Ready for the Holidays...

Well, we are officially ready. Our house is decorated! I think it is this time of year when our home feels all cozy inside that I really appreciate this great space that God has blessed us with. I really try to enjoy being at home and out and about in our neighborhood. We live in a little Village Center which makes you feel like you live in a little city. I can walk to get a pedicure, a new dress, something great to eat or a cup of hot cocoa (or ice cream) at the Village Market. Bryan and I often forget how much we loved our house and neighborhood with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. At Christmas time, we really stop and try to remember how excited we felt the first year we lived here. It is a great place to live. I think the boys, especially Raleigh, love this time of year as well. He spent a few days at my mom's while I cleaned and decorated his and Huddie's room. When he came home and saw it he was so excited. He said "Mommy, it's beautiful." He loves turning on his tree! Here are a few pictures of our decorated house. It doesn't compare to Mom's, but it will do for us.

Shake what your momma gave you

So, my Huddie is quite the dancer. He will dance to anything that resembles a song. If Raleigh starts singing the ABC's, he will start shaking it. He will start dancing if YaYa starts singing to him over the phone. He really moves it when a rap song comes on the radio. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe he likes bass. Well, the video below is of him dancing today while we were putting up our new Christmas tree (I know it's early, but I just bought it today and thought "What the heck"). We were listening to Christmas music to try and get in the mood.

If you watch this and wonder why Raleigh is pantless, that is a whole 'nother story. You see, Raleigh seems to have a bit of a selfish streak within his little soul. We set up a tent for him today that PJ and Pappy bought him last Christmas and he didn't want Hudson to come near it. So he was keeping him away by blocking the entry. Well, along the way he had the need to pee. He decided to go down with the ship and not let the pirates come aboard. So the end of the story is that his pants were in the washer! Way to go Raleigh, you successfully kept your brother at bay...

Doing his best to keep me entertained!

*This is a flash back pic. My favorite one of his first days*

My Raleigh, what can I say, is a true character. There are a couple of things that have happened this week that are just too cute to not jot down to remember for years to come. First of all, the little turd got in trouble at school the other day for the first time this year. His teachers always fill out a daily sheet with the day's information on it. When I got it out of his folder I noticed that it said he had an Okay day and would I please remind Raleigh how important it is to make good choices! EEEEK. What does that mean? Well, I went to find out. Apparently he has a new friend who make rather poor choices and Raleigh has decided it would be too much fun to join in. For those of you who know Raleigh well, you know he is all about making good choices, so this was kind of surprising. We had a long talk about the whole situation and he said that he would apologize to his teachers and try better. The next morning he woke up with me and said, "Mommy, I'm going to say I'm sorry to my teachers and if Terry does something that is mean I'm going to run away from him and play with Julia. Mommy, I'm going to make you so happy!"
I might as well had been a puddle on the floor because that boy melts me.

That same morning, at 5:30 mind you, he comes into the bathroom with me while I get ready and says really quick, without a breath to spare, "Mommy, do you think you can go down stairs with me and get me a drink and snack and put on a movie or something?" He always ends everything something so that it seems like it was my idea.

One last thing: His new thing is to ask for specific food when he is hungry instead of saying a snack. Here is why: Example, "Mommy, can I have some Einstein fruit snacks?" "Sure buddy, here you go" "Thanks, Mommy" He eats and comes back a few minutes later. "Mommy, can I have a snack" "But Raleigh, you just had a snack" "Nuh uh Mommy, the fruit snacks weren't a snack" "Oh, really, what are they?" "There just fruit snacks Mommy!" So, he and I went to Publix yesterday to spend some time together before we picked up the Hudsonater and of course he got a cookie. We ended up buying some animal crackers and when we got into the van he says (real fast again, so you don't have time to think) "Mommy can I have some animal crackers for a snack, the cookie wasn't a snack!" He is too much...

A little prayer goes a long way...

A prayer request: Some of you may not know, but when my Dad has his open heart surgery a year and a half ago, the wire holding his sternum together broke and his bone never grew back together. Well, needless to say when he does just about anything he can feel his chest bone rubbing and it is very uncomfortable and sometimes painful. He was going to just live with it but has decided that this is not the quality life that he wants. He hasn't quite been the same since the whole thing and I can't wait to have my old Dad back! He goes in December 3rd and they are going to screw in a metal plate to hold his chest bone together. He will have to be out of work again for about 3 months, so it is not a "go in get out" kind of surgery. In your prayers, please pray that the surgeons hands are led by God, that he would come out of the surgery with flying colors and that he is back to the feelin' good Dennis that he use to be. I not only want him to be here to see all 4 of the boys grow up, but to be able to enjoy playing and camping and wrestling with all of them without all the pain.

Rebellious Toddler and a Paperholic

Mom and I took Raleigh and Hudson to the Picture People Tuesday on our day off to have their pictures taken. I have been kind of hesitant because the last time we went (Hudson was 3 months) Raleigh was not very cooperative. Well, nothing has changed. Hudson went first and every time I put him into position, he would jump up and crawl off. Over and over and over and over! Then we tried to do both of them. Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, I could have beat me a 3 year old. He wouldn't even get near Hudson. Then when it was Raleigh's turn alone it was evident that he has watch too many episodes of America's Next Top Model! He was posing all over the place. It was in fact a little scary because he was actually pretty good. I guess I should have him watch Sports Center a little more.
On another note, I have a little paperholic on my hands. There must be a goat somewhere in our ancestry. He prefers toilet paper. He can't go by a roll without grabbing a handful. Tonight I was giving Raleigh a bath and he kept going for it, so I removed it from the roll. Well, I guess he found some in the trash can because when I went to get Raleigh's jammies out of the closet, he was sitting in the closet, in the dark with a big wad in is mouth and a tail hanging out of his mouth. If that is not desperate, I don't know what is. I'm not sure what he sees in it, but hopefully he will grow out of it one day.

Preparing for battle!

Raleigh and Papa sure have had a good time playing in Papa's old WWII tent he set up for the boys. Raleigh would lay on the cot in the sleeping bag, then Papa would tell him that it was time to get up and he would hand him his "coffee". Raleigh's coffee is a Publix Diet Coke in an old army canteen. :) They must have done this for an hour. Then Papa taught him how to hammer a stake into the ground and how to use post hole diggers. Raleigh loves his papa and Papa is so good with him! Thanks Dad.

Better late than never

As luck would have it, my camera battery died on the first Halloween picture. My dad was nice enough to let me borrow his and I just now got the pics from him. As you can see, Raleigh was a doctor. Huddie was suppose to be a pumpkin, but since he slept through the whole thing, we never dressed him up. Terrible, I know! Dad pulled Raleigh and Drew behind the lawn mower in the wagon and Raleigh spent most of his time trying to keep his bag away from Drew. He doesn't really like sharing yet. I think he enjoyed passing out candy more than anything. My crazy cousin Billy was there and put on Drew's army helmet, took his machine gun and was hiding behind a tree acting like he was at war. Man, he can sure make you laugh. Jack Black has nothing on him. Hope you enjoy the belated pics.

Oh, I love my Raleigh

Before I gush on my little guy, I just want to say that he LOVES this silly Popeye shirt. He watches old episodes with my Dad.
He is getting so big, I am surprised everyday by how his vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and I can't believe what a great little boy he is becoming. Let the gushing begin: Wednesday I had to take Hudson back to get his second round of the flu shot and Raleigh was going to get the flu mist. I talked with him before hand about how the nurse was just going to squirt it up his nose and I kept trying to be silly about so that he wouldn't freak out. He was so good. She told him to pretend like he was sniffing a flower. He handled it like a pro, but then was worried that Huddie had to get a shot. I assured him that he would be ok!
As with some vaccines, there will be side effects. I guess the mist got to Raleigh. Wednesday is Subway night in our house, so as we were sitting there eating, he said, "Mommy I'm tired". He laid his head on my lap and really didn't eat much of his dinner. I thought, well maybe he just didn't take a nap at school. When we got home, I noticed that he felt a little warm, but he and Bryan were running around the house chasing each other so I assumed he was just hot from that. After bath time, we were all playing on the floor in our room and he crawled up in my bed and fell asleep. So not like him. We usually have to bribe him to get him to go to sleep. So I felt him again and he was really warm. Another thing going against me getting the mother of the year award, the kids thermometer battery was dead! So, he got a dose of tylenol and went to bed. I found my old thermometer later and went and stuck it in his mouth. He never woke up. It went up to 101. I looked up the side effects of the mist and he had all of them. At 3:00 this morning he came in and got Bryan and said, "Daddy, I have to throw up". They rushed to the bathroom. He never ended up doing it, but when I got up and went in there to check on them, he was sitting on his little bench in front of the toilet and Bryan was sitting on the floor. He said, "I'm sorry Daddy" Too sweet. Then he said, "Mommy, can I come get in bed with you". Well, he is a wild man in bed so Bryan volunteered to got sleep in his bed. He is such a great Dad! When we were going to sleep I reached over and held his hand and said good night buddy. Then, he said something that just melted me. He said, "Mommy, Can we kiss?" oooh! He kissed me and then said "Good night Mommy" He is just amazing. I couldn't love anything more!