Early on the 26th, we headed to Charlotte, NC for Christmas #2 at my younger sister Becky's house. We had skyped the day before, and she said my chin didn't look too bad. Imagine her surprise when I showed up like this:
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| At least it doesn't hurt anymore! Just looks like I have a goatee, no big deal. |
My kids were super anxious to play with their cousin Anderson! Abby jumped right in (& took over) Anderson's new play kitchen. Luckily, he didn't seem to mind!
So happy to celebrate Christmas with my sisters!
And Nanny was more than happy to play games, read books, etc :)
Nate & Abby got to work right away "sorting" the presents by name. (Yes, they take after their Momma!) Nate wanted to make sure he & Abby had the same number of presents :)
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We got to celebrate Aunt Bebe's 32nd birthday with her!! Lora's boyfriend John made an AMAZING carrot cake, Bec's fave of course.
Of all the "Happy birthday, Sister" cards in the world, Lora and I picked out the same.exact.one for Bec! Hilarious!
One of Abby's favorite things to do when we are with "Baby Anderson" is to take baths together! She loves pretending to be his Mommy & helping to wash him :)
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| Diva |
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| Nate decided they were having too much fun & hopped in :) |
Matching pj party and jumping on the bed/air mattress for a few minutes to get those last bits of energy out!
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| BFFs: Greg & John's dog Ja |
On the morning of the 27th, it was time for Christmas #2!!!! Nate cuddled by the fire with Nanny while everyone (namely Abby & Greg) was still waking up. Oh how we love a real fire!! And Uncle Mike is a champ at building them :)
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| Sweet cousins! |
FINALLY it was time to open presents! Nate could hardly wait!! First up - a lego watch :)
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| My girl :) |
After opening a few presents, we took a break and all the sisters cooked our annual Breakfast Feast. And Abby got in a few snuggles with Poppy!
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After breakfast, we finished off the presents. Nate was so happy to get "the blue cat" (aka Magic Jinn which is like a 20 Questions game).
The adults draw names for a "Secret Santa" every year (even though it's not very secret), and Nanny did a great job with Bec!
Mike asked for exercise equipment! Crazy cat!
Greg got a gift certificate to his fave bike shop! They know him by name there now :)
The kids wanted to wrap up Poppy's (boring!) gift card, so we used 3 big boxes to try & trick him.
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| More legos! Yippeeee! |
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| Even in a Rey Mysterio (wrestling) mask, this kid does not look scary! :) |
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| I was John's Secret Santa, and was pretty proud of this gift! |
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| Anderson hijacked Abby's doll carrier :) |
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| In heaven - a new Sofia the First AND Ariel doll!! |
Bec was Nanny's Secret Santa and surprised us all.....with a gorgeous watercolor painting of the grandkids at the beach!!!!!!!!!! So special.
As soon as all the presents were opened, Nate ran off to.....what else.....do legos! :)
Anderson's new favorite phrase: "Dunk it!" (Did I mention he's the cutest thing ever?! He is talking sooo good these days!)
We wanted to get some fresh air, so we headed to a nearby park. Some were more pleased than others to go. (Anderson was grumpy/needed a nap and Nate was not happy to be torn away from his legos.) But this girl LOVES a swing.....
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| Slide races! (And my daughter is the biggest cheater ever!) |
Then Aunt Lora had the bright idea to take Ja for a walk & explore in the woods. I will admit, I am not much of an "explorer," so I was happy to defer to L & J and just be the photographer :) And the kids had.a.ball!
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| Two blondies, skipping away! |
We headed home from the park and found this guy:
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| Headed out for a 45 mile ride! |
After naptime, we discovered that Anderson is a fan of Greg's famous "nuts & bolts!" That is a huge compliment, considering he is a just a wee bit picky :)
Playtime in the backyard!
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| Trying to show Anderson how to dunk on his new bball goal, ha! |
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| Our best attempt at a family pic. Miss Priss just HAD to be held! |
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| John & Lora |
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| The Statons |
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| The whole bunch!!! Love this one! |
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| Nate's latest Lego creation!! |
A big thank you to Bec & Mike for opening up their house to our loud family for 2 days! It was a wonderful (second) Christmas, filled with way too many presents, food, and laughter!! :) Love my crazy family!
