The Cathcart Clan: Christmas with the Cathcarts

We decided on a whim to go to Charleston for Christmas. Jimmy rearranged his schedule about 10 times to figure out the perfect mix of work and vacation leave, and all of the juggling enabled us to spend the holiday together. Ashton was quite relieved that Santa was able to find him despite the short notice...

Before I release the much anticipated Christmas pictures, I thought I should brag a bit about the kids' most recent tricks. First of all, I caught Reagan climbing up the third step yesterday and today, she started clapping. I'm telling you, this kid is a genius and must get it from her mother. (I can say this since I am the writer and editor. :) I know that every child develops at different rates, so I haven't signed her up for the Gifted and Talented track at school... yet... but we are watching from the sidelines in amazement as she goes through developmental milestones at what seems like hyperspeed. I think she also gets her competitiveness from her mother...


Reagan standing. Please excuse the photography, I finally caught her with a camera ready!

Little Miss Curious testing out Grammy and Papa's baby proofing... or lack thereof.

In other news, our little guy is fully potty trained! To the non-parent readers the significance is lost on you, but every mother and father in the world knows what an accomplishment this is. As a parent, it is like finishing a marathon, without killing anyone. A little known fact is that about 90% of the training has nothing to do with the child. You learn how to recognize the "pre-pee signs" while constantly doing math (without a calculator) to determine if too much time has passed since the last toilet visit, and then literally dropping whatever you are doing to make a chaotic dash to the restroom upon the slightest utterance of "pee" or "poop," and finally, forcing yourself to celebrate every time any activity occurs, no mater the biological significance, and without regard to the time of day, your current mood, or energy level. I feel like it is safe to call him potty trained since Ashton did not have one accident on our Christmas car trip, totaling over 22 hours. Both Jimmy and I were shocked every time we checked his little pull-up for the disappearing rocket only to find it fully intact. What a rock star... (Truth be told, we did have two very uncharacteristic accidents at Trevor and Jo's house, but I am chalking that up to all of the distractions including the oh-so-cool fish tank, five dogs, and hoards of people...I mean, give the kid a break, right?)

Ashton sporting a vintage (circa 1985) Buffington Foot Specialists t-shirt as his pants were being washed at Trevor and Jo's.

Christmas in Charleston was perfect, due entirely to my family. My parents took it upon themselves to play Santa with the help of Elf Lauren, so there was very little for Jimmy and I to do. The house was decorated exactly as it had been for every Christmas in my memory. Santa even brought balloons, a signature Buffington family tradition and Ashton's favorite part of the morning. When we officially take over Santa duties Jimmy and I have a lot to live up to. We had a great time during our short 60 hour jaunt, and it was more than worth the sleep deprivation. Ok, now for the pictures...