Date Night

This weekend Todd took Cade to a Louisville basketball game at Georgia Tech.  Cade was excited to wear his gear and go to a game with Daddy.  While they were at the game, Luke and I had our own little date night.  He got to pick where he wanted to go to play and for dinner.  His choices:  Funathon and Waffle House!  We had a great time and it was nice that each of the boys got to have a little one on one time. 

No More Nap Time?

For the past couple of weeks I've noticed that it's taking Luke a looooong time to fall asleep at nap time.  He sings, rolls around, throws everything out of his crib, plays music, practices yoga moves and does just about everything he can to keep himself occupied.  For the past two days he's taken his pants AND diaper off (today when I went up to put it back on he told me he peed all over his blankets...and sure enough, he had!) and right now I'm watching him do forward rolls from one end of his bed to the other.  I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my beloved nap time just yet...especially because Cade still naps very well every day.  My fingers are crossed that it's just a phase!

Santa

Our Santa visit went off without a hitch this year!  We got there early so we avoided having to wait in line too long and the boys got to ride the carousel and play in Santa's Wonderland at Bass Pro shop during the time we did have to wait.  When it was our turn, both boys happily climbed onto Santa's lap and eagerly shared their Christmas wishes (Luke says he asked for a toy snowman and Cade asked for a trampoline and a firetruck jeep).  Until next year Santa...

Merry Christmas!

AHHHH!!!  We love Christmas around here!  The week leading up to Christmas is my absolute favorite week of the year.  It's such a magical time and this year was super special because GJ was here with us!  Cade and Luke are at the perfect ages to really get into the holidays and their excitement about it all was so fun!  While my mom was here we went to Stone Mountain Christmas (probably my favorite thing to do around the holidays), visited Santa, made holiday crafts, drove around looking at Christmas lights and baked...and baked...and baked some more!  Cade and Luke had the best time at Stone Mountain - thorougly enjoying the Chrismas parade, sing-a-long train, and their first "live" performance!  I am so grateful for the time we had together this year and I hope every Christmas is as sweet and magical as this one!

Making cookies for Santa!

...opening their Christmas Eve box

Goodies from Santa

Merry Christmas from the Dogwood Class

Cade's Christmas program was yesterday and I have to brag on myself for a second....I made it through the whole thing without crying.  This was a first for me, so I am quite proud of myself!  It probably had something to do with Cade, who was absolutely adorable as a reindeer in pajamas, but clammed up and was too nervous to say his line during the play.  I broke out into a full-body sweat with nerves for my sweet guy!

His little class sang Up on the Housetop, Jingle Bells, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas and performed a short play.  Then we decorated gingerbread houses.  It was such a fun time!

Of course, I lost my phone somewhere between my car and the school and didn't realize until I went to record the play that I had left the memory card for the real camera at home; so the only pictures I got were on the hard drive of the camera...and I can't find the USB cord to connect it to my computer. So no pictures (in my defense, it's been a crazy hectic week).

Gobble, Gobble

Todd's family came down for Thanksgiving and we had a great time lounging and eating!  We even got to celebrate Cade's 4th birthday while they were here. We have so much to be thankful for...there are some days when I am so overwhelmed by the plentiful blessings in my life that I feel like pinching myself to make sure it's all real. 

Four Years Old!

My Sweetheart Cade, 

You are 4 years!  So far 4 is AWESOME!!  You've always been pretty "with it" socially, but you have really seemed to mature over the past few weeks.  You've become a total sweetheart and I couldn't be more in love with the 4 year old you.  Don't get me wrong, you can still be difficult at times, but we are starting to see your sweeter, softer side much more!  Here's a little more about you at four:

• You weigh 33lbs (51%tile), you are 41.25 inches tall (71%tile), you wear size 4T in clothes and 10.5 in shoes.  
• You continue to be a great eater - you eat a lot and you aren't too picky.  Your favorite foods are fruit (your favorite fruits are mango, kiwi, raspberries, blackberries, oranges, and grapes), pasta, pizza, and PB&J.  You like broccoli, but don't really care for too many other vegetables (but you will eat ANYTHING to get a treat on treat night)!
• You are a good sleeper.  You still nap for 1-2 hours a day. You like for Mommy to sing you a song before you go to sleep.  
• You are a very happy little guy.  You wake up in the best mood every day and you tell me you love me at least 20 times a day.  Your new favorite game is to tell me how much you love me (i.e. - I love you all the way to God and back times infinity).  We go back and forth and you try to trump me.  :)  It's very sweet.  You love, love, love your mommy and give me tons of hugs and kisses every day.  You do NOT like when Daddy hugs me and ALWAYS run at us screaming and stepping between us when you see us too close.  :)
• You are loud, boisterous and ridiculously energetic.  At your conference your teacher said you are the smartest in your class, but you are also the 'roughest' in your class.  You are very physical with your body and you play much rougher than many other kids.  You're not doing it to be mean, you're just super physical.  Your teacher said we need to work on keeping your hands to yourself and not being so rough while playing with others. You love to run and you're quite fast!
• You are confident and outgoing.  You always say hello to other adults when we're out.  You're also very social and enjoy playing with other kids.  
• You're very competitive.
• You've become a very good big brother!  Most of the time you are super sweet to Luke and look out for him and help him.  You guys play very well together, but you don't like it when he messes with things you've been working on (building, for example).  You've gotten much better and sharing your toys
• Your favorite TV shows are PJ Masks and PAW Patrol.  You still love to watch TV.  I think you would sit and watch it for hours if I let you.  
• You're pretty neat and organized.  Your teacher says you are meticulous about cleaning up at school (stacking the blocks neatly, etc.).  You clean up pretty well at home, but you get overwhelmed with big messes and whine for me to help you.  
• You are a very smart boy.  You know all your letters and letter sounds, you can spell your first and last name, and a few short words.  You know how to say words slowly to spell them.  You can read a few short words (cat, mommy, daddy, etc.) and can read other CVC words.  You also know your address and phone number and are starting to experiment with different ways to get to a number (7 = 5+2, 4+3, 6+1, etc.)  You seem to learn new things very easily.  You are curious and inquisitive.  

We couldn't be more proud of you and we love you all the way to outer space...times infinity.  

On your birthday you had a special birthday breakfast, we met up with friends at Everland and then went to lunch at Chick-fil-A, opened a few presents, had a birthday cupcake, and a party bath!  We ended up having an impromptu birthday party at Chick-fil-A. Your very thoughtful friends brought you a gift and a cookie cake.  The people who worked at Chick-fil-A also made you feel very special. We had your Batman party on Friday with Grandmother, Granddaddy, Betty, and TJ.  We hope you felt super special on your big day!

Party Bath!

Your birthday breakfast!