Otis' 1st Birthday Party

My sweet little nephew Otis turned one on January 3rd!!

But his mom / my older sister had his party on December 30th so that my family could attend. So fun!

The four of us left Charlotte and headed to Raleigh on the 29th, and spent the night at Lora & John's. They just got a new house in October and it was our first time seeing it! John cooked an amazing pot roast dinner, and I got to spend some quality one-on-one time with my littlest nephew. He really is the sweetest, happiest little boy ever.

Saturday morning, we woke up early and started getting ready for the party. We meaning me, Lora, John, and John's brother Jason. We decorrated, cooked, cleaned and got ready for the crowd at 12.

The Statons arrived just in time for a cousin picture. This was the best we could do. Ha!

 Lora chose a "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" theme for Otis' party because he *loves* books!! I had fun with the décor :)

#cutestfamilyever

 The party was super fun and low-key.....lots of kids and parents hanging out, running around outside, snacking on yummy food, and playing Uncle John's drum set!!

 Lots of party fun with the whole family! 

 Lora & John recently built an outdoor kitchen, complete with a pizza oven. SO YUMMY! John made pizzas for the party, as well as brewed his own beer! #overachiever

 We were all excited to see what Otis would do with the cake, because this was going to be his first taste of sugar!!! 

 It only took Otis a few moments to really dig into that homemade carrot cake! And I think he literally sat there for 30 minutes eating and going to town. I have *never* seen a happier boy!! :)

 Obligatory Sister Picture! Bec and I had so much fun helping Lora with the party....I helped with décor and Bec took lots of amazing party pics. We are quite the team!

 Luckily, it was a beautiful day so the kids got to run around outside. The highlight of Abby's day was playing with Porter, Lora & John's new dog. Sweetest puppy ever! (And yes, I said puppy. He is a Newfoundland, so he is going to be *large*)

It was a great party for a very special boy!!

Christmas #2 in NC

More blog catch-up today....

Per our usual holiday routine, we travelled to my little sister's house on December 26th. The kids were *SO* excited to see their cousins, and spent the afternoon playing hard!!

 It was also Bec's 36th birthday, so we had some *very* spicy chicken fajitas (thanks Mike!) and a yummy ice cream pie from Nanny. 

Gibson decided it was his birthday, and blew out the candles before Bec got a chance!

Two of my faves

Oh how Abby *adores* her little Gibson

Matching pjs!!!

(Not pictured: Charlie Kate - in bed - and Otis - sick at home in Raleigh. So sad!!!!!)

 We all woke up on the 27th, ready for our big Christmas breakfast and then lots and lots of present opening. However, we had two little snags......Anderson threw up as soon as he woke up, so he had to stay quarantined in his room all day. Poor little guy! And Otis was sick as well, so he, Aunt Lora, and Uncle John decided to stay in Raleigh. We missed them so much :(

Abby is THRILLED to finally have a girl cousin :)

Finally, the kids got to open presents!!

Poppy with his fave / usual gifts - chocolates and a gift card. He is SO hard to shop for!

Nate setting up / synching Nanny's new iPad! #techsupport

We had so much fun with Nate's new laser tag set!

(Sidenote: I'm terrible at laser tag)

Abby got lots of new babies for Xmas and has her hands/purse full!

CK looked oh-so-cute in the outfit I got her for Xmas!!

On our walk, these two cuties had to sit and snuggle together

#andbabyben #orisitJesus

Family picture time! 

Anderson got to come out of quarantine for a few hours

 Then it was time for the annual BUCK-OFF (a buckeye bake-off)!!! Bec and I compete every year to see whose buckeyes taste the best. Poppy has always been the judge, but is partial to lots of milk chocolate (and I use semi-sweet). So, we enlisted 2 more judges to make it more fair.

 Well, it didn't work in my favor like I had hoped. Bec was declared the Buck-off champion for the 2nd year in a row!!! She's lucky I'm a good loser, because she is *not* a very good winner!! :)

 The kiddos worked hard on a "bed" in the playroom and had quite the sleepover that night! 

#audreyanntoo

 Nanny & Poppy braved the movie theater with all the big kids the next day, to see "The Star." It was Gibson's first movie theater experience!! Nanny said he was *done* about halfway through, but just moved to her lap and was content to finish out the movie that way. Abby said she loved the movie, but loved the popcorn & soda even more.

 I cleaned out & organized Charlie Kate's closet for 2 days, and came across this "My First Christmas" outfit. Considering it was Dec 28th, we put her in it for a picture and called it a day :)

 A visit to Bec's house wouldn't be complete without a family walk to the Starbucks! (It is right across the street from her neighborhood entrance). The kids loved their hot chocolate reward!

 We had to leave on the 29th, but not before Abby got in some lego time with Anderson. And if you're wondering why Anderson wasn't in a lot of these pictures, it's because he is now fully obsessed with legos!!! When he wasn't in bed sick, he was doing Legos! #NateJr

It was a wonderful Christmas celebration as usual, and we looked forward to more family time as we were headed to Lora's for sweet Otis' first birthday party the next day!!

Christmas Day 2017

Again, I'm behind on the blogging! :)

We had a wonderfully quiet Christmas here, just the 4 of us.

The kids had a sleepover in Nate's room, and came out at 7 am. I heard them starting to wake up around 6:15 and all the giggling meant that the excitement was building :)

Obligatory top-of-the-stairs picture. I'm glad they still humor me!

 Santa went a bit over the top this year and got Nate a laptop!!! He had been asking for one for months - really, he would NOT shut up about it - and researched for hours oh which would be the best for his "needs." Santa settled on the Dell gaming laptop and Nate could *not* have been happier. We told him over & over he wouldn't get it, and he believed us. So he was quite surprised!!!!!

 And Abby also got quite a haul from Santa too.....she had asked for the "fake" ice cream truck from Santa, but was very surprised to see a new doll with lots of clothes/accessories too. Welcome to our family, Audrey Ann :)

Some of their favorite stocking stuffers - Scouts stuff for Nate & a squishy for Abby

 After Santa presents and stockings, we usually take a break and Greg fixes his famous French toast for breakfast. So, of course Nate used that time to set up him computer, charge the battery, and explore the settings. He was in *heaven*

 After breakfast, Abby separated out everyone's presents into piles. Guess she got the organizer gene :) And Nate was - where else - still setting up his laptop!

The kids always pick out gifts for each other, and I usually buy them. This year, Nate insisted on buying Abby's two gifts, which totaled around $20. Love him! :) 

Funny thing was - they BOTH picked out these Homedics massagers for each other.

Abby thought that was hilarious!

Abby gave Greg & me this adorable art project from school!

More gifts! A new toiletry case & glove set for Abby, plus new (school) shoes for both!

One of Abby's favorite present - onesie pajamas!

This was seriously where he sat all day :)

After all the presents were opened, Abby put Audrey Ann in her pjs and started playing with the ice cream truck. Hours of fun!

 The rest of the day was spent playing with gifts, running around with neighbors, and packing (for me). Greg cooked up my MOST favorite dinner - shrimp & grits with andouille sausage. SO YUMMY!!

Another great Christmas in the books! We are so blessed!