Naughty or Nice-a prelude to Christmas

A lot has happened since I was here last, but I present you with the edited version. Starting with Thanksgiving. We had a visit from Shane's college roommate Scot. It was really great to see him again, but we didn't even get any pictures. Later on Thanksgiving, we went to Greensboro and ate at the Cracker Barrel with Grammy and PawPaw. And even later, I couldn't stop thinking about my grandma's pecan pie. Needless to say, I was eating my homemade pecan pie at 11:15 that night.
Round-faced boys.

Duncan getting his YeeHaw on. Redneck Christmas: Letting your kids play with all the toys in the stores and not buying them anything.

Before school on the morning of the Christmas play.

Roland and his teacher Mrs. Gann after another award winning Christmas play.

Trust me Duncan, I know just how you feel.

Paw Paw Freddie after 2 hours with the kids.

Here I am trying to figure out why Freddie looks so worn out. At least he wasn't the human horsey.

Chillin at the mall.

Just chillin in general. Check out the length on that baby.

Putting up the Christmas tree-the one that still isn't decorated.

Ooooo. Ahhhh.

Freezing our behinds off at the Raleigh Christmas parade. The last thing you want to hear on a day like this is, "Daddy, can I have your coat." Poor Shane.

Naughty or nice? The jury is still out. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

29 Again, Aunt Trish?

Well, we won't say how old she is, but let's just say that Aunt Trish celebrated her 11th 29th birthday. We took a road trip to Kentucky to celebrate with her and to see Mamaw Sherry and Papaw Doug. It has been forever since we have all visited. I think Duncan was about 8lbs and had colic the last time we were together. I'd say he has changed a little since they saw him!

Aunt Trish smiling for her birthday. Wow-no wrinkles. Looking good!

Chillin' with Mamaw Sherry.

Papaw, Mamaw and Duncan at the birthday party.

This is one of those looks that gets you the awesome Christmas presents from Mamaw. It must have worked because the presents started arriving soon after we got back home. Cha ching.
Sharing some cheese?

Roland exuding some of his charm on the ladies.

Roland and Trish decided to check out each other's toys. She has his Transformer, and he has here high heel boots. Okay then.


Here is Roland, Trish and Uncle Jeff. He is the newest addition to our family. Roland thinks he is great (and so do we) because he gave him action figures. Relationships are so easy when you are young.

Happy Birthday Again Trish!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

The year in review...

Well, I can't say enough about Duncan. He has been a really sweet baby...so far. In the past year, he has went from a scrawny little guy to a hefty beast. It has been amazing to watch the changes in him.

From the get-go Duncan has been very independent and seems to know what he wants. Both he and Roland held there heads up within the first week of life. It concerns me to think how this independence might play out in the teenage years. Duncan seems ridiculously strong sometimes, and I have already thought, "Man, he might be able to take me."

His personality has really blossomed over the past couple weeks. He can dance, high five, ride a push car, give big sloppy kisses, drink from a straw, play peek-a-boo, flirt (outrageously), stand upright with no help (albeit reluctantly), and is on the verge of taking his first steps. Our "game of the week" involves crawling up the back of the tub and then sliding down the slope of the tub on his belly-repeat 25 times. I just can't tell you how funny he thinks this is.

He is also talking quiet a bit. I think Duncan will be a real character when he grows up. Although he gets very upset when he doesn't get his way, in general, he loves to be held and seems to smile continuously.

We celebrated Duncan's first birthday 3 times! How awesome is that? The weekend before we had a party in Albemarle with some of my family, a cake in Durham on the actual birthday, and then a celebration with Grandma Avis's family for John (15), Riya (5), and Duncan (1).

We would like to thank everyone for the great gifts, cards, and thoughts. I think Duncan enjoyed himself immensely, but what kid wouldn't when jacked up on blue icing?

Note the careful one finger placement of food in the mouth. He ate half the cake one fingerful at a time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUNCAN BUTTERS!!!

Oogie Boogie

Some pumpkins.

Some Stash.

note: this is only a fraction of our booty

We had a great Halloween. We went to trunk-or-treat at Roland's school, and then cruised the neighborhoods for some door-to-door. You can't imagine how much candy two kids can rake in, and that is with Duncan only working part time. He kind of pooped out after the trunk-or-treat. This is the first year that Roland has really got into trick-or-treating. He really did a great job. He is a very polite little guy. Each time he had the option of picking his own candy, he only took one piece even if he was encouraged to take more. On the down side, he also picked a sucker even when there was chocolate. We have 350some odd days to rectify that.

All my guys posing.
Arrrgh-give me some candy.

Duncan's hair really seems to be coming in thick these days.No, not a Power Ranger. It's Blue Power Ranger. I thought the evil red eyes added a nice touch. Happy Halloween!