Holiday Fun!

This may be the LONGEST blog post you have ever encountered.  Somehow, within a 45 day period, we literally took over a thousand pictures (no joke).  I tried my best to limit the overall number but I didn't want to miss any of the action.  

Carl had Veteran's day off.  The weather was beautiful.  In an effort to  celebrate the holiday, we took the kids to the Mayport base to see all of the ships and spent the afternoon at the private beach on base.

Jack's favorite toy of the day was a wrapping paper roll he found in the back of my car and decided that it would be a great beach toy.

Captain Jack!

Daddy and Jack walking down the beach trying to get Sophie to take a nap

Jack adores the beach

Jack finding treasures on the beach

Our little guy is growing so fast.  He is 2 years and four months in this picture.  He loves running, jumping , and digging in the dirt.  He is such a BOY.  He has to take long baths to get all of the dirt out of those fingernails.  

Jack is starting to talk now in full sentences.  He likes to add to the dinner conversation, and always starts off the meal by asking if everyone's food is hot, cold, or good. If you tell him it is hot, he waits a few seconds and then says "Momma, it's still hot?"  Until you say no, not hot, the dinner conversation is consumed by temperature of food.  Jack still loves and adores fruits and veggies. He also has a serious sweet tooth like is daddy!

In this picture, Sophia is seven months.  Sophia got her bottom two teeth in November.  If you touch them, she giggles loudly:)  She is so proud of them.

Sophia is the happiest little girl.  She smiles constantly, and it is contagious . She saves these big grins for her daddy when he comes home from work. 

Carl is doing really well. His practice is getting busier, and he is  now spending more time in the operating room.  The kids look forward to having their daddy come home from work, and they also have  outside time together in the evenings.

For me, this has been the best Christmas holiday season ever. When Carl was gone, I  spent so much time thinking and praying that we would have this time together, and now being able to enjoy it makes it bitter sweet.

For Jack, one of the best parts of having Daddy home is that he throws Jack up high in the air.  Jack loves it, and always wants more.  When Carl was gone, I always got a little upset when I would see daddies throwing their kids in the air and Jack would watch.  Even having Carl home for a few months, I now take it for granted that he does this with him all day long.  Jack loves it.

Daddy has just caught Jack from a throw!

Jack and Carl do all sort of fun father/son  activities together.  They love to fix things with their tools, garden, feed the doggies, wrestle, and eat lots of desserts together. 

Sophia is wearing 12-18 month clothes already, and is up to 17+lbs at 7 months.  Sophia is eating all sorts of solids.  Her issues with apples have gone away, and now she happily enjoys all sorts of apple products.  She drink well out of a sippie cup, and enjoys apple and white grape juice.   Jack loves to share Sophie's puffs with her.  Sophia is picking up everything with her fingers.  Her favorite are blueberries. 

Our happy little girl

Sophia loves her thumbs.  She is such a little thumb sucker.  Unlike her brother who only sucks his two fingers on the left hand, Sophia sucks both thumbs.  Oddly though, Sophia only likes to eat with her right hand while Jack still uses both hands to eat.

To kick off the Christmas holiday,  we went to Amelia Island plantation to see the lighting of the tree.  We got a chance to meet up with my law school suite mate, Carrie Ann and her husband.  The plantation set up a fun Santa workshop where Jack got to ice cookies, see Santa, ride the train, and watch them light the big Christmas tree.

Sophia had a good time too!

THE TREE LIGHTING....

Jack was so excited to see the Christmas tree go up.  He talked a lot about Christmas trees at school, and was so anxious to hit the button.  Moments before he lights the tree.

He realizes the tree is lit

In awe...

Inspecting the tree now.  Jack is such an observer.  He is shy but takes in everything.  When he experiences a new thing, he acts a little shy at first but then gets noticeably more excited and verbal as he realizes the inner workings of something.

We are so excited to decorate the tree.

Later that night, we got dressed in some holiday attire and  went out to dinner and then to Avondale  to celebrate the beginning of Christmas.  Jack and Sophie got to eat more cookies, listen to the carolers, walk around the local toy shop to make a wish list, and watch the big kids slide down the ice slide.

Jack is such a sweet momma's boy.  He is at an age now where he loves to give kisses.  Here he is going in for the kiss!

I cannot get enough of these!

MOPS always has a great holiday party.   Sophie really enjoyed  seeing Santa.  We will see if she has the same love for him next year:)

It was so cute that Jack chose to wear  his Santa hat to the meeting.  We got to make pictures, eat lots of snacks, and make fun Christmas crafts.

Jack running around MOPS 

At 8 months, Sophia began pulling up on the furniture.  It is really fun to watch the kids play together .

Our sweet babies

So excited that she has the table to herself for a minute. She loves to grab at Jack's favorite toys.

Kissing his sister's head

Jack loves to sit in Sophia's crib with her

Playing with the wreath ribbon

Brotherly sisterly fun

Unrolling the entire spool

Sophie wants to be part of the destruction

We took the kids to the Ortega holiday party. We got to see Santa, bounce house and lots of snacks

So excited to hang out in our new wagon with big brother

Sophie loves to spend time with her brother. She is enthralled by all that he does.

At this age, Jack loves to stick out his tongue.

Giving Sophie her drink

Fun at the local pharmacy that gave out free ice cream

Jack and I went on the John Deere tractor ride.  We literally went four times.

More ice cream!!!

Jack had a really good day!!!

Jack and Sophie like to snuggle on Jack's chair and watch TV.  Sophie is totally obsessed with TV .  Jack didn't like it until 22 months. Sophie literally has been mesmerized since she was born.

Sophie snuggled in tight.  She fights her morning nap, and really enjoys taking a long afternoon nap with her brother.

A fun afternoon out in Avondale.  We went to run errands on a Sunday, and thought the kids would fall asleep before lunch.  We took a chance, and they did great through a late lunch at Mojos and a stroll through the shops and neighborhood.  

CHRISTMAS 2012!!!

I took Jack and Sophie Christmas shopping at the mall.  We spent a lot of time at Hallmark picking ornaments and began buying presents!

Jack playing at the mall playground.  Jump!!!

Christmas 2012 was amazing.  This was Sophia's first Christmas and it was super special because Jack is starting to appreciate the holiday.  He quickly learned what a Christmas tree was, and was so excited about all of the Christmas lights and decorations. Jack still has mixed feelings about Santa though.

Mimi and Papa came for Christmas this year.  Jack and Sophia love their grandparents, and really opened with both of them.  On Christmas Eve, we went to mass.  Unfortunately, we had to separate because the church was packed.  Even though Mimi and Papa had only arrived a day before, Jack was so upset that he was separated from them.  When the church was completely quiet, Jack screamed out "I want Mimi and Papa!!!"  It was super cute.

It became apparent that present opening can be overwhelming for a two year old.  We ended up doing a morning gift opening, evening gift opening and then a next day gift opening.  

Carl got a lot of practical gifts this year...tupperware!

Snuggling with Papa

Sophie loves the block toy.  She is able to pull herself up on the toy.

Playing with their toys together

Trying to crawl

Sophia and Momma on Christmas day.  Sophie loves all of the new presents and wants to help open them.  She loved the  Christmas meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.

Jack started to figure out the present game.  Once he opened up a present, he wanted to play with it right away.  This made for a long but fun Christmas!

Jack loves his kitchen.  He got extra food and a sandwich maker from his Grandma. He loves to serve us meals.

Making Momma a sandwich

Cuddling with Papa

Jack helping Sophie and Papa play with Sophie's new vanity

Trying to walk with her new stroller

Jack and his new tractor

After Christmas, we spent some time exploring areas near Jacksonville.  We took Mimi and Papa to St. Augustine for the day.  We enjoyed a train tour around the city.  Jack is obsessed with choo choos.  Here is Jack on a cannon in the old town.