family pictures 2013

Merry Christmas!

Love, Scott, Cristine, Jake & The Twins

*thank you Lora Knight Photography :)

another christmas post

i know...i just can't seem to let go of christmas. but i finally uploaded this little gem of a video and couldn't wait to share it. love technology and it's ability to preserve precious memories with my sweet and funny babe. and keep this in mind while watching: my floor was just cleaned. :)

*youtube did something funny to the video quality...it looks all wavy-ish? ugh.

CHRISTMAS DAY

J came to our bed around 2am. So we had a little (unplanned) Christmas sleepover! I was up before the boys and so peeked at the tree. Santa came! And he even left a note which read: Dear Jacob, Thank you for the Chex Mix and the candy. You are a good boy. Love, Santa. So thoughtful that Santa. Once the boys were up, Scott filmed J as he entered the living room. And you wanna know the first thing J saw. Santa's leftover Chex Mix sitting on the Santa tray. He ran straight there and ate the rest of the Chex Mix. He didn't even notice the tree, silly kid! We had to physically turn him toward the presents.

Santa left a few unwrapped. Which was smart. It let J know that there were new toys all around him! It was so much fun. The first Christmas where J could actually rip off paper and get excited about what was in the box. J is a good boy. Such a good little sweetheart. He's a titch mischievous yes, but oh so good and kind and sweet. He was definitely on Santa's nice list (and always will be.) He got oodles and oodles of gifts. Toy overload! Which is just a blast.

We opened gifts all morning, skyped with the family, called family, watched A Christmas Story (and Big Bang Theory when J went ni-night:), took pictures, played with all the new toys, and ate glorious leftovers and lots and lots of candy, bordeauxs and butterscotches. J was in heaven. He kept his Santa Pez in his little fist at all times.

And I got to snuggle with my hubby late into the night, laughing away at Big Bang Theory episodes. It was perfect. Merry Christmas!

CHRISTMAS EVE

The cranberry gingerale exploded all over the white tablecoth at Christmas Eve dinner producing very sticky utensils. J wouldn't eat a bite of ham. Joseph's head came off during the nativity reading. I cried over the spilled gingerale. J watched A Christmas Story in his new Christmas jammies and was out by 8:15--which is quite the Christmas miracle. I tiptoed around the house getting everything ready for Santa's arrival. And I may have eaten some of the chex mix left out for the big guy. But after a pretty eventful and crazy Eve...I definitely deserved it. 

Hope your Christmas Eve was merry + bright + gingerale free!

leonard bernstein bear symphony orchestra

Charlotte is truly a great little city. Little surprises are on every corner I tell ya. A family in my mom's ward in CA (who just moved there a few months ago from Charlotte) told us about this little gem at Founder's Hall in Uptown. Dozens of animatronic bears sing and sway and play Christmas music on a snow-covered stage-- in the middle of the beautiful building's plaza-- while wild little toddlers and kids were running around, weaving in between passerbys' legs and trying to get on the escalator. Such was the case with J. He was enthralled with the bears for about ten minutes then realized he could be running.

After the show, we drove to McAdenville aka Christmastown, USA. The entire (small) town was absolutely covered in lights. Simply adorable. I want to live there. We dined on Burger King and chex mix and enjoyed driving 5 miles per hour around cute Christmastown. I'm loving Charlotte.

country christmas train

i love the south. they go all out when it comes to christmas and heralding the true meaning of christmas. and by "all out" i mean that people have trains on their property. a train! and not just any train...a country christmas train! stinkin cutest thing ever. it was covered in lights and inside the old fashioned train christmas music played. as the train made its way around the extensive property, you were told the story of the Nativity. people were in the fields acting out the story: wisemen, joseph and mary, a stable, baby jesus, they were all there. it was awesome. and in between the "actors" christmas lights were everywhere. on trees, on farm equipment, on buildings, you name it. simply adorable and so much fun.

we also waited two hours to sit on Santa's lap. scott and i would take turns with j while the other stayed in line. we got some homemade gingerbread (best i ever had), visited shops and the petting zoo and just let j run around and marvel at all the lights.

what made up for the two hour wait was the experience inside. our little family got about ten minutes with Santa and Mrs. Claus all to ourselves inside their country cottage (hence why the line took forever). j sat on Santa's lap and didn't make a peep. he just stared and stared. no emotion. ha. thank heavens he didn't cry at least! and maybe it was the puppies that kept him so focused, the genius photographer's assistant held live puppies near the camera. seriously, genius. so we got about 20 or so photos from the photographer and j has the same look in all of them. totally in the zone :)

we will definitely be going back next year. (assuming we still live here haha. with us, you never know.)

oh christmas tree

The day after we got back from California (california posts to come after christmas:) we headed straight for the tree lot. The couple running the lot had just brought a fresh grouping of trees from the mountains. So we got to watch as they were all unloaded and de-bagged. It took me forever to decide which one I wanted. J was running everywhere. If that boy sees a wide-open space, then by golly he will run. It made taking pictures a bit difficult. But the lot smelled wonderful and we had fun with the new camera, nonetheless.

When we finally picked the tree we wanted, the lot guys took it over to the tree shaker thingy. Scott asked, "What's that for?" And I replied (hopefully accurately): "That's to make sure we don't take a squirrel home with us in our tree!" I can just imagine having a National Lampoon Christmas Tree incident. I think I would die. 

Scott helped the lot guy tie the tree to the roof of our little, black car while I chatted with the Lot Owner's wife (can you believe this?: she said they have people buying Christmas trees up to the 21st! I guess there's all sorts of reasons for that but it hardly gives you any time to enjoy the tree! anyways.) So the tree is tied down and we head to the car. This is where it gets awesome.

Scott: "Ok, let me hold Jake and you climb through the window first."

Me: "Huh?"

Scott: "You gotta climb through the window."

Me: "Why.....?"

Scott: "Because I tied the tree through the car windows. I forgot to open the doors."

So I had to climb through the window, "laughing all the way HA HA HA!" We got Jake in and then Scott had to become a contortionist to fit through too. It was great. And we probably looked like complete idiots. Oh what a memory. But hey, I'd take that over a squirrel any day.

 lovely, right? taken during a tickling attack.