Christmas Time

This was a bit different of a Christmas this year. It was a good Christmas, but different from what we are used to. Here it is in a few pictures.

 

This kid LOVES his dad.

 White Christmas with popcorn and milk...

 "Happy happy happy."

 We had friends over for Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the days after Christmas. 3 different friends and it was wonderful. We tasted again how it is when friends become family in our hearts.

 Worked on artistic endeavors...

 Adventured...

 Read stories...

 Worked on a puzzle...

 Had a dance party...

 Loved life...

 Finished 2013 quietly, and perfectly, and by about 9:00pm. :)

We anticipate a January reunion with our family, our friends. Who happen to be one and the same.

He's Really Fun To Do Things For

  Bryant woke me up at 5:45am to get me downstairs to decorate with streamers and the biggest balloon I have ever seen. This was a more realistic time to wake up then his first try of 11:00pm. Big brother was super excited for Stuart. When Stuart came downstairs at about 6:30am Bryant jumped out from under the table and yelled, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STUART! I'M JUST SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!" It was fun keeping it simple and celebrating throughout the day. It started with a breakfast outing to Panera Bread for a cinnamon roll and orange juice. Serious treat.

 Then it was a typical day followed by dinner at a pizza parlor with "root beard". The requested theme was monster truck party and it was fun to make the cake, complete with donut 'tires.'

 Singing Happy Birthday, no fanfare, just really excited siblings and THREE candles to blow out.

Stuart is the most grateful 3 year old I have ever met. He was also the most grateful 2 year old I had ever met. He occasionally will forget to say please but it is a very rare occasion that he doesn't shower you with, "Oh, thank you, _____!!!"

He is just so fun to do things for. It was a good day.

Stuart Graham

 

 Stuart, I am not quite sure how to even say this but I am going to try. You. Are. Three. How you went from this:

 

to this:

 completely and utterly blows my mind.

 

You, our tender-hearted warrior boy, who loves nothing more than to play on the carpet with a lego guy (with a helmet and visor) and something with wheels. You could do that for hours except you also have an older brother who entices you to play rough-and-tumble games like jumping off the bed or couch onto a pile of blankets.

You, our little man who surprises us with your knowledge and memory of songs. You make Daddy and Mommy tear up when we hear you singing, "Desus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so..."

You, our funny little mister who get so excited about drinking "root beard," with your siblings. "Mom! I like root beard!" Everything you say ends with an exclamation point. 

 

You love to be brave and you love to be caught. And tickled and kissed and hugged and then freed. To be brave again to be caught again.

 Stu-Bear, we just love everything about you. Your uniquely wonderful ways of being just who God made you to be.

 We pray you will understand how special you are to Jesus. That He wants you to be captured by Him, to be embraced, adored, and free to be all He has made you to be.

 This Mommy of yours cannot believe how quickly you are growing out of toddlerhood and into boyhood. We are so very thankful for you. Our big 3 year old Stuart boy.

Happy happy birthday. We love you.

The Busy Life of These Bees

One of my biggest challenges is keeping both of the boys clothed. At any point in the day, you may find that one or the other (or both) have shed layers. This was first thing in the morning. I'd like to say this room was clean before they entered but that probably is not the truth.

 "I like to help Dad in the shop!" (fully supervised, I promise!)

 "And then I like to help Mom in the kitchen."

 "She's not always as enthusiastic about my help as she could be."

 "Helping Mom usually gets me a trip to my high chair where Stuart and I like to share food."

 This is at the end of the day. They switched places. And attire. And, yes, those are on backwards. Yes, I have told Stuart multiple times. He likes the picture where he can see it.

 Sometimes she gets a bit lost in the energy of the boys. I love my growing up girl.

 Helping Dad build a workbench for the little men.

 Decorating our gingerbread house and men cookies.

Do we look happy and relaxed? Most of the time I think this is the way it is. And then I overhear the kids playing. Aubrey is the mom. Bryant is the big brother. Stuart is the baby.

 

Stuart: "Waahhh! Waahhh!"

Aubrey: "Please, would you pah-lease help your baby brother?!"

Bryant: "Yes, Mommy!"
Stuart: "Waahhh! Waahhh!"
Aubrey: "SIGH. PAH-LEASE help your baby brother!!"

Bryant: "YES, Mommy!"

As I glanced over there I saw Aubrey frantically "making dinner" with a worried, tired expression.

 

Frustrating? Yes. I wish she were playing in a more realistic way. Oh, wait. Maybe the word is convicting.


The Cake...

 

"What is this singing?"

 "Oh, it's for me? That's pretty fun!"

 "Yay for songs! I like songs! And smiling!"

 "My brothers know how to help me dive in."

 "Now that's tasty!"

"I'd better get down to business..." 

 "This is truly delicious."

 "No time for smiling. This stuff might be snatched away. I need to stuff my face."

 "This might be the most efficient way of getting it in my mouth."

 "I like birthdays!"

"It's fun being one."

 "All done!"

Emmett Boy

You are ONE today. Seriously, this was the fastest year of my life.

Our spunky, funny, happy little man, we are crazy about your big, wide smile, your scrunchy, smooshy face that you make when you don't get your way, and that everything it "HOT?" because you get told, "no, no," pretty often.

Like, "No, no, Emmett, don't scoot that little chair away from the stairs so you can climb them." "HOT?" you say.

"No, no, Emmett, don't scoot the big table we have placed there to block you since the chair wasn't cutting it." "HOT?" you say.

"No, no, Emmett, don't grab the cord that plugs the t.v. into the wall." "HOT?" you say.

"No, no, Emmett, don't crawl over to the fireplace and touch the HOT flames." "HOT?" you say. Yes, son, hot.

"No, no, Emmett, please do not climb onto the rocking chair. Please do not dive head first down the stairs. Please do not climb into the bathtub. Please do not go fishing in the toilet. No, no."

I love that when you are nursing and occasionally have a sneeze you stop and look at me and laugh. And then every few seconds you stop and do a fake sneeze. And laugh.

You love to say, "HI!" with your little hands outstretched, opening and closing in a pseudo-wave. You love, "DA!!" when he comes in the door after work. You love to be outside with your siblings, diving right into the mud and muck they are playing in. And you humor me when I say, "Can you say, 'Mama?'" and you smile and go, "MmmmmAAAA." And smile again.

You are such an incredible gift to our family. Life would not be as bright without our Emmett-boy around.

You draw people in immediately. You go where people go. We cannot wait to see how your zeal for life grows as you grow, and we pray that you will learn how great Jesus' love for you is and that you will go where hurting people are to draw them near to your Savior.

Happy birthday, Emmett Craig. We love you to the moon and back.