves them. Caden is finally trying new things and interacting with his friends at school, he takes his time but once you are a friend he talks non stop about you. And of course his blanket is with him everywhere he goes. He is our little Linus.
Maggie - what can we say about Maggie, she lives in Maggie's world and it is simply an amazing world where everything is wonderful and the fun never stops. She only weighs 31lb 8oz and is 39.5 inches tall, she is a peanut but a very determined peanut. She is enjoying dance class and loves to practice her ballet at home. She enjoys playing with her babies and being a mommy. She thinks that I am, "the best mommy in the whole wide world" and that daddy is, "the best daddy in the whole wide world" and of course we do not disagree. She LOVES to dress up and her #1 item on her Christmas list is a Jessie outfit with a pink circle hat. I sure hope Santa can deliver. She actually wrote Santa a letter and sat on his lap this year. Maggie sang her little lungs out at their school performance and is doing great in school. She is coloring in the lines and very proud of it, she even took one of her first "in the lines" artwork to show and tell the other day - she had colored it about 4 weeks prior - she is as proud of herself as her momma is proud. Maggie loves the Christmas lights and of course sweetly convinced her daddy that we needed to decorate our house. Poor daddy has had a fight with those lights! She is a baker, she is learning Memaw Donna's secrets for Mrs. Kraus's cookies. Her favorite line right now is when it is time to close our eyes and go to sleep, "but my eyes won't close." We will have our hands full with Miss Maggie but for now I am enjoying my adventures into her world.
Caden and Maggie as twins, they do fight with each other but they are playing together better than ever and playing nicely together. They are still the opposite of each other but they love each other and that twin thing - yeah it's there.
Mallory - oh Miss Mallory, you are amazing your momma with just how much you know. She knows all of her body parts, she knows lots of animal sounds. She has learned to say Santa and walks around the house saying, "ho ho ho" however, when it came time to sit with Santa she had a death grip on daddy. She is just a funny little girl and makes lots of cute and silly faces. She will discipline with the best of them, most of the time it is Cale who just followed her and did what she just did and got in trouble for but her NO is stern. When you ask her, "did you have a good day at school?" her reply is, "Yeah" like she knows what you asked her. Her favorite sayings right now are: "I stuck" - for when she is trying to climb up on something, "I pooped" for when you asked her if she pooped, "Melmo" which is for Elmo, one of our current obsessions, "blank" for her blanket, "Hi Friends" for everyday when we walk into her classroom to say good morning to our friends, and "mine" what else did you expect when there are 4 kids in a house? She LOVES art and holds her crayon beautifully. Just tonight she pointed to an apple on the wall and knew what it was, "apple" of course it took me 3 times before I realized where she was pointing but that made me proud, she is learning. She can repeat each family member's name and probably says Caden or Papaw best (well besides momma and dadda). She is just a sweet heart, she will be our quiet trouble maker and probably always blame her brother.
Cale - he is definitely ALL BOY! He is as much lovable as he is a bully. He has a BEAUTIFUL head of curly hair - and no I am no where near ready to cut it. He has taken to Curious George just as his older brother did at this age and proudly carries George and his "blank" with him every morning into school. He is a climber - on everything and anything. NOTHING scares him. He loves playing with cars and right now his favorite is a fire truck. He lines up his cars just as he has seen his big brother do a million times. His favorite word is probably, "No" but he says many other things. "Spoon" which goes for a fork or a spoon, "more" for usually more food, "Nana" as he LOVES bananas and would eat 2 a day if we let him, "milk" is another must have for him and "push play" anytime he sees a TV that is not turned on. He never sits still and loves to explore. He is a ham when you pull out the camera and definitely loves to see his photo after you take one. He can "sing" his ABC's and loves to count to 3, usually when he is running to jump in his ball pit. He is a creature of routine and I am okay with that as he makes it easy to get up and put to bed that way. But you better not be late for getting lunch, he will come to you, grab your hand and lead you to the pantry - the kid is on an eating schedule as well. He is a brute and will not hesitate to jump in the pile to have fun, but he is a snuggler too. And again, for the record, no I am not ready to cut his hair.
Mallory and Cale as twins, they too are very much opposites. They eat their bananas different, Cale starts at the pointy end, Mallory at the part where we broke it in half to share with Cale. Cale would rather dump the box of crayons or eat a crayon than color. However, they can share with each other and both love their blankets. They are getting too big, they are transitioning to cots soon for naps at school but their teacher isn't worried, she said just the other day, "you could throw their blankets on a pile of rocks and they would grab it and go to sleep!" And yes, they too have that twin bond thing going on - it is truly a blessing to watch.
I am so honored and proud that God chose Matthew and I to be the parents of these amazing little people. It isn't easy but nothing matters more than the smiles on their faces, the holding of a little hand and a hug and a kiss that can make anything go away. They are teaching us more about the world and ourselves than I could have ever imagined. I am so looking forward to creating more holiday traditions with these kiddos and cannot wait until Christmas morning!
Enjoy a few photos from a quiet moment tonight when they all sat down to color - this was their doing I just made sure everyone stayed of the table top! It only lasted about 15 minutes but I will take this sweet moment and I am so glad I captured it - don't mind the missing clothes - if you know our house it is the norm!
I love these children and could not be more proud!
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