Full :)

There are many ways of feeling FULL....perhaps most recently, our tummies have been FULL of turkey, ham, and all of the many Christmas fixins....our homes have been FULL of the sounds of family & loved ones gathered together....our shopping bags have been FULL to the brim with goodies for anyone and everyone....our vehicles have been FULL of anxious children and adults setting out to view Christmas lights or to go Christmas caroling....now, most of our homes are FULL of new clothes, toys, gadgets, and new memories. For our family, though, our hearts have been the most FULL. Imagine the feeling you get when someone gives you the best news in the world, and you get that wave of emotion and excitement throughout your entire body...sometimes it can even take your breath away....right? Well...that's how we've felt. We are happy. We are healthy. We have a stable & loving home. We have great family. We have great friends. We know the true meaning of Christmas and the gift of Jesus's birth....and, we make sure that our children know this truth as well. We pray daily for our children AND with them. We support each other. For this, we are FULL. Our Christmas was merry, that's for sure....I know it's been far too long since I've provided an update here. No excuse really....just busy like all of you. Plus....Jason's photography biz has been CRAZY this season, so when he's not been busy with Job #1, Job #'s 2 & 3 (i.e. church & JPP Photography) have kept him super busy.....needless to say, the blog took a back seat to all of the chaos.

Just to shortly bring you up to date, we've had a terrific Fall & start to the Winter season. Noah's school has kept us busy busy! From Fall Festivals to Halloween parties, Thanksgiving feasts, Grandparent's Day, Pajama Day, Santa Day, Book Day, Show-n-Tell, and Christmas parties, I feel as if I'm always needed for something there....which makes me so incredibly thankful that I am a stay at home mommy, b/c I have the freedom to be involved as I please. It's wonderful, and I wouldn't miss these moments for the world! In early December, I also had my FIRST parent/teacher conference....which I was very excited about. Hard to believe, but Pre-K children are graded on two levels of Math, Science, Social Studies, Creative Arts, and English/Language/Vocabulary. So...let's just say the conference was much more formal that I suspected, and it made me feel very blessed and lucky that we found this incredible school to enroll Noah in..even though I was reluctant at first. The big news...though, is that Noah was Student of the Month for December! That made my day...and my month! :) He was presented with a special certificate & cookies, which is always a pleaser for a 4 year old :) Then, as a special treat, Sailer & I got permission from the Director of his school to pick him up early one afternoon for a late lunch....he was so excited! And, he truly deserved it! He is a HUGE blessing in our lives! :)

As for Sailer, she is my little mini-me....not in looks, of course, b/c we all know that she greatly favors Jason, but in style and interests, let's say. :) This girl LOVES to shop with me, carry her little purse, meet girls for lunch, wear jewelry (she already knows how to coordinate jewelry with outfits!), and lounge with mommy on rainy days.....she is the perfect little girl for me! I even caught her smackin' on some bubble gum earlier today....guess I'll have to hide that! LOL!

Like Noah, she is just a pleasure to have in our home, and she's created a great balance since she's been with us. It is not uncommon to see Noah rocking Sailer's baby doll, or Sailer making a loud ROOOOOOOAAAAR with Noah's lion! lol! Even though Noah feels as though Sailer has a "bad attitude" from time to time, he adores her....:) Never a dull moment in our house.....and, always that FULL feeling.....

We cannot wait to share our Christmas memories with you all! Just to explain....the pictures in this post are of FOUR rounds of Christmas giving and receiving, so they are not in any certain order.....that would have made me crazy. This year, to accommodate Jason's work schedule, Santa was nice enough to stop by our house early (isn't he great?...wink, wink). So, Santa came on the night of the 22nd. Jason was off on Wed., the 23rd, so we spent the whole day as one LAZY family....it. was. wonderful. Amen! The kids enjoyed their gifts, and there was time to get things organized for the next day, which was Christmas Eve. That night, we had the Pendley Christmas extravaganza with Jason's grandparents, cousins, and family. Then, the next day, we celebrated early (8 a.m.!) at Jason's parents home....then, we dropped off a massive amount of gifts at our house before venturing over to MY parent's house for lunch and MORE gifts! It was exhausting....but, fun of course! We all crashed that afternoon! Anyway, enjoy the pictures of our special Christmas! Can't wait to see pictures from all of YOUR Christmases!!!!! :) May God Bless You ALL!

Noah sure loves making cookies....this year, we made sugar cookies with green sprinkles and M & M's....yum! Noah said Santa only needed 5, so that's how many we left....along with some carrots for Santa's reindeer. To Noah's surprise the next morning, all of the carrots were gone, and there was ONE cookie left. Noah said...."Awww....Santa left one for me!" :)
Of course, you can't leave cookies for Santa without tasting them first....
Our Christmas Tree :) (a.k.a. my skinny mall tree...as Jason calls it. This was our first year trying the skinny tree look....I like it!)
Wow! Santa came!
Since the moment we found out we were having a boy, Jason always talked about putting a train around the Christmas tree for Christmas morn. Finally....Noah is at the perfect age to enjoy it and not destroy it...lol! :)
The children's new PBK table/chair set, and Santa bags! Much easier and much more FUN than stockings!
Sailer's gift corner...
The first gift she dug into was her Disney Princess Jewelry case....no surprise at all!
Santa's special gift to Sailer....a My Twinn doll! I sweated this out....I had ordered this back in October (it takes 5 weeks to make these), and how long did it take? NINE WEEKS! Gosh....it was worth it though....it is made to look exactly like Sailer, and I think they did a wonderful job....from skin tone to lips to eyelashes....it was perfect!
Santa was sneaky...he hid some pearl studs in Sailer's butterfly wall vanity....how sweet :)

Major bed head on Christmas morn! Poor thing...we had to wake her up, b/c Noah was too excited to wait on her. It was 7 a.m.!
Oh goodness Mommy...what were ya'll thinking????
As you can see, Noah doesn't waste any time getting into character....he has been the Incredible Hulk for a number of days now...
My beautiful little gymnast....modeling her first leotard from Santa & Mommy :) Sailer will be starting her first gymnastics class soon....she must be 22 mos. old to start, and we are sooo excited!
Doesn't she look so much older....and taller???? Her legs are getting long and skinny..just like Noah's!
Mommy's favorite picture.....love this girl!
She was saying...."Ta-da!" Showstopper! :)
Noah opening his first gift on Christmas Eve....

Noah was such a great helper that night....I think he helped EVERYONE open their gifts...lol!
Sailer was excited by her Furr-Real pet from Tayler :) It was so cute!!!!

Snuggle time with mommy.....
A couple hours of Christmas excitement can sure wear a little girl out!
Sailer & Maddie in their Sugar Britches Kids creations by Lindsey! SOOOO adorable!
Maddie's stocking, Sailer's stocking, and Noah's stocking at Dede & Big Daddy's house on Christmas morning!
Sailer & Maddie got the American Girl of the Year for 2009! Her name is Chrissa, and this year, the girls got some clothes and accessories for her too....which were hilariously cute!
A few weeks ago, we had a family photo shoot with Amber Castleberry Photography! These were our faves of the kids, so, as a last minute gift, we had them mounted for Dede and Big Daddy AND for my parents (we also got a set for ourselves too!). I think they really liked them!
Noah playing with Uncle Chad on Christmas morning! Silly boy!
The grandkids....playing with Maddie's Tigger & Pooh toys :)
Sweet girl :)
Sailer: Maddie, I'm coming to give you a kiss! Maddie: What? Get out of my face! LOL!
One last stop.....geez! Noah ran right to her dragon fortress Imaginext toy at Nene and Paw-Paw's house! The kids racked up again....it was great seeing how excited they were, but boy we were exhausted!!!!!
My mom's gorgeous tree!
Silly little girl....cuttin' a rug! :) The END!!!!! Hope you all had a Merry Little Christmas!!!! Until next time....