Christmas 2012 Memories and Recap

There are fewer things a toddler loves more than opening presents, and A is no exception to that rule. I felt like we spent the whole month of December opening gifts and trying to find places to put the new toys. Fortunately, since she's mostly into puzzles, books and similar activities, those kind of toys don't take up much room. We did get her a trike, however, and that seems to be taking up a lot of room in the living room.  We started out our "Christmases" with J's family Christmas the Saturday before. A made out like a bandit, with such awesomeness as snow fort builders, Sesame Street memory games, the classic Fishing Game and her favorite - Violet from Leapfrog. I normally don't like talking and singing toys, because they're annoying, expensive and get neglected after a few days. This one is the exception. This little purple dog is A's new best friend - it even says her name! She knows her favorite food, color and animal and sings to her at night. A-bug sings along with all the songs and actually has mini conversations with her. She just loves that thing. It traveled with us all over the state of Virginia.

Which brings me to stage 2 of our family Christmas this year. On Sunday, we headed out to make the long journey to VA, where my mom grew up and where we have always gone for Christmas since I was a little girl. There's something magical about spending Christmas in the mountains, and it's always beautiful, even if there's no snow. My grandparents only get to see A and now K every 6 months, so it's very special to spend Christmas with them and all my cousins, aunts and uncles. We always have Christmas Eve dinner all together, eat brunch on Christmas morning and have my grandma's family's reunion on Christmas night. In case you didn't gather, there's a lot of eating :) A got a lot more adorable and fun gifts, including a totally cute winter parka from Emmy, coloring books from Uncle Trev and Mimi, and tons of clothes from Great-Grandma Moore, Uncle Trev and Uncle Zak. K also received lots of adorable clothes and some really sweet toys. A also received a little red trike from Great-Grandma Moore that she wanted to ride everywhere - we were more concerned about her running into the wood-burning stove, but she managed to avoid it the entire vacation *whew*.

Friday after Christmas, we headed over to the eastern part of the state to see my cousin get married. I could tell many stories about this leg of the vacation , but I'll summarize by saying that the hubster is even farther from letting me rent an RV someday to camp in than he was before this trip, and that's saying something lol. But we had a good time, got to see my dad's side of the family and a beautiful wedding. A fell in love with "the princess" who was actually my cousin's new wife, Kim. She loved the big, beautiful dress and veil, and wanted to take pictures with and talk to the princess all day. She was very sad when we had to leave the princess, but it was very sweet and adorable. We were also able to meet up with a friend of mine and meet her sweet family that night. Living 15 hours away makes the ability to visit few and far between, so we took advantage. She has a daughter close to A's age, so we had a great time and the girls loved playing together :)

Sunday we headed back to my grandparents for a few more days. Josh and I got to see Les Mis, without the company of any small children, which was very nice. We spent more time with family, which was lovely, and packed up to head back home on Wednesday morning. It was a long trip back, and we were very ready for our own bed, but all in all, it was a wonderful, family-filled Christmas.

Now it's time to put away the Christmas decorations, find homes for the new toys (and donate many of the old, but don't tell A-bug that!) and figure out what to do with all this candy, since we're trying to eat better in this new year. Today, I will try out one of my Christmas gifts, Zumba for the Wii, and later this month, I will most certainly enjoy my Spa Day from my lovely husband. My parents gave us extra cabinets for our kitchen which we are extremely grateful for, and will be installing shortly :) It was a great holiday season, but I'm glad to be back to our regular routine. I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas break as well!

A with Gigi and Grandma

Playing with her snow fort builders :)

Opening up her new best friend - Violet :)

Playing with a new toy with Emmy

Reading a Christmas morning story with Mimi

Smiling big before family pictures at the wedding

A with her cousin Grace and Granny

A and "the princess," Kim and my cousin
Paul, who was the groom.

A with Uncle Zak and Tita

Making silly faces with uncles Trev and Zak

Kisses from daddy <3

Meeting Missy and her daughter :) A was all worn out lol

Great-Grandma Moore and my sumo baby boy

Mr. K and Papa Moore

Auntie Gail with K and A

Papa and A 

Just to see you smile :)

Sometimes I feel like Mr. K isn't getting the same amount of attention as Little Miss A on the blog since he doesn't say anything or do as many cute or funny things as she does. Yet. So I wanted to dedicate an entire blog post just to him and his adorable little smile, and other various and interesting facial expressions. I think this kid is going to be a little heart breaker :) Just look at those dimples! :)

His usual happy face :)

Laughing while I'm tickling his toes :)

Totally sacked on daddy

"Come on, mom. Don't you think you have enough pictures?"

Forcing himself to stay awake after a big meal

AH! The dimple :)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS! Yes, it's here. Even though the snow is not, we must carry on and pretend that it's Christmas time. Well, I guess it is Christmas time, but it sure doesn't feel like it. We've had weather mostly sitting in the 40's, sometimes even warmer, and it just makes the Christmas lights feel premature. But alas, it is truly December.

Every Christmas, we go with my parents up to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland to take pictures, buy ornaments and get a picture with Santa. This year, we once again made the horrible mistake of going on  Saturday. We really gotta do something about that. It was incredibly packed out. I was shielding K's head from strangers elbows, and we definitely needed a leash of some sort for A-bug. It was just nuts. But we did get our ornaments and our pictures with Santa. A also discovered the Sesame Street display, which made the wait for Santa much more bearable.

So here are some shots of our annual Christmas weekend tradition. What are some annual traditions that you have with your kids?

Family Picture :)

Playing at the Sesame Street display

Had to give the giant Big Bird a hug :)

Every year, we gt a picture of A with these
ear warmers :)

Me and my baby girl

She was not so much thrilled with Santa

K was cool with him, though

Sibling Love

I just wanted to publish a few pictures of A holding K. I never ask her if she wants to hold him - I let her ask me. She's been asking more frequently the past couple of weeks, which makes me happy. Jealousy is still something she's experiencing on a daily basis, so it makes me happy when she says to me,"A- hold baby K- now, please?" :) These pictures are just too precious to keep to myself :)

Holding baby brother's paci in :)

This just cracks me up

<3

Love his smile!

She was being so gentle with him, and he was
just sporting the biggest smile :)

K at 2 months

My little boy eats like a monster. Or a horse. Or a teenager. However you want to put it, this kid eats a ton. And he's growing a ton. You may remember that he only weighted 6 lbs. 8 oz. at birth. After he was born, I was in a bit of a panic, because I was afraid I didn't have enough newborn sized clothes. As small as he was, I thought he would be in them for a couple months at least, and I didn't have enough for that. Boy, was I ever wrong. Before he was 1 month, they were starting to get snug. Now, just after 2 months, he's entirely in 3 and 3-6 month sized clothing. The boy's a beast. I never thought that after A had stayed so small that we would have such a chunker in our family, but we do. And he has taken full possession of that role. Here are a couple shots from his 2 month pictures. You can see the insane size difference when you compare them to his 1 month shots, in which he is still very much in a newborn onesie. In these 2 month pictures, he's squeezed into a 3 monther, and that adorable hat is pretty tight.

Facebook Snapshots

The past couple weeks have been kinda crazy here, and I haven't been able to blog nearly as much as I like. I have, however, had the time to write quick statuses on Facebook about the funny and entertaining things that have been going on in our family. So while this may be redundant for all my Facebook friends, it's nice to consolidate all my statuses about our family in one place every once in a while.

11/20/12

Me: "Aria, what does C-A-T spell?"
Aria: "KITTY!"

11/19/12

We have worked really hard to teach Aria to share... unfortunately, she was under the impression that this also applied to her cold. Kylar and I are both partaking in the runny nose.

11/13/12

I hung up candy canes above our staircase for christmas...aria has been trying for a half hour to reach them. Only 4 feet too short lol...

Not on Facebook

Scene: *Mimi holding a screaming baby K*

A: "Mimi, put Ky-Ky in his chair. He fine. Put him there."

Scene: *me blasting choir music and singing along*

A: "Mommy, no singing, please."

Me: "do you want me to turn on the radio?"

A: "Yes please, mommy. No singing, mommy."

K's "wide awake face" that we normally see around 11 each night.

A's artwork from Sunday School. She's so proud of it that it's
now hanging on my refrigerator :)

K's 1-month Photos

These are by no means professional shots... I just took a couple of him in his room. Special thanks to his Aunt Allie, who gave us the monthly stickers and adorable matching hat :) I can't wait to fill up a frame of his first year, month by month!

One Month... Already?!

Today, my baby boy is 1 month old. Already. Crazy talk. This past month, I have been reminded of what extreme sleep deprivation is all about, how much newborn spit up and how much money I will be saving by nursing this baby instead of using formula. I've also learned for the first time what it's like to really cuddle with a baby... A-bug was never really into that. I've learned that Gripe Water really does work for some kids, just not A. I have come to appreciate nap time on a much higher level than ever before. I have gained a whole other skill level when it comes to multi-tasking. I have eaten more leftovers than food prepared that day (and thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who was a part of bring food to my fridge.)

I have also learned that it is indeed possible to love your second child as much as your first, and that your heart doesn't run out of room. I have watched some of the most adorable moments happen between A and K, and I'll always treasure those nightly kisses she gives him. I have been reminded of how wonderful a feeling it is to watch your new baby carefully studying your face and cooing at you. And there's never so much cuteness as when a newborn yawns and stretches out that teeny-tiny neck, scrunches up his little wrinkly face and momentarily turns himself into ET :) 

Here is some of the adorable-ness that's gone on in our household in the past month :)

Getting kisses from his big sister :)

All dressed up for his first trip to Grandma and Papa's :)

4 generations! Plus Uncle Mike :) 

Chilling outside during the October Indian Summer

I'll never get over those dimples

Sacked out in his Flannel Hoody - just like daddy :)

Piled up in all the blankets :)

I just love this little face :)

Such big eyes :)