Merry Christmas to Me!

My final Christmas present arrived yesterday and I love it.   We ordered this frame with a 12x12 opening from our photographer before Christmas and it finally arrived.  Worth the wait for sure, along with the chalkboard in a red frame that I have very special plans for someday soon.

Organic Bloom creates a wonderful product and I am so thankful my AMAZING photographer has decided to sell their product.   This also happens to be one of my most cherished family photos of the Frazier Four.  I have the itch to do some redecorating, so no telling where this will end up.   So grateful for a creative photographer, with wonderful ideas BUT even better than that, she is on of my favorite FRIENDS!

Happy 100th Day!

Today is the 100th day of MDO for my kiddos.  The PreK class celebrates and parades around the school for all the other kids to enjoy.  Emma has been talking about this non stop since she found out that her class would be participating this year and she would not have to be an onlooker.

We decided to glue 100 buttons on a shirt.  Emma counted the buttons out, placed them where she wanted them, told me where to put the hot glue, she stuck them on and then pressed them down with a Popsicle stick.  She was super excited about doing this and insisted on doing it all by herself.  I love that Emma is so independent and takes such pride in her school work.

Last night as she was taking a bath she started talking to me about Antarctica.  I was amazed at the information she knew about the climate, where it is located, the life that exist there and her knowledge of Penguins.  The kid told me how many different species there were, the names of them, how they survive, lay eggs, how far down they can swim, how they get their food, how they protect themselves and so much more. Her favorite part went something like this, "Mom, did you know that the Daddy Penguin has one very important job?  His most important job it to supply food for the Mommy and baby at times.  Are you sure you are ready for this Mom, it is really gross.  The Daddy will go store up on food which is in his stomach behind his blubber and then he comes and throws it up for them to eat.  He really does throw it up Mom."  I must be honest and tell you that she had me puzzled about this, as well as her story about the Daddy carrying the egg around on his feet.  As soon as she got out of the bath we googled it and sure enough every bit of the information she said was TRUE!  We enjoyed watching some online videos we found and watching a penguin hatch out of an egg.  She was so giddy about all she knew and learned about Antarctica and shared it with her Daddy as soon as he got home.  It was so cute to see her so excited about the information she had retained from this weeks unit plan at school.

Happy 100th day of school Emma Lu!  You are such a special little girl and we will always be thankful for the wonderful foundation that you and Gavin have been given through an amazing MDO program.  I hope that your love for learning never stops growing.

Our Big Boy

Our big boy decided that tonight was the night to tee-tee in the potty for the first time.  We ran by Ra-Ra's tonight and she was giving him a hard time about wearing diapers.  She told him that every time he went to the potty she would buy him some candy. Seriously, is that all it took?

We came home from Ra-Ra's and it was time to take a bath.  Daddy took his diaper off and he darted towards the potty shouting, "I need to poo-poo."  He jumped up there and I sat in the floor talking to him for a little bit.  Next thing I know he was tee-teeing, so I invited Daddy & Emma in to celebrate with us.  We were all so super excited and jumped up and down screaming, "yay Gavin, yay Gavin."  Of course I had to make a mad dash for my camera to capture the milestone.

This has been a long time coming and every time we talked about it Gavin would tell us, "nope, I a baby Momma."  Guess he decided that he better get rid of these diapers since he is turning THREE in a month.  I am not a fan of naked pictures, but I could not resist this one. We are so proud of you Gavin Thomas.  Keep up the good work buddy!

End of the Day

The end of every day usually looks like this around our house.  Everyone is fed, clean, smelling good and settling down for bed.  Tonight Wall-E is the movie of choice and my kids are begging for a pet cock roach, yep you read it right.  There will be no pet cock roaches in this house, period the end!

Daddy gets used as a punching bag, a pillow, a wrestling partner, a referee, a comforter and whatever else these two kiddos can dream up in their little heads. 

Gavin is in desperate need of a haircut, but those eyes melt my heart every single time.  He loves to rest his little head on his Daddy when it gets closer to bedtime.  I have never seen a kid crazier about his Daddy than this little boy right here, he literally has nothing to do with me when Daddy is around and will not let me help him with anything.  I do good to steal a kiss and a hug at bedtime as he is closing his bedroom door while Daddy is holding him. Makes me proud that he has a good Daddy that loves him, meets his every need, prays with him and tucks him into bed every night.  There are days I wish it could be me, but I have seen first hand the importance of a hands on, active, affectionate Daddy and for that reason, I am okay.

This little girl on the other hand is my shadow, will not go to bed if I am away at bedtime and misses me like crazy when we are not together. She loves me on my good days and on my bad, yep I have those. 

So no matter how busy life might find us in this season, we are moving right along with our heads held high, smiling, thanking Jesus, loving life and looking forward to change.  At the end of every day...we are happy, we are in love and we are the Frazier Four.

Bahia Grass & Dust Mites

I saw a side of my sweet girl today that I did not know existed.   We were on our way to the Allergy Specialist today when she started working herself up into a tizzy!  She said, "Mom, I do not want to get allergy testing, it is going to feel like a shark eating me alive."  I sort of giggled because I never expected her to say that and then she said, "it's not funny, it is gonna feel like Scar is scratching my back too."  Scar is Simba's uncle on Lion King according to Emma.

They got us settled into a room and it went downhill from there.  The little nurse doing the testing was about 7 months pregnant and I was scared to death Emma was going to kick and hurt her.  Let's just say she said some really ugly things, refused to cooperate, screamed at all of us and kicked her feet.  This Momma was in shock and super embarrassed.  Emma had obviously been worrying about the test, but never expressed to us that she was scared to death, instead she decided to let the entire clinic know during her test and after. 

Would you ever think this sweet face could throw such a hissy?  This was after an hour of fit throwing.

At one point she was so out of control that I told her I was going to video it for her Daddy to see.  She told me, "you better not video me or try to pray to Jesus about it either".  I ended up having to give her a couple spats on the hiney, attempting to get her to lay still and calm down. It ended up taking 3 of us to hold her down and restrain her during the test. I felt horrible, but it had to be done.

We found out today Emma is highly allergic to dust mites (don't judge, supposedly they live in every ones mattresses, pillows and stuffed animals) and Bahia grass (hay).  We will be meeting with the specialist next week to get more detailed results and discuss the next step in testing and treating her condition. 

As soon as I got in the car, I called Mr. Frazier and informed him that he would be chaperoning his daughter to any future testing.  Bless her heart, I know she was so scared but she was OUT OF CONTROL to say the least.

55 Months

Happy 55 month birthday Emma Lou!  So hard to believe that you will be 5 years old in 5 more months and headed off to kindergarten when summer comes to an end.

You are still our little dancing girl tapping, jazzing and balleting your way through life.  You love everything about dance and look forward to attending classes each week.  You often put on your dance clothes here at home and pretend that you are at the studio.

You are over~confident in all that you do and this makes me so proud.   I pray you will grow up and believe in and love yourself as much as you do today. 
 

You have enough sassyness to share with 10 other little girls, sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes it gets old fast.   There is rarely a time that you are not talking, you are such a chatter box (it comes naturally sweet girl). 

You are still in love with MDO, animals, coloring, reading, writing, playing school, your babies, playing outside, your cousins, dressing up, your friends, parties, Jesus, make up, jewelry, Gavin and so much more.

Our home is filled with so much JOY because of you and every single day you surprise us with something new.  There is not one single thing we would change about you or your amazing little personality.  Everyday I pray that God continues to bless you in all that you do and uses you in a big way. I love you with my whole heart Emma Caroline.

Miss Independent

This morning before church Emma went missing for a little bit and then came back in so proud that she had completely picked her own outfit out, gotten dressed, fixed her hair and put on her shoes.  She came in our bathroom where we were getting dressed and said, "Mom and Dad, look at me."  Not wanting to hurt her feelings I said, "Oh Emma you look wonderful, but you can not wear that to church."  Her little feelings were so hurt and I felt so bad.

She stomped out and a couple minutes later I went to find her and she was crying.   It took me a while to talk her out of sandals in January (that were too small), pants that were too short and too tight and this shirt.  Yikes!

It was a teachable moment for sure, but one that took me a while to explain.  She did such an amazing job dressing herself and was so proud, but this was not working for me.   Emma eventually changed and afterwards said, "I look so cute."  Needless to say, that outfit is being sold before she gets a chance to wear it again.

Operation Kaleidoscope

I was in the restroom this evening and Emma came running in screaming, "Mom, Gavin has that thing stuck on his finger."  I did not know what she was talking about, so I walked towards the kitchen and Gavin is in panic mode and Curtis has him sitting up on the island with a can of Pam cooking spray out on the cabinet.  Yep, Gavin's hand was stuck in a Toy Story Kaleidoscope he must have gotten from a MDO party.  He had been playing in his backpack and got it out of there. 

This little boy pushed this crazy kaleidoscope all the way down on his finger and it was stuck and starting to swell.  The Pam that Daddy sprayed on his finger did not work, nor did the Vaseline that I tried to put on it.   By this time I have him in the bathroom trying to run cold water on it to get the swelling to go down, but he is in panic mode and so am I.

After seeing it continue to swell, I knew we were going to have to restrain him and get it off with a pair of pliers.   I was so afraid his finger was going to get hurt in the process and by this time I just kept saying, "do  we need to take him to the ER?"

Slowly but surely Daddy snipped and snipped and 47 minutes later he was able to snip it close enough to finally break it off.  We had to let Gavin take breaks, scream, cry, play and eat a candy cane during the ordeal.

At this point it was half way off but Daddy was having a hard time getting those pliers as low as he needed them to go without Gavin screaming, "don't hurt me, don't hurt me."

Daddy finally got it off after working slowly from 9:37 - 10:18.   The entire time Emma kept saying, "we should have thrown that thing away." Honestly, tonight was the first time I have ever seen that thing.

The final result and the boy is finally in bed, thank goodness.  I was so worried and wanted it off his finger quick and it was not a quick process.   So, if you have these at your next party do me a favor and do NOT give them to my kids.

Daddy was not happy that I got my camera out in the middle of the craziness that was going on over here, but I had to get a few pictures (and dirty looks) to remember it all.

Oh this boy is all boy and he makes me a nervous wreck, which reminds me I need to post about his last adventure in Academy that had me embarrassed and in tears.

Good Night! 

I love this boy!

Getting ready to FINALLY post our summer vacation and I ran across this picture.  I love this boy with my whole heart and thank God for his little life every single day.

I am not sure it gets any cuter than this right here, to this Mommy anyway.   So much of Gavin reminds me that the legacy my Daddy left behind will live on for years to come.  So proud the Frazier name will carry on and so proud that his middle name was my Daddy's first name, Thomas.  You are one very special little boy Gavin Thomas Frazier and I love you more than life!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from our family to yours.  We are excited to welcome 2012 and look forward to another wonderful year together as a family.

We rang in the new year with sparklers and junk food.  Emma loved doing them, however her little brother was scared to death and wanted no part of it.

Gavin is TERRIFIED of fireworks after our trip to Disney, he ran to the door and inside the house when we lit the sparklers.  He would pull the blinds back and look out occasionally, but otherwise he was content playing his harmonica waiting for us to finish. 

We are looking forward to a new year and all the great things God has in store for our family in the months ahead. Praying he will keep us healthy and promote us in all we do, while letting us be a blessing to others.

Christmas with Cousins

We had FIVE different Christmas gatherings to attend this year and the best ones were the ones with our cousins.

Gavin loved the cookies at Nana's house, but I am not too sure she loved the icing in the grout after we left.  Hunter thinks Gavin is WILD and Gavin worships the ground he walks on, so when Hunter laughs he does more!

Camryn, Gavin, Emma & Hunter getting ready to open their Santa bags from Nana that were filled with tons of goodies.

They all seemed to love this Toy Story spaceship and figurine set that our little man got from Nana.  Look  at Gavin looking at that Woody, just dreaming of bringing him to life.

This was Christmas Day at our house before they all opened a gift. Look at sweet little Chance back their by his buddy Gavin.  We missed Peyton, Jackson, Kaiden, Hudson and Maddox this year.

The twins, Miss Brynlee was not going to get in with the crowd, but I got this one of her with Aunt Stacey.

Poor Hunter, these kids wrestled all over him and we finally made them stop.  He is such a great big cousin and is so sweet to all the little ones.  When they finished this wrestling match, they were all red faced and breathing hard.

I am so glad my kids have so many cousins and the number just keeps growing. There are currently 11 in the Carnes family, 2 sweet babies in heaven and 2 more on the way.  Dana/Chris and Marla/Dwain, we can not wait till next year when their are 13 little Carnes running around everywhere. It is gonna be fun!

Cousins are those childhood playmates who grow up to be forever friends.

Christmas Eve with Papa

Every year my family gets together on Christmas Eve to celebrate, however this year we got together earlier in the day and spent it with my grandfather at the assisted living facility.  I am so happy we decided to do this and I think it made Papa feel very special.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera at home, so this is the only picture I got with my phone.



This picture makes my heart happy and I am so glad that Emma & Gavin have had the opportunity to know my Papa.  He is such an incredible man with so many stories to tell, but he is getting older and is experiencing some health issues.  My kids think Papa is pretty funny and he thinks the same thing about them.  He gets really tickled watching Gavin run around so full of energy. Honestly, it took all I had to walk in this place on Christmas Eve, but I am so glad I did.  I pray that Papa had a Merry Christmas and that us celebrating at his place blessed him this year.

I'm a Scientist!

While brother bear napped today, Mommy started the process of decluttering the house and Emma Lou decided to paint with her new easel.   This little girl loves to cut, glue, color, paint and create.  She spends most of her time at our craft table and is often found making things for others.  Christmas day she decorated popsicle sticks and glued them together in the shape of a cross for all of her cousins.

I was busy boxing things up when she came and found me and said, "Mom, come look at my painting.  You are going to love it, I think I am a scientist."  I must admit I was super impressed when I turned the corner and saw her creation.  She was so super proud and I told her she would be a great scientist one day, later on I explained to her that artist paint also.  That silly girl just chuckled and said, "oh yea Mom that too, I really took my time and concentrated on this one."  

Please pray for my sweet girl as we head to the Allergy and Asthma specialist tomorrow in hopes of getting off Singular, Flovent, Pro Air, Steroids and Nasonex.  I decided a couple weeks back that I have had enough of the medication, so I am hoping we can come up with some alternative plans tomorrow.  I am almost certain we will be saying goodbye to dairy soon, but we are ready to do whatever it takes.  This little girl is begging to play soccer again, dances a couple days a week and will be starting swim team in the Spring, so she needs a healthy set of lungs to be involved in these things. I pray daily for her to be healthy and the weather not to interfere, I know there are answers and we just need to find them.  Looking forward to what the specialist has to say in the morning.

Christmas with the Fraziers

It is time to de-Christmas our home and I am sitting her trying to motivate myself to get started.  As much as I love to decorate for the holidays, I dread cleaning and packing all of it away until the next year.  My only motivation this year is the thought of locating my daughter's James Avery ring that lasted about 5 hours on Christmas day and there has been no sighting of it since. 

Our family of snowmen that I pray over every year before we put them out in hopes that no one decides they love them more than me (hee hee).  The two in the front center were made to represent Emma & Gavin.

Welcome to our home that is filled with laughter, love, friends and family throughout the holiday season.   Each year I blog our home at the holidays so my sweet babies will be able to look back one day and reflect on the way we celebrated Jesus' birthday (it also helps me remember where everything goes).

One of my very favorite parts of Christmas are the Christmas cards and seeing all the families change year after year.  I hang all of our cards on 2 topiary Christmas trees and garland in our formal dining room.   Our mantle is loaded with lots of greens and reds with cutest little polka dot stockings ever.

Christmas is scattered everywhere in our house, with little whimsical trees, ornaments, Santas, Mark Roberts Fairies and so much more.

I have had this little snowman forever and everyone that comes over ask if I will leave him to them one day, he is as jolly as they come.

Our advent calendar we use daily and reflect on all we have to be thankful for while receiving a little goody to start the day.  The kiddos got candy and books on certain days along with a dollar or two here or there.

This nativity scene was given to me by my husband the year my Daddy passed away, so it holds a very special place in my heart.  I can not wait to pass this down to Emma one day.  My sweet MIL gave us the metal train that sits at the base of our fireplace.  She gave it to us before we rode the Polar Express and had a plate engraved that reads, "The Frazier's Polar Express 2011". 

Gavin's room is decorated with a sports tree and his little safari friends even got their own Santa hats to celebrate this year.  There were a couple times I would hear him laughing in his room and I would go in there to find him with the giraffes hat on his little head.

Wreaths on the kiddos doors and the inside sign reads, "Dear Santa, leave presents take my Brother/Sister!"  Of course it is just for cuteness, because anyone that knows them understands they would be lost without the other.

The turquoise/orange penguin tree is in E&G's bathroom and matches perfectly.  Emma's room tree is pink and funky.  It now has all sorts of ornaments on it from dogs, princess and ones she made at school.

Our gold/brown tree was from my pre-kid days, of course we had to add some color as the kiddos arrived.  The other tree is in our foyer and is my fairy tree that I love, love and love some more!

I had a florist make me lots of bows and rework a wreath for me this year.  In the middle of the day one day they text and said they made a wreath that had my name on it for my kitchen. Can we say SUCKER, it was hanging in my kitchen by dark.

These little stars hung over the windows across the back of our house and added the perfect little sparkle for the festivities.

Poinsettias could be found everywhere and I so wish they lasted all year long.  I do not have a green thumb, so I was lucky they lasted through Christmas day.

More stars and Merry Christmas signs to welcome our guest and help them feel right at home during their visit.

Any decorations we opted not to use in the house, we moved outside to the playhouse and back porch.

Everyone needs a little Christmas greenery and an angel to watch over them the whole season through.

My favorite tree in the house is our family ornament tree.  This tree chokes me up year after year when I unpack and look at all the ornaments along with the years of memories each represents.  This year we added quite a few that we had purchased at Disney/Bahamas along with the series we collect from Hallmark year after year.  Emma & Gavin get ornaments from family members every year that we will treasure forever.

Every year I struggle with packing my children's artwork away, so this year we decided to string all the Christmas projects up in our playroom from corner to corner.  They loved seeing their work displayed and pointing it out to family members this Christmas.

This is on the back of our front door and can be seen by our guest as they leave.  There is so much more that fills our house during the holiday season and even though it is a ton of work to display it each year, I would have it no other way for the sake of my children.  I want them to celebrate life in a big way and I feel like this is just one of the little things I can do to make their holiday memories merry and bright. 

Emma & Gavin, you made Christmas 2011 the best yet for us as a family.  You guys were so much fun and your excitement carried us through this holiday season with no regrets.  Making memories as the Frazier Four gets better and better year after year.