Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Seeing Santa

on saturday night, we took our annual trip down to savannah to see santa at bass pro shops. they have a pretty sweet set-up with games and activities for the kids, so they aren't getting all fidgety standing in line. and since the line is bound to be endless, they hand out tickets to come back at a certain time. so we arrived at 5:30 and got a ticket to come back at 7:30. sweet, we'll just have a nice dinner and shop a little and head back. little did i know that roman had taken out his list for santa while we were at dinner and of course, left it on the table. this caused a meltdown, plan b for if it wasn't still on the table when we went back, and a very sad trip to the restaurant. he was awesome though and held it together when the waitress said that she hadn't seen it. we just got out a new piece of paper and tried to remember all the things he had listed before. good as new. soon, it was our turn. i knew that it was going to be a crapshoot to see if g would warm up to the big man. i mean, she is in full-on "stranger danger" mode, and it was already past her bedtime (even with a long afternoon nap, this is bad). so, here we go... 

santa is taking a peek at roman's list.  as he reads everything, roman is nodding and looking very intently at his beard. 
this is roman's santa pokerface.  it's like he is super excited, but he is trying to hide it.  i love it. 
...and then there's this.  she was not havin' it.  roman was trying to comfort her and tell her it was okay, but she knew better. there's something fishy about that man in red with all the white fur!
santa update: after roman's Christmas program at school last night, we heard a bunch of sirens.  after realizing that they weren't going away, i had a hunch of what it was.  i hurried roman downstairs and quickly threw some pajama pants on him and carried him outside.  santa was riding through our neighborhood on a fire truck!  roman was super excited to wave to santa right in front of our very own house!  when we went back inside, we noticed that shoshee (the elf) had moved!  roman said that he saw her fly outside and into santa's beard so that she could tell him how good he had been.  and then she hurried back into the house before we got back in.  crazy elf. 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Daredevil and Dancer

again, just like last time, he didn't tell anyone. but this time, it wasn't because he was afraid he would get in trouble, it was because he is too tough. i asked him if he cried...he said "no, momma, i just went like this" (scrunches his face up like he is in a little pain). we took a picture of the bruised and swollen finger and sent it to the doctor, he said yes, it is broken, bring him in tomorrow for a splint. so, two weeks in a splint. lucky for ro, he gets his cast off tomorrow and will have two free hands for present opening come Christmas Day!

our little dancer!

Best of Friends

i never thought i would be so lucky to have kids that love each other so very much. roman's patience and kindness to his sister makes me so grateful every day. he loves her with a love i've never seen. she adores him and wants to do everything he does. i truly am so blessed.

she has been coveting his morning mini muffins for a while and he always shares.  now she gets her own bag. she just puts away too many to have to share!
i love this picture.  he was "racing" and she kept looking back to see if he was still following her!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

A Trip to Durham

a lifelong dream for toby, roman probably doesn't quite realize the significance of it all.  we got a rare opportunity to go and see toby's favorite college basketball team play.  against UD.  how cool is that?  of course, UD was gonna get beat, but it didn't matter, they were gonna see duke play!  in person! at cameron indoor stadium!

once we got there, roman got changed into his "uniform"
the sun was in his eyes, but the boys were ready to go!
how cool is that?
happy boy

my boys in blue
 
 roman got to meet a few of the players

andre dawkins

quinn cook
marshall plumlee (can you believe they both fit in the picture together?)
toby's all time favorite player, now a coach...wojo!
sean curry
and then, the kids got a little goofy on the way home!

this won't be the last time we do this.  it was a good time.  maybe our little man will be on the team someday!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Holiday Hi-Jinx

i told you i owed you a picture of the outside lights.  here it is.  dun duh da daaaa!  this is all i could get with my phone and a squirrely french bulldog on a leash.  it looks really good in person!  promise.  
toby is really sweet and sent me this little tree to put by my desk at work.  it came with lights and ornaments. too cute!
we decided to do a book each night instead of your typical advent calendar or Christmas countdown. there are 24 books (new and old) that are each wrapped and roman gets to choose whichever one he wants each night.  
a peek inside
this weekend we went to durham, nc for the boys to see a duke game against UD...and guess who was in the hotel room when we got there?  silly shoshee (pronounced shaw she)!
i was trying to get a good picture of the kids in front of the tree and it really wasn't working.  this picture cracked me up though. they look super happy, huh?
roman and i decorated his "virginia" house last night.  i really don't correct him when he says it that way because i think it is really cute.  he was having a hard time holding the little candies, so he would get a handful for me to put them on the roof for him.  he wanted me to bring it to his room when it was all dry, so when he woke up this morning, it was on his dresser.  he loved that and wanted to show gianna his "virginia" house. 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Indians, Inflatables, In the Mood & Insane Cuteness

i take such random pictures, don't i? i know i haven't been the greatest at posting or even taking pictures lately, but here's a few snippets of life. and what a wonderful life it is!

two little indians
toby and roman put up the inflatables and the outside lights this past weekend.  i owe you a nighttime picture.  it is really pretty.  and, of course, our competition (neighbor, mr. justin) just happened to be putting his lights out at the exact same time, so there was definitely some smacktalk going on.  i just hope this doesn't turn into a clark griswold scene!
lazy bones.  she loves to throw herself onto our pile of pillows on the bed.  and then she laughs.  not here, though.  things were serious, she was about to chillax.
roman loved making this "superhero froggy" mask from some arts and crafts supplies that krista gave him early (props to her and aunt jen for being super thoughtful and bringing down Christmas presents early so we would have a little less to tote around next month!)
this picture reminds me so much of one that mom has of josh around this same age.  he had dressed up in a red apron (i think?) and wrapped toilet paper around his face for a beard.  roman spied this dishtowel and was immediately inspired.  he LOVES dressing up as santa or an elf.  we are in the Christmas spirit around here!
gianna loves to get a bath, but she doesn't like me putting things on her head.  as soon as she is old enough to milk the whole princess thing, she might change her mind and want to wear her crown. 
i love seeing these little curls.  she was especially curly this particular night after her bath.  now that it is growing in a little bit, i hope it stays at least a little curly. 
it seems as though she has found her tongue
 
she loves playing with her birthday balloon from poppa
 

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Trees and Cheese

mommom brought this tree and all its decorations for gianna when she was here last weekend. roman had a little tree in his room when he was a baby, so g had to have one too.   isn't it pretty and girly?  roman calls the peacock that is down bottom in front a turkey.  hey, it kinda does look a little bit like a turkey!
roman got a new tree for his room too, with some really fun colored lights.  he loves it.  oh, and the santa hat he is wearing...he made me sew a jingle ball on the end of it so he would sound all jingly when he moved.  what can i say?  my boy loves Christmas!
this little lady will eat almost anything.  she probably had as much pizza as roman on sunday night.  then, to keep her quiet, i gave her my crust.  she gnawed on that for a while. 
 
 girl loves some cheese! 
 
our tree is up and lit!  we decorated it on monday night because we didn't have enough time on sunday night, so i owe you a picture of that soon.  say it with me now....ooooohhhh, aaaaaahhhhhh, twinkly....
roman is getting ready to start decorating our tree. 
after we had finished decorating our tree, roman stood back and said "come here guys, come look at our tree, it looks AWESOME!" i love that he loves to decorate at Christmas. next up...outside lights and inflatables. poppa's turn!

 

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Just for Fun

trying out her new rocking ladybug
waiting on the doctor for her 12 month checkup
 
having some fun in the exam room
such a happy girl
ahhh, kisses!

Party for our Princess

with our family in town, we had to have a party to celebrate the little lady, right? not that i need that as an excuse, but it sounded like the perfect one!

 in addition to some cupcakes, we had candy covered oreos and marshmallows...yum!
...and a banner with all of her monthly pictures on it.
poppa got his little sweetie a few balloons.  she loved them!
time to open some presents.  g was tired and not really into it, but she did good.  she loved the tissue paper anyway!
all the kids loved helping her open her gifts.  that's the best part. 
rose colored glasses.  may you always see life through these, my dear. 
checking out her new ladybug rocker
time for cake!
what is this, momma? she wasn't so sure and didn't want to touch it, but once i cut it and fed it to her, she liked it.  if she's anything like her momma, she could skip the icing and just eat the cake.  yummo!
the other girls were anxiously waiting for some sweets too!
momma and the 2 best things she's ever done. 
a blurry, but sweet family shot.

happy birthday sweetness!