I love looking back through all the random pictures that fill in the gaps of what December looked like this year. There were advent activities and kodak moments, and then there was daily life between those events that was just as sweet and memorable.
Dinner with friends...
Robbie and Fallon were caught sharing a comfy chair. Cinderella and her super hero.
The kids table got downright ROWDY. It started with a complete disrobing of all parties, and led to happy shrieks and singing. The occasional noodle was flung, and the playroom door was splattered with applesauce. We tried to enforce good manners but could hardly keep from cracking a smile. Sweet Peter watched in what I can only describe as disbelief, seemingly grateful to be spared the chaos.
Sick day. I got an awful cold. There were a few days that called for comfy scarves, yoga pants and lots of hot beverages.
How the littlest wakes up - she quietly examines her loveys and blankies in her crib, takes care of her bear/bunny/doll, or picks and examines her (many) crusty boogies. 'Tis the season.
As I make dinner most nights, she comes in and keeps me company. This particular evening she grabbed a book and entertained herself under my feet.
Always trying to climb or get into her high chair.
Enjoying receiving her bestie's Christmas card.
We said goodbye to our trusty Accord, which had replaced my PT Cruiser (I KNOW) when I was pregnant with Robbie and we needed a more reliable car. It served us well and I was sad to see it go...
But my sadness was short lived because this hard working guy finally got a new car! And he loves it, as do I.
We took the kids for a ride when we got home, and met Mima and Papa for dinner. The girls were entertained but really didn't care a whole lot. And Robbie reacted as I would have expected - totally unsure about the change. He's a slow one to warm up, and still isn't used to the new wheels, preferring to 'ride in the van with the girls' to splitting up and riding with daddy.
Robbie went to his second ever drop-off birthday party for a classmate and new friend, Caleb. They went to the Children's Museum and he came home with a wooden car he had built in the workshop area. He wasn't nervous or uncertain at all, but enjoyed every second. It was truly a little boy's party! He wrote the card for the birthday boy all on his own. Milestones all around.
I got my hair cut, and when Rob couldn't tell the difference, I polled my ladies asking if they could tell (overhwelming response: YES! haha). To be fair, it was just a lot of layer-adding. And to be honest, I am already in need of another. I think Rob actually wins this one.
My early-morning risers. 5:30am most days. It's not light out for a good 2 hours so we snuggle together in mommy's bed and watch a few shows before we brave the day.
Hanging out with mommy at church after dropping off her older siblings at preschool. She was mothering a panda bear.
Helping me push the (empty) stroller.
My girlfriends and I love to leave edible treats for one another on our front porches. I usually alert them once I've made a drop, so that critters don't get to the treats before they do. My friend Kacey told me that she is amused by the fact that I do this, seeing as how a critter had never touched anything I had left. Well, we have BRAZEN squirrels on our property and actually caught one in the act! On the morning Kacey brought homemade scones and left the bag on the porch, as is our custom, this furry rat destroyed her package and made off with the goods.
Squirrel don't care. I was on the porch a few feet away from him and he just munched away.
Apparently Kacey's scones are intoxicatingly delicious, that one would risk life and limb to finish eating it.
Our babysitter is the best. This was the craft she did with them one day.
Ellie said she had drawn "A baby and a green bean." Hilarious.
And "A tiny dinosaur."
Sometimes there is just too much eating that happens in December, and mommy substitutes Holidrizzle for dinner after the husband and children are fed nutritious foods.
Friends who speak your love language and give you the perfect cheeky gift - baby's head scent bathroom spray! It's actually delightful, I was a little nervous - it's sweet and powdery. I joked that this was the next best thing to actually being on the mother-baby wing of the hospital with a friend's new baby.
Watching the adorable Australian kids' version of the story of Jesus' birth.
How many times have I been at Target when panicked eyes communicate the need for a potty, STAT?! Once both of them "REALLY HAD TO GO!" and upon entering the family restroom, they both hopped on the potty. This is when I realized I have very little control of... things. So this is what it has come to. Just not caring. (About these little things.)
About once or twice a month I let Ellie nap. The transition from one midday nap to none has been nothing short of miserable. She is beside herself without a nap, but even worse, when she takes one during the day she is up until 11pm.
Tackling the gift wrapping process. It was a long night, but when there are lots of little running around the best way to do it is while they are asleep, all at once, right at the end. I ate my weight in chex mix that night.
A sucker for mommy's accessories.
Enjoying their santa hats. I didn't realize that the one I had gotten for Robbie included an attached full beard. His amusement along with Ellie's shifty eyes make this picture one of my December favorites.
Once Aunt Kels was off school for break, she invited R and E over to decorate cookies to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve. It was the first time I've dropped them off to spend time with her by themselves at her apartment, and they ate it up! What a fun Aunt. I think I finished Christmas shopping with Maddie during these 2 or 3 hours.
Robbie tried a sip of my coke at Chick-fil-a and declared that he loved my spicy drink! And then continued to drink the last of my watered down soda until we made him stop.
Sisters sharing a seat.
