And there's more...

After we opened Santa gifts, we headed over to Papa and Nana's house to open presents and eat breakfast with them. Papa and Nana are great gift-givers (my favorite gift was a Cake Pops book by Bakerella that I can't wait to try out for Nat's b-day next month!)! Nattie got the cutest baby doll stroller and little boy baby doll. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to find a boy baby doll? 99.9% of dolls are girls...it makes no sense, since half the babies in the world are boys! :) Anyway, the Christmas story must have made a big impression on Nat, because all day today she has been playing with her new baby...calling him "baby Jesus." It's really cute. :) (Also, I love how she is sporting her new Elmo slippers OVER her footie pajamas...such a trend setter!) Of course, Benny made out like champ with Papa picking out some extra fun and cool toys...Woody and Buzz legos, PlayMobil pirate ship...fun, fun!

Later that afternoon, we made the trip to Columbus to visit with Uncle Brad and Aunt Christina. Here is Nat sporting the new tutu and fairy wings they gave her...love it! (It is really fun to have a girl. I never thought I woud like it this much!)

Benny loved his presents too!

Andy looked extra cute in his new sweater! Thanks Uncle Brad and Aunt Christina!

We are blessed to have such a generous and loving family. I could say that, even if we never got a single present to unwrap. Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning...

This was the first year that we, I mean Santa, put some goodies in the kids stockings. We have grandparents and great-grandparents who spoil our children, so we try to be reasonable on the Santa front. This year Santa was pretty practical...books, underwear, slippers, crayons, and a game or two (Guess Who? for Ben...I used to love that game and can't wait to play it with him!). I found a great deal online on a 24x36 magnetic whiteboard that I purchased for both Ben and Nat. I thought it would be fun to use magnetic letters to practice reading/spelling words with Ben and I bought some magnetic animals and shapes to use with Nattie.

Santa brought Andy one little ol' gift..a Monchhichi. When Andy was born, Mike thought he looked like one. I think he meant it as a compliment...they are kinda cute. I LOVE watching my kiddos open gifts and get so excited over everything. It doesn't take much at all to get Ben excited...he was even excited to open his SpongeBob underwear and Nattie loved her Sesame Street books from the $1 bin at Target. :)

Daddy saw this little tent at Target and wanted to get it for Nat. She was so excited! It's up in her room and looks really cute with all of her owl decor. :)

Does your living room look like this after all the gifts have been opened? I can't remember who said it, but it sounds about right..."It looks like Christmas threw up in here!" :) Andy kind of blends in.

My mom's side of the family celebrates the first Christmas for each new baby who is born that year. This year there were FIVE firsts! Since we can't be there for the celebration, they all sent gifts for my little guy. Santa didn't need to bring him anything, because he already had a stack of presents under the tree! It was so fun to open the gifts on Christmas morning and lay him in the middle of all of them. Thanks IL fam! We love you and Andy loves his presents...can't you tell?! :)

Christmas Eve...

We spent Christmas Eve with the Moser family, Granny, and Angy/Paps at Mamaw's house. I've never known a more generous bunch of "old people" in my whole life. I give the great-grandparents $25 calendars every year (each month displays a collage of pictures of our family) and they give us free babysitting all year long, money, and giftcards...doesn't seem like an even trade, does it!? They are a blessing in SO many ways and I thank God for them.

The Moser men and gals...

Merry Christmas!

Love, The Moser Fam

Hap, Hap, Happiest Christmas...

I ran into Target yesterday for a roll of wrapping paper and walked out with a gingerbread train kit and a bunch of other stuff. Target has a way of sucking me in and causing me to buy more than I really need!! Anyway, I thought the gingerbread train looked like something fun to do with Benny (once Nat and Andy were in bed). We'd never done this before, but Ben decided that "ours turned out even better than the picture on the box!" I don't know about that, but it was something fun, festive, and cheap to do with my bud.

Ben wanted me to showcase his little tree on the blog (it opens it's eyes and mouth and sings some annoying holiday jingle). It's displayed proudly on the nightstand in his room and he decorated it himself with ornaments he got from his Mamaw...if you look closely you'll see Santa's bare butt right next to baby Jesus in the manger...lovely.

Wrapping presents while watching one of the dumbest movies ever...The Other Guys (Mark Wahlberg/Will Ferrell)...don't rent it!

My poor big guy is sick. He has an ear infection, nasty cough, and sinus stuff...just in time for Christmas. Luckily, he's on a an antibiotic for the ear infection, so hopefully he'll feel like a new guy in a day or two. I've been reading a chapter book to him every night before bed...Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He loves it and begs me to read him "just one more chapter" when I tell him that's all for the night.

We headed over to Angy and Pappy's house tonight to check out their Christmas decorations and visit with some of the fam. Words can not adequately describe the amount of holiday decor Angy displays in her home. I tried to capture some of it below because it always makes me smile and feel a little claustrophobic all at the same time. We loved hanging out with the Adam's family, Granny, and, of course, Angy and Paps!

Mike's Uncle Rich gave him a "Moose Mug"...remember Cousin Eddie and Clark drinking their eggnog out of these in Christmas Vacation? I love that movie...even if it is a little crass. :)

Clark: "Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?"

Eddie: "Naw, I'm doing just fine, Clark."

This is the small and simple (ah ha ha ha) village that Angy creates in her basement every Christmas (she starts working on it in October!). Have you ever seen anything like this?! It takes up about 50% of the floor space! Ben loves it! Angy has a bunch of cats and, apparently, they wreaked havoc on the village this year, knocking down a bunch of trees. I can't imagine how frightening it must have been for the little people living in this snowy little town when the giant, man-eating, tree-stomping felines attacked!

Benny and his good buddy and cousin, Ellen, checking out the village!

Here's some more holiday decor on display in Angy and Pappy's house...it's something else!! I said to her, in a sarcastic tone, "Wow, Angy, you really cut back this year on the Christmas decorations." She said, "Oh, I know, I didn't get much out!" Whoa! :)

As fun as it is to be with family, decorate gingerbread trains, watch silly holiday movies, and give/receive presents this time of year, we believe that the TRUE meaning of Christmas is SO MUCH more! Happy Birthday, Jesus! Thank you for stepping down from your throne to become the least for me. Thank you for loving me when I don't deserve it. Thank you.

I'll leave you with this video...I shared it last year, but I just love the words and how it depicts what matters most...

Benny the sheep and a hodgepodge of other "stuff"...

Benny's pre-k Christmas performance was cancelled last week due to bad weather, so they had a make-up performance on Friday morning during their classroom Christmas party. They all had on their pj's for the party, but it was still so cute. They sang "Happy Birthday, Jesus" and "Friendly Beasts." They also memorized and recited Psalm 150...not an easy task...it's pretty long!

Here is Ben, aka "the sheep", during their performance of "Friendly Beasts"...such a cute song! I love how his sheep ears are making his real ears stick out even more than normal. :)

"I," said the sheep with curly horn,"I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm; He wore my coat on Christmas morn.""I," said the sheep with curly horn.

Ben and Mrs. Capper...he really loves her. He loves Miss Murphy too, but I failed to get a picture of her this time. I am so thankful for teachers who love my kid and appreciate his silly personality. :)

Post bath photo shoot...I love jammie clad, lotion covered babies...

Happy boy snuggled in the cozy carseat cover...

1 - "Mom, save me. I'm stuck inbetween the bed and footboard again."

2 - I put Nat down for a nap the other day and after several hours, I went to check on her. She wasn't in her bed. Found her sound asleep on the floor with her bootie up in the air.

3 - Nattie has offically learned how to throw a real fit.

Dad and his little buddy...

Date night!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Mike turned 32 years old today! Ben and I spent the afternoon making Peanut Butter Kiss cookies for him to enjoy when he got home from work. I was very glad to have Benny be my Hershey's Kiss wrapper remover (I hate that job!). The cookies sure looked good when we were all done...too bad they didn't taste good. My recipe was written down incorrectly and I added 2 tsp of salt, instead of a 1/2 tsp (I have the worst luck in the kitchen!). Mike took one bite and that was it. So much for a happy birthday treat! Luckily, I had purchased a few cupcakes earlier in the day, so there was a backup dessert! :)

Ben jumps on any chance to help open a gift! We gave Dad a Terrelle Pryor jersey and The Wisdom of Wooden book. I think the gift was a hit!

I think Nattie liked her cupcake. :) We love you, Daddy! Happy Birthday!

Finally, what's a post without more silliness from my baby girl?! I walked into her room one morning this week to this (apparently she had been awake for awhile!)... She had unbuttoned her jammies, put on a hooded sweatshirt upside down, emptied her dresser drawers, dumped an entire sippy cup of water all over her bed, ripped apart a small flower arrangement, dumped a bunch of books, etc....and she was standing in her second dresser drawer (with a poopy diaper on, I might add!). She smiled at me and said "mess, mess." Ya, Nat, I think I noticed. :) Oh..and later that day (under Daddy's supervision!)...she ripped every petal and leaf off a small Poinsetta I had and dumped the dirt all over the couch. Awesome!

Crayons in my pants, blueberries, and giggles...

Just another day and more fiesty behavior from my wild woman (see countertop). Apparently, I need to watch more closely when Nat is using crayons. You'd think I'd have learned after the whole wall incident. Doesn't she look proud? :)

This afternoon, after another attempt at coloring, I picked Nattie up and felt something funny poking me. I lifted up her shirt to find that she had a collection of markers and crayons down her onsie. You just never know when you might need one.

Small, medium, and large...

I love him...

My handsome snowman... Oh and in Benny news, he and Natalie were playing with their Little People nativity yesterday afternoon and I heard Ben scold the angel for "going off looking for blueberries and getting stuck in a tree." Hmmm...I don't recall that part of the Christmas story?? :)

We went to watch some Grizzly basketball tonight (Mike is one of the coaches) and Nattie was the cutest little fan in the stands (at least according to her totally unbiased mother)...

I can't help but kiss this face everytime I'm near it...

Finally, the little giggle box for your viewing pleasure...

:)

I've really been struggling with blog titles lately, so I'll just go with the smiley face...it works well enough.

This little dude turned 14 weeks yesterday. He is getting chunkier by the minute and I love it. He has started chewing on his hands and sucking his thumb a lot (he takes a pacifier sometimes too). It's really cute. He also rolls from belly to back like a wild man (and I've witnessed back to belly once). He is a pretty easy going little guy, which is awesome, because his older sister is not...

Which leads me to the story behind the photos below... If I do not keep my eye on little Miss Nattie every moment of the day, she is doing something irritating (but usually funny upon reflection)...like instead of eating the handful of barbque chips I set in front of her (after she screamed for a "nack, nack, nack!" -- that's a snack in Nattie speak), she thought it would be more fun to throw them on the floor, along with handfuls of dirt from my poinsetta. I didn't notice that she had "hidden" a few chips in the actual pot until hours later when I went to water my poor abused plant. Gave me a little chuckle. She's a nut.

Oh...and yesterday on the way home from church she was yelling "Milk, milk!" from the backseat and I told her I didn't have her cup with me and she'd have to wait until we got home. She responded with a big sigh and said "Oh man!"

Silly people...

A-dub's first Christmas....kind of nice because we don't really have to buy him anything yet...he doesn't know the difference. :)

About a year and a half ago, someone shared the CaringBridge site for Kate McRae, a little 6 year old girl from Arizona who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Benny has been praying for "the little girl with the hurt brain"ever since. He asks me about her a lot and prays that "God will heal her brain and allow her to live a long life on the Earth." He is so sincere. Anytime he prays, she is part of the prayer. Anyway, her family is amazing and this is the second year they have sponsored "Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas." They ask people to send them toys and other items that they collect and distribute to other kids (and their families) who are battling cancer. It's really awesome how they are giving back when they are in the midst of their own struggle. We decided to send Kate some toys to share with others this year and Ben had fun picking them out, writing Kate a card, and putting stickers all over the package. He was SO excited and even told the worker at Target that we were buying gifts to send to little kids with cancer. I love my tenderhearted big boy and I am so thankful that my kids are healthy. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a child struggling with a life-threatening illness, but I am in awe of how Kate and her family put all their trust in God.

Oh..and here's another Facebook repeat story, but it's too good not to share here. This week Ben came home from pre-K with an incident report. It said, "Ben was acting like the crazy raccoon from the movie Elf and hurt his lip. He was hugged until he stopped crying." Wow, I'd like to personally apologize to his teachers, who must have the patience of Job. For a little reminder of what the raccoon was like...click here. :)

Back to work...

Yesterday was my first day back at work after 13 weeks off with my babies. I always have a pit in my stomach the morning of the first day back. It's just so hard to walk out the door and leave the sweet faces you have spent every hour of the day with for weeks on end. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional break from the chaos, just like every other mom in the world, but the initial heartache kind of stinks. It will get easier though...I can say that with confidence...been there, done that. I'm only working 24 hours a week now, so I really don't have it too bad (and I love my co-workers)!! I'm just very relieved that Andy took his bottle (and didn't starve!), Nattie took her nap, and Ben got to and from pre-K without a hitch! I came home to three happy kids and lots of hugs. :)

I am so deeply grateful to the great-grandmas (Granny and Mamaw) who, for five and half years now, have driven down to my house (40 minute drive!), sometimes in treacherous conditions, to love on my babies, so I could go to work. I also really appreciate Papa, who watches my kids every Friday. There are not a lot of grandpas who are willing to manage three little kids at once...and we aren't just talking play time here. He has mastered the art of changing diapers, cleaning up blowouts (you know what I'm talking about!), feeding little ones, and the list goes on! These grandparents are such a blessing to me and my family and make it much easier for me to go to work. The biggest blessing in my whole childcare situation is the fact that my kids are truly LOVED by the people who are caring for them each week...that makes me feel so good.

This weekend we made one of our first attempts at going out to dinner with all three kids in tow. We've taken one or two at a time over the last several weeks, but never all three. It actually went pretty well. Mike and I didn't really talk because he was busy playing tic-tac-toe with Ben and I was trying to keep Nattie from dumping her water all over the table and herself. Luckily, Andy slept the whole time!

I tried to get Ben to take a nap one day this last week and he just wasn't in the mood. I heard some thumping going on up in his room, so I went up to investigate. Upon entering, I was told that I was not allowed to come inside the "secret clubhouse fort" he'd built on the floor next to his bed (he's really into secret clubs lately??). Buzz, Woody, his puppy, a monster truck, and his Pillow Pet were all club members, but apparently Mom wasn't cool enough. :)

Nattie's hair has really been growing lately (finally!) and it's really cute and curly when she's just out of the tub. However, when she wakes up from her nap each day it has transformed into a rat's nest and requires a little fixing. I usually just splash some water in it and she's good to go. The other day I gave her a mini-mohawk and she thought she was so cool. :) She is Ms. Independent these days...doesn't want our help with anything. I really wish it would rub off on her much older brother! Oh and as we were walking through the mall on Saturday evening, she kept randomly shouting from the stroller "awesome" and "cool!" I love my funny, little munchkin.

Here's Andy sporting Ben's old winter coat and hat. It's a little big on him, but will work for this winter. He is getting some cute chipmunk cheeks.

I love the moments when these two are being nice to each other (kind of rare these days). :) Here they are watching some cartoon together. Last night I was reading both of them books in Nattie's bed and Ben asked if he could sleep with her. I asked her if she wanted Benny to sleep in her bed with her and she said "uh huh" and nodded her head (she never says "yes"..it's always "uh huh"). So, I decided I would let them try and see how it went (fully expecting them to bug each other and/or talk and not fall asleep). I was wrong. I went to check on them about 20 minutes after I had turned out the lights and Nattie was sound asleep hugging her blankie and doll and Ben was humming some song that was, apparently, stuck in his head. :) I took him to his bed, so he wouldn't wake her, but I was impressed that Nattie fell asleep so quickly!

Here's Nattie's latest antic. I think she's a budding artist...don't you? :) Anyone know how to get crayon off a painted wall without actually repainting?

Finally, if you're my friend on Facebook, you've likely already heard this story, but I have to share it here for my family. As I was grabbing my pizza from the pizza man at our front door the other night, he said "good luck" with a strange look on his face. Maybe it was the fact that Nattie was completely naked and yelling "peetsee, peetsee" (that's pizza in Nattie speak), Andy was screaming bloody murder because I had to take him out of the tub to answer the door, and Ben was doing wind sprints around the kitchen table?? Life is never dull around here. :)