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 

Family and some maternity shots

Family Vacation Pictures and Memories

One of my favorite places on the planet is a state park in southern West Virginia, Pipestem State Park. My family has been going yearly since I was Aria's age, and I've only missed the annual vacation twice in all those years. It makes my heart so happy that Aria will grow up with family memories at some of the same places I did. She will learn to swim at the same pool, play on the same (although recently updated) play grounds, explore the same mountains and hopefully grow close to the same family as I did. 

When I was growing up we camped in the adjacent campground, but at this point in our lives, our families have all been "camping" in the cabins. I hope to some day convince Josh to rent an RV and camp in the campground at least one year when the kiddos are growing up. I have such great memories of bikes rides through the campground, dinners over an open fire and falling asleep to the sound of crickets and raccoons rustling outside our camper. :) Josh isn't quite sure he's up to "roughing it." Our cabins come with hot, running water, electricity and a fully functional kitchen. It's the most luxurious "camping" experience you can imagine ;)

Unfortunately, Aria was in a kind of crabby, clingy mood most of the week due to teething, so we didn't get as many pictures of her with family members as I had hoped, but here are a few. I hate that she only sees this part of the family twice a year, but when we get together, we really make the most of it :)

This year, Aria learned how to swim with her swimmies all by herself and played on the playground. The swings and slide were, as usual, her favorites. She loves climbing up the stairs on her own and sliding down all by herself. She also loved walking around the cul-de-sacs and watching for deer. I can't wait to make more memories as the years go on with our new baby boy and new family members coming in.

Sitting with Great-Grandma Moore and Aunt Izzie on the front porch

Getting ready to go swimming with Emmy

Hanging out with daddy and Papa Moore

Eating "cake" for breakfast with G.G. Moore

Riding the tram with Mimi down to the river

Family picture...they were mostly unsuccessful 

Playing with rocks with Emmy

Walking with daddy and Grandpa

I love this smile :) She hijacked cousin Danielle's broken tryke 

One of the rare shots of us together at the playground :)

Mackinaw Family Vacation

Over Labor Day weekend, we headed up to Mackinaw City and Island - Josh and Aria's first time being up there. It was also our first family vacation with just the 3 of us. Even though it was only 2 days long, we made a lot of memories and had a great time. We toured the island on Saturday, after spending Friday in the city checking out the local food and shopping. It was nice being away from everything and just enjoying each other's company.

Vacation Recap :)

We took Aria on her first real family vacation this past week to the same place where my first family vacation was - Pipestem, WV. It's a beautiful state park and resort with camp grounds, cottages (where our family now stays), a gorgeous lodge, 2 swimming pools, lots of hiking and, of course, breath taking views. This was also the first time Josh had been able to come, since last year I went into labor early the day before we were supposed to leave.

Aria had an absolute blast. Between the fawning attention of all my extended family to the daily trips to the pool, there was never a dull moment for her. We took her on walks and even a tram ride down the mountain :) It was great to get away for a few days and hang out as a family.

Today's the day...

We're leaving for vacation today with Aria - her first major car trip since Christmas, only this time, we'll all be hanging out in her space. Let's all hope and pray she still sleeps... updates will follow :)

Weekend Wrap-up and Pictures at Mimi's (and Grandpa's)

Well, I survived my long weekend without my Bug, and she seemed to do pretty well herself. She was actually very stressed out when my mom came to drop her off. She still doesn't adapt to major changes very well, and being transplanted from my parents' house to ours' during her nap made her not so very happy. But it wasn't too long before she was back on the group crawling around to all her favorite places and happy chewing on her toy's faces again :) It didn't take her long till she was crawling in her toy tote again and heading straight towards the microwave cart - another favorite :)

My mom also kept me updated with some pictures and frequent phone calls, so I wouldn't miss my baby too much :) Here are some of the pictures that show Aria having fun at her grandparent's house :) (Pardon the quality of some of the pictures, they were taken on a phone and some were taken in bad light.)

Doing her "mouth thingy" and playing with Great-Granny

COOKIE!!!

Exploring in Mimi's living room

All ready for church in her new dress and bow :)