Being a Big Brother

So far Nicholas is great at being a big brother. He lets us know when the baby is crying and when he needs his diaper changed. He loves to shove the pacifier, upside down, into the babies mouth, whether or not he wants it! His favorite thing to do is "pet" the baby, which includes rubbing his head and forehead gently with his hand. It's really the cutest thing. He always gives him a kiss when he leaves and it has to be on his forehead for some reason. We'll see how things go this week when it's just me and the two kids . . .

A Merry Christmas

Nicholas loved Christmas this year! He spread reindeer food outside in the backyard on Christmas Eve, as well as leaving a ton of cookies for Santa with some milk. He had to go outside and check to see if the reindeer really ate the food! He ran right to the pile of presents and didn't even notice his ride on dump truck until Jason pointed it out to him. Then he flew over there and wouldn't get off for quite some time! He tore into all of his presents making Jason take everything out of the package as he continued to tear through everything. We all really enjoyed watching him. He was beside himself when he opened the snow plow that he asked Santa for over and over and over again. Christopher lay quietly in his bed, probably dreaming of the presents he is going to open next year!

Early Christmas Present

Nicholas' baby brother, Christopher, has arrived! He is a great sleeper so far and Nicholas loves him! He likes to give him his pacifier (and also take it away just as fast) and pet and kiss him. It is too cute! We are all settling in for Santa's big arrival tomorrow night, Nicholas is so excited. He has been singing Christmas songs for weeks now. I'm just happy we aren't spending Christmas in the hospital!

Mr. Blanky's Wild Adventure

Nicholas took Mr. Blanky, a blue blanket with a puppy head that he sleeps with every night and needs when he is upset, for a ride in Dad's truck to pick up a pizza for him and Lauren last night. Nicholas rolled down the window while driving on busy Bell Shoals and Mr. Blanky blew right out the window. He landed in the street behind them and to Nicholas' great dismay, was run over several times by the cars flying by. He started screaming and crying that daddy needed to rescue Mr. Blanky. Jason pulled over and pretty much risked his life to save Mr. Blanky. The rude drivers could see that Jason was trying to save Mr. Blanky but continued to drive over him as Nicholas watched. Finally Mr. Blanky was rescued and, to all of our relief, was not harmed. I don't think Mr. Blanky will be going for any car rides for quite some time.

Christmas Program

Nicholas and Sebastien were the stars of the Christmas program today! Even though Sebastien was a little louder than Nicholas, the two of them were the ones I could hear the most! Nicholas was even doing the motions and watching Mrs. Hight for the cues. He has really come out of his shell this year. I was so proud of him, it was so adorable to watch!

Pottery Painting

Today we went to make ornaments with some of our friends at the Pottery Place. Hannah painted her reindeer brown and made a little face. Isabella painted the bow on her present red and then the package green. Sebastien painted his stocking blue with some little decorations. Nicholas swirled all the paint together to make a nice orange-black-brown combo and then painted his reindeer, snowman, and penguin all the same. It will be very interesting to see what they look like when they come out of the kiln!

Feliz Navidad

Nicholas has gone from Merry Christmas to Feliz Navidad thanks to his Spanish teacher. It was cute at first but at 6:00 am this morning, not so much.

Gatorland

We had a great time at Gatorland as always. The whole front building burnt down but the rest of the park seemed fine. Nicholas tried to feed the gators but they weren't hungry. Unfortunately, the birds were starving and were dive bombing us for the hotdogs. Nicholas and I were not at all happy. The huge gators were laying up on the banks and we couldn't believe how big they were. Usually when we go, they are all in the water and they don't seem as big and intimidating. I think because it was cooler they were all piled onto the banks, it was amazing to see them like that. Even Nicholas kept saying how big they were. My plan hasn't worked yet, maybe tomorrow . . .

Gingerbread House

Today we put together a beautiful gingerbread house while Jason was at work. The house came already assembled, we just made the frosting and added the candy. We tried all of the candies but Nicholas spit most of them out. We are getting in all the Christmas cheer we can before the baby comes because we will all be so tired! Last weekend we went to the Lowry Park Zoo to see Santa and all the lights at night. Even though it wasn't cold we drank hot chocolate just to get in the spirit! Tomorrow we are going to try to go to ICE! in Orlando to see the sculptures and we have to fit in Outdoor World for dad if we are going to be in Orlando anyway. I'll probably get roped into Gatorland, too. Maybe all that activity will make the baby come quicker. . .