A birthday boy and our first Christmas at Upper Hembree

It's 2012 and there's so much promise in a new year. We finish 2011 celebrating Wells and sharing Christmas with friends and family.

Wellington had a HUGE 3rd birthday party. With all our family and only a few friends, our house was fun of people. It was great! we had chili, cake & ice cream, a pinata, and party favors. Kids played in the yard, inside, upstairs and under foot. With 13 under 5 it's never a quiet house when we all get together, but I'm so thankful for lots of cousins for my boys. I hope they all grow up to be great friends.

At 3 years old, Wellington is speaking very very well. His favorite book is the children's encyclopedia. He asks us to tell him stories about the earth, sun, and stars - meaning tell him what the sun is made of, what it does, how it works, etc. And he seems to understand and remember it all! He loves to do puzzles, play with playdough, build train tracks, and watch Thomas youtube videos. For the most part, I can't get him to nap during the afternoons. But he stays in his room for a little quiet time. He got a bike with training wheels for Christmas and is already riding all over the place. Wellington goes to Creative Play at the park center and loves playing with all the other kids. He's so friendly! Everyday I am amazed {sometimes dumbfounded} by the things he says and does. I love my little man!

We got our first Christmas tree ever this year! It was fun having it. I got a "chugging train" for the boys and we had it set up around the base of the tree....it barely survived.

 Since I haven't met many of our neighbors, I made granola for them and walked them over...unfortunately, no one was home when we went. :(

Josh and I were so excited about giving the boys bikes. At least half of that loot was for family, but I definitly got the boys too much...it took us all morning to open gifts on Saturday {we did Christmas on Christmas eve morning}. They would open one gift and play with it for 30 min. then come back for more. :)

 We didn't have any ornaments except for the silver bells my mom recently handed down to me. So the boys and I made some glitter stars. They were a fun activity!

 Fielding, my fixit man, got a ton of tools for Christmas. He "works" with me now..."like Daddy" as he says. :)

 Oh yeah, I pulled my back out right before Christmas....It's was terrible and I'm still recovering.

 Since we did Christmas as a family on Christmas eve, we had lots of time. We did a little grocery shopping for that night and picked up lunch. I think sushi and Champagne would be a great traditional Christmas lunch. ;)

Wells by the Christmas tree. Isn't he handsome??!

 He was wiped out and we were just about to drive to Lawerenceville to hang out with the Tadsen's for Christmas eve...needless to say, he fell asleep on the way.

Christmas morning we went to my parent's house and had a beautiful breakfast then opened gifts. It was very fun and a bit crazy...and...I didn't get any pictures. :( After my parents', we drove to Hannah's house where we did more gifts, had lunch, and played. Here's Fielding and Andrew taking over the food table.

 Oops...this was Wells on his bike at home Christmas morning. A little out of order....

 At Hannah's we also did some DDR type game. It was fabulous. :)

It was a great holiday. We're ready for 2012 and are already trying to improve our lives in many ways. We're excited about this year and plan to make it a great one!