Christmas 2006!

Well we had a wonderful Christmas! I can say though that I am glad that the holiday season is almost over. Things get a little hectic when kids are involved but oh man is it so much fun and so worth it!

Dan and Ariel smiling at each other after making cookies in the kitchen

On Sunday, Dan, Caleb, Ariel and I went to church. It was packed there because there was only one service but it was a wonderful sermon. It was great to get the kids dressed in their Christmas clothes and get a few pictures...once again we couldn't get all four of us together but we do what we can!

Sunday evening we let Caleb open one gift and he picked the gift that Aunt Debbie and Allison gave him. It had a Wiggles sing along radio and two Leap Frog books in it. He absolutely loved them! We made Christmas cookies and left them out for Santa and what do ya know, he came and ate all the cookies except for one little crumbly bite and left some presents under the tree for the kids. What fun!

Making Christmas Cookies for SantaCaleb and Ariel on Christmas Day! On Christmas morning we got up and opened all the gifts that we had gotten each other. Of course Caleb had the most gifts out of us all. Ariel got clothes more than anything because she has everything that she can possible need! My mom (Memaw) and Jim came over and had Christmas Brunch with us. We had the traditional Christmas Casserole with cinnamon rolls and ambrosia fruit salad.

Opening his first gift on Christmas morning
Caleb putting together his puzzle from Santa After Memaw and Jim left, Dan and I got things packed to go to Harrison to see Dan's parents. Once we got to their house we had more presents to open and more food to eat. We had ham, baked potatoes, salad and Red Velvet Christmas cake...my favorite! Caleb got a sesame street puzzle from his Aunt Amy and he spent about an hour with her putting it together and taking it apart.

On Tuesday evening we went to Dan's Grandmother's house to eat lasagna and open even more gifts and to set up the new computer. Dan's parents bought a brand new computer for themselves for Christmas. The main reason they bought it was to put all the slides that Dan's Grandmother had taken over the years into a digital format to use for slide shows and such. She has thousands of slides that have to be scanned with a special slide scanner and she is going to put her voice to all the slides to explain what was happening in each picture. This is going to be a huge project for her but she is willing to get it done bless her heart! Here is a picture of the kids with her at her house. Here's Caleb snoozing on the way to Granny's house

Caleb and his new John Deere attire for the farm

Working on his puzzle with Aunt Amy

Sitting in Granny's lap

Opening gifts with Granny and GrandadSleep in heavenly peace!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Pump it up!

Yesterday it was really breezy and rainy and Caleb hadn't been out of the house except to go to the store in 2 or 3 days so the mom's in our mom's group decided to get together and go to a place here in Bentonville called Pump It Up. Caleb and I have been invited to go on several occasions but things just kept coming up and we were never able to go until yesterday. It's a really nice place that has inflatables for kids to jump, climb and slide on. The only thing that I didn't like about it was the price...it's $7.00 plus tax for each kid and it only lasts from 10:00-11:30. But I guess it's worth going every once and a while, especially during the cold winter months!

Here's Caleb, Ariel and I right before we left...Caleb wasn't that cooperative!

Here's Caleb on the big platform in the large jumper.

And here he is again going down the slide...all you see is an orange blur because he was going so fast...this was his favorite thing out of them all!

On another note, Ariel had her 2 month appointment this morning with Dr. Hill. Dr. Hill said that she was a beautiful baby was VERY healthy. She weighed 11lbs 10 oz (50th percentile), 23 and a half inches (75th percentile) and her head was 39cm (25th percentile). All is well in the Cole house!!

Memaw and Jim's House

Last Saturday night Dan, Caleb, Ariel and I went to see my mom (Memaw) and Jim. They bad put up their Chirstmas lights on the house a couple weeks ago and we never had a moment to go and see them lit up at night. I tried to take some picture with my night mode on my camera and it didn't work so well, but at least I can say that I tried!

My mom and Jim have at least 10 fish tanks in their house and Caleb absolutley loves going over there and seeing all the fish. The tanks are all decorated so pretty and the water is always so clear.

Pretty Girl

I took some pictures of Ariel yesterday after church. She looked so beautiful in her little outfit!

A couple nights ago I was bouncing Ariel in her bouncey seat and this is the way that she ended up falling asleep. It beats all the other sleeping positions that she has ever been in...by far!

Last night we had our Christmas Party for our Connection Group at our house. We were able to get a babysitter to watch the kids for about two hours. It was nice to be able to have some adult conversations for once without having interrupt and discipline! We had taco salad for dinner and some yummy chocolate cake for desert...better enjoy that while I can because I am hitting the gym pretty hard after the first of the year (it's been since last January since I have even stepped into the gym at all). We also did an ornament exchange. Beth attempted to take a family picture of us but as you can see Caleb was not cooperating...he was actually picking his nose right before the shot was taken. This is why we have yet to have a good picture of all four of us together!

Right after Dan, Ariel and I had our picture taken, Caleb decided that he finally wanted his taken too!

Today Dan took Caleb to the garage to help him change the oil in the vehicles. I went out to say hello while Ariel was taking one of her naps and this is how I found my two mechanics! Caleb was telling me to go away in the picture...I gladly went inside to finish wrapping my presents!

Best Friends

This past weekend my dear friend Becky came from Ft. Worth to see us with her daughter Ava. Becky and I went through Interior Design together at U of A and soon after graduating she and her husband moved away from Arkansas. She and I got pregnant within a week of each other and Ava was born 8 days before Caleb. It was great to see her and to let both Ava and Caleb play together.

Getting ready to go to bed.

Sharing the coloring book and crayons.

Eating their dinner before we went to church on Sunday.Best Buds!
Taking a bath

Ariel's Two Months Old!!!

Miss Ariel Layne is now 2 months old!! She is such a great baby. She is starting to interact with us and loves it when her big brother is around. She is smiling and cooing a lot. She is also sleeping 6-8 hours a night...HOORAY!! Happy 2 months Ariel!

December Already!!

Yesterday I went and got an hour message from one of my dear friends Leigh. I have had this spot in the middle of my back that has been in a knot for a few weeks now and she worked on that spot for at least 30 minutes. She is so wonderful to me! It was so good to be able to get away from kid chaos and focus on me for an hour.

Last night when the Razorback game started Caleb had just gotten up from his nap and he went straight to Dan's lap and sat there for a good 20 minutes or so just watching the game. It was so cute to see my boys together engaged in something that is so manly! We also got this funny picture of Ariel focusing on Dan's face...she is cross eyed!

We are still melting from the big snow that we got on Thursday/Friday. It is all off the streets now but it made for some slippery sidewalks. Dan is training to run a marathon so the ice on the sidewalks has put a damper on his running.

I took a picture of our Christmas tree to share with everyone. I just love this time of year. Dan asked me the other day what my favorite part of Christmas was and I told him that it had to be the smell. The cold crisp air, hot apple cider, Christmas trees, and cookies baking in the oven. I also enjoy decorating my Christmas tree as well. I remember when I was a kid my mom and I would always decorate the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. We would reminisce about each ornament that we placed on the tree. They were such special moments that I plan to pass on to Caleb and Ariel. I had to include the awesome fireplace that Dan built for us in the picture.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving Dan, the kids and I went to Harrison to see the family on Dan's side. We had 15 people there for dinner and there was hardly any food left by the end of the evening! We took a family picture for the first time since our wedding. It was so good to have everyone there.

Granny Phyllis, Uncle Mitch, Aunt Gail, Dan's Mom Rita, Dan's Dad Lynn, Grandmother Quintelle,

Dan's Brother Clint, Cousin Kayla, Amy's boyfriend Orion, Cousin Ryan, Amy, Katie, Ariel, Dan, and Caleb

Dan, Clint and Orion went and played paintball after dinner. Orion came into the living room with his camo on and we tried to get Caleb to sit in his lap since they were both wearing camo.
This is Caleb jumping on the trampoline in Granny's living room. He just loves this thing!
A wonderful picture of Caleb and Ryan swinging. It was in the 70's here on Thanksgiving Day.