Christmas and New Year's

Ok folks, long post here, but I'm documentin for the family archives...

Since this was our year to go to Midland for Christmas, we celebrated with the Jurgensens the weekend before the actual day.

I love this picture because it so authentically represents what it's like when we open presents.

Josh, Brooks, and AM checking out B's new toy

Clark with Caroline
Brooks was beginning to be on the move!

The best pic we could get of the cousins!

Mommy stealing some sugar

The boys at the end of their patience span for the photo op

On the 23rd we headed to Midland for the big day. This is a pic of AM and C on Christmas Eve. We went to the church where Granddaddy Clark is currently preaching. It was so neat to be there while he did the service!

You'll notice that Clark is wearing his pajamas. That's because he, in a very timely manner, proceeded to poop through his ADORABLE outfit just as we walked through the church doors. Aaahhh, it's a miracle I even had these in the diaper bag.

Poor thing, just to document, he felt TERRIBLE over the holidays. He was getting his eyeteeth the entire time, and was a faucet with chapped cheeks the whole time. Bless his little heart.

After the service we headed over to Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house where we enjoyed a feast of all sorts, thanks to Grandmommy. We always know she will outdo herself!

Cousin Madison is pretty much the coolest thing to this little girl.

Next it was time to leave some goodies out for Rudolph!

AnnMarie had been waiting and waiting for this!

The Clarkster finally got some "boy toys" instead of taking sister's sloppy pink seconds! :)

Sister's spread from Santa. I realize now that this looks hugely lopsided, but it makes a big difference when one is fully aware and the other not at all! :)

AM's first glance and taking it all in. It was hard to make her wait until we all got ready to walk in together!

Captured the moment!

Brother checking out his goodies

Daddy and son

Santa got a big thumbs up for these two gifts: Ariel wedding dress and "sick girl" as she calls her. (The only thing she requested from Santa----you have to feed her medicine and help her blow her nose, etc.)

sweet EARLY morning hugs

another (albeit surprisingly) big hit from Santa---a pink cape which automatically turned her into SUPERGIRL! (yes, she played the part exactly)

Grandmommy loving on little bear

Playing with Granddaddy (poor buddy, you can see how glassy his eyes were!)

with cousin Mackenzie (she has claimed Clark since apparently Madison got AnnMarie) :)

Clark got the CUTEST cow from his cousins

AM showing off her Fancy Nancy doll from Gamma (she also hit the jackpot with these Jasmine pajamas!)

Playing it cool with a princess discman from the cousins

Sweet Aunt Allison

These kids are loved to pieces!

Our trip is not complete without AnnMarie taking a spin on her Barbie jeep. She's actually a really good driver!

Clark flirting with the ladies

Christmas Day wore this little one slap out

It was hard to say goodbye to Gamma and Pepaw, but we had a great visit with lots of happy memories!

The week after Christmas the Jurgensens from Memphis came in town, and we decided to try out our new Chuy's. It was worth the hour long wait!

Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum ready for action:

Josh and Julia went to the Barking Ball New Year's Eve so I got to take Brooksy out to Mom and Dad's to spend the night with them. I had a little taste of what having twins is like.

Brooks is trying to figure out what's wrong with Clark.

What a wonderful Christmas we had with many, sweet moments. And these two little ones were our extra special blessings this year!

December Dates

We had a really busy December which is probably why I am just now getting a chance to blog about it!
Now, these are out of order a bit, but that's ok.

We rounded out December with a visit from our Jurgensen cousins, aunt, and uncle. Since we love history and nature, the new Waco Mammoth Site/Museum seemed the perfect place to visit when they arrived.

Here is Clark bundled up and ready for the tour.

AnnMarie and Cassie Lola, as she calls her, ready to go
This picture of our tour guide would seem insignificant except for the fact that that gold bow represents how tall the mammoths' shoulder bones were!!! (I think that's 14 feet.) crazy
A little trivia about me---I used to want to be an archaeologist when I was little. Sooooo, looking at things buried in the ground (aka fossils) is really fascinating to me. This is a picture of a bull mammoth (male). Supposedly they found over 25 mammoths at the site!

Inside the exhibit

Carrie and AM

AM in action

Earlier in the month I got to go up to Dallas for a mini girls' weekend with my besties. Here are the babies who made an appearance:

Clark, Payton, Julia

We celebrated Wendi, who is pregnant with #3---a GIRL!! We are all so excited for baby Georgia Elizabeth's arrival.

The token bestie shot---lots of laughs taking this one. Shannon M---you were badly missed!:(

That same night I came home to help celebrate Julia's 30th! We had a fabulous time, and I am so proud that she's my sis in law. How blessed I am!

The hits keep comin. A few nights after Julia's party, we celebrated Josh and Julia's bdays with our families.

The last week of school, AM's class sang in the Christmas Chapel. Here she is making her way up to the stage.

She wasn't scared at all and just marched up there like she owned the place. They sang the sweetest little songs about Christmas and what it means. I'm so thankful for Purdy's preschool! (ok, ok, FWCS, but that's what I'll always refer to it as) :)

Our beautiful Christmas angel just after her performance. AM, you did a wonderful job at your first "concert", and daddy and I were SOOOOO proud!!

That same week we were invited to AM's dance class for a parent observation day. Once again, daddy and I were so proud, little one!

December went by entirely too fast----it was filled with all of these activities and alot of others that I didn't bring my camera to: my cookie exchange, Sean's company Christmas dinner, teaching AM's SS class, and hustling and bustling to and fro in preparation for the big day. phew!

5 month old Clark

Y'all, I can't believe it. My chunky angel baby boy is five months old!!! The time is slipping away from me! This little peanut continues to steal my heart, and I just can't say enough about what a wonderful baby he is! Oh, I could snuggle with him all day---and he'd let me!
Here are a few shots from our month:

-He is close to sitting up, and anytime I put him in an infant seat, carrier, or the swing (which btw is about to be put away--tears!), he tries to get out. Here he is in action:ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh my look at those rolls! Mommy snuck in some squishy tooshie shots!!!
A hiney/thigh only a Mama could love
Ok, so he was a little ticked that he had to sit through this BU/TX game. You would never have known it though if you hadn't seen this picture! He was an angel!
Aw, Mama's boy. This picture is poor in quality, but rich in squeezableness! :)
p.s.--he loooooooooves the excersaucer and is usually draped in something pink, thanks to sister.

Oh, buddy boy has started eating food!!! Watch out! That's right, we started vegetables after we saw him staring and lunging at our plates. He LOVES sweet potatoes and carrots, but had a slight reaction after squash, so we won't be going back to those. Here he is getting fed by Mrs. Dianne.

Brother also got his first ear infection this month. boo! He NEVER cries so when he was out of control one night every time we tried to put him down, I thought, hmmm...could it be his ear? It was the day before Thanksgiving, and thank goodness we took him in because Dr. N took one look, and said, "Yep! It's a textbook ear infection!". Phew! Glad we went in! Positive note? He loooves the pink medicine!

This month has been very eventful for the Clarkster---some good, some bad, but the most surprising was that he got his first tooth!! I found it last week when I was giving him a bath. He had been chewing/biting/drooling on everything, but I just thought it was a little early to look for a tooth. Not so! He's got his first one---on his bottom front right.

My two little Christmas angels in front of the tree. Sweetness #1 and #2! :)

Hope you're all enjoying the Christmas season. I have been trying to make a point to stop and "smell the roses" instead of getting caught up in my stress/busyness/to do lists.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

As I was looking over these pictures, I was reminded of how much we have to be thankful for! This year, we added many new memories to the list:

My firstborn's first class Thanksgiving party---

Giving thanks before we celebrated

This was the cutest craft---we traced each member of our family's hands, and then brought them to the party to put together as a turkey.

The official party snack

We also made "apple" turkeys---and went home with our faces stuffed! :)

My two cuties in their Thanksgiving duds. Shout out to Mindy!! Thanks for letting us wear the adorable turkey dress!

The night before Thanksgiving we had a shrimp boil with my family, and we laughed because it looked like Clark was hanging on for dear life just before he was catapulted out of the bouncer. :)

We did lots of cooking! (well, really Gigi did, but AM and I gave our two cents)

Gigi gave us matching aprons

The cousins had a conversation on the floor

Brooks did a lot of rolling while Clark quietly observed (and hopefully took some pointers)

Aw....the cousins. Sweeties!

Notice Clark's shirt. Yes, child, we do feed you, as often as we can. In fact, I think that is all we'll be spending our time (and money) on in the coming years. :)

Everything's Bigger in Texas...

...and that is definitely true with this place we visited Saturday night!

The Jurgensen fam went to the "Deathstar" or "JerryWorld" as it is affectionally called to see Texas Tech play Baylor. (It's really Dallas Cowboys stadium.) If you haven't been, you would not believe how HUGE and NICE this place is. For sure a sight to behold! I was very impressed. The big screen is right in your face and GIGANTIC. The seats are cushy, and the concession stand/bar/restrooms/gift shop areas feel like you're in an airport---well, a little fancier.

Before the game we made a pit stop at the Smith/Purdy clan tailgate. Thank you for the yummy food, Smiths!! :) I did NOT get enough time visiting with my bestie, Cary, but a little's better than nothing! :) We also got to see the Shepelwiches (who we also miss a bunch!)--they were lost in a sea of red and black.

A little out of order, but here's AM pounding on Uncle Lukey's head after the game.

We were the only crazies to bring the kids along to this game, but AM still had fun amongst the grown ups at the tailgate. Guns up!
Our family in front of the monstrosity.
After the game---the Red Raiders were victorious!! yay!

Mom and Dad sporting their "neutral" wear. Well, maybe a little BU sided.

I tell my bros that I always root for Baylor unless they're playing Tech, and then I have to support my DH. :)

side note---J, J, and B were there too, but I failed to get a picture with them. :( Seems like Julia and I always have our hands full with babies!)

The last shot of the night. This was taken at about 9 p.m., and it was definitely time for us to head south. I would like to report that my kids were A-N-G-E-L-S going to and fro. Really! They slept the entire way coming and going! It was soooooooo nice.

Thanks for this trip, Mom and Dad! We had a great time!!!