Monday, December 31, 2012

Summary of 2012: Thankful

To celebrate the final hour of 2012, I wanted to post a few pictures that I hadn't shared yet.  I took them at the beginning of December and just never got around to adding them to the blog. 


Just playing.


Love.


Quite possibly the best toddler picture of him yet.  



  
They are just so sweet together.  It truly makes my heart melt. 


He loves the Russian dolls.


Singing "Happy Birthday" to........Renee!  Not Parker.  haha.  



Everyone who reads this knows that I keep this blog mostly as a journal or baby book to try to remember both the little and big things in the future.  There have been many times that I have gone back and referred to the blog because I couldn't remember when Parker got his first tooth or what he was doing at one year old.  I'm SO glad that I have kept up with this and would definitely resolve to be more consistent in 2013.

I am so thankful for my little family of Ryan and the kids as well as everyone else that makes up our "big" family.  I am so thankful that I am able to spend quality time with the kids multiple days per week and to work at home with Ryan and see him more often than just nights and weekends.  We see our parents, siblings, and my grandparents at least once a week, and I am so thankful that Parker and Audrey will grow up knowing their relatives and having close relationships with them. 

The point is, I am thankful for my family and the blessing that they all are to my life.  2012 was a year full of family and adding Audrey to our family this year made every day that much sweeter.  I am looking forward to many more sweet moments in 2013 and will continue to cherish the love and happiness that I receive from my family every day.  

Christmas Day

Christmas day was looooooong but fun.  It always is!  Our day always consists of kids opening presents, breakfast at our house with my family, and then on to Ryan's parents' house for family time with them.  We went to bed at about midnight and didn't get up until about seven (thanks kids!).  Parker slept so long that we had to go ahead and wake him up at 7:45 before everyone got to our house!  It's definitely one of our busiest days of the year but also so much fun. 


Santa came!  Ho, ho ho.

 

Audrey opening her present from Santa.


Opening his stocking presents.  


Optimus Prime...or Parker?  Not sure.   

 
 Parker was ready to tear into his lollipop right away.



 
He was SO excited about his Jake and the Pirates toothpaste!  Literally screamed out loud. 

 

Sweet boy.  Opening his Jake accessory set that he is in LOVE with.

This was about the time my parents got to our house and we remembered that Santa had put a special present in the playroom for Parker.  




He was very excited about it!  He had asked Santa for a BIG train just like Wyatt.  Santa delivered for sure! 


Love this sweet neck.


The chef!  Ryan made the entire breakfast this year and did such a great job.  He definitely knows how to make a good batch of eggs and bacon (and biscuits, grits and sausage!). 

Since it was Christmas day and the kids had their matching pajamas on, we had to have a very small picture taking session (of course).  


This was the best of the two of them!  I feel like that's my motto for the year with pictures.  "It's the best one of the bunch!" or "It's the best we could get!"  Haha. 


Of course she found just one piece of wrapping paper to "play" with.


Hey, gorgeous! 

At this point it was time to go ahead and open presents with the fam so that we could be on our way to Ryan's parents house. 

Ryan showing Omi how the gnome whirligig works.


Dad liked his cup! 


Me and my girl!  I think I was still partially asleep--haha.   


Audrey finally finished opening her present!


Already fighting over toys!  Just kidding.  Parker was pretty excited about the vanity, though.


It was really sweet to see them playing together like this. 



Checking out her lipstick. 

After we opened presents it was time for us to get ready to go.  We had to get the kids changed out of their PJ's and be on our way.  My wonderful and amazing mother stayed after everyone left to clean up all of the mess from breakfast.  She satyed for almost five hours while we were gone and also decided to vacuum the whole house and dust.  Another great present from her! Of course.........I insisted on taking a family picture before we left.  


Decent!  Haha. 


Love the hat and belly. 

At Ryan's parents house it is always super crazy (in a good way) because there are so many of us and so many presents for each person.  Lisa and I always do the separating but we had some helpers this year that made things even crazier--haha!  

 
Ryan did the smart thing and just sat back and waited.


Haley saved her spot and waited, too! 


My boys.


Uncle Bryan put Audrey in the trash box with the wrapping paper.  It was in her mouth in about five seconds.


Fam photo!  Minus several people.  It was a little late in the day!


Twins with matching sweaters!  Awwwwwwwww.


Brothers and sister.

Can't wait for next year when things will be even CRAZIER with an 18 month old an almost four year old.  It will be even more fun. 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Christmas Eve


Christmas Eve this year was wonderful.  In the morning, Ryan and Parker went to his mom's house to make monkey cake, and Audrey and I went to Target for a few last minute items.  I was able to zip through a little faster than I usually do having both kids with me.  We did just a little bit of house-cleaning once we were both home and then it was time to get ready to leave and go to church and beyond.

Before we went upstairs to get dressed, I wanted to try out taking a few pictures of Audrey in front of the tree to get the blurry light background (bokeh).  I feel horrible that I take so many of Audrey and not Parker but he just won't let me.  Anyway, here are the beauties that I got. 






So much love for this sweet girl.  And her electrified hair!  Haha.  

We got dressed, and this is the point where all of the trouble began.  I bought two dresses in Macy's that I planned to wear on Christmas Eve and Audrey's baptism.  I put the Christmas Eve dress on and realized it was actually a little too short.  Since I had planned all along to wear that one, I moved on to the baptism dress.  I felt like it looked a little short, too, but I asked Ryan, and he said he didn't think so.  I put on my hose and looked in the mirror once more and realized that the fabric on the top of the dress was a little sheer for church.  Basically, you could see the back of my bra through the dress.  I decided that a nude-colored cami would be the best thing to wear, but I didn't have one!  I also noticed that the shorts-looking part of my hose was sticking out of the bottom of the dress (um, definitely a clear indication that it was too short, but I had no time to change at that point).  I had to go to Target to find the cami and a different pair of hose.  

After I found what I needed at Target, I drove to the Jeffersons' house where Ryan had taken the kids.  I changed into my new items immediately when I got there and ripped a hole in the hose before I even left the room.  I hadn't shaved and my legs are super pasty anyway, so I figured I would put the first pair back on and just be very conscious of keeping them hiked up enough that the "shorts-part" wouldn't stick out.  When I went downstairs, I was hiking them up one more time when I ripped them, too!  I was so flustered and frustrated at this point that I contemplated not going to the service.  It would just be me and the kids sitting together since Ryan was playing the piano, and I knew my family was waiting at Omi's anyway.  I was trying to rush and get us out the door so we could still make it when Parker said, "I pooped, Momma!"  That's when I decided that we were NOT going to church.  It was kind of disappointing because it's the first time I haven't attended on Christmas Eve in at least ten years, but it just wasn't working out.  

We left their house and went to Omi's and just hung out until Ryan got there after the service and we could all eat.  Oh--of course I had to take a few pictures of Audrey in her "Christmas dress" at their house while we were waiting for Ryan.  Again, I tried to get Parker to join in, but the Lego table was calling his name and he definitely did not want to break away from that for a picture session.





The tradition at Omi and Opa's is that the kids open presents after and then the adults open them on Christmas day.  For this reason, we headed straight into the den for present opening when dinner was finished! 

 
Omi giving Audrey her Christmas bear! 


She liked.  


Why, yes, that's my son!  He does exist!  His hair was a little messed up, too.



Happy to play with her bear!


Family picture--you can see that the kids were less than enthused.  And we are blurry.  My mom was operating the camera and did the best she could with what she had!  Haha. 

After Ryan left to go to the next service, I hung around with the kids for just a little bit longer and then it was time to get home.  We had reindeer food to put out as well as milk and cookies for Santa!  I gave Parker the bag of reindeer food and explained to him that he should sprinkle it in the grass.  When I gave him the bag, he turned it over and dumped it all in one place!


Haha.  This is also the best picture I could get of him in his outfit!  So dapper!

When we went inside, Parker knew it was time to get Santa's treats out.  We poured the milk and put the cookies in a little glass cup.  He looked at the milk and said, "this looks gooooooooooood!" and then asked me if he could have a sip.  He also asked if he could take a bite out of the cookie.  Of course, I allowed it!


Once everything was set out for Santa, I headed upstairs with the kids and eventually got them both in bed.  Ryan got home shortly after I put them down and we had several presents to wrap.  We wrapped and watched Downton Abbey together until we had everything done for the next day.  Then it was time to get in bed so Santa could come down the chimney.....