The Fabulous Five

Do remember the Cosby show? There is this one scene that I always thought was so funny and now as a parent, I am living it. Rudy is all bundled up in her cold weather gear, and just about as they are ready to trudge out into the cold outside, she announces "I've got to go pee!!".

Well, during the winter months, I have that times three . . .:) I'm beginning to miss the summer months of running around with no shoes and socks, shorts and a t-shirt!

Over the Christmas holidays we broke down and bought the "big kid beds". Avery and Pete were super excited to have a "real" bed. As our kids have grown up, I've always wondered those "How will I know questions?" and the answer is always the same - you just WILL! This milestone was no different. We had two kiddos that were no longer sleeping comfortably during the night, waking up continuously and just downright irritable about sleeping in their cribs anymore. It was like we had new kids when it came to sleeping.


Oddly enough, the first night we had our new beds, Hailey decided she had learned how to climb out of her crib and prance around while she was supposed to be sleeping. . . Hailey is very, very jealous of A & P's new sleeping arrangement and can often be found hiding in her brother and sister's beds (which I'm sure you can guess they just LOVE!)

With the new beds has also ushered in the era of no more naps for Lil Pete. Now, Avery hasn't taken an afternoon nap in I don't know how long, but I was savoring that nap for Pete. Well, I guess all good things must come to an end. Now I am down to only 1 napping child in the afternoon. I can still remember the days when I had all 3 napping at the same time every day - Let's just say, that didn't last very long!

After a fun morning of opening presents at our home, we headed to Nana and Papa's for the afternoon - food, family and yes, a TON more presents! My grandparents, Ashley and Bobby were all there to help us celebrate. My parents always out-do themselves with dinner. I'm not sure how they manage to have everything ready to go and there to be a very minimal mess afterwards. I hope to be at that point someday when I'm making a big meal!





When the kids walked in to my parents they had already had 2 days of marathon present opening, so they were ready to go this time around! They scanned the massive amounts of presents and immediately wanted to start opening! Somehow we managed to eat first, and then they got to be spoiled! Some of their favorites were a new basketball hoop, a train set, dress up clothes, and a "custom" made tea party set!





We did many homemade presents this year for everyone. Those definitely made the day special for my parents and grandparents who love to get remembrances of their little ones! Another great celebration to start winding down our Christmas weekend!

At 6:15 AM Christmas morning, Daddy Pete and I excitedly woke up, unable to go back to sleep in the anticipation of the kiddo's reaction when they saw that Santa had FINALLY come! Avery and Pete had been asking for weeks if Santa had came and today they were finally going to get their wish! The kiddos usual time for waking up is about 6:30 and wouldn't you know that since we were waiting for them they SLEPT IN! The nice part was that we got to individually spend some time with each of the babes when they came downstairs to experience SANTA!

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Pete came down first. He gets so funny and "impish" when he is super excited. He kept just grunting his answers. Luckily that wore off after awhile and he was super excited to see his bike. The bike kept him busy and he didn't realize there were alot of other presents under the tree. I'm not sure how we would have kept him from waiting until his sisters woke up.

Hailey got up next. She came down the stairs and seemed shocked by the sight of "daddy-razzi" snapping her picture and momma videoing her every move. She liked her little cozy coupe but seemed to enjoy her brother's new helmet and bike horn just a bit more! She kept honking that horn, and I just knew it was going to wake Avery up!

But, little Avery just wanted to sleep, sleep, sleep! Finally I went to wake her up and it was priceless. I told her Santa came and she said, "I got a pink bike???" and "SANTA CAME!!!" I could barely keep up while she was running upstairs. She was uber excited about her new pink bike! She has been asking for that for weeks!!!

We had a really great time riding bikes inside, eating cinnamon rolls, opening presents, and checking out our stockings. What a special day for our family!

We spent all of Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kiddos were super excited to see the family and all of their cousins. They are lucky to have so many young cousins to play with!




The weather provided a beautiful backdrop, as it was one of those wintery Texas days that leaves you barely even needing long sleeves (I think "white Christmases" are probably overrated!!). We were able to play and run around in the backyard and enjoy being together.





Christmas Eve is also the kiddos first taste of opening presents every year. They started out slowly opening, but by the end were ripping through packages like old pros! One of the kiddos favorite gifts of the day was a new musical keyboard from Grandma and Grandpa. I think at one point I saw ALL the kids gathered around it singing (maybe a few adults too!)


After dinner and some more playing, we gave the kiddos a bath, dressed them in their Santa pajamas, and headed for home. They were dozing in the car before we even hit the freeway. We very easily got them into bed and awaited Santa's arrival . . .

Every since I can remember my mom, sister and I have been baking cookies for Christmas time. We always rolled out the dough, stamped out the cookies and then decorated them. Ashley and I used to spend so much time perfecting our cookies (and probably quite a bit of time eating them too!)

I definitely wanted to try to continue this tradition with the kiddos. We were going to try last year, but we all got sick around Christmas. So this Christmas I just KNEW we were going to do it.




My mom made these adorable little aprons for us. The kids really loved them, but I think were really excited about them because they knew that it meant COOKIES!! They rolled the dough, played in the flour, stamped out the cookies and had a grand time! Avery and Pete became little pros at it, while on the other hand, Hailey just wanted to eat it!

I was so excited for the babes to see these amazingly shaped cookies! I put them in the oven and then went to look at them a few minutes later. Our beautiful reindeers, Christmas trees, stars, ect. had all turned into little BLOBS of cookies. We have no idea what happened other than maybe all the touching and working with the dough got it too warm. Who knows, the kids sure didn't care! They decorated them with a little bit of icing, but basically just scarfed down as many cookies as I would let them.


Avery was SOOO sweet because she put one of her cookies aside and said that it was for Santa. She was very adamant all week that particular cookie needed to be left for Santa. Still, to this day when Santa's name is brought up she replies, "Santa LOVED my cookie and just left itty bitty crumbs!" Yes, he did baby!

All three of the kids loved participating in decorating the tree this year. We only had 1 broken ornament and and all of the ornaments were clustered around the bottom of the tree, but they had fun! Avery and Pete are really catching onto the idea of Santa Claus coming this year. One night the doorbell rang and Avery yelled, "It's SANTA!!!"




Every morning for a few days after the Christmas tree was up, A & P would expectantly wake up and wonder if Santa had come. Poor darlings seemed a little dissapointed when they did not find anything under the tree! Guess it will be great anticipation for Christmas morning!!

I made gingerbread cookies and went to preschool to read the Gingerbread Man story to Avery and Pete's class. A & P just ate it up that their mom was reading to all their friends. I learned the hard way that it is just easier to buy the premade dough, roll it out and cut out the gingerbread kids. I tried to be "that" mom that made everything from scratch . . .yeah, that won't happen again! I am slowly learning that often the easiest way to do something is usually the best way!

Hailey's class wasn't having much of a party, but I made enough cookies for her and her friends to decorate too!! Hailey loved the icing!!! She also held onto me for dear life and would not let go!!