Holiday Fun!

Our little princess-she got 6 pairs of dress up shoes, 2 tiaras, a magic wand, and a princess dress from Grandma and Papa Richie (among lots of other fun things)

Our Christmas Superhero!!

getting ready to go out and play in the snow

the view of our house from the road after the first big snow storm of the season (we got about 15 inches) and b/c of this snow, we had a white Christmas

the road in front of our house

Daddy and Aleigha trying to build a snow man, but the snow was too fluffy

our little snow bunny

the hedges in front of our house were folded in half

the snow came to Thor's chest (and if you have seen Thor lately, you know he is not a little dog)

Brenton and Santa

Aleigha telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas.

Aubrey and Brenton on Santa's lap...Brenton was very much into Santa's attire

Christmas shopping

Brenton thinks this must be the most comfortable lap he's ever sat on.

hmm...I wonder what was going on in his mind when this picture was taken

she's not the easiest person to take pictures with anymore

Daddy and Mr. B

The Perry family on Thanksgiving

Aleigha and Brenton on Santa's lap. They got to sit on Santa's lap about 6 times this year. Brenton even did the "beard" test, and confirmed that this is the true Santa. Aleigha did a great job every time telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas...there was no way Santa didn't get the message that she wanted toys, books, and a baby doll...and Santa stayed true to her wishes.

1. "Merry Christmas Everyone!"

We hope you all enjoyed the holiday's as much as we did. We had lots of fun spending time with family this Christmas season. I have always loved Christmas and this time of year. I have always felt the magic and love that Christmas has to offer. However, when you have children of your own, there is a whole new magic. Looking in the face of a toddler, when they see Santa, Christmas lights, gifts, etc is such a wonderful experience. It's another joy of being a parent. Here are a few pictures of the start of our holiday fun. I have lots more on another camera, so there will be more to come.

Simple Joys of Motherhood

There are lots of simple joys of motherhood. Every day my children do things that make being a mother the best job in the world. But yesterday, something happened that was extra special. In my last post, I mentioned how Brenton has been reaching for anything and everything. He was in his walker, playing with a toy. He started to get a little fussy. When I went to get him out, I noticed the toy had fallen into the walker. I put the toy back up top and Brenton stopped crying. I thought that was all he wanted so I started walking away. When I got behind Brenton, and he could not see me anymore, he started to cry again. I went back and put my arms out to lift him out. He also lifted both his arms up and reached out for me. I know this was such a little act that from now on will happen over and over again. But any mom and dad, now that the first time a child reaches for you, your heart melts. I love my little ones.

Thor kept licking Brenton's hands, and every time he did Brenton would laugh and laugh. Every time Thor stopped, Brenton would reach out and stick his hand in front of Thor's mouth. He was quite a sight.

I bought some Christmas decorations and decided instead of storing them for a few weeks, why not decorate a little early. Aleigha did a great job helping to put the ornaments on the tree. She's doing pretty good taking them off too...but she makes sure to always put them back.
We had a fun night decorating the house followed by all four of us dancing in the living room to Christmas music.

Thor is having an identity crisis...he's not sure if he's dog or human

Aleigha decided she would help make it move, since Brenton's feet didn't quite reach the floor.

We brought out Aleigha's old walker for Brenton...however, she insisted on reminiscing on happy memories.

A New Fan of Wal-Mart

sporting the sweater that Grandma Leta gave him...it's a matching boy one to the one she gave Aleigha for her bday (shown in previous blogs)....absolutely adorable

close up of my precious little Brenton

sitting up...he can do it w/out the pillow too

just relaxing

Things have been going really well lately. Nothing to exciting has been happening though. We spent last week at Chris' Aunt's house. We had a good time visiting with her and her family. They have a 2 1/2 year old little boy and he and Aleigha had a lot of fun together. They did argue quite a bit though...it was pretty funny...they seemed like a married couple sometimes. Also, we got a new car a couple of weeks ago...a standard. I had never driven one and was quite scared to start. However, I have been practicing a lot and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I've even made a few trips out on my own.
Brenton is now weighing 15 1/2 lbs. That's right....at 5 months he is outweighing what Aleigha did at 1 year. He is still an average size baby, but compared to Aleigha, I feel that he is a big boy. He is sitting up for several mins at a time now. We have to put him in the sitting position still, but he is doing really well. He is also rolling over from back to belly...however, his arm still gets in the way, so he hasn't mastered the technique quite yet. He is grabbing at anything and everything. He has also found his feet and blows raspberries. It is amazing to see how quick he is developing. He is such a sweet little baby. I just adore the times that Aleigha play's with him. There is so much love between them. The other day, Aleigha was playing peek-a-boo with him and he belly laughed for 15 mins., only coming up for air for a few seconds at a time. It was the sweetest thing ever.
Aleigha is continuing to get smarter and smarter every day. Right now she likes to count and say her alphabet. She says phrases of the alphabet...for example, "ABCD" "LMNOP", "QRS." However, at any time you say the alphabet and pause, she will say the next letter..no matter what letter is next. She hasn't gotten the counting down perfect yet..."1-2-3-4-9-4-9-6-7-8-9-10." But for just over 2, I think she's doing excellent.
Okay, so I know I brag about me kids a lot...I just can't help it. I have been soo blessed. I love them so much. And of course, what kind of parent would I be, if I didn't brag about them...lol. And also, this is pretty much my only journal. I have another one, but you know how that is. This one gets written in much much more. I'm having it printed out in a book form soon so I will actually have a hard copy.

So one last thing: Wal-Marts Newest Fan

I bought Aleigha an outfit a few days ago at Wal-Mart (the purple one below). Of course, she looks absolutely adorable in it like she does in all her clothes. Well, someone commented on it, and of course, I like to brag about the sales I get too. So I told the woman that I got each piece for $2 at Wal-Mart. Later that night, I was sitting with Aleigha on the couch. She says, "I got my clothes at Wal-Mart." short pause "I liiiike Wal-Mart."
I just thought this was too funny. What 2 year old should like, let own liiiike, Wal-Mart. All I can say is, at least it was Wal-Mart and not Gap.

she absolutely loves her new slipper boots...she hasn't taken them off since we got them
I think they are pretty cute too

the bargain outfit from Wal-Mart

Happy Halloween Blessings!

I hope you all had as great of a Halloween as we did. We took the kids trick-or-treating. They dressed up as a gypsy princess and Tigger. Aleigha had a great time trick-or-treating. She really enjoyed herself. It was so cute to see her go up to the doors, open her bag, and say "Trick-or-treat....thank you....Happy Halloween." She only got a little scared at some of the costumes. However, she got really concerned when she saw someone wearing a skeleton mask that had blood pumping through it. She kept saying..."He bleeding mom." She was so concerned that she went to the next house and told them, "He bleeding, he bleeding. That guy bleeding." Brenton enjoyed the nice outside while being pushed in the stroller. They both looked absolutely adorable.
On Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, Chris gave the kids their Baby Blessings at church. It was a wonderful moment. And of course, the kids looked adorable all in white. After wards, we had a potluck lunch in honor of Aleigha and Brenton.
Today Aleigha said one of the most special things to me. I was in the bathroom and had just finished putting my hair in a messy bun....she looks up at me and says, "Mommy, you so pretty." I bent down on her level, gave her a hug and kiss and told her how much I loved her. Then I told her how pretty she was. She got a big grin on her face, and said, "Just like you mommy." She certainly made my day. What a special little girl I have.
I have two great children and a wonderful husband. I am such a lucky person. God has blessed me abundantly.

we had spent about a week camping out in the living room...the last night Aleigha really wanted to camp...so we got out her tent, and she slept in it all night

the beginning of Chris' master piece

it's coming together

almost done

the pumpkin in the dark...the pictures don't do it justice

the finished masterpiece

the Indian Warrior pumpkin

Chris worked for about 2 hours on this pumpkin. He did it completely free hand. He found a picture on-line to get the idea...but that was it. I think it is the best pumpkin I have every seen.

Aleigha was a gypsy princess...and a beautiful one at that

Me and Brenton at the town's Halloween hot dog roast.
It had rained all day, but stopped about an hour or two before it was time to go out. It was a pretty cold evening, but Brenton's Tigger costume was just perfect.

I know this picture is way way blurry...but I absolutely love it

my pretty girl

Brenton 1st experience at trick-or-treating

Aleigha after the first house...she was so excited, she wanted to show everyone what was in her bag...she got really good at saying, "Trick-or-Treat.....Thank you....Happy Halloween."

Brenton not really sure what to think of all this

out trick-or-treating...Chris and I didn't dress up this year like we had last year, but we still had a really good time dressing up the kids and taking them out

On Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009 Chris gave the children their Baby Blessing...he did a wonderful job and they were really well behaved

I suppose we had to at least post a picture of the four of us on such a special day...but it is really not that great of me (really bad actually). It was truly a wonderful day. We had waited such a long time for this and the children looked beautiful.

her treasure

enjoying the fruits of her labor

the amazing night sky on Halloween during trick-or-treating

Grandma, Aunt Molly, Pop, Brenton, and Aleigha after their Blessings

They love their Aunt Molly

Grandma and Papa Richie with the kids

We had a nice break the fast potluck lunch after church in honor of Aleigha and Brenton

due to the time change...our little sleeping beauty is falling asleep before bedtime (which is actually the time she needs to go to bed)