the best of 2012

1.  Emmy

Emmy has been the perfect addition to our family.  Having a little girl is just so much fun.  She is just so sweet and cuddly and I enjoy our one on one time together.  Bryce is the best big brother and adjusted so well to his little sister!

2. Disney World

I was nervous about a plane trip and a big vacation with a 3 year old and a 5 five month old, but it went smoothly and great memories were made.  Bryce can't wait to go back!  I keep telling him Emmy has to be old enough to remember it next time.

3. Jason and I turned 30



We celebrated with close friends!

30 year old parties look a lot different than 21st birthdays!



I think I may have had a mini mid-life crisis over this big event, but it's still worth documenting!

4. Annual beach trip

Our summers would not be complete without a relaxing trip to the beach.  Once Emmy is older, I  may be able to use the term relaxing to describe a beach trip!

5. I stopped working to be a SAHM

 

With Emmy's birth and different child care needs, staying at home was the perfect solution to our child care needs and my sadness of missing my babies while I worked.  It was very hard to say goodbye to my career and my good friends, and I have to admit, I am still adjusting, but I know it was the right choice for our family.

christmas recap...........aka picture overload

We started our Christmas celebrations on Christmas Eve.  We went to my parent's house for a late lunch/early dinner and opened presents.

 

 

Apparently the bows were the best part!

 

This was about the extent of Emmy's unwrapping for the whole holiday.  She wasn't sure what to do!

 

Playing peek-a-boo with the gifts was just as fun!

 

After we left my parent's house, we headed to church for the Christmas Eve service and then to Jason's sister's house for some yummy snacks.  Then we came home, put on our Christmas pjs, set out cookies for Santa, read the Night Before Christmas, and then Jason and I got to work!

 

Checking things out on Christmas morning.

 

We had a little time to play before making our rounds.

 

Our first stop was Jason's parent's house for breakfast and presents.  The kids were excited!

 

Checking out his new bike from Chase.

 

Testing it out.

 

Emmy got boots for Christmas.  L.O.V.E

 

Our family

 

Testing the bike out.  He kept wanting to pedal backwards.  He's getting the hang of it though.

 

After Jason's parent's house, we stopped by my parent's house for stockings.  We came home long enough for Emmy to take a quick nap so Bryce practiced riding his new scooter.

 

Next we were off to Jason's grandparent's house and then his Grandma's house.  When we got home for the night, Bryce had a little time to destroy the living room  play before bed.  The living room still looks like this today, but at least all the presents we brought home Monday and Tuesday have been put away and organized in the playroom!

 

We woke up to a rainy morning so we decided to stay home in our pajamas all day and play with our new toys since we weren't home much yesterday!

 

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

 

 

it's been a whole week

So an entire week has gone by since I posted last.  I was doing so well keeping up with the old blog and then I guess life finally slowed down and I didn't have many interesting things to post, just the day to day stuff. 

 

 

Monday night was a lot of fun! I was so excited to get to join my old fourth grade team for their annual Christmas dinner. We all brought a dish to my friend Robin's house and had the best time catching up, eating, and exchanging gifts. They were so sweet and went in for a Macy's gift card for me to thank me for being their copy mom this year. I tried out a new self timer app for the picture, but the resolution wasn't great because it took the picture through the screen rather than the camera.

 

We stayed at home a lot this week and played and cleaned the playroom, A LOT!  Emmy was actually a good helper while I cleaned.  She got into the train track box and played.  At least she wasn't getting into everything I was putting away!

 

Bryce got into Macy's costumes one day.  He enjoyed trying them on!  Silly boy!

 

This boy can wear through a pair of jeans.  Most of Bryce's jeans are hand me downs and it's inevitable they will get holes because the knees have already been well worn.  However, these were jeans I bought Bryce at Gymboree back in September and he has already managed to wear them out. 

 

This morning Bryce's Sunday school class combined with the class Jason and I teach for a fun birthday party for Jesus.  Jason's mom and a few of the other teachers really put on a great party for the kids.

 

Tonight was such a FUN FUN night.  We were able to get together with all of our good friends from high school and hang out, watch football, and eat some yummy food.  I am so excited for opportunities like this and it was so much fun watching all of our kids together.  Jason found me a new self timer app for this picture and it worked much better!

 

gingerbread house

We went to the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville today to have brunch and make gingerbread houses.  This is something my parents and grandparents did with  me when I was in high school and it was exciting to take Bryce today.  We started off at the candy buffet and got bowls of treats to decorate our house.  I'm pretty sure Bryce thought he was filling the bowls for a snack!

 

 

Hard at work!

 

Emmy enjoyed snacking on a little candy while we worked.

 

The boys enjoyed planning out the house and decorating it.

 

Every time Bryce shoved a piece of candy in his mouth I told him it was the last piece because I didn't want him to get sick.  Of course I probably said this 20 times, so there were a lot of "last" pieces.

Our finished product.  When we brought it home I put it on our entryway table and Macy sat up and begged for it.  It smells really good!

 

 

Bryce helped Nana and Pap put a few finishing touches on their house too! 

 

 

I am so thankful for all the family fun we have had this weekend! 

 

party like a rockstar

Today was a day full of parties.  This morning we went to Keagan's 1st birthday party.  His mom and dad are in our small group at church.  This is the second 1st birthday party this year from our small group.  Emmy is next!

 

 

Emmy and the birthday boy.  I couldn't get either of them to look at me.  Emmy wore her first real bow with a clip today.  She has finally gotten to the point where she pulls off the headband bows.  She only has enough hair towards the back of her head to hold a bow, but it worked!

 

I think Emmy is going to have fun exploring presents on Christmas.

 

After Keagan's party, we headed home to put Emmy down for a nap and Nana stayed with her while we took Bryce to a inflatable birthday party for twin boys in his preschool class.  My camera died at the fist party so I didn't take any pictures at this party.  Bryce was so excited that he wouldn't have to take a nap today.  However, he fell asleep on the way to Jason's work Christmas party this evening!

 

Jason's company typically has a party for the adults at a hotel, but this year they had a kid friendly party at the office.  There were lots of games and activities for the kids.  We enjoyed taking some "photo booth" pictures.

 

Emmy the Elf

 

Santa was there.  Emmy still doesn't like him!

 

Jason's cousin's wife works with him so their family was there too.  Bryce enjoyed hanging out with their oldest daughter Hannah. Don't they make a cute Santa and Mrs. Claus?!?