Christmas

What a Christmas!

Christmas Eve was spent going to Church, cooking dinner and getting everything put out for Santa. We had a little trouble with the bike...the pedals didn't fit, so Santa left a letter explaining that the Elf packed the wrong ones. Jason and Nicholas took the bike back today and he picked a new one out. Thank the lord that he bought the story that Santa told Daddy where he could take the bike to!

Christmas afternoon we went and ate dinner at Jason's cousins house in Cumming. The whole Alexander family was there. It was a great time.


The day after we headed to Dothan for x-mas with my family. The whole crew was there...all 8 grand kids! Everyone had a great time. I even got to see my friend Julie while I was down there.

We got back home yesterday and of course, I get sick. I'm feeling much better now and have even managed to take some x-mas down and start putting the house back together.


I hope everyone has a great New Years!

My side of the family in Dothan

Nicholas and Jake

Jason, Me, Nicholas and Nolan on x-mas morning

Nicholas and Nolan x-mas morning

All of us on x-mas eve

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas! We've been really busy today. We've made our cookies for Santa and a birthday cake for Jesus. Tonight we'll go to church and then wait for Jason's Mom and brother to get here...and of course Santa too!

Cookie Swap

Both kids are feeling much better. Thank the Lord! We spent the weekend getting ready for x-mas and the cookie swap I hosted last night. Jason and I even had time to go out to eat without kids on Saturday night. I was great!
The cookie swap last night went really well. Good friends, good food and good drinks! Now I just have to clean up, but it shouldn't take that long. I can't believe that Christmas is almost here. I'm so excited!
Oh, and our Elf has been busy as well. He has left us another present (a Santa and reindeer to paint), taken all the cans out of the pantry, hung from the chandelier, and played with the toys in the bathtub. Nicholas loves seeing what we he does everyday. It is too funny.
Only 2 more work days for me and then 10 days of no work!

Could it get any worse?

I know I shouldn't ask that question, because normally it can.
Last night Nicholas had his Christmas program at school. Both he and I were so excited about it. It started at 7, the ear ache started at 5:30. We made it to the program, but by the time his class got up there to sing he felt to bad to join in. I felt so bad for him. This morning we went to the doctor and yes he has an ear infection. He stayed home today and it doing much better. Things were looking up for me and then it all went downhill at 6:30...Nolan threw up...almost his whole dinner. Tortellini doesn't look to good coming back up, let me tell you. I got him, me and the carpet cleaned and he went to bed about 7:15. He seemed fine until about 8:30. He started crying. I go upstairs and pick him up and get thrown up on again. Bless his heart and thank God I have a strong stomach. Got us cleaned up again, sat awhile with him, and he is now sleeping again. Please pray that he isn't sick too. I don't know if this Mom can take it right now. This is when I really wish family lived nearby.

Christmas in Birmingham

Another busy weekend for the Alexander Family.

Friday night Nicholas and I made peanut butter balls to take over to Birmingham on Saturday. Nicholas had so much fun rolling the balls.

Saturday morning, we all headed to Church for Breakfast with Santa. Nolan didn't like Santa at all, which is why Mommy had to join the picture :) Nicholas asked for a bike and cars.

After Santa we all headed over to Birmingham to celebrate Christmas with Jason's family. We had dinner Saturday night at Aunt Ruth's house. The kids had so much fun playing. Jason's youngest cousins (twins) also turned one. I love watching little kids dig into their cakes. The big surprise of the night was the arrival of Santa. Jason's cousin, Ryan, dressed up for the kids. Nicholas wasn't buying it though. He kept asking why it didn't sound like Santa. As you can see from the pic below, Nolan didn't like Santa the second time either.

Sunday we celebrated x-mas with Jason's Mom and brothers, got pics of all the grand kids made and then the girls of the family headed out to watch the Rockettes x-mas show. It was really good. It was my second time seeing it (I saw if a couple of years ago in Atlanta), but it was still so much fun to watch. They were awesome.

10 more days till x-mas...Can you believe it? I still need to get stocking stuffers and buy one more present.

Nicholas with his cousins

Nolan opening a present

Nolan not liking Santa

The Adventures of Tad

Tad, our elf, has been busy this week. He got into a little trouble on Sunday night. He took all the cushions off the couch and put them in the middle of the floor to sleep on. Couldn't blame him...he wanted a comfy bed right?


After that he was good all week until last night.

Monday night he climbed into Nicholas's stocking to measure it for Santa.


Tuesday night he was climbing the tree

Wednesday night he played in Nolan's walker

I guess after being so good all week he needed some excitement last night. This is what we found this morning.....

The start of the trail...Yes that is toilet paper

The trail led to this...he rolled the den!


At the end with the empty roll, there's Tad!

We can't wait to see what he'll do next!

4 Year Check-Up

Nicholas had his 4 year check-up this morning. Everything went good except for the shots. They even checked his cholesterol since we have a family history of high cholesterol. His was normal. This is the first year he freaked out over shots. He was on the verge of what I would call screaming. I felt so bad I left him con me into keeping him at home today while I worked. He has been watching cartoons and playing. He was so funny. They gave him 2 shots in each leg and he limped around the house most of the morning. Luckily, he won't have to get any more shots (besides the flu shot) until he is ten. Below are his stats. Well, back to work. Hope you all have a good day!

Height - 42.60 inches, 91% percentile
Weight - 40 lbs, 80% percentile

Oh, another funny moment...this morning I was taking a shower and Nicholas walked in all upset. He couldn't find Tad (the Elf) and thought he was lost somewhere and was so worried for him. After I got out, I helped him find him. He was in Nicholas's stocking.

Our Elf and ROLL TIDE

Saturday morning our Elf, Tad, arrived. This is his 3rd Christmas with us. Nicholas was so excited to see him again. He kept hugging him. Yes, we are allowed to touch our Elf. I know some of them you aren't supposed to because of Elf Magic. I guess ours has enough magic with us touching him :) He bought a present on his arrival, a DVD of old Christmas cartoons. Nicholas watched it all morning long. This morning we found him in the basket of Hot Wheels. Looks like he had fun playing all night. At least he picked up after himself :)

Tad on Saturday Morning

Jason and Nicholas went down to SEC FanFair Saturday at lunch and had a great time. Nicholas loved seeing all the football fans. Later he went shopping with me to get something for Nolan for Christmas. I'm glad Nolan doesn't understand because Nicholas has told him about 5 times already what we got him :) He is going shopping with Jason this afternoon for me. I hope he keeps a secret better this time. I like to be surprised Christmas morning.

Of course, Saturday afternoon was spent watching the big game. Even though Alabama didn't win, I'm still so proud of the players. 12-1 is a great season! They gave Florida a run for their money last night. Roll Tide!

Other big news...Nolan is really starting to walk. He took about 10 steps this morning :)

The first Casualty of Christmas

Well it happened...the first casualty of Christmas..Nolan broke an ornament last night. I thought I had all the breakable ones out of reach, but he was able to reach one I didn't think he could get to. I'm sure by the end we will lose some more. It is too funny how different brothers can be. When Nicholas was one he never touched an ornament after we told him not to. Nolan gets home and goes straight for the tree. Mr curiosity as I call him :)

The other big event...Nolan took 3 steps by himself! I know it won't be long now!

Not much else going on here. Just been busy with work and getting everything ready for Christmas. Jason and Nicholas are going to go down to SEC fan fair tomorrow in downtown Atlanta. Other than that, no plans. I love weekends like that!

Thanksgiving

What a wonderful Thanksgiving. We headed down to Dothan on Wednesday night. We got lucky with traffic because we left later, but decided after listening to Nolan cry on and off the whole way that never again will we travel at night...at least not for awhile. Poor Nolan just wanted to roll over and lay on his tummy. We made it to Dothan in 4 hours though which hasn't happened in a long time.

Thursday we spent the day at my Mom and Dad's playing and helping my Mom cook. My sister Jamie and her family came for dinner along with my Aunt Teresa, her husband and 2 of her grand kids. I can't remember the last time I saw my aunt so it was really nice to see her. It was a great dinner. My mom made her cornbread dressing...one word...YUMMY!

Nolan is his Thanksgiving outfit

Cole and Nolan playing with Granddaddy

Friday I went and ate lunch with some old friends from High School. Some I haven't seen in years. It was wonderful to see everyone in person. Several have blogs which I stalk :) . You all haven't aged a bit girls!

Of course, I got a little shopping in too. Not much, but a little :)

Saturday morning we headed back to Atlanta as my parents headed to T-Town (aka God's country as my Dad calls it) for the game. ROLL TIDE!

Jason watched the game and Nicholas and I started decorating for x-mas. He loved putting out our village houses. Below are some pics of the tree and the mantle. I loved the way they both came out.

Reasons to be Thankful

Okay, I'm going to get serious again. I pray that my husband doesn't get mad at me, but he sent me a email a minute ago about the holidays. As most of you know, he lost his Dad this past March to cancer. It all happened very fast and totally took us all by surprise. There are times that I still can't believe he won't be here for Christmas and the many other family functions. Nicholas still talks about him. Any time we see a white truck, he asks about Pops. Any time he thinks about the lake or fishing, he mentions Pops. I'm so thankful that in his short life he has such fond memories of his Pops.

Here is some of Jason's email...
"I spent to much of my short adult life thinking Dad would be there for me into his old age. I did not see him enough, talk to him enough, or hug him enough. We should come together as a family and accept differences no matter what they are.".... "The day will come when the only thing left will be memories. "

How true for all of us. The day will come when all we have left are the memories. What will you remember? Please I pray, don't let petty differences come between you and your memories. I may not always agree and like everything about my family, but they are the only one I have. I love you all so much and I hope you know that! Now I'm off to pack so I can go make some more memories for me, Jason and the kids!

PS...Nicholas is so excited about going to Grandmomma's and Grandaddy's house for Thanksgiving. He has asked everyday when we are leaving.

Busy Busy

When most people refer to this time of year as busy, most are referring to Thanksgiving and Christmas. In our family we are referring to all the birthdays...5 out of the 8 grandkids were born between 11/21 and 12/8! Yes, that's right 5....check out the last couple of years for us.....

2003 - Jake is born
2004 - Nicholas is born...on the day of Jake's 1st birthday party!
2005 - Scout (Jake's little sister) and Audrey are born - within 4 days of each other!
2006 - Cole (Jake and Scout's little brother) is born

The running joke in our family is who might get pregnant in March to deliver the next November baby! So tomorrow we are off to Dothan, not just for Thanksgiving, but to celebrate all of our November/December birthdays! Happy Birthday Kiddos! I love you all!

Birthday Weekend

Nicholas had a great 4th Birthday! We started Friday morning by surprising him with Breakfast in Bed. I went and ate lunch with him at school that day and then we all went to Chucky Cheese for dinner. We got him Hungry Hungry Hippos and we played about 20 games Friday night before bed!

Nicholas blowing out his candle on his cinnamon roll

Playing at Chucky Cheese

Saturday was his Pirate Party at our house. He had 7 friends come and had a great time. We had a treasure hunt and they all got into it more than I ever thought they would. They ran around from clue to clue, it was so cute. His cake was Pirate hat that I made. It wasn't bad if I say so myself. All in All it was a good day. He got some really cool toys. Grandmomma made Nolan and Nicholas matching Pirate shirts. They looked so cute. Grandmomma and Granddaddy spent the night so the kids got to spend a little more time with them today before they headed back to Dothan. The only sad part of the day was that my nephew Jake was sick so he didn't get to come. Jake and Nicholas are like two peas in a pod. Of course, the bright side is that we will see them in a couple of days for Thanksgiving.

All the pirates ready for the treasure hunt

Reading a clue

Nicholas reading a clue

Ready for cake

The cake


Nolan enjoying some cake

Nicholas is 4

I can't believe my little baby is now 4 years old. My dear sweet Nicholas. How the time has flown. You are such a joy and I can't imagine life without you.

There are so many things I love about you:

-the way you are so determined to do things right the first time. I hope one day you finally realize that is it okay to fail. You definitely get this from Daddy...he likes to be good at everything too.

-the way you love to cuddle

-the way you love your little brother. It is so sweet watching you worry about him

-your energy. You never stop and I love it. I love watching you play fumble with Daddy while watching football

-the way you love to be center stage. It is so funny watching you dance for all of us. You definitely get your rhythm from Mommy :)

-the way you want to know everything about everything. I hope you never lose your thirst for Knowledge.

Here's Nicholas through the years.

1 year Old - Where is his hair?

2 years old - Still loving the paci


3 years old

4 years old

In the words of Nicholas

Kids say the cutest things...

1) While eating penne pasta with diced tomatoes in it..."Mommy, I like these (the tomatoes), they are made of ketchup." FYI..the night before I had told him that Ketchup was made from tomatoes.

2) Last night 1am our room...."Mommy I don't want to sleep in my bed." Me-"well then you won't get a prize this week for staying in your bed." As he climbs into our bed - "That's okay Mommy, I'm sick of prizes."

3) In the car on the way home yesterday, he was being really whinny...Me - "I think someone needs a nap." Nicholas's reply - "Nolan does"

Pan-Can Walk

Saturday we spent the morning at Grant Park at the Purple Stride Atlanta 5K Walk/Run. This is a Pan-Can event to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer. Jason got involved with Pan-Can after his Dad passed away from Pancreatic Cancer this past March. It was uplifting to see the survivors and those currently fighting the disease out there. They had a doctor from UAB talk about the research they are currently doing. I pray that a cure is found for this and all cancers. The kids enjoyed the walk even if it was a little cold. They both got their faces painted. Nicholas was a pirate and Nolan got the purple Pan-Can symbol put on his cheek. Nicholas even got to start the walkers on their walk. He got to announce Ready Set Go over the microphone. He was so excited!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and running errands and then met Julie B and her daughter for dinner. The kids had so much fun together. Then back home to watch Alabama football...Roll Tide!

It is such a beautiful fall day here in Atlanta today. A little cold, but there are no clouds in the sky and the sun is shining. Hope your day is just a beautiful!

Nicholas and Nolan with their painted faces.

The remembrance wall

Earl's memorial on the wall.

Nolan and Jason

Show Me

Happy Friday! Isn't Friday the best day of the week? You know you get to sleep in the next day and you don't have to go back to work until Monday...Yeah!

I started reading a new book a couple of nights ago. It's called Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly. I've had it for awhile, but am just getting around to it. I felt like I needed to share what I've read so far. The book starts off with an imagine this....Imagine that you are watching the news one day and hear a story about a village in India where people are dying from a new form of the flu. A couple of days later the flu has spread all over India, then Iran, then Europe until it hits the US and heads to your town. It kills everyone who gets it, but wait...the doctors have found a cure they just need the blood of someone that hasn't been infected. So every American heads to their hospital to get tested. As you wait outside with your husband and child they come out...they found someone. They call out the number and it's your son. They grab him before you know what is happening. After a couple of minutes they come back out and ask you to sign a consent form for his blood and you notice that the # of pints needed isn't filled out. The doctor replies, we need it all. The book asks, could you walk in there and sacrifice your son to save the world. And what if you did and the next week they hold a ceremony to honor your son and some folks sleep through it and some don't come because they have better things to do and some that do come don't really pay attention. Okay at this point I was crying. It really put into prospective for me. The book goes on to talk about how we need to be a "show me" Christian not just a tell me. It quotes Gandhi who was asked why he never became a Christian. He said if he ever met one, he would become one. So today I'm challenging myself and everyone, Be a "Show Me" Christian. Let's all go out and show the world what it means and how it can change their lives. Not just through our words, but through our actions.

Okay, enough deep stuff :) Because Hillary has commented that every good post needs pics, here you go.

Nolan and Nicholas in their chairs

Nicholas with his Kipper

Nolan with his teddy. My friend Julie B made this and Nolan loves it!

It is the first thing he looks for when he goes to bed.

It never leaves his sight all night. Thanks Julie!

BIL

My BIL pulled through surgery fine....so thanks for the prayers. He will be in the hospital in B'ham until at least Saturday and maybe until Monday so please keep praying for him and my sister. Also pray for my parents. They are watching the 3 little ones in Dothan. They were very much acting their ages tonight (Almost 5, Almost 3 and Almost 2)! I'm tired just thinking about it :)

Another great weekend

What a beautiful weekend! The weather was fantastic.

Friday I surprised Jason with a kid free dinner to celebrate his promotion at work. I could tell he was mad when he got home and saw that the kids had McDonald's for dinner and I haven't cooked. I let him stew for about 5 minutes before I told him the babysitter was on the way :) We went to a great place in downtown Roswell called Pastis. I was so nice to have a grown up dinner, but I missed the kids.

Saturday I got to go shopping all by myself! Tiring, but fun to get away and get some x-mas shopping done. Of course, I had to be home by 3:30 so that Jason could watch the bama game. Roll Tide by the way.

Sunday, we spent a relaxing day at home. We cleaned up the backyard and Jason and Nicholas fixed the swing set all getting ready for Nicholas's b-day party in 2 weeks. I still can't believe he will be 4! Where have the years gone?

Please send a prayer up for my sister and her husband on Wednesday. They are going to B'ham for him to have back surgery. Hopefully this will help end the constant pain he is in.

Way to go Jason!

I just wanted to give a shout out to my hubbie. He found out Tuesday that he got his promotion. He has only been with the company since March and is now taking his boss's job. I'm so proud of him and I know he will do great!

Halloween and Homecoming

What a weekend! We had trick or treating Friday night (which was blast) and then Alabama's Homecoming game on Saturday. Roll Tide by the way...#1 in the country...I just hope they can win out the last 3 games. I'm so excited for the players.

We trick or treated in our neighborhood on Friday. Nicholas was an Alabama football player, Nolan was an elephant, I was a cheerleader, and Jason was Coach Saban.

This is the boys going thru the candy when we got home

Coach Saban - notice the money coming out of his pockets :)

Getting Candy


Me and Nolan with some neighbors...notice her costume...
she was a "one night stand" it was so funny!

The Family...even Shannon dressed in her Alabama jersey.

Saturday we headed to Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. We dropped Nolan and the dog at Reenie's house (Jason's Mom) for the day and Jason, Nicholas and I went to the game. We met up with my parents and my nephew Jake. This was the 1st time my dad got to take one of his grandsons to a game. He was so excited as was Jason to have Nicholas there. Both the boys had a great time cheering for the Tide.

Jason, My Dad, Nicholas and Jake

Alabama scoring a touchdown


Nicholas cheering

Jake and Nicholas in front of the Bear Statue

Jason and I with our friends Kara and Ethan. Kara was my
big sis in the sorority and they actually introduced Jason and I.