Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

Christmas morning was such a fun morning in our home! Ellison woke up at about 5:45 and came stumbling into our room. Thankfully, we were able to put her in bed with us and keep her there until William woke up at 6:30. After we had both kids up and I had at least brushed Ellison's hair, Will turned the Christmas tree on, got the video camera ready and told us we could come to the living room to see all that "Santa" had left! Ellison was so excited! She immediately ran to her doll house and started playing. William wasn't sure what was going on and was just happy hanging out in Mommy's arms. Once we showed him his new racetrack, he was a little more excited! It is LOUD and that makes William HAPPY! Plus, I think he was just excited to actually have some boy toys!!

Some of Ellison's presents (before we hid the scooter)

William's presents

Ellison and her dollhouse

Finally! Some boy toys!

We hid Ellison's DORA scooter until the very end. She surprised us by telling Santa that she wanted a Dora scooter the Friday before Christmas. This was the first that Will and I had heard about this. Needless to say, the next day we were on the hunt for one. Thankfully, Academy had one so Santa's reputation was saved. Anyway, back to Christmas morning...we saved the scooter for last. We asked Ellison if she got everything she wanted for Christmas. At first she said yes, then sadly said "Santa forgot my scooter". I then got up and went to get it while she went back to playing. As I rolled it in the living room she casually glances back then realizes that it's her scooter. She yells "MY DORA SCOOTER!"....cutest thing EVER! She immediately demands we put her helmet on so that she can ride it. I think she stayed on it the rest of the day.



The rest of the day was very relaxed. This was the first year that we stayed at home and it was really nice. Ellison and William got to play with all of their new toys and Will and I were able to enjoy our time together as a family. We played with the kids, I sipped on coffee (I'm addicted now), and we watch the snow fall...yes, we finally had a real white Christmas.

The view from our front door

I think Jesus had a pretty awesome birthday!

Christmas Eve at Mimi and Poppy's

Every year on Christmas Eve we head over to my parents house. My sister and her family are also there. We usually eat lunch, let the kids open presents, eat dinner and then try to get home before Santa Claus comes to our house. This year was no different. I love spending Christmas Eve with my family. I love to watch Ellison and William play with their cousins. I love to spend time with my Mom and Dad and sister. I do miss not having Eric, Adrienne and Luke there, though. Eric's work schedule is insane and he has to be at work both on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, so they stayed in Atlanta this year. Hopefully, they will be able to join us in the coming years.

My mom and I in the kitchen!

My niece, Abbie, and I being goofy.

Me, Ellison, Kailyn, Abbie and my Mom. Laurie is camera shy!

I was so excited that this was William's first Christmas. He did not dissappoint. He was excited about opening his presents though I thin kit was just because he liked the wrapping paper. He got some cool little cars from his cousins and he loves to play with them. They are just his size. I think his favorite thing about that day was all of the wrapping paper scattered everywhere. I had to keep getting it out his mouth. Ellison never put anything in her mouth when she was a baby, but I can tell that I will be digging things out of William's mouth all the time. I will definitely have to make sure my floors are clean at all times or he will become my human vacuum.





Ellison was also alot of fun this Christmas. She caught on very quickly to the idea of Santa Claus and came up with a long list of things she wanted from him. Mom got her a Mobigo. For those of you who may not know what that is, a Mobigo is like a hand held video game (this one is educational). As soon as she opened it, she was done. She didn't care about any of her other presents. She hit the motherload with this one. We actually have to set a timer for her so that she won't play it all day! She has actually impressed us with it. She can already do the "difficult" setting and she is only 3 (well, almost 3)!

Pictures are just more fun!

So, obviously I am going to try to catch up on the last few months. However, instead of boring myself and others with detailed descriptions, I decided it would be more fun to just look at some pictures with added captions. Of course, I uploaded them backwards so we will be starting at Thanksgiving and working our way back to Halloween!

Ellison making her ginger bread house. Most of the candy ended up in her tummy instead of the house!

Aunt Jennifer and her "mini-me". Ellison looks a lot like her Aunt Jennifer! :)

William and Uncle Scott

LOVE HIM!!

Me and William (6 months) at the pumpkin patch

Ellison showing us how strong she is!

Ellison letting us know she did not want her picture taken. This is one of my very favorite pictures of her. It is actually framed in her room!

Halloween 2010. William is my big eared mouse!

Ellison is my kitty cat! I think she wore this for weeks before Halloween. She loved to play kitty!

Will after his first half marathon! I am so proud of him!! Hoping to one day run one with him!

Wow! I am really bad at this...

So, obviously, I stink at keeping up with our blog. No surprise there! However, I really am going to try to be better at this whole thing. I read several friend's blogs and am constantly amazed at how cute their stories are and how cute their blog is andh how many stories they have to tell. I think I worry about what everyone will think of my blog. Will it be worth reading? Will they think it's cute? Should I put that picture or the other one of my incredibly adorable children? Well, I've decided...who cares!! I probably won't know who is reading this anyway. Plus, this is a journal for me that I am allowing other people to read. If it's not entertaining, then jump to the next blog. So, this is my new attitude. Hopefully, I will keep it for longer than 4 months this time...

Friends are Fun!

A few weeks ago, our friends Lee and Katie Caldwell and their precious boys, Weaver and Will Garrison, came for dinner and play time. We had such a good time catching up with them and Ellison and Weaver loved playing together. I think Will Garrison and William had a good time, too. Lee and Katie live in Birmingham and we don't get to see them nearly enough! Katie and I joke all the time that if we lived in the same town we would never get anything accomplished because we would always be over at each others houses for play dates and coffee. We would probably have dinner at each others houses, too!

It's Been a While....

Wow! I am really behind on this blog. I promise, I have the best intentions but by the end of the day the last thing I want to do is blog. I have been so tired lately. William is a VERY early riser. He likes to start his day at 5am and Ellison is usually not too far behind him. So, I am actually going to try to catch up on blogs this morning while William is napping and Ellison is occupied playing. We'll see how it goes ;)....

Family weekend at the lake...

We had our annual Brashier family fun weekend at the lake a few weeks ago. I always look forward to this weekend. Unfortunately, we only get to see Will's extended family about twice a year and every time we have a blast. There is always great food and great fun! We play on the lake, eat, stay up late, eat, play games, eat...we really like to eat! Here are some photos from that fun weekend!