Annual Christmas Letter

For all you locals who really know what is going on with us but want to read about it anyway!


The annual Christmas letter...


As I begin to think about writing this year’s letter, I just can’t help but chuckle at all the crazy blessings we have been given this year. I distinctly remember making some comment about not asking me when the next little Reid was coming. I should know better than to speak without thinking first, especially after all these years!


We started 2008 off with some unexpected news, we were pregnant! We were so excited and tried not to think about how life would be changing: two sharing a room, two in diapers, three boys running around this house, etc. The pregnancy was a bit different this time, harder to take it easy with two little boys at home. We made it through the summer and Cole Jackson surprised us with his arrival on August 29th, Caden’s 4th birthday. Cole was about 3 weeks early, but was just fine. He weighed in at 8lbs 4oz and is growing just like his brothers. He is 3 months old now and over 16lbs. He has started laughing, smiling, and more importantly for this tired momma, sleeping through the night! He loves being entertained by his two big brothers!


Carter Andrew is about to celebrate his 2nd birthday the day after Christmas. He has had a busy year of growing up. He moved into a big boy bed in July and now shares a room with Caden. Carter is often found tagging along with Caden and playing whatever game Caden has told him to play. He really enjoys music and his new thing is playing a guitar, drums, or his stomach while singing (yelling) at the top of his lungs! He also loves to love on his baby brother! Carter always wants to hold Cole, pat him, or give him his binky! He is a very caring little boy.


Caden Montgomery is a 4 year old wise beyond his years! He turned 4 in August and didn’t seem to mind too much that Baby Cole was born on his special day! Caden is at Free Spirit Preschool this year and doing wonderfully. He is in a larger class this year which really helps him with his social skills. He loves to be busy and is always coming up with ways for he and Carter to play. They are often outside being boys, digging in dirt, playing in mud, trying not to get into trouble. He has been a huge help this year, helping with Cole and Carter, and even Jack!


Cory is still working hard at the store and it is doing well I might add! He decided we needed to get into the rental property game this year. We have already learned a few lessons, so if you are thinking about buying a rent house…call him for the “what not to do list”! He still teaches our young adult class at church and is working on creating a bigger young adult ministry there. God has really burdened his heart for all the unchurched young couples in our community. It is exciting to see how Cory is leading us to reach out to them!


I have my hands full most days, needless to say, but I love it dearly. I say it all the time, but I am truly blessed to be the mother of three wonderful, energetic, handsome little boys. They keep me on my toes and there is never a dull moment around here. I still do MOPS, AWANAs, coordinate the nursery for Sunday mornings, and find time to blog about all of our adventures. Come visit and check out what we are doing throughout the year http://www.sahm22boys.blogspot.com/


Even though we always seem busy, we are never too busy to hear from friends and family. We pray you are all doing well and that you have a blessed holiday season and a very Merry Christmas!


Love from the Reid Family
Cory, Kara, Caden, Carter, and Cole

Do You See a Problem Here?

Carter has become obsessed lately with my manual breast pump, my breast pads, or bottles. He thinks he needs to feed Cole just like his momma does! When Cory was arranging the living room furniture tonight, this is what he turned to find. I was laughing so hard! Carter says, "I pa for Cole, I baba." ( I pump for Cole, I bottle) He has seen too much!

Another Craft Idea

Here is another idea I stole from that great blog - No Time for Flash Cards. The boys really had fun painting and it took quite a while to get it done!

When you get on her blog, click on crafts at the top to find it, or just scroll down through the posts. It seems like there is a new craft up daily. We are going to try and make the Santa tomorrow, but who knows. I also have cut the pieces for the train and I am saving that one for an afternoon when they are driving me a bit batty :)

Each boy got to paint two letters. Caden decided he wanted to use green and he did really well! He was adamant about staying in the lines with his paint.

Carter just kind of painted everywhere, but when I cut out the letters they were actually all painted!

When we finished the letters, they wanted to use the other's paint, so we decided to add some polka-dots!

Adding the jingle bells was challenging but we got it down! It was a fun project!

Cole's New Toy

Cole has upgraded from the boring swing and bouncy seat! He is doing so well with his neck and head control and always wants to sit up and look around at the two monkeys in our house, so we have been putting him in the saucer more! He loves it!

Caden's Christmas Program

Here are a few pics of Caden's Christmas program at school. Because of my yucky camera, I really didn't get any good pics of him while he was singing. The lighting was not really great and he was standing right in front of the big tree, so it was messing with the flash too.

I have some great video of one of his songs. It is a little dark, but that is him on the end!

After the program, if they were good, Santa got to come in and visit. They were so excited. We already went to see a Santa this year and told Caden it wasn't the real Santa because he was busy in the North Pole. Well, Caden informed us that the "real Santa" was coming to his school party, all the way from the North Pole! He was so insistent on it!

He and his buddy Sam, waiting for Santa to come in.

Carter wanted a turn to see Santa too, so we had to throw Cole up there as well!

Christmas Music

Here is a little Christmas Music from the Reid band and dance crew!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town -
Cory on Sax, Caden on Drum, Pops on some percussion instrument, and Carter on Tambourine

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer - Cory on Sax, Caden on drum, Pops and Carter dancing

Early Christmas Present!

Cory's mom decided to get Cory and the boys a trampoline for Christmas and had it shipped here to our house! It arrived Friday and since Cory had some help on Saturday, they all put it together after the party! It didn't take too long and it really helped to have the other guys here!

The boys tried to help lay out all the pieces.

Papa and Pops discussing what to do next!

The frame is up and the springs are getting put into place.

Here comes Momma's favorite part, the safety net!

They jumped some on Saturday because it wasn't too cold. But then a cold front came through big time on Sunday. Caden just begged and begged to go out there, so Cory bundled him up and let him jump for about 10 minutes. It was so cold, his cheeks were bright red. It snowed Monday and Tuesday so I kept him off of it for now. We will see what happens on Wednesday!

Carter's 2nd Birthday Party

Last year, I tried to have a party for Carter before Christmas, like a normal birthday party that didn't have to deal with the Christmas hustle and bustle, but it didn't happen because of the weather. So this year, I tried again and it worked!

It made for a crazy weekend, because I also planned the party the same weekend as our play at church. But it was easier for everyone to travel up for one weekend and do two things, right?!

Anyway, Carter isn't actually two yet, until the 26th of the month, but he thinks he is! He had a great party and got lots of new things to fight with Caden over...wait, I mean play with! We did a Mickey theme, since he is still big on Mickey after our Orlando trip!

He got some great gifts! He is big into music right now, so his Aunt Jana got him this really cool drum! He also got a band in a box and a recorder (from Caden) My boys love to help Momma cook - which is odd, since I don't cook alot - anyway, now Carter has his own apron! He was proud, can you tell?

This is my attempt at making his birthday cake. Not great, but not bad either!

Here is the reason the "y" is messed up in the above picture. Little man couldn't keep his fingers off the cake. He just kept sneaking bites of icing!

I loved his reaction while we were all singing "Happy Birthday". He thought we were funny and he was just grinning from ear to ear!

He tried to blow out the candle before we even started singing, so I am surprised I actually got a picture of this! He was so fast!