Santa gifts

Checking out gifts from Santa!!!

Henry with a Buzz and Woody!!!

Sara.. so excited!!!

Sara's gifts from Santa

Emily's gifts from Santa

Henry's gifts from Santa

New play kitchen!!!

Art Easel

The Neal Family Christmas

Here are all six Neal grandkids. Trying to get a great picture of all of them is hard to do, but they still are cute.

Ford- age 5, Witt- age 8, Ellie- age 7
Emily- age 4, Henry- age 2, Sara- age 4

For some reason, Henry was NOT happy about pictures and just wanted to go back inside.

We spent Christmas Eve in Columbia with my family. All the cousins enjoy playing together and had so much fun with presents! Before heading back to Greenville, we even went to my sister's church for Christmas Eve service where Uncle Andy sang and Cousin Witt played a shepard.

Emily and Sara with cousin Ellie

Henry with his cousins Witt and Ford

Emily and Sara

Henry

Witt helping Henry with his new Mickey Mouse train

Now that it is spring...

I thought it would be time to finally post some pictures from Christmas, snow, etc. I am so far behind!!! Hope to get caught up with pictures this week so I can actually post some current news and blogworthy stories. With three toddlers in the house, I do have some great stories to share!

Christmas Pictures

The Cox family Christmas was in High Point the weekend before Christmas.

Sara, Henry and Emily

Peek-a-boo with Henry

Cousin Ann teaches Sara how to knit

Sara with the new ironing board!

Opening gifts from Granddaddy

Sara and Ann

Cousin Bryan and Henry

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We have a fake tree that already has the lights built in and for that I am grateful. Although the top of the trees lights don't work and some of the bottom lights are out also, I am really not worried or stressed about this as the tree is about the only thing in our house that is actually together. Moving three weeks before Christmas with three toddlers simply means that Christmas and the next couple months will be spent unpacking boxes and unloading the boxes the kids decide to pack after they were empty. It is a long road ahead to make the house be home. And it seems that the to do list and things we need grows longer daily, BUT in the midst of that, I did manage to find time to decorate the tree.

Well, I had three (make that four helpers)- my kids and a very curious cat. I had the bright idea of having the kids help with decorating the tree and it really was a good idea. Except I forgot that the plastic ornaments I bought after Christmas last year were on the bottom of the ornament box. So, we proceeded to decorate with all the sweet, more fragile, sentimental ornaments we have collected over the years.

And yes, many were broken. But luckily, I broke the first ornament went meant I couldn't scold or be mad at anyone else. I must say that I think my curious cat Cali has broken the most ornaments as she decides every night to crawl through the tree and undecorate it. This means things to do in the morning as we go on scavenger hunts for the ornaments the cat played with throughout the night!

All I can say is that no matter how messy or how silly our tree may look, we are together as a family. And it is a Christmas that we get to spent just enjoying each other. (It is the first time in 11 years that I haven't been in a Christmas Eve service in some way. And this will be the first time my family gets to go to a Christmas Eve service TOGETHER!)

Emily

Henry

Sara

Cali

Our tree...

Picture with Santa!

Sara, Henry, Emily with Santa

This is a preview of our Christmas Card this year!

Yesterday, since it was pouring outside and we all were going stir crazy in our tiny apartment, I took the kids to the mall. I know... 3 toddlers to the mall! Crazy idea, huh? We started off at Chic fil a, where the kids chowed down and I learned there was a Showmars in the food court. I texted Ben to let him know about the Showmars and he quickly proclaimed that it was the best day of his life. Ha, ha! But of course, we had to have some Showmars last night and we both said NOW Greenville feels like home. Oh, how I have been missing some Showmars!

Anyway, after the food court, we went downstairs to find the fun toddler play area so the kids could get some energy out. And on the way, who should we see- SANTA! And Santa had no line!!! So, even though I didn't have the kids decked out in Christmas gear or even dressed all alike, we quickly scooted in and had the kids sit with Santa. The picture turned out so cute and will be turned into our Christmas cards!

After the Santa excitement, the kids were turned loose in the play area and had a BLAST. Thank you Haywood mall for having a great indoor space for kids to play for FREE!

Christmas Pictures

Here is a collection of photos taken over Christmas. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

H learns about Santa

On Saturday, we spent the day with my family celebrating Christmas. We all took a walk to the big rocks for pictures. Henry walked most of the way with his big cousin Witt. In this little video, Witt is telling Henry all about Santa and "lumps of coal". Too funny and so sweet!

Happy Birthday Sara and Emily

My twins turned 3 this past Saturday! I am truly amazed at how much they have grown and how quickly the time has gone. I cannot imagine a single day without being a mom to these two cuties!

For those of you who don't know, Sara and Emily were conceived naturally. In fact, I told my doctors, my family and friends that I thought I was having twins. And most people's response was "Oh, so cute, first time mom." It wasn't until my ultrasound at 18 weeks that I was proved right and we knew we were having twin girls!

I made it to week 37 before my placenta gave out and the doctors induced labor. I was induced on a Monday morning, but the twins did not come until the next day. So much for planning, we had hoped their birthday would be 12-12, but instead it is 12-13! Sara was born at 12:17pm and Emily came 7 minutes later. Both beautiful and I was in love at first sight!

They had to stay in the special care nursery for 10 days because they just didn't want to eat. Luckily, we were able to take them home on Dec. 23- a true Christmas celebration!

And now, three years later, I can barely remember how long those 10 days were when I was at home without my babies. I cannot imagine my home without their voices, laughter, tears, and screams. Their noises make my day complete and make me stop and say Thank You to God for these amazing blessing. Anyone who has witnessed a birth, be it their own or not, knows that a baby is truly a gift from God. And for some reason, God blessed our family with two at once!

Sara and Emily are the best of friends... they sleep in one twin bed together even though there are two in their room. They insist on sitting in one chair to eat supper some nights. They dress alike most days, thanks to mommy (and grandparents). They share toys, books and stuffed animals with each other. Most days they play well together and can usually resolve their own disagreements without any intervention.

There is an amazing bond between twins that is hard to explain in words. It is beautiful to watch and a joy to learn about!

Happy Birthday to my twin girls- Sara and Emily!

Age one- Christmas 2006

Spring 2007

August 2007

Spring 2008

Christmas 2008

Christmas Pictures

I've been slack about blogging lately because we spent much of last week at home with a stomach bug. I did take pictures and some flip videos, but who wants to see us hanging out in our pajamas for a week?

So, here are some pictures I had taken at the beginning of December for Christmas cards. I took the kids to Portrait Innovations and was pleasantly surprised with how well the pictures turned out. They got all three kids smiling and sitting in the same place! Some of the pictures are too cute for words.

Enjoy!

Why we have no ornaments on the tree...

I can't keep any ornaments on my tree thanks to our cat Cali. Need I say anymore?