HAPPY BIRTHDAY STELLA!

Even though Stella's birthday isn't until Monday Collin was ready with birthday kisses at her party Saturday. It was a wonderful end to a great trip with the Wicker side of the family. Collin (and me too) has gotten to spend some great time with his Nana, Grandaddy, Uncle Paul (or Umple Caul as he calls him) and Grandma Mary Lou over the last couple of weeks. Fortunately, he has had some other trips to hang out with Uncle Brian and Aunt Erika and of course his favorite cousin, Stella.

We were able to get to Columbia early enough to help get ready for the party. Stella looked absolutely beautiful in her hot pink outfit. It was very funny as people commented to her that this must have been the best birthday ever, all I could think was that the adults involved thought last year's birthday was her best ever! She is a precious little girl and such a wonderful addition to our family. As her aunt I am so excited to watch her grow and see the little girl and woman she will become one day (she comes from good stock :). I am also so glad that Collin has a cousin so close to his age. They already play so well together and we sit back and just laugh at all of the mischief the two of them are going to get into together.

Nothing could have topped the day off any better than watching Stella, who is not the world's best eater, thoroughly enjoy eating her birthday cake. She had a whole one all to herself and she LOVED it! She was surrounded by family and friends her love her dearly, and who are so excited to watch her grow and change through another year.

Happy Birthday Stella! This year only promises to be better than the last. We can't wait to share it with you. Love, Uncle Robert, Aunt Kaiti and Collin

Oh Christmas Tree, Deja Vu

...And here we go again, but this time Collin was with his Grandaddy this time and at a REAL Christmas tree farm. He even got to ride in a "Gator" (for lack of a better term). Between the Gator and the Christmas tree hitting the ground he had a great time. Then, it was back to the house to help Nana decorate the tree. So, now the house that was going to remain undecorated this year smells of evergreen and is glittering with lights.

This is all after a wonderful morning of shopping with Uncle Paul. Collin and Uncle Paul and I went back to the barber shop where Collin got his first haircut to take the barber some pictures (yes, we are way late, but better late than never). Then, it was off to help Uncle Paul find a Christmas present for Nana, lunch at Panera and then some more shopping.

Collin loves his Uncle Paul. He calls him Umple Caul - it comes out sounding like applesauce, but Uncle Paul loves it!!

Collin is topping off this napless day with a bowl of peppermint ice cream he is sharing with Nana...and here he comes, sticky, ice cream face, pacifier and blanky in hand. Some days life is just good.

On The Road Again....

...I just can't wait to get on the road again - ok, so that last part may be a lie. As I pulled out of the driveway all I could hear was Willie Nelson in my head. Funny, considering I've never listened to his music. I love visiting the people, but the road tripping is tiring, especially with a 2-year-old. Oh, how many chicken nugget meals can one child eat :)

In any case, we left Tuesday afternoon to start our trip around SC. Seems we tour this state a lot. Must be all of those people we love that live here. So, we made it to Laurens Tuesday night. We are here enjoying time with Robert's family until Saturday. Then, Saturday is Stella's big day. My niece turns 1 next week and we will be celebrating her birthday Saturday. That post is to follow.

So, after Stella's birthday we will go to my sister's house in Charleston to finish Christmas shopping (not shopping AT her house, but to that town to finish shopping WITH her). Then, it's back to Jacksonville for a Christmas party. Whew! No matter how hard we try the season is always busy, but busy with family, friends and festive events - which makes the time joyful.

Here's to our crazy schedule, busy lives and all the love one family can hold.

Breakfast with Santa

Collin and I were up early this morning to have breakfast with Santa. Per the previous post you know that Collin doesn't really understand all of this Christmas stuff, as much as we try. However, he did thoroughly enjoy his morning of food, music and crafts. He could have done without Santa though.

All started off well when Santa arrived. Collin said hello and even reached out to shake his hand. But after some time to think about he decided that Santa was just not someone he wants to spend time with, not even for a picture.

So, it was off to the arts and crafts. After 3 hours we had a dog bone reindeer, a foam Christmas Tree and lots of pictures - none of which were with Santa to be used for a Christmas card. Oh, well! He had fun!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

The one nice thing about being on a tight schedule is that things get done earlier than usual. While it may not seem early to anyone else, having our tree up before Dec. 5 is early for us. As we prepared for Robert to go on the last hoorah before the final hoorah we knew we only had one shot to get the Christmas Tree up if we were going to do it as a family.

Collin loved his first trip to the Christmas Tree lot. He ran around among all of the trees until he finally decided on one (mom helped in the decision a little), our perfect Christmas Tree, at least for this year :) He enjoyed decorating the tree even though he couldn't figure out why the ornaments wouldn't just "stick" to the branches. He would place them so carefully and then we'd hear, "uh, oh!" as they fell to the floor. Maybe next year he'll understand that they hang on the tree, not stick to the tree.

After all of Collin's investment in our tree I really thought he'd love it, but he couldn't care less. I get an, "ooh, look" when the lights are turned on, and then he's off to something else.

Why are we as parents so much more invested in our children being excited about Christmas than they seem to be? Collin is afraid of Santa (see Breakfast with Santa post), has no idea that a present is exciting and only says "baby" when we show him a manger scene. So, we continue to push the holiday, knowing that in just a few short years we'll have red and green paper chains crossing the house and advent calendars with no chocolate left after Dec. 3. It won't be long before he'll be dying to wait in line for an hour to see Santa, will be unable to go to sleep on Christmas Eve and will be bouncing on my bed at 3 a.m. shouting, "Santa came, Santa came!"