New Year's Day

We had a very low-key and quiet New Year's Eve. With 3 kids (two of which are still not old enough to stay up to watch the ball drop!) it's kind of hard to have one of any other kind. But honestly, we were happy to have a quiet evening at home. Brady was of course extremely excited to both see the ball drop and to get to stay up that late. On New Year's Day the 5 of us went out to Cracker Barrel for Brunch. It was really quite nice! All 5 of us don't go out to eat together very often (it's a production!) so I think we all enjoyed the fun of it.

The kids really enjoyed sitting out on "the porch," in the rocking chairs and playing checkers!

Cutest Baby Contest - She Won!!!

A good while back, it was April 2011 (Anna Cate was 11 months old) we had her portrait taken at Caston Studios. For those non-Richmonders, it's a local studio that's been around for a long time - they did my mom's bridal portrait and both mine and my sister's high school senior portraits. She was entered into their cutest baby contest and we recently received word that SHE WON!!!

Here's the picture that was entered. She's grown so much since then, it's hard to remember when she looked like this!





Perhaps it was this contest that has helped turn her into a Glamour Girl...

She loves her "lipstick." (That's what she calls her chapstick!)



Looks good in shades!



And even sports gorgeous nails!




**While all of this is true, she is actually the most well-rounded little girl. She also happens to LOVE rocks, playing outside and getting dirty, knows her Star Wars characters and loves T-Rex (the last two both thanks to big brother Grayson!)**

Bedroom = Playroom!

Anna Cate got so many wonderful new things this Christmas, it's literally turned her bedroom into a playroom!

We love the personalized growth chart that Nana gave her!




All THREE kids love and play with her new kitchen. And you can also see the new Hello Kitty she got from Granna and Kristin as well as the babydoll set that came with doll, crib and accessories!



And speaking of Hello Kitty, check out her new slippers! (She LOVES and is OBSSESSED with all things kitty cats, including Hello Kitty!)



She loves the new dollhouse that Pops got her!

Brady and his Legos

One of the things that Brady really wanted for Christmas this year was Legos. He LOVES Legos. And he is REALLY, REALLY good at building the sets. He sits down, follows the instructions and builds the entire set from start to finish without asking for a single bit of help. It's really impressive! He got 4 new sets for Christmas and by the end of the evening had put them all together!

He put this Lego City NASA Space Shuttle together in a little over an hour, and with no help whatsoever!




His new sets on display in his room!

Our Wonderful Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. In the morning Anna Cate, Grayson, Daddy and I woke up to see what Santa had brought the kids and opened some presents (it was Brady's mom's year for him to spend the night with her on Christmas Eve). All 3 kids were very good this year, so Santa was particulary kind to them as well. Granna, Nana, Kristin and Pops came over for Christmas breakfast and (of course more) presents. Brady got home later and we all had Christmas dinner along with Mom Mom and Grandma. Ann and Papa came over that evening for some dessert and (more) presents. Can you tell already that the kids made out pretty well this year?!? It was certainly a busy day, but it was a perfect Christmas day filled with family and love.

The "loot" from Santa. The highlights were a T-Rex (Grayson specifically asked Santa for a T-Rex when sitting on his lap) and a Big Boy Bike for Grayson, a Play Kitchen for Anna Cate and a Remote Control All-Terrain Motorcycle for Brady.




Grayson on his new bike! And because he knows all, Santa knew that Grayson's nickname (and the only name Anna Cate uses!) is Bubba - so he even made him a Virginia license plate with his name!




Some of the Christmas morning highlights!








And later that day!








Anna Cate loved playing with the bows from the presents as well as the presents themselves!




But she also had a great time playing her new piano from Mommy and Daddy!


Daddy also ended up having a really great Christmas as well. Pops (my dad) gave him a set of golf clubs! He was really excited!



**With all of the wonderful food and presents that Christmas brings, we also always want to remind our children of the real reason for Christmas - the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. So, as we do every year, we have a birthday cake for Jesus, as a special way to remind the kids of his birth.



Happy Birthday to You, Jesus!

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas Eve over at Mom Mom's house with Mom Mom, Ann and Taylor, as we have the past couple of years. This year was particularly special since Grandma was now here to celebrate with us. We had lots of delicious food and had a wonderful time. The kids had a great time, especially since that menat they got to open some presents early!

Opening presents!




Mom Mom got Grayson a really cool Melissa and Doug Dinosaur floor puzzle and Grayson insisted they put it together right away!



Christmas Eve with family!





We made it home in time to put cookies out for Santa and some celery for Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer!

Christmas Lights and Hot Chocolate!

For the third year in a row we took part in one of our favorite family traditions. Each year after Grayson's birthday party we fill up thermoses with hot chocolate and drive around looking at Christmas lights. We had a wonderful time this year.

Daddy took a picture of us by our tree before we bundled up and headed out.



All 3 kids had a great time walking around the James Center in downtown Richmond.



Daddy and the kids by the BIG Christmas tree.



All of the kids loved the "Tacky House," (as Richmonders fondly call it) and we got out and walked around to look at it.