Christmas 2011: Part Two

Yup, a lot of pictures.  And I really tried to only include a couple... Yikes!  You can find many more on flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ckbartlett/sets/72157628242140119/show/

Carter's First Christmas

Mariah ;-)

Ethan had a very "Cars" Christmas 

 Look, a little something for me!

 And another something!

 Cory being silly ;-) We don't have any fun in our house, can you tell?!

 ...here is a perfect example.  I think my mom was demonstrating Yoga. 

Ethan saw it as a bridge opportunity.

Ethan and Charlotte (our niece) 

Carter looks a bit startled.  He wasn't a fan of his new car at first.

Ethan modeling one of his new shirts from Grandma.

 Princess Charlotte. We got her a storage ottoman full of fun dress up stuff.

My grown up Princess Mariah.

Carter opening a couple more gifts.

Mariah giving Ethan a gift. She bought it all on her own.  

Ethan loving the paintable piggy bank from Mariah and giving her hugs in return. I love these moments.

A daddy and Ethan photo. 

My Mariah. She's even pretty when she's acting silly.

"whowa super fast" might have been a direct quote from Ethan.

 

An Ipad 2 for me!! Yippy! 

Sorry about the cleavage shot.   

Doing much better in his new ride.  

Some mommy-Ethan love ;-) 

Daddy and Carter opening more gifts.  

 And a tired out baby Carter.  

I hope you all had a very Merry and Blessed Christmas as well.

Love, The Bartlett Family

Playing Catch Up: Christmas 2011

Wow, Christmas just happened, right?  Because I just took over 300 pictures off of my camera dating back to December.  Oops!  Guess I've been depending on my camera phone a bit too much!

So, here we have it, Christmas 2011 (post 1 of 2):

Ethan sent Santa a letter and got a letter in return.

 Cory read the letter to Ethan.  Ethan listened closely in amazement.  He couldn't believe that Santa even knew about his baby brother.  

We took a train ride with some of our closest friends. 

Ethan and Lucas were excited for the train to get moving.

 Carter had no clue what was going on.  He was a perfect sport.

A family picture of the four of us on the train. 

Mariah had other plans and wasn't able to join us.   

 Look who surprised the kids on the train!

Cookie baking! 

Just hanging out.

 A little mother-daughter photo.

 And a grandma-granddaughter photo.

 More cookies!

 A priceless moment.  Ethan loves when he's read to. 

A Christmas Program put on by daycare. 

Ethan was so excited about the event, but wanted nothing to do with standing by his friends. 

Instead, Ethan wanted to sit as close to Carter as he could. 

I think he almost sat on the teacher's lap a couple times along with Carter.  

Post two of Christmas 2011 coming tomorrow.   

Carter's First Haircut

As mentioned a couple weeks back in this post, I gave Carter his first haircut.  Carter has my crazy hair with the cowlicks and hair that likes to gather in the middle of his forehead.  Ethan's is the same way.  Well Carter had about 20 random hairs that had to be 3" long and were starting to hang in his eyes.  That inspired me to give him his first haircut.  He was a real sport and didn't mind at all!  I hope he stays this way! Yes, I know... not the safest... cutting his hair on the counter, but I had him, there was no way I would have let him fall.  I'm a good mom, I promise. 

Master Bedroom Needs A New Look

When we built our house over 6 years ago, I quickly painted every room in the house.  The construction wasn't even finished on the outside of the house, but the rooms were painted.  I picked tan as a color for many rooms.  Not the same tan, but about 8 different shades of tans and many accent colors.  Cory teases me often about all of the paint cans I have in our storage room.  My thoughts on tan were that they were warm and timeless.  If I went with tan then I'd never get sick of the colors.  Well, I was right about that for a long time, but I think I'm finally tanned-out.  My house needs a lift... room by room... tan by tan.  I'll keep some tan, but not nearly as much as we have now. 

Here is our master bedroom.  A lovely tan - suede-paint - tan - boring - tan... I need some color.  Not bright color, but a soft, warm, inviting color.  Maybe a sea green, or a light grayish blue?  I want to stay on the really like side because my trim and furniture are dark, but I need some color.  Any suggestions?  I also need some new window treatments.  Yes, these are new, but I'm not sure if they are right.  Maybe just a creamy solid white?  Some new throw pillows would be nice to.  Okay, so I'll keep the furniture, but everything else must go.  Now to find some cheap, very cheap ideas.