Christmas at Mema and Papa's

On Wednesday we had the extended Nelson family Christmas. It was at Mema and Papa's house. Here are a few pictures. The group shot is of the birthday people. We always do birthdays at the same time as Christmas because we have several December and January birthdays. The last picture is Caroline playing with one of her presents. She had to open her presents at home since she was sick and feeling pretty yuck that day (Matt also opened his at home).

more...

Well, I decided that I wanted to post a few more pictures from Christmas Day as well as Thursday with the Fergusons. So...here are a few pictures.
Nathan has been interested in Geography. He has a US map placemat, but we thought a puzzle might help him continue to learn.


Caroline got a couple baby dolls for Christmas. The first thing she did with all of them was to check out the eyes. Watch out baby! Caroline's about to poke out your eye!


Here is Daddy showing Nathan how to ride his bike - well protected, of course!


We tried to get a picture of all of us. This is the one that I think is the best.


Nathan ask Uncle Jason to help him play Operation. Unfortunately, it was the fancy version and they had a little trouble getting it to work right. Playing with pennies was much more successful! Nathan had a blast.


And then Granddad helped to clean the pennies out of his overalls.


Here's Jason and his little girl...eyes open, even.


And because we never take any...a picture of Granddad and Grandma together.

present giving

Nathan loves to give presents. Every day (at least once), He will bring me a present. His presents consist of some variety of toys or "signs" wrapped up in blankets. He seems so excited to be bringing them. When I ask if the things are for me, he always says "we can share them". As an explanation of the above "signs", He takes notebook paper and writes things on them and then cuts them out around the words. He calls these "signs".

walking and crying

I am still behind on getting posts up about Christmas activities. I will get there, though. In the meantime, I wanted to give one update about Caroline. While webcamming with Sean and Lisa on Christmas Eve, Caroline decided to take on more walking. She would wonder from one thing to another over and over again. Previously, she was only taking a couple steps between people when coaxed. She had taken just a few steps on her own, but they were few and far between. Anyway, this particular day she must have been distracted and not really realized what she was doing. It was really cute! I'm glad that Sean and Lisa got to experience somewhat of a first. Since then, she has been doing more walking. Often, she will start out going somewhere walking...well, toddling...and at some point wobble over. When she ends up on all fours, she will sometimes stand back up and keep going but will often just take off crawling.

Last night at church, we had a telling (and somewhat humorous) experience with Nathan. He was writing in his notebook during the sermon and copying words out of my Bible. (Come to find out later, he was writing a song.) All of the sudden, he got very upset. He put on his VERY sad face and started crying. You could tell that he was just heartbroken. After talking to him, I found out that he was spelling "and" and had written and "o" instead of a "d". He was writing in pen so he couldn't erase it. It was upset because he had made a mistake. I told him that he could just scratch it out and start over. He wasn't convinced. My mom offered him a pencil so that the next time he could just erase it. He didn't buy that either. He just gave up and gave me his notebook. A few minutes later, he asked me for his notebook and my mom for her pencil and started writing again on the next page. As he began flipping the notebook back and forth, I realized that he was copying the words that he had written earlier. He proceeded to do this until he had rewritten everything from before...with "and" written correctly. It's hard for me to understand such a desire for perfection. But...that's Nathan...at times, nothing less than perfect will do.

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day, we took things kinda slow. We actually ate breakfast before getting into the presents. Nathan and I had pancakes and bacon and Matt had french toast sticks and bacon. We NEVER fix these things, so it was a treat. Then, we read the story of the birth of Jesus from Luke. After that, we opened presents. Nathan and Caroline got lots of toys. Here are a couple of pictures.



For lunch, we had roast and rice and bread (leftover from Christmas Eve) and after naps we headed to Grandma and Granddad's house. We were finally able to meet Kaitlin - the first cousin for the kids.


We also spent a little time with all of the Fergusons on Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, though, Caroline got sick Tuesday night so she had to stay home with Daddy most of the time. We did, however, get a picture of the three kids together.

what's in a name

Before having kids, I always thought that my kids would call me "Mama" just like I had called my own mother. However, once Nathan was born, it just seemed more natural somehow to say "Mommy and Daddy". "Mama and Daddy" just didn't have the same ring to it. As Nathan learned to talk, he called me "Ma-ma" just like most kids do because of the easy syllable repetition. I figured that we would just go with that. However, Matt and I both continued to call me "Mommy". We were supposedly teaching him to say "Mama", but we always said "Mommy". Know what that means? We were REALLY teaching him to say "Mommy". We grew accustomed to being "Mommy and Daddy". Along the way I had the thought that we would need to change his word one day because I didn't want a teenager saying "Mommy". When I hear older kids and teenagers calling their mothers by this name, it just doesn't sound right. It sounds very childish. I always wondered how we would make the transition. As of the last couple days, though, I don't know that we will have to do anything. Nathan has called me "Mama" quite a few times. After years of "Mommy", it sounds very strange for "Mama" to come out of his mouth. I don't know why he has made this change (and I haven't asked). Maybe it's his fascination with acting like a baby? Anyway, if he does continue to call me "Mama", I think I will miss "Mommy". It has become who I am. I just sounds right. Somehow, it's sad to have him saying "Mama". It's like he's a big boy. I know he is, but each step is still a little sad.

new picture viewing opportunity

For those of you who just can't get enough of the pictures you see on this blog, there is a new opportunity! I have created a Dropshots page where lots of pictures can be found. I have started by loading lots of pictures from our many December activities. Eventually, I will blog about these activities and include a select few of the pictures. Until then, you can check out the multitude if you would like. I will also continue to add pictures on Dropshots along the way. Here is the link. Enjoy!

visit with the Baileys

The original reason for our trip to the Atlanta area was a wedding. Matt's cousin, Jake, got married on Friday night. Here is a (not so great) picture of the kids in their wedding clothes. Nathan wasn't too cooperative. He was having too much fun making silly faces. At least you get a good view of Caroline's four teeth here. She also has a fifth that had just broken through and a sixth very very close.


While we were there, we stayed with Matt's cousin Josh (brother of the groom) and his family. Elizabeth was so nice to get everything prepared for us in the midst of the craziness of the wedding and Christmas and birthday and such. We were kinda passing with all we had to do, but we had a little time to hang out on Saturday morning. Here is Kate and Caroline playing with the portable booster seat.


Elizabeth read a book at (I think) Nathan's request. He sat and listened very patiently as is his usual style. Kate was also very interested in the book - though not sitting quite as still. Caroline could have cared less except that she wanted to see what everyone was doing. "Forget the book", she says, "I like people!"


While we were all sitting around, Josh and Matt cleaned up from the great breakfast that Elizabeth fixed special for Nathan's birthday. We had big ol' cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs. Nathan was especially excited about the cinnamon rolls. Just before they finished, Kate headed to the kitchen to see her Daddy. About that time, he headed down the hall to put up the broom. So, she turned around and followed him down the hall. A moment later, they came back down the hall sweeping. It was very cute!


Nathan had a couple presents to open for his actual birthday (he got most of them for his party a couple weeks earlier). He was very excited to get a couple new trains from Uncle Sean and Aunt Lisa!


Thanks again to the Baileys for allowing us to use their home when they were so busy and for making extra effort to make Nathan's birthday special!

visit with Jay and Sara Grace

(and their parents too)

On Friday morning we got to visit with some friends that we don't see very often. Jay is about 6 months younger than Nathan and Sara Grace is about 3 months younger than Caroline. I went to Tech with their Mommy and Daddy. We don't get to see them very often (in fact, this is the first time since the girls were born...well...the first time we've all been together anyway).


Here is our attempt at getting a good picture of the boys together.


And here's what they really thought of this picture taking adventure. Thankfully, they really had a good time together otherwise. If they lived near each other they would probably get in lots of trouble together!


Somehow, we managed to get a better picture of the girls. Aren't they two beautiful blue-eyed girls! I didn't notice when we were taking the pictures, but...look...they are holding hands. Is there anything cuter?


We exchanged presents and Sara Grace's little ball popper was the favorite of all four kids, I think.


Jay and Nathan insisted that they didn't need any help opening Jay's trains.


The kids had a good time playing with Sammy and Matt.


I just thought this was a cute picture of Sara Grace so I had to include it.


And here is Michelle with Caroline. I miss her lots! I'm so glad that we were able to spend a little time together.

just life

There's nothing exciting or unusual about these pictures. It's just life. Nathan in his Thomas pj's...with William...and a train (that you can't see)...watching a train video...with a crusty nose...just life.

sometimes I forget

I realized the other day that we hadn't gotten many pictures of Caroline walking holding people's hands. Pictures (and this blog) are like my scrapbook. They're how I remember and document what my kids are doing. So, I got Matt to take a couple pictures while she was walking with me. I thought I would share a couple with our interested readers out there in cyberland.



Nathan loves to paint. Unfortunately, we don't take the time to do it very often. It takes some planning to do it in a short period of time with little mess. Plus, these days, we don't do it when Caroline is up. Well, last week, I asked him what he wanted to do for the day. He said paint...so paint we/he did.

things he says

Yesterday, while riding down the road, Nathan said something like this to me: "When we went to see Grandma at the hospital the first time, we had to take the 2nd elevator. Then, we had to go around the corner to her room." He was right. We had to go to the 2nd floor to see Grandma when she was in the hospital in WR. Given this random remembrance, I asked him what about in Macon. He responded like this "We went to the 4th elevator. Then, we had to go back to the 3rd one to walk across the bridge to the parking deck." I have to say, he has a memory for some very strange things! It amazes me that he can be right about such a little part of the memory. Maybe it's just an ability to remember numbers?

This morning, I was singing "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" while working in the same room where Nathan was playing. He stopped and said to me "Mommy, you are praising God." I am so glad that he at least has some concept of that idea. It's often hard to know just how much kids really "get", but it's nice to see some sparks.

it's party time

Today was Nathan's birthday party. He will be four in two weeks, but we have decided that it's a little calmer to have his party early. Matt was in charge of a lot of the planning and he did a great job! It was nice because I was able to take pictures and enjoy the party this time. In the past, I've been pretty busy running around and taking care of things.

The first thing the kids did was to play outside. They had a good time playing in the sandbox and on some of the outside toys.


They also colored on the driveway with chalk. I included this picture just because I like it.


This year, we let him invite some of his friends. We limited the number, however (if we didn't, we would have to invite all the 3 year olds at church and that's like 30). He made his list and it was 4 girls and 3 boys. As it turns out, only the girls were able to come.


Since the ice cream wasn't quite ready, he opened presents before we ate. He did a very good job this year of being appreciative of his gifts. The funny part, though, is that he thanked each person before he even opened the present. But you know, I'll take what I can get. Nathan had lots of help opening his gifts. I think he enjoyed getting inside them faster, though.


Nathan got all kinds of things that he will really enjoy! Cars...trucks...trains...GEORGIA TECH clothes...a hard hat (yeah...what other kid has a REAL hard hat?). And to think...there's only more to come with Christmas just around the corner.


After the presents, we had cake and ice cream and chips and such. Nathan requested a strawberry cake "like Grandma had for her birthday that was red". For months now he has been asking for sprinkles on his birthday cake. So...here is the result.


Thanks to everyone that was able to come to his party and celebrate Nathan being around for four years (almost)!

another carseat

Well, I finally got a picture of Caroline's new carseat. We ended up getting the company to give us a 50% off deal for a replacement seat. It's basically like Nathan's old seat. It's not necessarily the colors we would have picked, but it works. It was delivered last week, but I just haven't thought to get a picture. Before that, we were borrowing a seat that my parents have had for Nathan (though it will soon be Caroline's). Anyway, here are the pictures of Caroline in her old and new seats.

first steps

On Tuesday, Caroline took her first "real" steps. For a little while, she would take one step while falling towards us, but wouldn't take any controlled steps. Well, while we were at Mema and Papa's house, she took a couple controlled steps. Mema let go of her and she took about three steps to get to the couch. I missed it, but she did the same sort of thing a couple times for Matt and I later that evening. As she gets close, she'll still fall towards us. She trusts us to catch her. Sometimes, she won't take any steps. She just enjoys the falling and catching. I think we may have a little thrill seeker on our hands. :)

like my big brother

(this is the second post for today)

As I have said before, Caroline loves her big brother! and he loves her! I caught the scene in this picture the other day. I thought it was perfect. I think she'll always be looking up to him!


Today, I caught her following Nathan through the kitchen with a train of her own. Of course, by the time I got my camera she was no longer following, but you get the idea. She loves to play with anything that Nathan loves!

singing in big church

Last night, Nathan's children's choir class sang in "big church". Actually, all the kids sang. He is in a class with just three year olds (as of Sept. 1st), but the 3, 4, and 5 year old classes all sang together. They also had a live manger scene. Nathan was a shepherd.


In true Nathan form, he decided that the music was too loud for him when they all started singing...so he covered his ears. Later, he waved at himself on the big screen where they show the service. Aren't 3 year olds fun!


Here are the rest of the kids. The first row and the far end of the second row are kids in his class. Do you see the little girl on the top row in the blue? She's five. She's coming to Nathan's birthday party. Oh yeah...already checking out the older girls! :) The little blond angel in the first picture is coming as well.