twas the night before christmas

I looove "decking the halls" for Christmas (I have 3 large tubs worth of Christmas decorations). However, with Cooper's birthday and more keeping us busy in December, we were slow to get all of our decorating done. After hearing me lament the fact that "I guess we're just not going to have time to get a tree this year" (tear, tear), Curtis surprised me by showing up with one after work!

 

We decorated it less than a week before Christmas... just in time!

Even our "little old man" Annabelle wanted to help out.

I laughed when I saw this picture. Why? It was strangely familiar...

(December 2007, the night before going into labor with Cooper)

Get some new pajama pants, girl! Or better yet, stay out of the pajamas!

On Christmas Eve, we were able to go to our church's service and then spend time with family. Here are a few favorite shots:

A rare sibling picture (we were all in town for the span of less than a week)!

Katie (29), Kevin (21), Whitney (25), Heidi (23), Peter (26), Ashley (31)

My sweet little nephew, Myer (8 months).

With a smile that is undeniably contagious.

Cousin Bess turning my baby into Rudolph's baby.

Not her best shot, but oh so festive!

Speaking of not best shots, we tried to get a cousin picture.

How does anyone ever get a good one?! Ridiculousness.

And yet, maybe it's just us. We can't even seem to get a family of four picture that is decent!

Christmas Eve dinner, though I'm not sure much was actually eaten. 

Sidenote: We will most likely be able to use this picture as blackmail against an adolescent Cooper- dinner at a Disney princess table! :)

My dad finished the evening of festivities as he did every year of my childhood, by reading The Night Before Christmas.

After a new tradition of the kids opening some new Christmas pajamas, we headed home tired but expectant... the next morning would be Jesus' birthday!

three years

I can't believe that I am writing this, but our little boy turned 3 this week. Three. Three years ago, after 40 weeks and 3 days of carrying him inside of me, we drove to the hospital in the drizzling snow and soon got to meet our precious one...

We had no clue. We had no idea how much we would love him. We had no idea how hard it would be. We had no idea how entertaining he would be. We had no idea how drastically our life would change. We had no idea how deeply soul-connected to that tiny being we would become.

 (age 1)

Now we do. Cooper Richard, our beloved firstborn... He is wild and passionate, sensitive and compassionate. He pushes our buttons like no one else can and yet, with a smile or a few brilliantly chosen words, can melt even our toughest anger.

 (age 2)

He is smart and stubborn. He is innocent and inquisitive. He is a lover of music, of order, of trucks and trains.
He is the big brother to our baby girl, the laughter in our days, the reminder of our need for Jesus, and our perpetual delight.

When it came time for his third birthday, I wanted to make it special and exciting just for him...

 On the morning of his birthday, we brought him doughnut holes in bed. Three of them. There is perhaps no treat in life that Cooper would be more excited about, probably because it usually accompanies a special bike trip with Daddy to Dunkin' Donuts.

Obviously, he hadn't fully woken up yet. Also, I should mention that he had a nasty cough and a fever of 101 the night before. Poor kid.

 Nothing that a few doughnut holes can't cure! One chocolate, one cinnamon, and one powdered sugar later... he was all smiles.

It was a fun day as we tried to spoil our sweet and sick boy with special privileges, words, and treats, including a lunchtime trip to Chick-Fil-A with the whole family!

The next day we prepared to have a big birthday dinner with my parents as well as my brother Peter and sister Heidi who were in town. 

Birthday baking together (my favorite mommy-son activity) led to Cooper's favorite part... batter licking! We did a brownie tower in place of a traditional cake, because we are holding off on the birthday party until January. Cooper was not disappointed.  

He ate up every bit of the event.  The song...

 the candle-blowing...

 and more blowing...

and then definitely the eating.

 Annabelle graciously gave her brother center-stage for the evening, but seemed to innately know that she wanted- no, needed- one of those brownies. Reach, Annabelle, reach!

 Cooper's attitude was so humbling and refreshing during the present-opening. After receiving the first gift, he was so excited and thankful that he never asked for or even noticed that there were more to come.

Don't worry, he figured it out quickly! He absolutely adored each one of his gifts and couldn't have been happier, especially since he got to play with Grandpa.

Our baby boy is not much of a baby anymore. He is growing and changing faster than I realize (and certainly faster than I can document!).  We are genuinely grateful and humbled that God entrusted this little one to us. Every day, it is an honor, a challenge, and a joy. And, it is fun.

transformations: upstairs (ta da!)

Are you ready for the unveiling? Let's be honest, it's not DONE done... but it's done enough!

The downstairs hallway is a fresh tan color and there is no more near-yellow trim in our house! Woo hoo!

But you want to see what's up these stairs, don't you? Follow the cute little boy.

Notice the light fixtures and switches... we have power!

 

Almost there!

Ta da!!! Isn't it beautiful and immaculate?! We can finally start using the space and we couldn't be more excited about it. (the blue is not quite as bright as it seems here)

The big excitement of today... carpet! When the guys were finished installing it, Cooper started running and diving all over it. And then maybe I joined him. 

This is the nook, from the inside. I am loving the sconces in here. 

 

All of the trim and woodwork looks so crisp now that it's painted. 

I just realized that I forgot to take pics of this room post-carpet, but these were taken just this morning. 

And that cute little boy is back!

I chose a pretty cream color called "bone white" for the bedroom. I think all the colors upstairs turned out pretty close to what I hoped, which is kind of amazing with my track record.

Guess what else we (read: Curtis) finished?

The bathroom floor!

Here's our mostly-completed bathroom!

The plumber came back and hooked everything up, so we are up and running! Get it?! (Pun intended.)

This is one of my favorite decisions we made... we put a vintage door on our linen closet. It's totally something my creative mother-in-law would do!

This lone newel post is proof that the last major project that must be done- the stair railings/banisters- is underway. After that, we will just have a list of smaller tasks to check off. 

But first... we're moving stuff UPSTAIRS! Well, actually, first I'm going to get a good night's sleep. Then it's furniture and organization time! I love this part!

welcome winter

Only a week after we were in bathing suits on Hilton Head beach, we got our first real snow of the year in Greensboro.

Fall was just wrapping up and we barely got our leaves bagged and on the curb in time. So, maybe everyone else did that weeks ago... whatever. Point is: the snow came really early.  

And then there was this!

Gorgeous. And the snow even masks our terribly needy yard!

Certainly not the deepest snow, but it sure brightened the lifeless neighborhood.

For Annabelle, the world was brightened by the fact that the stairs were finally uncovered and available for a new pasttime- climbing. 

 The moment I realized that she could climb stairs was the moment I turned the corner and found her 3 stairs up. Whoa. 

Good news: She absolutely loves it. 

Bad news: She absolutely loves it. 

 

After realizing how much excitement stair-climbing was getting, Cooper wanted to be sure to get in on the action. Oh, that giggly face!

The snow was even deep enough for Curtis and Cooper to make a darn cute snowman! Complete with pepperoni eyes, no less.

At one time, their little snowman even had Oreos for ears. But Cooper found those mysteriously unnecessary and disposed of them. Over and over again. :)

Who can blame him?

transformations: upstairs (part 6)

Quickly, because I really need to get some sleep tonight and yet I feel compelled to share...

We have been hard at work around here and are expecting to have to our upstairs finished (a few details withstanding) in another week or so! Here's what has happened lately...

Curtis used these huge and super-heavy sheets of wood...

(Shout out to my brother Kevin who came over and helped carry them all upstairs! I thought I might never walk again after helping Curtis with the first few.)

...and he created these doors, crazy angles and all! They are going to look amazing. He just has to go back now and use trim pieces to- basically- decorate the doors. Unfortunately, that's going to be on hold until the more pressing to-do's are finished.

Speaking of things pressing... Thursday night we were up until all hours of the night trying to finish necessary tasks and clean everything out so that the painters could come in on Friday morning. Here are some "blank canvas" shots so that you can be amazed tomorrow (or soon after) when I put up the new paint-covered pics!

My fearless- and handsome- contractor... coffee and toboggan in hand, checking in with our painters before he heads off to his "day job". This is our life, people. What are we going to do with ourselves when this is done? Ha!