Christmas

I love Christmas! And this one was a pretty good one now that Tre understands Santa Claus and gets so excited about presents. On Christmas Eve we put reindeer food out in the yard, tracked Santa on NORAD, and made cookies to go with his milk. Christmas morning Colin was talking at 6am, and I didn't want him to wake up Tre; so I got him up and we cuddled on the recliner (luckily he went back to sleep) and stayed there until Tre got up at 7am. This was my favorite Christmas present this year: seeing Tre's first reaction to all the presents and him saying, "Mommy, Santa Claus came!!" Tre discovered his chocolate chip cookie from Santa and went to go wake Daddy up right away. Colin woke up shortly after and discovered his balloon, he was a happy boy!!

The rest of the morning went great, the boys got some awesome gifts: big wheel, easel, tool stuff, and, of course, lots of musical toys. After our family presents we went to TJ's sister's house and got to spend some time with the Davis side of the family. Tre loves spending time with his cousins, and TJ and I discovered the Wii!! All in all it was a great day, the boys were beyond tired by the end of the day. TJ and I will continue our Christmas celebrations at the beginning of next week when we go on our mini-vacation and get to see the Blue Man Group!

We're so glad we got to be in Florida to spend Christmas with our loved ones. Next Christmas will be interesting with the addition of a little girl to the mix, but I know it'll be just as exciting!!

- Jo

The Amazing Mike Wazowski

I realized that I haven't really mentioned our bulldog, Mike Wazowski. Yes, he's named after that lovable character from Monsters, Inc.; and for the most part matches his name pretty well. Remember the line, "I'm watching you Wazowski, always watching..."? Yeah, we say that a lot around here!

Recently we've discovered a couple of new tricks that Mike has developed. It all started with the realization that Mike can jump onto our bed. This is a new discovery because our bed is pretty tall, and Mike is really short. He's never been able to do it before, or at least never really tried. Since then we've started blocking Mike in the kitchen, so he won't be able to make any more mischief, no matter what the room! And here's where we present to you the amazing, Houdini-like bulldog, Mike Wazowski....

Mike has been able to get out of the kitchen, no matter what kind of barriers we put up in the doorways! In the past week I've put toys, chairs, garbage cans, anything & everything to block Mike in the kitchen. And each time I've come home to him sitting in the dining room with blockades down. But today, when TJ put up the defense system, we came home to him sitting in the dining room, barricades still in tact. Nothing had moved, and yet Mike was not in the kitchen. We still have no idea how he got out... but if he keeps this up we might just start a show: "The Amazing Mike Wazowski Houdini!!!" Until then we're going back to the drawing board and hope our bulldog doesn't keep out-smarting us!!

- Jo

Smart Boys

We have been blessed with two very smart boys. We've known this for awhile now, but Tre & Colin have proven just how smart they really are just within the past couple of days...

First off, we have Tre. This past Tuesday was Tre's Christmas program, and he did great! But as the other kids were yelling and waving to their parents, Tre was just calmly standing there with his two hands folded nicely in front of him waiting for his instructions. Then when it was time to sing, he sang. Staying with the piano and singing nicely, again not yelling or rushing like the other kids. And when they were walking off the stage, he was such the rock star and kept walking, not acknowledging his fans (not even a tall one with a beard). TJ signed him the "I Love You" sign, and all we got was a smirck!! He did such a great job, and we're really proud of him! Other things Tre has done this week include:
1. knowing that a Santa we saw on TV was not the real Santa, just a daddy playing pretend because the real Santa is busy working in the North Pole.
2. when asked to help open the sliding glass door to let Mike Wazowski out he replied, "I'm not available right now."
Like I said, smart boy. But he's not the only one...

Next we have Colin. Even without speaking Colin is proving just how smart he is:
1. when asked where his nose is he correctly points to his nose. We're also working on his ear and other facial features.
2. can follow directions like "take the remote to daddy." Although it may take a little while to get there, he eventually gets the remote to TJ!
3. (the best) today at snack time he turned off the TV, resulting in Tre leaving his table and snacks to go turn it back on - yep, Colin went right for the snack bowl as soon as Tre had left the table!! Priceless!!

If Emma is even half as smart as these boys, we're in for some big trouble!!
- Jo

Bye-Bye Mullet

While in Florida we had the opportunity to take Colin to our family hair-stylist. TJ has been pleading with me to take Colin to get his haircut because he had grown a lovely mullet. And although mullets may be big in Alabama, we decided it was time to give the boy a proper haircut! Here are the highlights:

The before picture. Notice the lovely curls!

The first cut.

We entertained him with stickers...

The final product.

Colin did great through his first hair-cut. And I'll make sure not to let his hair get as long as a mullet again!!

A lot has happened since Thanksgiving: the boys got sick, we've decorated for Christmas, and tomorrow Tre has his first Christmas program at school. I'll do my best to keep the blog updated... until then!
- Jo