Christmas Eve

Where did I leave off? Ah yes, Carter's birthday celebration had ended and it was on to Christmas Eve dinner! Our friends the Beagles joined us and we are so glad they did! There little guy Henry is Coen's age (one month older) and such a cutie! The boys loved playing with him and Auntie loved loving on his baby brother.

Some photos: the crowns... those are from our tradition of doing "poppers" on Christmas Eve. Each one comes with a crown, a small toy and some jokes. Even guests have to participate :)








So after we were all stuffed, we moved on to Christmas gifts. We laughed at how quickly Coen got the hang of opening gifts. The Beagles gave him his first "coming home" gift and he just held it. He had no idea that he needed to unwrap it. Those times are long gone. He can unwrap any gift in about 2 seconds flat!

One guess as to who gave the boys these shirts... ah, it's so true too!



Usually sunglasses give Coen a kind of "Ray Charles" look, but these new shades from GG and the rockin' guitar from Auntie... I'm thinkin' more Lenny Kravitz. I wish I had a video of the way we moves when he is holding this guitar. He owns it!

The adoption is DONE!!!

It was already done, really. Coen has been a US citizen since he step foot on it's ground. We adopted him in Ghana and he has legally been ours since March 17th and a citizen since September 7th. By choice, we readopted him in the US today. There are a few reasons to do this, but the primary one for us is that it will give him a US birth certificate.

We have his birth certificate from Ghana, but sometimes you need a certified copy (like if he ever wants to adopt a child from Ghana - he'll need a certified copy dated within 3 years if things are as they are today). We didn't want to risk his needing one and having to somehow contact someone in Ghana in an office that currently doesn't have an electronic filing system and might not have any record of him.

So today, we went before a very nice judge and completed the process. The judge wanted to stress the importance of our family and encouraged us to realize the responsibility we have not only as parents, but to our community and nation. He applauded us for being a committed couple that seemed to value each other and our family. He made Chris promise to say he loves me every day (he already does at least twice) and to thank me for being his wife before going to bed. He then added that I should follow suit. :)

I can only imagine the sad cases that this man faces as a family court judge. I am so incredibly blessed to be married to such an amazing partner and it was nice to be reminded that what we have is special and shouldn't be taken for granted.

Without further ado...

From the mouths of babes

While we were testing out daddy's new food dehydrator that he got for Christmas, I put on my cute new apron that I got for Christmas. Carter looked at me and smiled and said "super mommy!"

Hmm.. is that all it takes? An apron?

Both boys have been making me smile with all their talking lately. Both are saying please and thank you for EVERYTHING without prompting. Today, Carter even thanked the waitress for brining Coen a new fork: "Tank you for binging my brodder a new fork!" Coen is just blowing out minds with his verbal skills. He not only can say whatever he wants, but he seems to really understand the meanings. He now even asks to be excused from the table when he is done eating and seems to honestly get the concept!

Boys

This video:
Why we don't have anything worth anything in our home.
Also, why mommy is cranky when daddy gets home.

Caught it on video

This is THE look he gives when he is upset with me. It usually works if I just tell him not to look at me like that - it cracks him up!

Santa out did himself!

Santa delivered this big one to PaPa's barn!

Birthday

Having a birthday on Christmas Eve can be tough, but so far, Carter is taking it like a champ. When he woke up we all told him happy birthday and headed downstairs to see his gift (mommy ran ahead with the camera). He LOVED the bike and rode it around in the garage for quite awhile.

Then, it was on to our tradition of Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast. This year, he wanted to help make them.
**I tired to upload a video, but it's not working right now...

He opened one more small gift from us, a board game and then the party died down until about 3 when Grandma Cupcake & Ralph, Auntie Lindsey and our NEW Uncle Matt, and GG arrived. Carter then got to open more birthday presents!

A new bike helmet from Grandma Cupcake


He read this card out loud "It says Happy Birthday to me!"


After all the birthday presents were opened, it was time to move on to Christmas Eve dinner!