Life...

So I am a little neglectful of this blog...WHY?!?!  Life!  

Life is keeping us busy, busy, busy...

Here's a little of what's going on in the Rogers household:

Aiden (age 4):  No longer naps, constant energy and talking from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed, loves to play trains and cars, starting to learn to write letters, is into taking showers instead of baths, loves hamburgers and tacos, definitely has his share of "four year old" moments, and loves to play with his little brother!

Andrew (age 2):  Sleeps in a bed now and shares a room with his brother, talks up a storm and definitely will share his opinion about life, LOVES trucks and cars and trains, loves his "doggie" and pacifier, loves to look at books, my morning "grump" but often is the one that is awake past his brother, loves to watch Chuggington and Team Umizoomi, and is often found right near his brother!

Chris:  Working like crazy right now!!!!  Traveling all last week and putting in the hours at this time of year...In his moments of spare time, he is either working out or catching up on his tv!

Julie:  32 weeks pregnant, busy chasing these two boys all the time (in the freezing cold winter), trying unsuccessfully to have this house clean, still trying to get to the gym when I can (for my rare quiet moments), preparing for this baby (again unsuccessfully!), working on The Chirping Moms, and much more.  

So between these two busy boys, our two little dogs, Chris' work schedule, and life in general---I hardly have a moment to rest!  Our weekends have been busy with activities, trying to get things done, and trying to enjoy a few quiet moments.  When I do have a few moments to rest, I am either catching up on my DVR or reading a book...so I'll try my hardest to stay updated, but I don't think it's going to calm down around here anytime soon!

And a few pictures of the boys just to share their love for one another...

Sleeping Angels

Do you think they have enough things in their beds?!?!?!

Christmas Eve!

After our Christmas Eve Cookie Extravaganza, we put ourselves in some holiday gear and headed off to the children's Christmas Eve service at church!!!

Someone was not being cooperative in photos, can you tell????

After arriving home and having a special meal of Crispy Chicken, each boy got to open one gift that was under the tree!  (And yes, I had yet to wrap any of ours so thanks to Grandpa Ruff for leaving a few wrapped gifts for the boys.  Aiden unwrapped a special Brain Quest game while Andrew opened the musical saxoflute!).  

 After our reading of The Night Before Christmas, the boys were tucked into bed while Chris and I played the part of Santa's elves!  We wrapped and wrapped and wrapped---all with packaging tape (because I could NOT find the scotch tape!).  

Stockings were filled...

 Cookies were eaten...

 And Santa had arrived!

Christmas Cookie Baking!

We spent the holidays right here in New Jersey just as our sweet family of four:)  What did we do Christmas Eve???????  It was our Christmas Cookie Extravaganza with the help of my two little boys...

We made SO many cookies:  sugar cookies, pretzel bites, jingle balls, peanut butter cup cookies, and SO much more!  What a fun way to spend our Christmas Eve!!!!

Holiday Train Show: New York Botanical Gardens!

After living in the NYC metro area now for almost seven years, we FINALLY made it to the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Gardens!  (Really...seven years in the Northeast between Jersey City, Connecticut, and now here in NJ??????  I never thought that would happen!)

The train show was AWESOME!  My dad was up visiting from North Carolina, so he joined along for our adventure:)  The boys were in heaven, and this includes Chris!!!!  Definitely a NYC holiday must for all, so glad we finally took the sight in!

Some of our Holiday Adventures...

We love the Christmas season in the Rogers' household and did so many special things to enjoy the holiday spirit!

We loved visiting Santa at the Community Center...

 Aiden and I took the train in to the city with Courtney and Maggie (my fellow Chirping Moms) for a big holiday toy show.  After the show, we were hoping to see "Santa" at Macy's, but the three hour wait was a little long for the kiddos and us!  Luckily, as we were walking out of the store, we ran into Mrs. Claus who was more than eager to make our kids SO joyful about their visit!

We enjoyed a special holiday picnic dinner by the Christmas tree...

 Santa took a ride around the town dropping off gifts to all the boys and girls!  We celebrated the night at our friends' house with some Christmas fun, delicious food, and a special Christmas movie.  These boys loved the Chuggington trains that they received.  Aiden kept following Santa around the house telling him what a "big guy" Santa was!

Aiden and his best buddy, Bobby!

 

 And crazy mommies planned a special "ice cream cone" house fun!

 A special library story time where we created our own Santa mask...

And make sure you check out the post about searching for the perfect Christmas tree that I posted at The Chirping Moms:  http://www.thechirpingmoms.com/2012/12/hunting-for-perfect-christmas-tree.html
And be watching for some more to be posted soon... 

Happy New Year!

Most of you know that I blog over at The Chirping Moms and I try to keep the two blogs separate, so this blog remains a journal of our family life!  But today, I took the time to reflect on 2012 and write about my inspirations for 2013 over at The Chirping Moms...so head on over and check it out!

http://www.thechirpingmoms.com/2013/01/reflections-and-inspirations.html