A Baby Changes Everything

I LOVE this song. I listen to it all year round. Makes me cry every time.

Music Group Round 2

Time to celebrate in song! This time...Christmas style. Carson and Cade both love music group. Definitely one of the highlights of their week. They are such cute little singers.

Cade, announcing himself for the class!

Getting ready to sing about Santa. This picture makes me laugh.

Watching Cade sing is fun. He has the best facial expressions. There were a few songs that he just really gets into...like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Must be Santa."

Cade...reindeer style!

I LOVE this picture of Carson. So hilarious. Why so somber little reindeer? What's funny is that he is usually always eager to smile for the camera and say "cheese!" But for the life of me, I COULD NOT get him to smile!

Taking it all in!

So, remember how our camera stopped working on the day of the boys' birthday? That really stunk. We ordered a new one with some Christmas money. And guess what? Our old camera started working again 2 days after we bought the new one...like nothing had ever happened. C'mon!!! Why does stuff work like that? Anyway, at least we have a working camera. And if anyone is looking, we have a spare!


We had our Ward Christmas party over the weekend. It was awesome...for multiple reasons.

• We spent the day at home together. We didn't have much on our "to do" list and had some good play time.
• Before the dinner, there was a special visitor (aka Santa). He came in on an old fashioned fire truck, all lit up in lights.
• Families and kids were given rides aboard the engine. Santa was the driver. The boys loved it (even though it was raining and cold).
• After the rides, they had the chance to sit on Santa's lap. They went right up without any hesitation and plopped down on his lap.
• Carson's conversation with the Big Man went like this: "Hi. I Carson. I a good boy!"
• Cade's conversation went like this: (after sitting down) "Trains." Santa said, "What?" Cade answered him again with, "Trains." I just started laughing and explained to Santa that he loves trains. Santa caught on quick and started a more detailed conversation about trains. It was awesome.
• They both looked at the camera and we were able to get a great picture.
• The dinner was YUMMY!
• My boys sat at the table, on their chairs for the entire dinner. I am still in shock. I couldn't have been prouder and made sure they got plenty of praise.
• We got to visit with fun friends.
• Afterward, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. One of my most favorite things to do during this month of December.
  

Here are some pics that documented the event.

Cold, rainy ride on the fire truck.

With my big boy Carson at the dinner table.

Such handsome boys.

Hope everyone is enjoying this fun time of year!

Trains & Numbers

This boy knows his trains!

One Week Ago

One week ago today, my boys turned THREE! Man that sounds old. They'll practically be full-time missionaries by the end of next year! That's how fast time seems to be moving these days.

We had quite the celebration, which unfortunately took place without a camera. Of all days for our camera to stop working. I'm still mourning over it. So, I'm going to do my best to paint the picture.

This was the first of their birthdays spent at home. Each previous year, we've been in Twin for Thanksgiving and were too stuffed with pie to really celebrate much. Not this year! I wanted it to be different. They are now old enough to recognize the magic of it all and I wanted them to feel special. And they did.

My amazingly talented, birthday-loving, generous friend made them individual cakes...the week of Thanksgiving...with lots of family at her place to be entertained. And still, she did it. Did I mention generous? I'm still amazed at her kindness. They. Were. AwSOmE!!! The most darling trains you've ever seen. And if my camera wouldn't have died, you would now be viewing the darling trains! Believe me...cutest ever. The boys loved them and admired them for a few hours before devouring them. They were so excited to be sung to and took forever to blow out all three of their candles. Like the trains, they were darling.

We had family in town and had some friends over, after celebrating with the Tucker cousins the night before. It was a party-filled weekend. Just the way I wanted. They were spoiled big time and are having a really hard time sharing their loot. Carson is still walking around the house singing "Happy Birthday" daily. They say "thank you Grandma Tucker" every time they pull out their Buzz Computer and Dinasour Train friends. And they say "thank you Grandma Lori" every time they play with Gordan and Henry and eat from their ginormous box of Goldfish. Yep...they get it...and they still feel special.

I've been thinking about all the years of birthdays ahead of us. It felt like Christmas at our house...over the top. But then I remind myself that we were celebrating TWO birthdays...TWO precious lives. We were showering BOTH boys with love and gifts to last them another year. So often, they are lumped together and I feel bad about it. They are such individuals...who just happen to share a birthday. I hope they don't grow up feeling jipped. I mean, this is the day that all kids wait for all year round. The day that their parents, their entire family, and their friends focus only on them. That one special day to be selfish and spoiled. And they have to SHARE it. As an adult you get over it (kind of!). But as a kid, it's a big deal. We are just going to have to party extra hard on that one day, since it's two parties in one. As a Mother, you just want your children to feel of your love. And you certainly don't want one to feel it more than another.

I'm grateful for a Mom who always makes me feel special and loved on my birthdays. I'm doing my best to do the same for Carson and for Cade.

Thanks to all of our loved ones who helped me do just that this year.