it's the best time of the year

We enjoyed a really nice Thanksgiving day at the Campbell's house.  The smoked turkey was a huge hit! 

And then we dived right on into Christmas, because I could not waste another day of not being surrounded by stockings, Christmas tree, lights on the house (our first year...GO Doug!), and the music!   We are all extra happy.  I love the magic it brings!

Not surprisingly Cal's Santa letter reads very similarly the past couple Santa letters. "Der Santu I wnt u hrs set Callin"  (Dear Santa, I want a horse set.) And the picture specifies that it must be one with saddle blankets and fences please. We have loved reading our Christmas books by the tree every night and of course snuggling up to watch Rodolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  

And on another note.   Rhett's really, really great smile that I love soo much (left picture), is quite sad as of late (right pictures).  The poor guy fell in the tub and his two front teeth were pushed about half way back up into his gums and chipped pretty bad.  :(   Good thing we got family pictures when we did.  Boys...

This is what I call drunk.

After 3 bowl fulls (well into his 4th, no joke!) of Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup this is what happens. 

Bottomless pit, this kid is, I'll tell ya!  New movie:  "Honey, I drunk the kid."  Best part, is that the drunkenness lasted for a good 3 hours after I transferred him to his bed. :)   

He's going to be a...

After years of going back and forth, Doug has some how finally decided what he is going to be when he grows up.  It is nothing short of a miracle that he has been able to commit and stay committed for several months now.  Drum roll please, ... and the winner is: Interventional Radiology.  The one sentence jist is something along the lines of "image guided surgery and procedures."  All I know is Doug is super excited about it and reads, talks, surfs, browses, dreams, and day dreams about it all day long.  I think that is a good sign.  Maybe too good?  I hope I am not about to get replaced by the I.R. queen. 

He has been gone a lot the past few weeks interviewing.   I have to say I now await for the early morning crisis call.  It is usually something like:

"I'm on my way to my interview right now and have a problem...The cold air outside coupled with the warm air from the car heater caused my nose to bleed.  It got on my shirt but luckily it missed my favorite tie.  I hope I will be able to cover it with my suit jacket."  (Dallas)

"I have no idea where my dinner is.  Can you hurry and look it up for me?"  (St. Louis)

"I just realized I forgot my tie. But I was able to borrow one from a hotel worker.  Which shirt do you think it would go best with?" (Baltimore)

"I had the worst nights sleep ever.  I am never sleeping in the airport again.  I had 4 layers on and was still freezing." (Chicago)    

"I need to get a smart phone for Christmas.  I hate having to pull over every few minutes just so I can mooch off of someone's free wifi." (Indianapolis) 

"Jenny's triplets were so cute.  I want to have triplets." (Denver)  

"I stayed up past midnight talking to the boy version of Paola.  I was so tired but I couldn't help it.  Brazilians are so fun to talk to." (Pittsburgh)

This Thanksgiving, I was grateful that I have a really great spouse to share my parenting with and that I don't have to be a single parent for  more than a few days at a time.

my little girl! (I finally got one)

While we were in New York, Aunt Diana (the babysitter) sent us this text and picture:  Which one is the cuter girl?

 I don't know if I ever really will get a girl, but at least I know she would have been dang cute. 

And that maybe is all that matters.  Right? 

(ps. my girl is on the right...just in case he is so disguised.)  

2 runaways...and I am not talking about the boys!

The Douger and I (and the non-detachable son) ran away to New York for a whole week.   It was so fun to have all the time in the world to talk, relax, enjoy the fall weather (see colors I've never seen on trees before), and catch up with each other.  We had an action packed trip and covered a lot of ground.

We picked up our set of wheels, much to Doug's delight all they had in stock that day was a Mustang....and headed out with no real itinerary.  

  We started up North and toured Niagara Falls from both the American and Canadian sides and by boat.

So, so amazing and breathtaking. (And wet!)            

Next we spend a day in Palmyra touring some of the LDS Church History Sites.  One of my favorite parts of Palmyra (second to the Sacred Grove) was our little Bed and Breakfast we stayed in.  

Next stop, Ithaca, New York to visit Ben and Paige.  

Who knew, but Ithaca is home to SO MANY beautiful water walls.  We had so much fun driving/hiking around in the gorgeous Fall leaves.  

We got the royal Tour de Cornell (including our personal Bell tower concert!) and saw the places where Ben is passing his days away.  

After Ithaca, we drove the Mustang down to NYC and traded it in for some authentic Subway passes so we could do it the real way! :) 

We divided Central Park into 2 days so we could do it justice.  

Lovely! 

 The view from the "Top of the Rock"  is phenomenal...but still probably not worth the steep elevator ride price.  At the bottom of the Rockefeller Center they had just opened the outdoor skating several days earlier.  Not surprising...we were pretty much professional. :)  

We loved wondering through F.A.O. Schwarz and Times Square.  We hit up 2 Broadway Plays and loved every minute of them both.   Go Harry Potter!  He was so great.  Besides casting spells, he can really sing and dance too!

We had a beautiful sunset on the Brooklyn Bridge.  We opted to view the Statue of Liberty from the bridge and spend our night at at the 9/11 Twin Tower Memorial instead.  Bottom right hand corner you can see Lady Liberty under the sun.  (You can always click on collage to make it bigger...)

Minus the 1 hour kidney stone scare I had, the freak out (from the Douger that is...) to get the rental car returned  in time, and the crazy morning getting up at 3:45am to catch our flight home...getting lost...and almost missing our flight by minutes...it was the PERFECT trip!  

  

P.S. We owe a huge thanks to our wonderful hosts: the Lewis' and Hyde's! 

And an even bigger thanks to the Reber's and Aunt Di for watching the boys for a whole week! 

P.S.S.  ...still dreaming of Grimaldi's Pizzeria daily.  

we like to dress up!

I don't know...after this October, Halloween is definitely moving up on one of my favorite holidays.  What is not to absolutely love about fall, pumpkin patches, wagon rides, candy, crazy costumes, and LOTS of fun.  

There is not a soul alive who makes Rhett happier than his Kate.  Every time he sees her is like a long lost reunion of two old friends. 

Rodeo-Cowboy Cal.

Minus the hat, the gun, and the Phineas and Ferb underware, this outfit was 100% Doug's old gear.  Still looking for the picture....we'll have to see who wore it better. 

 Hitting the neighborhood with our favorite Things!

And of course, we had our glory moment too! 

Last time I will ever attempt to make costumes w/o a pattern. (Especially maternity!)

ps:  It took Doug twice as long to get ready as me. He insists on painting his face and finger nails (and hands apparently??) every year! What can I say, he makes life fun.

we do boys...and more boy

 The past few weeks I have been preparing myself for my ultrasound. 

I think I already knew.  I just needed some evidence.   

And here it is. 

I do boys...we have a lot of fun.  They are easy to please.  And they are really, really cute.     

 I already know what makes them happy.  

And it usually is just a bowl to lick or a nice field to watch airplanes in. 

 Or just a cupboard full of pots to hide in for a good 30 minutes while I cook dinner. 

 Or a good pile of dirt to play in every day, all day. (Almost!)

 Or a simple game of hide and seek.

 I can do this!  Here's to boy number three! 

Lucky me!

ps.  Worlds funniest ultra sound ever...8 med students, 1 doctor... I was a really good guinea pig for 9 different people to probe and discover...all for the price of finding out 2 weeks earlier!