Holidays

I thought I would go back and catch up on 2013 before 2014 started flying by. Here is a picture of me and the kids on Thanksgiving. I didn't do any maternity photos this time so I figured I should document my bump with the kiddos. We thought Haven was going to arrive all weekend long.  She had other plans though.

Thankfully she didn't decide to be a Christmas baby. It was lovely waking up this 10 day old face on Christmas morning. I got this outfit on ebay. Unisex green since I didn't' know who would wear it. She looks so cute in it but sadly it's already almost too small. 

Ezra in the best Christmas picture ever. Ezra the Elf anyone?

Thankfully even with a newborn we were able to make our favorite monkey muffins. Our own Christmas morning tradition. 

A picture of all three cuddling up. She kind of shrank up in the middle of them.

Emerson couldn't keep her hands off of her. That sweet face. 

Since Haven was so little we stayed in for some girl time. AKA a cheesy christmas movie and a nap. But, we managed to get in one selfie. 

Christmas Decorating

I try to do a Christmas activity each day during December to go along with our advent countdown. But, I must admit I failed miserably this year. Between being sick and tired most of December we were lucky to do a few things I had planned, none of which were on the day I had planned. A reminder that all we really need to in advent is "wait." Not necessarily keep busy. None the less we enjoyed one afternoon of ornament painting. It started out pretty tame and I was shocked by how "clean" it was going. I went to the bathroom for 3 minutes and came back to paint covered faces. Emerson was especially proud of her face painting. I knew it wasn't going to be that easy. The kids did a great job of decorating and we ended with a much needed bath.

Pullen Park Holiday Express

Early in December we went to Pullen Park for The Holiday Express Train. Pullen Park has been closed for two years so I jumped on the opportunity to take the kids. They had the park lit up and you could view the lights when you took the train. On top of that they had entertainment, crafts, and lots of christmas cheer. It was quite chilly that day so we bundled up and spent the evening there. While we were there we also got to enjoy the renovated park. I think we will be making a lot of trips there this summer!

Emerson loved the music and danced in the field while we snacked on sandwiches I had packed.

The visit to Santa was a little startling to Emerson. She is not too trusting of him. She kept saying afterwards, "I don't like Santa Mommy."  But, what she did like was a woman who was dressed up like a goat. It was very realistic looking and Emerson loved talking to her!

Last we enjoyed the carousel. It was enclosed in a new house with heat so it was nice and toasty. It was much faster than we expected. I got a little dizzy riding with Ezra! Emerson loved it and we rode about 6 times. I think we will definitely come back next year. It was a fun time. We spent 4 hours there!

Even though it's late.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Traditions

We've really enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit this year. 

Ezra tried to escape out the back door to help with the tree.

I created advent garland full of christmas activities leading up until christmas day.  It's been full of crafts, outings, and treats. Here we used ice cream cones and decorated them with homemade buttercream and sprinkles. Voila! A Christmas tree.  Emerson first drank her sprinkles (the whole bowlful) then ate the cone. I must say it was delicious. 

I had seen on this idea on pinterest. I worked on a Christmas tree that was bigger than planned. Over 6 feet to be exact and I couldn't get it to stick to the wall. But, after I cut it in half it worked perfectly and it was the ideal height for a 2 year old to decorate. We have been busy baking christmas treats and yesterday Emerson delivered cookies to our neighbors and said, "Merry Christmas!" I love getting her in the spirit of giving. Only  5 more days until Christmas Day!

Christmas

 We had a really great Christmas this year. Emerson loved it and of course got way to much. Here is us on Christmas Eve before we headed out.

I'm glad we all matched!

Here is the stocking  made for Emerson. Not quite perfect, but pretty good for not using a pattern!

 Emerson really enjoyed her new table and chairs! Of course a Christmas tutu doesn't hurt either.

 Her big gift this year was a wagon. She was beyond excited to get it. We got her a couple other small presents and them in front of the wagon. She ran over them and jumped into the wagon! It took some convincing to get her to open anything else.

 She loved her new nalgene sippy cup. Emerson opened the rest of her presents from inside the wagon.

Mark took Emerson on her first wagon ride! Of course she was being silly. The wagon is pretty neat with seats, seatbelts, a canopy, and room for her little brother!

Mark and I got each other a new camera for Christmas. We are really excited to learn more about it and I'm excited how it can help me in my business! So we didn't do anything official to open. But, I got Mark some stocking stuffers one of which was The Princess Bride in blu-ray. We watched it that night and it was as funny as ever. Mark surprised me with an awesome 50mm 1.8 lens. I was completely shocked!

I decided to make breakfast casserole for Christmas morning. It was delicious. We also had some of the tastiest biscuits you can get that aren't homemade courtesy of Earthfare.

Rare glimpse of Emerson with a bow in her hair. It lasted 10 minutes. :( But, at least it was festive!

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We got some snow late on Saturday. Then a lot on Sunday morning. After the roads cleared we headed to the western part of the state. It was a beautiful drive with all the snow covering the trees. Here is Emerson with her new back-pack. She loves it and is always asking for her bag! We had fun on New Years too with some friend from church. But, no pictures. Emerson enjoyed playing with the other kids and staying up late. Hope you had a great Christmas as well!

Christmas Cookies

I have been dreaming about making cookies with Emerson since last Christmas. So I figured it was about time we did it! I was all hyped up to make sugar cookies from scratch but when I saw a kit with the cutters, icing, and sugars, at Trader Joes I couldn't turn it down. Emerson's favorite was the stars. She kept saying stars over and over again.

She absolutely loved rolling it out, and playing with the dough. She got a little upset when we actually had to put them in the oven. She just wanted to play all day. I think it might be time for some play dough.

Here is the pippy long stocking hair we sported during our mother-daughter cooking time.

I took a little video of her in the process. I don't think she knew what we were doing but once I started saying cookies on camera she said please over and over because she wanted one. Ha!

After we baked them I was excited to decorate. I put a few on her tray, some icing, a butter knife, and some sugar for her to create a master piece. She had other plans and ate all the cookies in 5 minutes. So I decorated the rest since someone couldn't be trusted. Maybe next year we'll have something to show for it!

Raleigh Christmas Parade

 Right before Thanksgiving we went to the Raleigh Christmas Parade. Which note for next year apparently a lot of people go so get there early. After we found a parking space we braved the cold to see the festivities.

 Trying to get a better view.

 Highlight of the parade...."Giant shopping cart tractor"

Emerson in disbelief.

Spotting something fun.

Tired, cold, and ready to go.

First Christmas

So I kind of forgot all about Christmas but Emerson had a great first one if I do say so myself. We stayed in town on Christmas Eve for our first round of festivities.

Unfortunately Emerson was a present thief and had little interest in her own presents. Luckily her cousin was pretty understanding.

Somehow we managed to only get a Christmas Eve family picture but none of us on Christmas Day. But, anyways Emerson was in a great mood for staying up so late.

Emerson and her Grandparents

We've had a Christmas tree since the first week in December and somehow Emerson just discovered how neat they are on Christmas Eve. Since then she has been squealing and pointing at them with excitement. Too bad the tree is coming down soon.

On Christmas morning Emerson had a shocked look on her face when she saw all the fun stuff out. She went straight for her musical table and really enjoyed playing with it. We had to really coax her to open other gifts. Ok, we will pretty much opened them ourselves.

But, she had fun looking at the wrapping.

Baby toy or Dog toy?

Although Santa was very good to Emerson she would rather have what Mia got. Mia disagreed.

The rest of the weekend was full of family festivities and yummy food. Here is Emerson walking all over her Grandpa. We were really blessed this year and we're very thankful for all the love Emerson received. Our living room now looks like a toy store. Maybe we should just rewrap some things for her birthday because honestly the child has more than enough to play with and still I have said several times today, "Emerson, do not go up those stairs!" I guess nothing can keep her that occupied.

Emerson enjoyed a visit from her Great Aunt Reba. Can you tell we're related?

She also got to spend some time with her Great Grandma. I was impressed with her super social behavior but not surprised she pretty much resisted naps all weekend. With Emerson, not Grandma. Ha. We are still recovering. She is on her fourth nap today.

She also had a blast playing with her cousins. She is just fascinated by older children and is thoroughly entertained by them. I have no kidding hundreds more pictures I hope to post on facebook if it ever cooperates with me. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!