Big Weekend

It's late and mommy and daddy are sleeping, but we just couldn't get comfortable in our cribs so we decided to borrow mommy's computer.  We have had a very busy weekend.  On Friday night, we went with mommy and daddy to a Christmas party - daddy told us it was a "Redneck Christmas Party" so we all had to dress up.  We were our John Deere shirts - mommy glued some ornaments to them, but we pulled most of them off before we even left the house!  She wasn't too happy, but we still looked cute ... don't you think?

Can you see where I pulled the one off? Glue looks nice, doesn't it?

 From up here, Bonner's last ornament looks like a belt buckle - either way, the outfit worked for the occasion!

 

We were the youngest kids there, but someone brought a little baby carriage so we pushed it around all night!

And they had that game with the bean bags again.  We remembered that from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

We were pretty pooped when we got home, but it was fun!  And, of course, Bonner, left with daddy's hat on and a straw in her mouth ... so funny looking, don't you think?

Mommy woke us up bright and early at 9 a.m. Saturday morning and got us all dressed up in our Christmas outfits.  We thought we were going to Santa because mommy keeps asking us if we want to (we don't, by the way!)  But, instead, she and daddy took us to see Elmo and Big Bird and all the people from that show we watch on TV ... something Street!  We loved it!

Ian sat in the chair by himself, but Bonner wanted daddy's "lap!"

At the end, we were really sleepy!

But it was so much fun to see Elmo, Big Bird, and Abbey!

On Saturday night, we had a babysitter come over and play with us.  Mommy and daddy said something about going to another party, but we were too busy reading books with Emily.  Daddy did look funny when he left, though; he had Snoopy on his sweater!  We were asleep when they came home so mommy will have to tell you all about that, too!

Well, we better go back night-night because we have to go to school in the morning!  But it's going to be a fun day because we have our Christmas party!  I'm sure mommy will take lots of pictures of us!

I Can't Believe it is Almost Christmas!

Well, well, well, I trust everyone ate plenty of turkey for Thanksgiving and that you have been in the gym non-stop since that delicious meal!  Instead of going to the gym after Thanksgiving, we went down to Wild Dunes at the Isle of Palms for some much-needed vacation!  We had a great time and there is much about the trip to share (including pictures, of course)!  Sorry this is such a long post but we have been so busy and I love sharing our adventures with everyone!

A friend from high school who lives in Charleston recommended that we go to the Festival of Lights on James Island and it was well worth the drive over.  There was a train we could ride which took us up close and personal with lots of the light displays - as you can tell Ian enjoyed it; Bonner wasn't too sure about it!

 

 

The train went around the lake in the park and it was pretty to see the lights reflecting off of the lake!

They had a great gift shop so we picked up a few things for Christmas gifts and enjoyed warming up inside there as it was really breezy that night.

On Thursday night, we went to the lighting of the Isle of Palms Christmas tree which was fun.  The kids thought the actually lighting of the tree was pretty anti-climatic but they loved the man that made animals with balloons!  Of course, they quickly realized that grass can make balloons pop!

At the condo in Wild Dunes, Bonner discovered that she likes "doing the dishes" - or rather "loading the dishwasher"!

 

We came home on Friday so that I could take the children to the St. Francis Teddy Bear Luncheon on Saturday morning.  As this was our first year, I wasn't sure what to expect; but, it turned out to be alot of fun.  They had a light lunch for parents and kids and then the drama club from a local high school took the stage with a story of "Finding Santa".  It was cute and very interactive.  Bonner wasn't sure what to think of the dancing elves or the Grinch, but she eventually came around ... until Santa came to town, that is.  Neither child has really warmed up yet to the man in the red suit!

I can't imagine why the children would be scared of this Rudolph - ha!

 

Full cast of the play! Lots of young performers!

Ian wasn't too sure about the Tiger in the play standing so close to his mommy!

They had a "craft" station which consisted of decorating mini-cupcakes.  Ian could care less how they were decorated, he just wanted to eat them!

 

 

Stewart's mom came up for a visit this week and that worked out great as my mom had to go into the hospital for just a little surgery.  She's doing fine and should be home in the next day or so.  We have a few Christmas parties planned for the weekend and are trying to get into the holiday spirit.  I haven't decorated too much these days as I learned my lesson with Ian and Bonner's Christmas trees.  They love taking the ornaments on and off and I just love picking them up all over the floor each and every day - needless to say, I have avoided adding anything else to cleanup duty so our decorations remain in the storage room.  And, yes, that is "his" and "hers" Christmas trees - "his" being the traditional green one and "hers" being a pink shiny one!

 

Tonight's Ornament Pile

The other reason is because we are in the middle of remodeling 2 of our bathrooms - the guest bathroom in the hallway and our master bath.  We have been a little inconvenienced for the past couple of days but the tile is coming along so we are getting there.  I'll post some pictures once it's all finished - I meant to take some before pictures and forgot ...

Well, I think that's about it for now ... if you are even still reading this :-)  As we all get ready for Christmas, I pray that you will take time each day to really remember the reason for the season - in that Jesus Christ was born so that we each could live!  I remember the sheer fear, but overwhelming calm that we felt this time last year as we watched Ian and prepared for our first Christmas with the children.  We have been through alot in the past 365 days, but I can promise you that we have watched the Lord carry us!  We could not be more thankful for the journey He laid upon us; it gave us the opportunity to be humbled and rely fully on God.  We pray that you will be blessed this Christmas season and that you will truly remember why we celebrate the birth of such a special child!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope this update finds you doing well!  I have been very reminiscent these past few days as we prepare for Thanksgiving this week!  I remember back to last year and how excited we were to be getting everyone together for the holiday - Steve's mom was coming up with his brother and his family to meet the twins for the first time.  I know it was a long trip for her, but it meant sssooo much to me!  She is the sweetest lady in the world with the strongest faith; if it weren't for her, my pregnancy and Ian's condition would have been much more burdensome!  She always knew (and knows) what to say when you talk to her!  I pray for her everyday and love her so much!

We had a pretty uneventful weekend, but it was alot of fun!  My college roommate, Michelle, stopped in for a quick visit as she and her husband and 2 children were making the long trip from DC to Dahlonega, GA, to spend the holidays with her family.  In fact, her husband is going to be in Afghanistan and the middle east for the holidays so I would ask special prayers for Sunil and his travels.  Anyway, it was great to see Michelle and her family!  We went to brunch on Saturday with our good friends, Matt and Krista (Krista, Michelle, & I all went to UGA together) - there were 7 children and 6 adults ... we were slightly outnumbered but had a great time!  All the kids were great!  I realized, though, after they left that I didn't snap one photo of all the kids together :-( So sad!

But, I did work hard on Friday as I am working on a special Christmas present for someone and am trying to get a good picture of Ian and Bonner - preferably, both looking at the camera with both pairs of eyes open with both either sitting down or standing up and without anything on their heads ... well, I struggled for about 45 minutes without any success ... as you can tell!

 

 

 

 

I love this one - they were "sharing" their flowers! So precious and so sweet!

Of course, Bonner put the flower right on her head like a hat :-)

 

 

She loves this little stepping stone we have next to the house - you can usually find her there when she's outside :-)

They are still addicted to these old car seats - if you let them "out of their pen", they are immediately in the dining room to look at the bird and to get seated in these seats!

 

Can you tell their plaids match?  So cute!

When we went to Perry the last time, Stewart's sister, Terri, couldn't resist and went ahead and gave the kids one of their Christmas presents!  Well, let's just say that I was trying to hold off putting it up until Christmas but somehow, they would find it - no matter where I put it!  So, I had to blow it up last week and let them start enjoying it ... and enjoying it, they do!  Ian absolutely loves the balls and Bonner likes the little house!  They get in there and start "talking" to each other and just laugh and laugh!

 

 

How sweet!  She was giving him a hug :-)

 

My brother and his wife are hosting us for Thanksgiving and we are really looking forward to it.  For the past several years, we have done a big group thing with several families and that's been alot of fun, but some will be out of town this year; others have gotten married this year and their commitments are spread thin; and others, like ourselves, just thought something a little bit more intimate might be due ... we wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving and no matter where you are spending it, please remember those that are not here this year to celebrate with us; remember those that are protecting us and our country; remember those that are not nearly as blessed as we are; and remember those that you love so much and miss being with during the holidays!

Love to all,

Jennifer

My Little Monkeys

Hey everyone, it's us!  Mommy taught us how to update this new blog thing and we love it!!! It's alot easier than the other one and we can even post pictures ourselves!  We have been very busy learning lots of new things - we discovered that we love to climb...we pulled out all of our stuffed animals yesterday from our upper cubby holes and got right in them ourselves!

I did it!

I don't quite fit!

Mommy's Favorite

 As you can see, the cubbies are as tall as we are!

We also love glasses for our eyes!  Ian found Gam-Gam's pair today!

Since we just learned that ghosts say, "Boo!", mommy thought we might need to learn what Santa Claus says so we have been learning that, too.  Mommy bought these things off of the computer and they have our names on them.  She called them "stockings", but we are not sure what she means.  They are really cute, though!  Hopefully, she got Baxter one, too!

We will talk to you again very soon - yippee!  We can blog now!!!

Love, Ian & Bonner

March 20, 2010 Heart Ball

Just wanted to let you know to Mark Your Calendars for Saturday, March 20, 2010, as it will be a night to celebrate with the American Heart Association at the 2010 Heart Ball.  Details to come but I wanted to let you know that Ian has been selected as one of the three "Heart Buddies" for the evening.  He'll be wearing a tuxedo and enjoying the limelight!  It will be a fundraiser for the AHA and, specifically, for research of Congenital Heart Defects!  I will pass along more details as they are known but I wanted to let you know so you can make plans to join us on March 20, 2010!

Happy Halloween - or was it Rainy Halloween?!

Unfortunately, the blog I had anticipated writing tonight will not exist.  Saturday night was miserable with lots of rain so we never made it out for trick-or-treating - in fact, it wasn't even worth getting dressed up to remind us how we were trapped inside!  Of course, the kids had no idea :-)

Instead of precious Halloween photos, these will have to do!  Bonner decided last Friday morning that all of her favorite stuffed animals needed to be in her high chair with her for breakfast.  As you can see, there is Curious George, giant Elmo, and Mickey & Minnie Mouses - and, of course, all the bananas I cut for her!

 

Tonight, I picked up delicious baked spaghetti from a little Italian Restaurant here in town and thought that we would introduce spaghetti back into the kids' diet.  Well, it was clearly more fun to make a mess with it than eat it because they both slung spaghetti noodles everywhere - fortunately, for us, we have a vacuum known as Baxter and he loves spaghetti.  So, in the meantime, I served leftover mac-n-cheese mixed with peas and carrots and broccoli.  As you can tell, Ian wasn't real thrilled with the peas.  Notice the one directly at the top of his head :-) So funny!

 

 

Such an innocent face!

We had a good weekend despite the UGA loss on Saturday.  The children spent the night out at Gam-Gam's for the first time in a long time so that Stewart and I could go to a Halloween party - now, those pictures I'll post sometime - after I edit them :-) Ha!  Just kidding! I went as Cat in the Hat and Stewart, as a legitimate jailbird!

Sunday, we enjoyed a wonderful visit with my Aunt Joyce.  She drove down for Charlotte and brought us a new red wagon - Bonner loves pushing it around - and a little rake - Ian likes "sweeping" the driveway up.  I'll take some of those pics soon!  Unfortunately, though, I forgot to take any pictures of the kids with their favorite Aunt Joyce - we'll have to wait until next time!

Please be in prayer for a sweet family that lost their child today.  We never met her, but I have been following her Caring Bridge site/blog since the beginning.  She is completely healthy now and that's something to rejoice; however, the family will be lost without her so pray for comfort!  Her blog is www.greenehappenings.blogspot.com (Wesleigh Anne Greene).  We know that God is good all the time; but, in times like this, we pray that He would reveal Himself so that we are reminded of that fact very often!