Candlelight for you, Nana!

My sister snapped this picture and I just had to steal it.

I love how both of our sweet boys are staring at the light in amazement.

As my sister said here, we all know Nana was there in spirit.

Bring on the New Year!!! :)

Christmas Eve & Christmas 2011

Our shopping trip on Friday afternoon was MUCH better than expected. I got off early at 2 and Jordan and I were completely done and back to my mom's by 6 to pick up the babies. I was pretty happy about that. I was expecting the lines to be the worst part and they weren't bad at all. The traffic on the other hand... wasn't so great! Saturday morning was spent mostly in the kitchen cooking & baking things for our Christmas Eve party at my sister's house. We attend the candle light service every year at my sister's church on Christmas Eve afternoon and then we usually go to a family member's home afterwards to celebrate Christmas together. The candle light service is my favorite part of Christmas Eve. It's something we've always done, no matter where we've lived, because it's something my NANA always wanted to do but also something we've all grown to love. We've always spent Christmas Eve with my NANA. It was hard her not being there this year. I kept trying to remind myself that she's having her best Christmas ever this year!

Tuff got some fun stuff from my family. Clothes, toys and this bad boy.

I think I was more excited about it then he was. While we were shopping I asked Jordan if he wanted to get him one and he replied with "Naw." I said "Why? I loved it when I was little." Anyways, we decided to pass. So I was super excited when he unwrapped it. Too bad he hasn't had ANYTHING to do with it yet. HA! I took it for a spin before we left my sister's house. I told everyone "it doesn't work as good as it used too." Definitely not because I weigh 100+ pounds more. I didn't take TOO many pictures at my sisters. And I didn't get any of Gunner. He was asleep not long after we got there. Poor Gunner always misses out on all the fun. We didn't even get to open his presents. We had to take them home and put them under the tree for Christmas morning. Here are some of the pics I did get.

Tuff opening his very first Christmas present for 2011.

Sit n' spin! YAY! ;)

Truck from meme & pa

Blocks from Uncle Kevin

Sweet Greer.

 He loved his Discovery Table.

Sophie. In her adorable Christmas-wear.

Harrison.

Tuff was excited about Santa Claus coming to see him Saturday night. He kept talking about him and he went to bed without a fight! :) He didn't forget to leave him some cookies and milk first. He woke up a few times throughout the night before Santa came and the first time he woke up he said "cookies." I told him Santa had not came yet (Jordan was up putting together his Santa gifts) and we had to go back to sleep. Then when it was finally time to wake up... he was sleeping like a log. We had to wake him up since Gunner woke up before him because I wanted them to be able to open gifts together and Gunner was due for a bottle 30 minutes after he woke up. Tuff was pretty excited when he saw what Santa brought him.

A Lightning McQueen Tricycle that says a ton of phrases in his actual voice from the movie.

He also got clothes, CARS 2 (since we could practically quote CARS we thought Santa should bring CARS 2), a CARS umbrella (he loves playing with my umbrella), a remote control Tow Mator, a buzz light year and a basketball goal with basketball. I might have left something out... but I did my best to remember it all. He seemed to enjoy everything he got. This was the first year he actually got into opening his presents. The only problem we had was him wanting to play with everything he opened before opening everything else. It was exciting. He LOVED his Tricycle the best. It took us a little while to get him off of it to open all his presents.

Buzz

Basketball goal

Loaded up and ready to drive off ;)

Gunner didn't rack up as much as Tuffy this year because let's face it. He's just too small. First of all, it's nearly impossible to buy for a baby so small. So we went with things he *needed* We did get him a play mat. So that was somewhat fun. Santa also brought him a high chair and new clothes. Here is what our sweet boy thought of all his stuff.

Getting ready to open (or watch mommy open) all his presents.

"Look mommy, a play mat"

(Mommy didnt want to be in the picture)

He LOVES his new high chair. Can you tell?

Right now he's really into trying to pull his self up and sit up so I think that's why he likes it so much. He can sit up and look around at everything/body.

Here he is sitting up in his boppy.

You can see how happy he is to be sitting up "on his own."

Hope you're Christmas was as Merry as ours!

Oh, almost forgot to post the note Santa left for Tuff.

(Couln't leave Snitch out of Christmas)

;)

Sick Day

Mom called me at work Wednesday around noon and said Tuff was running a low grade fever. I thought "wonderful." Nothing like a sick baby a few days before Christmas. I told her to keep an eye on him and let me know if he got worse. She called back around 4 when he woke up from his nap and said he was fever free. I knew we probably weren't in the clear though. I picked him up after work and we headed home. He was fever free all night and acted fine before bed. While I was up feeding Gunner at 230 yesterday morning Tuff comes trotting in. Burning up. I gave him some tylenol and got him back to sleep. He woke up around 7 burning up again. I figured it'd be best to go ahead and keep him home for the day. He didnt really do much that involved moving from the chair or couch all day. Poor bud. I really know he isnt feeling good when he doesn't get up and move around all day. I don't really know any 2 year olds that sit that still ever unless their sick. I hate seeing my babies sick. But I have to admit, I do love the extra snuggle time. He didn't sleep too well last night and he still wasn't back to his normal self this morning so I'm not sure what's up. I really think its something viral since he hasn't had any other sypmtoms. Let's hope so since it's the day before Christmas Eve. Anyways, we watched a lot of cartoons yesterday and Aunt Amanda brought by cookies.

Nothing a cookie and some E.E. (Curious George) can't cure.

I am at work today but they are planning on letting everyone leave early. Since everything is a secret around here, I'm not sure what time yet. The rumor is no later than 3 but we're all hoping they break down and let us go a little earlier. We'll see I guess. Jordan and I plan on getting all of the boys Christmas shopping finshed/done this afternoon. I'm not really looking foward to the last minute crowds but I'm praying it won't be too terribly bad. HA! We'll see.

Gunner Bear is still sleeping 8 hours after his night time bottle every night before he wakes for another bottle. This is a HUGE relief in our house. Praying it stays this way! Now if we could just get him to hold off until later to eat his night time bottle we'd be set. The child can't seem to stay awake past 7-7:30. He wants to be laid down so I don't know what to do to fix that. If he could eat at 8:30 and sleep until 4:30 for another bottle, this would be one HAPPY and rested mommy! :) Maybe Santa will bring me a sleeping baby for Christmas! Ha Ha Ha. Or should I say Ho Ho Ho.

Well I'm sure you won't be hearing from me until after Christmas so

Christmas Spirit

I'm getting giddy thinking about all the Christmas events coming up. :) I can hardly believe it's almost Christmas! Where did the month of December go to??? I haven't been taking any pictures this week but I did snap a few of Tuff infront of the tree the other night. For some reason he was really hamming it up for me.

(sorry about the quality, I took w/ phone)

I've been lazy about SNITCH the past week or so. He actually hasn't moved in over a week. That's my mommy fail for the week. :-/ The good thing is, Tuff isn't really old enough to FULLY understand the concept so he hasn't even noticed. Thankfully. I'm sure I won't be able to slide that easily next year. For some reason I haven't been feeling too good the past few days. I've been having headaches and feeling pukey. I think it may be the weather. Who knows? But I blame a lot of my laziness on that. It's been pretty nasty and rainy here the past few days. I don't think that is even supposed to be clearing up until a few days from now. Lucky for me and my headaches. Gunner is finally getting over his stoppiness. Thankfully. The night before last we had a first. And one of my favorite firsts! He slept from 7p to 3a. Wooooo Hooooo! Everyone kept saying maybe he will start sleeping better. I wasn't holding my breath. Good thing I wasn't because he slept like poo last night. Urgh. I don't know if Santa will be bringing him anything this year or not. I KID! I KID! Speaking of Santa..... We still have not bought ONE gift. We will do all of our shopping for the boys Friday afternoon. Nothing like waiting til the last minute, eh? I did find what I wanted to get for Tuff's gift from Santa today in the Toys R Us ad. The boy is obsessed with CARS right now. Check this bad boy out.

I just know he would LOVE it. It's regular $60 and today (only) it was 50% off. Well I'm sure you can all guess what happened when I called the store to see if they had any. Nope. Got online to look. Nope. Out of stock. No rain checks. Go figure. That's why they put it in their pretty little ad. Because they don't have any!!! You can't beat 30 bucks though. I would almost consider paying full price for it because I'm positive our CARS mania 2 year old would be ecstatic on Christmas morning when he sees it. I'll be talking it over with Daddy tonight. If Daddy says yes to the full price and they get them in stock before Christmas, you might be seeing some pictures of baby boy pulling this sweet wagon in the next few weeks. :)

I'm itching to get one of these and put together/decorate with Tuff.

Have any of ya'll done these this year? I'd like to make this a tradition for the boys. I was talking with my SIL's last night about getting together and doing them. But then when I got online to check out the prices I was like "WHOA!" $10-15 a piece for these bad boys. That could get expensive. Eh. I might still try and sneak out and get one for me and Tuff to do tomorrow or Friday night. :)

Is there any other last minute shoppers out there other than me??? What traditions do you and your families do every year for Christmas?

On another note, my cousin started a blog today. I'm super excited since I don't keep up with that Facebook stuff. You can check her out here @ Livin' La Vida Luke! (Sweet name huh? She came up with that one all on her own! Luke is their last name!) Anyways, stop in and see her!

Happy Wednesday, Friends!!!!

weekend & 4 months! :)

I realize I put "3 months" in my title. I have fixed it now. (For any that even noticed.) I guess I'm trying to go back and slow down time.

Friday night we went to cousin Dalty's ball game. Daddy wasn't feeling up to it so Aunt TT went with us! The game was complete chaos. The refs were horrible which caused Coach Rigsby to get a technical and after that it was over for our boys. Gunner Bear wasn't feeling to good and passed out not too long after we got there.

Nothing to serious. Just a stopped up nose. The 3rd one he's had in his 4 months of life. Ugh. I can already tell he's going to have his daddies alergies, too! (Tuff got that from Daddy as well.) He seems to be feeling some better today and his stoppiness has seemed to reside some. Hopefully in a few days he will be breathing back to normal again! Poor bud. 

Saturday morning cousin Harrison came over for a short play date. His mommy and daddy had a breakfast to attend at a local restaurant so we told her we'd keep him for a couple hours. Lots of fun was had...

Sweet cousins!

We didn't do much of anything else after Harrison left on Saturday. We all had naps. Made a trip to the grocery store and cooked a big dinner. We were all in bed by 8:30. Sunday morning we got up and ready to head to my uncle's Christmas musical at the church he attends. This musical was special to all of us, especially my uncle. When my Nana was in the hospital before her passing, my uncle repeatedly talked about his Christmas wish for her. His Christmas wish was for my nana to be at his Christmas musical. Since she couldn't be there, we all felt the need to be there. I know none of us can take the place of his sweet mother/my grandmother but we all love and support him just as much. We were very proud of him yesterday.

[Goodness, my big baby looks as big as me on my hip]

So... I'm not normally a big candy eater, especially chocolate. But who has had these Holiday treats?

OMG.

 There is just something about the special holiday candy. The chocolate and filling always tastes so much fresher than regular candy bars.

I think I've gained 5 pounds since I've found them.

Have ya'll had them? If not, DON'T. Haha.

As little as we did this weekend, I didn't get around to making Gunner's 4 month pictures with "the sign" like I usually do. He just hasn't been feeling his self so I didn't think he'd be up to it. Plus, he slept alot more than usual because he wasn't feeling well so I didn't really have a lot of time either. BUT, my friend Anita who came over and took his 3 month pics on Thursday afternoon did get a few edited. So I'm going to show you all the sneak peek as his "4 month pictures" since he was a day shy of 4 months when she took them. He will just be sign-less. I might still try and get some of him with "the sign" one day this week. Until then...

Gunner Blake,

You are 4 months old!!!

[a sneak peek image]

• You are eating 5 ounces of milk just about every 3 hours. I'd like to try and up the ounces so we could go longer than 3 hours but you usually won't drink more than 5 ounces except before bed time so I don't try often because I don't like to waste formula. For any mom's who formula feed, you know how expensive it is. Too expensive to waste.
• You have just started taking anywhere from 6-8 ounces for your bed time bottle with cereal. I usually make 6 ounces and if you act like you want more, I'll make more.
• You STILL are not sleeping through the night. You STILL wake up, like clock work, at 12 and 4 am for bottle. I'm starting to think you'll wake up to eat at these times for the rest of your life. All I can say is, I can't wait until your older so you can wake up and make your own self something to eat at those times. HA! This mama is TIRED. You can't tell, can you?
• We started cereal by the spoon about 3 weeks ago. You seem to really like the cereal but this face about sums up what you think about the spoon.

We also thought this would help you to sleep through the night. We were wrong.

• I decided to try some baby food last week just to see what you would think. You didn't like it. I tried green beans and sweet potatoes. You immediately spit them both out. We plan to really start trying daily this week. I sent bananas to MeMe's this morning and she said you did pretty good. Ate half the jar. I think we will start slow and go with just one jar of the same thing, weekly. You LOVE the bottle so I think this will be a big adjustment for you. Brother was different. He didn't love the bottle as much so he was ready for any and all baby food he could get.
• You are up to a size 3 diaper! I just switched last week. You are such a roly poly and your little legs are so chunky... the 2's were just cutting into you so we made the switch. They seem to fit so much better around your chunky legs.

[another sneak peek image]

• You are wearing 6 and 9 month clothing.
• You are still SO smiley all the time. You are such a happy baby.
• You are actually getting a tad bit better about being so attentive. You will actually sit in the swing or lay on the floor for at least 10-15 minutes. Every now and then... a little longer. HA.
• You are rolling from belly to back. Every time your on belly. You have been doing this for about 2 weeks now.
• Your eyes are always changing. I can't seem to figure out what color they are going to be. They go from blue to green to brown. Although I will admit, they are mostly green and brown. So I'm thinking they will end up being one of the 2. It's so odd since brother's were SO brown by the time he was your age.
• You are STILL loving big brother. When you hear his voice, you find him and follow him anywhere he goes. I'm certain ya'll will be best buds soon.

• You have really started to drool and naw on your hands alot lately. I was beginning to wonder if you might be cutting a tooth but I have't felt any knots on your gums yet so I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not a big fan of the nawing on your hands, though. You are constantly gagging yourself. I try to keep them out of your mouth as much as possible.
• You were giving me a FIT to go to sleep a few weeks in a row. I couldn't figure out what the deal was. I finally changed your paci because you would barely take the NUK we were giving you at all. The results = magic. Amazing what a bigger and longer nipple will do. You love it. Well I wouldn't say love... Not the kind of love your brother has for his (since he's 2 and a 1/2 and still has his) but you like it enough to help you get to sleep. And that's loving enough for me. You're also still loving the Lovey too. We call him "puppy love." :)

sweet boy ;)

• You've started trying to pull yourself up into sitting position this week. When I lay you in my lap, you will pull yourself up. I'd bet you'll be sitting up by the time you turn 6 months old. If not a little sooner.
• You're still sleeping beside mommy :-/
• You are still loving bath time. Wish I had the time to give you one every day since you love them so much.
• Dr. C called your case of eczema mild, but I'm starting to think it's gotten/getting worse. I hate it. I don't like anything that messes with your beautiful complection. I'm hoping it goes away sooner than later.
• Still hating your car seat. Oh me, it's exhausting listening to you scream in the car. It makes wanting to take you anywhere, impossible!

Newborn to 4 months in no time.

You're growing SO fast!

We are excited to be a family of 4 this year for Christmas! We are SO very blessed to have you in our lives. Mommy, Daddy & brother love you more than you'll ever know! Happy 4 months sweet boy!!!!!!!

Random Friday

It's Friday and I'm HAPPY about it. I don't really have anything important to talk about so I'm just going to tell ya'll whats been randomly going on the past few days.

Tuff found the Christmas tree TP'd one morning and Snitch was hanging from some of the toilet paper. Tuff thought it was pretty funny. He came in to wake me up and was pulling my arm trying to get me out of bed so he could show me just what Snitch had done.

Tuff had his Christmas party at school yesterday. Seems like he had a blast. They drew names in his class and exchanged $10 gifts. He got a CARS toy that talks and moves. And I'm not lying when I tell ya'll he slept with it last night! :)

When I got there to pick him up, he had a gift for me and Daddy. When I opened it, I found a sweet little ornament with his name and hand print.

LOVE it.

We also got a Christmas magnet with his picture.

(He always has a new magnet for every Holiday)

They also made snowman shirts! Tuff wore his to MeMe and Papa's today!

How stinkin cute!!!

I had to make more (and different) Christmas cards this morning. Why? Because I didn't order enough from Shutterfly last week. And I was stressing over not sending to people that I would originally send to. I'm not really sure what I was thinking when I ordered 25. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get more of the original card but since they have to be mailed to me... I was afraid I wouldn't get them and get them mailed out in time. So I used snap fish and had them sent to Wal-Mart so I could pick them up today in one hour photo center. I love this card just as much so I guess it's ok. Right? Or am I crazy? HA! Oh well. This way, I won't have to feel guilty about not sending everyone a card. I'll show it off when I get them mailed out.

My friend Anita came over and took Gunner's 3 month pictures yesterday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute (he is 4 months old today). He was SUCH a little ham the whole time. The kid LOVES the camera. Oh heck what am I talking about? He LOVES anyone or anything that's in his face giving him attention. SO much different than his big brother... Anyways, she got some good ones. She actually texted me last night and said they were ALL good. Can't wait to see them and really can't wait to share them! :) Also, I should have his 4 month stats and post up on Monday some time. Can't believe he's already 4 months old. Time is just a flying on by. Now it's time to start sleeping through the night. (yeah right, mom)

We don't have any big plans for the weekend. There's alot of things we need to be doing. Like taking the boys to see Santa and starting our Christmas shopping- yes we have not bought ONE gift yet. Tonight we are headed to Manchester to watch our nephew play basketball. It's not ideal for us to take both boys to an away game but it seems like all the home games are on Tuesday's this year and Jordan can't go to any games on Tuesday's because he works nights. So since Manchester isn't too far from home, we're headed to Manchester.

Read my mom's blog post last night about my Nana. I've been feeling A LOT like she has since my Nana's passing. Especially since it's Christmas time. I'm still thinking of her daily. I know it's not a bad thing but I think alot of that has to do with the guilt I'm carrying. If ya'll don't mind, please keep us in your prayers this holiday season. This will be our first Christmas ever without her and we will be missing her.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Thankful it's Friday!!!

Slacker

I can't say that I haven't had the time to blog the past week... because I have. I just really haven't felt like it. Do any of ya'll ever feel that way? For some reason I've been extra tired every day. Maybe because I have a 4 month old who doesn't like to sleep. I've been the kind of tired where your eyes are always heavy and you feel like you could sleep for days if you had the chance, you know, that kind of tired! :) So sorry for lacking.

The weekend was nice. I got off early on Friday for our firm's yearly Christmas party. Jordan had to work again Friday night so me and the boys just hung out at home. Saturday my parents took Tuff off our hands for a while so he could spend the day with Harrison for his birthday. They went to lunch and Chuck E Cheese. I'm pretty sure he had a blast. It was also the first time he's seen Harrison since Thanksgiving. I know they miss each other when they go that long without seeing each other. Saturday night my parents took Gunner off our hands so me and Jordan can get a full night of sleep. That was nice. It was the first time since Gunner was 6 weeks old that we got a full nights rest with no interruptions. After we dropped Gunner off we headed to my niece & nephews basketball games. (They were both playing in Championship games in a tournament) Once we got there, I was glad we didn't have Gunner because it was packed! Like shoulder to shoulder, knees to backs kind of packed. Saturday night after the games both nephews came over to spend the night. Tuff loves his big nephews! He really loves when they come over to spend the night. We didn't do a whole lot on Sunday. Grocery store, naps and rest.

I got my Christmas cards mailed out on Monday. I posted it to my blog from Shutterfly's website in the post below this post. Check it out! :) I thought it turned out sweet and Shutterfly never disappoints.

I'll leave ya'll with a pic of our sweet babies watching Frosty the Snowman together on Monday night.

:)

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

Alford Christmas Card 2011

Sparkling Snowflakes Christmas

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

Our Big Boy's Big Steps

Tuff has been showing signs of interest in "going potty" the last few months so we have let him do as he pleases. (I knew he wasn't ready to go hard core just yet.) He's only officially pee'd on the potty one time (just a very little bit) but seems to talk about it a lot. Well the last few days he has been showing signs that he is READY. When I got to my mom's to pick them up yesterday he ran around the corner wearing nothing but a shirt. I asked "Where are his pants & diaper?" She said she hadn't been able to keep either on him all day. But... as many times as he went to the potty, nothing. So we got clothed and headed home. After bath last night I was in the kitchen feeding Gunner when here comes Tuff around the corner... No pj's. No diaper. I was already a little frustrated because Gunner was being almost impossible at the time so I told Tuff "This is not a game. If you need to potty, we are going to sit on the potty chair until you pee pee." He sat on it for a while and nothing. So I asked him if he wanted to put his big boy underwear on and he did. He wore his big boy undies for the next hour (until bed time) with no accidents but no pee in the potty either. So I put his diaper back on and clothed him and we went to bed.

While I was trying to figure out what to do with Snitch this morning I came up with a great idea. "Snitch on the potty chair." So that's where he was when Tuff woke up this morning.

Tuff loved it. He kept saying "Snitch potty." So I said, "Do you want to potty like Snitch?" Which he shook his head yes too. So we headed to the bathroom and sat on the potty. He sat there for a while talking and playing so I got up and went into the kitchen to get a few more things together for our day. Tuff came running into the kitchen saying "I POTTY! I POTTY! I POTTY!" -pointing in the bathroom. (He does this alot so I was sure he hadn't done anything) So I followed him into the bathroom while he was pointing at the chair and still saying "I POTTY!" When I looked down at the potty....

WOOOO HOOOO!!!! I yelled, clapped, danced... you name it! He was beaming from ear to ear and I said "YAYYYY, Tuff pee pee'd in the potty!!!!" And then he got to pick a sucker from the sucker bag.

So, our little baby boy is slowly transforming into a big boy. I couldn't be more proud of him. ;)

Yesterday I was looking back at his last 3 christmases. He has grown SO much.

See for yourself!

2009

2010

2011

Mommy and Daddy are SO proud of you buddy!

We love you with ALL our heart and soul.

Now... slow down and stop growing so fast.

:)

:)

:)

Both Babes this morning.

And here's Tuff in 09 wearing the same outfit as Gunner above.

And in these pics, I think they look alike. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't to me.

Happy Thursday, Friends!