It's almost Christmas!

I'm so excited. I love Christmas. This is a rare Friday night for me. Mike is at work, Emily is in her room at least and Noah is sleeping. So, I'm taking the time to update the blog with some recent pictures.

We went on a "nature walk" to Hanging Rock on December 6. It was colder than the weather said, but we had fun and it was a beautiful walk.

Emily thought it was funny that her butt fit in the tree so she wanted me to take a picture. She said it was a seat just for her!

Poor Noah was so cold, but he was a trooper. He didn't feel 100% that day, but he didn't really get fussy until the very end and was happier on the walk down once we were moving.

It was a great day and the NC mountains are really beautiful. Mike planned the whole trip and he did a great job!

On December 13, Emily and I went to Disney on Ice, Worlds of Fantasy. She like it, but I don't know if she loved it or if she is still too little to really get it all. She loved seeing Ariel though and Tinkerbell. Lightening McQueen was a big hit, Mater made her laugh, and the liked the Lion King, but didn't get it because she hasn't seen the movie. Of course, her "baby" had to come too.

Here's a picture of Emily and the closest we could get to Cinderella.

After the show, we went to lunch then met Mike and Noah at the Original Matress Factory where we took Emily on a tour so she could see how they make her new big, big girl bed!Unfortunately, the factory doesn't actually work on Sat, but we did ge the tour. Emily wasn't impressed, but she did come home and get her new bed with her new bedding that Grandma Chris let her pick out as her Christmas present. Aren't we lucky? I know you are all jealous. Try to contain yourselves!

Noah has been busy tearing up the house and everything in it. Man, boys are busy! I did get these pictures of him while I was changing him the other day. Here's a tired, grumpy Noah with the pacifier (yes, he did take a head dive into the ottoman so that is a rug burn on his forehead):

And a tired, grumpy Noah without the pacifier!

Yes, I'm a mean mommy because this totally makes me laugh.

Finally, this is a cute picture I got of Noah and Emily taking a bath on Dec. 8.

They both had their Christmas parties at school today and Santa was there so we got some pictures of each of them on Santa, not together because while Noah was there to take the picture with Emily, she wouldn't get on Santa's lap! Once I get those downloaded, I'll update with those.

Nothing else new for us. The Shierlock's are decending upon this household so we will be having a merry time at home for Christmas. I'm looking forward to not going anywhere! I will be off work through Jan 2 and keeping the kids home with me for a week so that should be fun. Maybe I can actually get my house cleaned....LOL. We are all healthy again (for now) and staying busy as usual.

I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God Bless all of you this holdiay season and may He keep you safe.

Gretchen, Mike, Emily , Noah, Nikki, Elsie, and Shakes