Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and Happy Underwear...

Oh where does the time go??? On December 21st my baby girl turned a whole year old- and it absolutely baffles me. What a fun year it has been. We've had the privilege of getting to know this sweet, happy, silly little girl and we think we'll keep her!! She has been such an awesome addition to our family and I'm so grateful I get to be the recipient of her little squeezes and kisses everyday. We love you to the moon Emily!

2 weeks old

1year old



Emily's first birthday...

Hmm. This looks interesting. Maybe I'll see what it feels like...

MMMM! Goin' in with both hands.

The famous scowl! She makes this face every time she's eating something she likes.

Oh wait, there's still some left on my arm!



Whatever that stuff was- it was awesome!



Hey I'm ready for round two...or a bath.



So excited to have my very first Graham Cracker...



...And I like it!

Emily's first doll and her new Glow Worm. She loves them both, but for some reason she spends most of her time trying to dig their eyes out. Yikes.

Trying out her new cell phone! Hey- you can never start to young (Just kidding- she won't be getting a real one til she's at least 16...)!

My adorable little ragamuffin.

And on to Christmas...

Our mini Christmas tree

Jason helped David write this note for Santa. We're pretty sure it's what sealed the deal that Santa is real because he just couldn't believe it the next morning when the cookie was eaten, the milk was gone, and he really did get tools!

The table all ready for our big Christmas breakfast. Cinnamon Rolls and fresh squeezed Orange Juice with Grandma and Grandpa Ray.

The only present Emily actually opened on her own. She was burned out already after this one.

David LOVES Walle. He was pretty proud to have his very own.

This was actually a last minute "throw - in" - you know, the gift had no real thought behind it, I just saw it and thought what the heck, I'm sure he'll play with it...and of course it ended up being his very favorite. Kids are so funny.

We waited until we were all done opening gifts and then told David to look behind the couch. Santa had left him a big present.

TOOLS!!! He was so excited!! It was short lived though. As soon as he realized he didn't know how to get the box open he just went back to his new truck. I was dying! Don't worry, after Daddy and Grandpa Ray (and with a little help from David) got the tool bench put together he was a happy little repair man. EVERYTHING in our house has been fixed!! Jason won't have to have a honey-do list for a while!

And the best Christmas gift of all- well to me, at least... ....David got potty trained!!!! Sort of. Ya, it's a little bittersweet. He's totally pee trained...but not poo trained. HELP!!! It is sooo gross! Does anyone have any advice on how to make this happen? I am so proud of him though. It was a rough, messy, and frustrating couple of days but really all it took was commitment from me. I had to be the one to not give in and put a diaper on him. Once he realized I wasn't going to do that -he realized he was going to have to figure it out. And it worked! Yeah for big boy underwear!

This is a random picture but the other day when Emily had gotten quiet I went to investigate. She had crawled behind the chair with an all but empty box of Kix she scored from the trash can and was having a moment to herself just sitting there enjoying her spoils. I had a good chuckle. I'm still trying to figure out how she crawled while transporting the box of kix. I'm sure she had some help from her older and 'encouraging' brother!