Cooper is 1!

He's cute, he's sweet, he's so much fun
We can't believe Cooper is 1!

Emma Kate's latest mishap!

Emma Kate will forever be the Klutzy kid, always into something, always getting hurt and mostly never caring! I recently noticed one of her front teeth was broken and when I asked her how it happened... "I dunno". When I asked her if it hurt..."Nope, its sharp". The broken tooth is a huge mystery and it gives our little spunky Emma Kate is little more personality!

A very cute, ever so funny, funniest face you know as a 2yr old!

Sorry Emma Kate, those teeth are going to require some major orthodontic work someday!

Santa is FIRED!

What crazy, overweight, bearded man thought this messy, annoying, hard-to-play-with but ever so enticing to little girls toys was a good idea!?!?! I think I might accidentally drop it!

The PlayDough Ice Cream Shoppe is a big hit regardless of my fit. Emma Kate, however, tries to eat the ice cream and continues to throw it away in the trash can.

Were they naughty or were they nice??

They must have been good kids this year! To avoid the excess of what is Christmas, Charlie and I used the following technique for the kids Christmas this year (borrowed from one of Meredith's friends. Each child got 4 presents from us:
1. Something you want
2. Something you read
3. Something you wear
4. Something you need

This system worked out great and we will continue to use it in the future, very practical and they really have to think about what they want to receive. Of course, they still get totally spoiled by grandparents and aunts and uncles!

Emma Kate's #1 request...Mickey jammies!! Of course, nothing Mickey comes in girl so these were again bought from the boy's department. I am cursing Disney...not all girls only like Minnie and Daisy!

Charlotte is her "totally cool" new outfit...you can't see the cute new tights though!

The dolls were still the big hit even after Santa came!

Easels from Santa for the girls (what a random outfit for Emma Kate...the leotard wasn't even new from Christmas!) and tons of Little People for Cooper! I got an awesome deal on Craigslist for Little People so everyone received a couple of sets as they still all love playing Little People!

Christmas Eve at Memaw' house

Christmas Eve is always spent in Lafayette with Memaw. We met at Outback (yummy!) for a delicious supper followed by the Traditional Christmas Eve service at church. The girls loved to pass out the presents and were so well behaved, excited and thankful. Cooper had no clue, of course!! The big hits of the night were dolls from Memaw and Leapster from the Kanes. They will be excited to receive their webcam from the Browands in January! Books from the Browands are always a hit!
Cooper enjoyed practicing his new walking skills and trying to eat Baby Jesus from Memaw's Nativity Scene.

I just couldn't resist the cute pics of Emma Kate, she is becoming quite photogenic in her advancing age...she has left the "I look like I am going to poop" stage for every picture!

The girls wanted so badly to get Baby Alive!

Your mom isn't that ridiculous... I told the girls that Baby Alive can't live at my house as we already have a Baby Alive named Cooper and they can change his poopy diapers! These lovely dolls makes sucking noises when given their bottle and pacifier and quietly fall asleep and SNORE! Too cute... thanks Memaw!

First Snowfall

What could be more exciting than the 1st snowfall of the winter??? Charlotte knows that mommy does not do outdoor play in the winter but I couldn't resist their excited little eyes to play outside. After 15 minutes of dressing, they had a wonderful 15 minutes of play in the dusting of snow (a little bit of snow, a lot of mud!).

All bundled up!

Emma Kate was super excited but didn't like the mittens!

Favorite activity of the afternoon, snow sliding!

Disney on Ice

To start the Christmas season off with a bang, mom(Memaw) and I took the kids to see Disney on Ice and boy was it a hit! Charlotte loves ALL princesses and Emma Kate more enjoys Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. Although, she reminds us more of Donald Duck with her slight anger issues! They girls wore their costumes of choice, Charlotte as Tinkerbell and Emma Kate of course was Mickey sans the head (the same costume as Halloween). Cooper mostly enjoyed beating up on Memaw until she fed him some of her $12 cotton candy!

Decorating for Christmas

Bare corner

Cute Girls waiting to decorate!

Still waiting...
Tree complete!

The girls were very excited to put the Christmas tree up this year! It should be a very fun Christmas this year as they are both old enough to understand the true meaning of Christmas but also look forward to Santa visiting. Cooper was put to bed before the decorating started and the girls put a few ornaments on. The girls all went to bed and Charlie finished up on his own...poor daddy!

Big Boy Bath

Boy how time flies, Cooper is almost 1! He can walk steadily but sometimes crawling is much faster, he loves to play with the girls and totally hates babyfood. He has graduated to big boy baths with the girls with his toddler towel.

Cute and cuddly duckling!

"Hey wait, I think I'm naked under here!"

"It might be easier to get this off from the top!"

"I did it!!! My mom says I need a hair cut, look at my mullet sticking out in the back!"