Christmas Decorating

In true fashion, we decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. I know that Steve would have loved to have decorated in October, but I made him hold off a bit. Christian LOVED decorating this year. As each item was pulled from the box he said, "Look, Daddy/Mommy, look!" Now that Christian's vocabulary is larger and more clear (as opposed to last year,) it has been so fun to hear and see his excitement. He woke up from his nap the other day and informed us that he wanted to "-rating more" (to decorate more.) This year we thought that it would be fun for Christian to have his very own little tree in his room. Peeking in on Christian during nap time with the tree all lit up brings back the sense of wonder and anticipation of Christmas as a child. So fun to experience Christmas through our children! Lucas is all about the tree (and the extension cord that leads to the outlets.) He is also loving the kitty cat that thinks the tree skirt is a nice place to rest.

A Boy and His Kitty Cat

Upon our arrival home from Colorado, Christian was thrilled to see Phoenix; giving him hugs and lots of love. Poor kitty does not get the same attention that he did before our kiddos arrived, but he does get a different kind from Christian (whether or not it is the kind he would like to receive.)

Christian Translator 2.0

Christian is talking so much these days, and repeating almost every word we say. Of course, sometimes only a parent can understand the words that become a little jumbled. Here was my first list, and here are a few more words that are a little more difficult to interpret unless in context.

"fi-bee"= spider
"peet-z"= pizza
"pay-pa"= paper
"rad-o"= Colorado (can you tell we talk about it often?)

(and some random pictures):

Winter Iris

These beauties (though not as vibrant) are blooming in our backyard right now. Crazy to see iris blooming in December! I think they are confused with the switch from 50 degree to 70 degree days and cool nights.We would love to see some snow here in South Carolina like last winter, so please send some from Colorado! The comfortable 70 degree days are wonderful, but a cool, balmy day on Christmas would be welcome and feel more like home. I guess we will just have to dream of a white Christmas (after Steve's parents arrive of course.)

Random: Phoenix enjoying some winter sunshine, the rocking chair, and Boppy pillow that I retrieved for Baby #2.

Hide Out

Christian loves Phoenix's hideout just as much as Phoenix. Christian asks multiple times a day, "Where's the me?" (the meow/cat)...I often reply, "He's probably hiding." Hmm, I wonder why?

My Pal, Phoenix

Christian just adores his "me" (meow?). He is always so excited to see him and enjoys giving him treats. Phoenix is so patient with Christian and really does tolerate a lot. Though he does sometimes act annoyed, he generally sticks around his crazy little boy.

Chasing Phoenix

Christian has gotten quite speedy these days, playing chase and running away from mommy when it's time to get dressed or for a diaper change. Poor Phoenix really needs to watch out now! Actually, Christian is generally gentle with him and vice versa. C thinks that Phoenix is a teddy bear and likes to lay his head on him like a pillow. Not so sure how much Phoenix enjoys that though. :) Still, I think that they are good buddies. It's hard to believe that Christian was once much smaller (and lighter) than Phoenix.

"Aha! I found you!"

9

9 reasons to love home:

1. See picture above...how could your heart not be stirred if they were waiting for you?
2. Coming home to a beautiful, loving wife
3. The joy of good neighbors
4. The smells of the seasons, different recipes, different candles...
5. The feeling of rest and relief
6. The chance to play with my son in the yard
7. The chance to cuddle up with my wife on the couch
8. Sleeping in your own bed!
9. And of course...home is where the heart is!

Christian and Jana Marie

Have I mentioned that we have some awesome neighbors? I cannot begin to describe the wonderful neighborhood community that we moved into last May. Everyone has been so friendly and helpful, which is especially important since we had only lived in this house three months before Steve left for his deployment. There are a lot of military families, but also some native South Carolinians (maybe 50/50?) Across the street from us are our dear friends Leigh and Jana Marie. They have been so sweet to us and have watched Phoenix a number of times while we have been away. Christian has adopted JM as his "Big Sister" and they are so cute together. Poor JM was worried that Christian wouldn't remember her after our lengthy trip this past month, but not to fear, as soon as C saw her he squealed with delight and reached for her. It is so wonderful knowing that we have friends and neighbors that we can count on at any time. We are so blessed!

Phoenix helping Jana Marie with her homework. "My buddy and me!"

New Toy

Doesn't he look like a little boy? Not so much a baby anymore.

I bought Christian a small ball a few weeks ago. Can you believe he didn't have one yet? He has been enjoying carrying it around the house and rolling it around. It has also become a teething ball as of late. I have noticed that there are numerous bite marks and a few chunks taken out.

He also thought Phoenix might like it. Still not sure what Phoenix thinks of C, but he is always hanging around and puts up with the chasing and hair pulling. You would think he would run away and hide out.

Watching the Rain

This past weekend was wet and soggy. I liked it! It is so nice to see rain after our 4 years in the desert at Edwards with very little. The thunderstorms out here are pretty intense. Usually when it rains, it pours. No wonder everything is so delightfully green!

Here is little man watching from his bedroom window.And his buddy thought he would like to see too.

Busy Busy

Ever since C man officially started crawling on Father's Day, he has become quite determined and busy. Not that he wasn't before, but now he is just all over the place and is definitely keeping me on my toes. It's fun to see him take off and see what it is that he wants and is interested in versus him sitting and playing in one place. He seems to enjoy hanging out with me in the kitchen while I am cooking and he loves to chase after Phoenix- and boy, is he becoming a quick little crawler! Phoenix will have to watch out here soon or he will be missing all of his fur!

My 3 Boys

I got a couple of quick shots of Christian, Daddy, and Phoenix playing together:

Waiting, but Almost There

We are just 2 days away from closing on our house. We CANNOT wait! We are now in our 3rd room at the TLF's since being here at Shaw. They no longer had pet TLF's available, so Phoenix is staying at a friend's house while we stay in a non-pet TLF for 2 days. Crazy....so ready to get out of here and settle down. Friday could not come soon enough!

TLF "Living"

Phoenix certainly didn't waste any time getting comfortable in the TLF. Although we will ALL be happy when we can finally move into our home and have more space. This weekend the a/c in our TLF went out, and the repairman seems to be having trouble making his way over here to check it out. Fortunately the temps have been a little cooler (70's, low 80's) so we are surviving for now.

This little pirate stole our hearts!

This weekend we checked out the State Museum in Columbia and went to an exhibit called "Pirates, Privateers, and Buccaneers." It was pretty interesting, not to mention a good chance to escape the TLF!

South Carolina Visit

Steve's parents came to visit us this past week and drove out some of our boxes as well as Phoenix, who had stayed with them these past three months while we were en route. What a wonderful time we had! They were here for almost a full week, so we did lots of site-seeing around South Carolina. This state is beautiful with all the woods and trees. It is so wonderful to see green! (Something that we desperately wished for during our 4 years at Edwards.)

South Carolina is also so rich in American History with both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Sumter itself is home to General Thomas Sumter "the Fighting Gamecock" who maintained South Carolina's will to fight during the Revolutionary War. We are just minutes from a civil war battlefield and a road that during the time was labeled "the King's Highway." I am not much of a history buff myself, but I do find a lot of these events very interesting. I think it is so cool to be near so many historical sites that happened a couple hundred years ago as well as other fun things! Look at all we did this past week, and this is just scratching the surface:

Sumter:

• Swan Lake and Iris Gardens
• Sumter Memorial Park

Columbia:

• South Carolina State House
• Hampton-Preston House
• Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden

Charleston:

• Battery
• The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon
• Ansonborough Inn
• The Market
• Isle of Palms Beach
• Citadel

All tuckered out...lots of site-seeing!

I may just have to do separate posts on some of these because they were just so interesting...plus I have lots of pictures to gather and share. :) Obviously we didn't even come close to seeing everything in Charleston. Lots of the tours are a little bit more difficult with an active baby.

It was so nice to have Grandpa and Grandma R. with us to explore some of South Carolina. Christian loved having his grandparents here and mommy and daddy were even able to have a dinner date. (Thank you for everything and for the beautiful time!)