Christmas Blessings

Ivy and Isa's first Christmas of sharing gifts.

This time of year, I always find myself reminded of the blessings in life, the greatest being the gift of Jesus born to us all on the first Christmas day.  Although it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of choosing and comparing, buying and wrapping, I actually find it much easier to focus on the true meaning of Christmas now that I have Ivy and Isabella.  Birthdays have become rather mundane as the "big" ones have passed for me, but for my children birthdays are still something anticipated and special - something to prepare for and celebrate!  I have found new meaning in Christmas as Jesus' birthday when I think about it with the same anxiousness as my girls do (well, at least Ivy does).  Santa may not be a part of the "real" Christmas story, but his gift giving and generosity certainly fit well when considering the birthday story of Jesus, so instead of having the two be opposing, I've decided to try to incorporate Santa into the true meaning of Christmas.  So... without further ado, I give you this year's Santa photo!

Isa is not a big fan of any bearded men, but we tricked her into a grin!

Besides the general Christmas fun, this year was extra-special because for the first time in 63 years, we had a true White Christmas with snow falling from 9:30 on Christmas morning all the way through the night.  In total we got about 7.5 inches!  A Christmas Day record (there's been two other Christmas Day snows on record)!

This was the first time for Isa to really experience the snow - and she LOVED it!

Ivy has long been a snow bunny!

Kayser had a blast pulling the sled.  He kept dashing around and frolicking in the snow!

It has been a wonderful holiday, a much needed vacation from work and school, a chance to focus on my family - especially my little girls who are so much fun and bring light to our lives.  A true time of blessings, and I hope I haven't taken a single one for granted.

My loves, enjoying some Christmas morning love.

Thankful

We have spent this month being ever so thankful for the blessings of love and the privilege of family.  Our dear friend Brooke, who is family by choice, took our family pictures this year.  We almost waited too long, the leaves changing color and falling too quickly for us this year.  Luckily, we found a tree that had kept its gorgeous yellow leaves, and those that had fallen stayed piled up below, just waiting for a little girl to jump in.  Although we are not an easy crew - the pouting, the stubbornness, the distractions abounding, the sunglasses - Brooke snapped away and captured some moments that are really, truly our lives.

Thankful for friends...

Thankful for fun...

 Thankful for family...

November Girls!

Alex and I would probably never have chosen to have our kiddos in November - it's not an easy month for a teacher to be out, and I'm not crazy about the birthstone :)  - but that is the month that God saw fit for our beauties to be born.  And so, we celebrated them both this year with the first of hopefully many double birthday parties.

Although we had a much smaller guest list than we anticipated, we had family around us, and love.  That's what mattered most.  Ivy had a good time opening her gifts, and helping Isabella, too.  Isa was just in it for the cake - literally!

Even if we didn't plan it, we are completely and fully blessed by these two borrowed angels.... Happy birthday to our girls!

All Hallows' Eve

We made cupcakes to get in the spooky spirit...

And most of the sprinkles made it on to the cupcakes.... kind of.  :)

We took pictures with pumpkins...

All of our pumpkins...

We trick-or-treated with friends...

Isa was the cutest little chicken who really did cross the road - many times!

I was a stunning Cinderella.

We took our show on the road to visit Aunt Shirley and Uncle Jack...

And then we went to our first trunk-or-treat at our church.  There was an amazing crowd and Ivy had a ball!  It feels nice to be part of a church community that really gets involved.

Isa didn't pick up much candy, but she had a good time, too!

And we tried to get our traditional Halloween shot, but it was a little more tricky this year!

 

 

 

We had an absolutely wonderful fall weekend and I, for one, hated to see the fun and excitement end - except that it doesn't really, because in just 10 days we'll have a ONE year old!  And in 13 days we'll have a party!  And in 15 days we'll have a FOUR year old!  This life is busy, amazing, and richly blessed!

A Green Giveaway!

In case you're not friends with me on fb, you may not know about the giveaway going on on my friend Amber's blog. Just the other day I was thinking about the waste we create by using so many ziploc baggies. MintLane on Etsy has a really neat solution - snack bags made from washable cotton! I hope you'll check out Amber's blog - but I hope you don't win! :)

What's this? A blog? How does that work?

Yes, I know. It's been a while. I'd call this post "Too Long" but I've already used that title. When I started this blog, my original plan was to save the pages for a scrapbook. Now that I've found a great blog-book company, my endeavor would be even easier, but I can't seem to find time to post.

I'll be very honest with you, part of the problem is grad school, and part of the problem was the addition of a TV with DVR to my bedroom. I never realized how easy it was for me to be in there cleaning, homeworking, putting away laundry watching TV until we switched back to cable and I went back to OLD SCHOOL TV. I find myself spending more time in the living room, more time in the kitchen, and I'm getting to bed a tad bit earlier.

So, my goal is to get back to posting so that poor little Isa can have a blog book that includes pictures of her growing as well... it may not be weekly, but I'm going to shoot for biweekly blogs at the least. Also, I've gotten in the habit of posting an entire album on facebook, but then there seems like there's even less of a reason for me to post here, so I'm going to try to divide what I share between the two places.

Now, on to life. On September 24th, our family grew by two. Kayser and Jolene, two English Mastiffs, joined our home. Kayser was 10 weeks, and Jolene was 12.

I had told Alex that I didn't want the puppies to come home until Isa was walking, and she obliged by putting her tentative steps together on September 11th, and then really walking within just a few days.

Ivy started PreK at one of my schools this year and she has adjusted fairly well. I've done my own fair share of adjusting and feel very blessed - but I'm still looking for sponsors for my turn as a SAHM.
Alex was promoted in September and that has been another blessing. I thought for sure we'd have to move (I was hoping for Florida) in order to take a lab manager's position, but as luck would have it, he moved into the lab manager spot at the office where he was already working.

Now, we are preparing for the busy season ahead of us... Halloween with two girls next weekend, a week before double birthdays and a party, a week before Thanksgiving, and then we gear up for Christmas. I'll have lots to share during this full and exciting time, so stay tuned! :)

Too Long!

Has it really been two months since I updated this blog? Poor Isa, she's not getting quite the cyber-attention that Ivy got. That couldn't be because two keep me more busy than one, nor could it be because if I sit at a computer I' usually working on grad school (I graduate in March. March people! Three classes left!!!) No, those are really not the reasons...I think the biggest reason for a lack of posting is that every day is so much fun that nothing stands out as something I should blog about! And that's a good problem to have!Ivy has been a terrific big sister as she and I have spent lots of time together with Isabella. Isabella is quiet remarkable: she is alternately pushing the envelope of what babies her age should be doing (5 teeth, cruising, 7 months???) and crying her eyes out because she got bumped, or toppled over, or had to sit in the bathtub. She's delicate, that one. My favorite thing about her right now is the way she lays her head against my shoulder and nuzzles my neck when she's being bashful.Ivy makes me laugh every single day. From her countdown (5, 4, 60, 80, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, SURPRISE!) to her unexpected moments of plain old slap-stick funniness. She is also the smartest three year old I know...but then again she's the only one I know, so...it could be that I'm a tad biased! She is learning my phone number in case she needs to call me from a real phone (she can call me from Alex's cell or him from mine...but real phones don't have our names). She is determined to dress herself most days, and she is also VERY ready to go to school with me next year. Look out, Miss Gigi! :)As for Alex and I, we are fine. Alex is working hard to kill all of our grass - seriously. Not really the grass, but the bermuda (or crab?) grass that is taking over. He's also built a deck for the pool, with a little help from Ivy of course. I am enjoying the time with the girls, reminding myself that these are days I will not get to do over again. We are painting with watercolors, playing with play-doh, going to the park, going to the science center, playing dress-up, picking blackberries, picking blueberries, making smoothies, swimming, building sand castles, and watching Max & Ruby so that even Isabella seems to know the theme song from memory!
I can't promise anything because of the cuteness you've just seen, but I'll try not to be so long in updating again!