Christmas 2014

Christmas came and went extremely fast this year!  I spend months prepping and buying and it's all over in a few weeks.  We put the tree up after Thanksgiving, but due to us being out of town for two weeks, we left it up until mid-January so we could enjoy it.  This year, we bought a new tree (7.5ft) and I was very happy with it.  I could fit all of the ornaments on it, with plenty of space to spare.  This was also the first year we had furniture in the living room, so it more cozy.

 I couldn't keep Izzie away from the tree if I tried.  I put most of our indestructible ornaments towards the bottom, but she was pretty good about keeping her hands off (after enough warnings).

Brady always loves the tree as well.  He loves pointing out all the ornaments that are his and he has collected over the years. 

As always, Santa came to our house early because we aren't home on Christmas Day.  As per tradition, the kids went outside to throw magic reindeer food to bring the reindeer to our house. 

 Time to put out cookies, carrots, and milk!

 Izzie took a seat next to the plate and decided to eat the carrots.  She liked dunking them in the milk too (I think she thought it was ranch).

 She had the right idea that the carrots were for the reindeer.  She started feeding her Clarice the carrots she had already partially munched upon.

 Brady loving on Rudolph.

 Izzie's "cheese" face.

 Coming down in the morning.  Izzie bumped her head on the gate prior to coming down, so she wasn't so happy.

 The only item Brady asked Santa for this year was the Paw Patrol tent.  Guess Santa was listening ;)

 Chase and Skye from Paw Patrol were waiting for him in his stocking.

 Izzie got Minimus from Sofia the First in her stocking.

Showing off her slippers. 

Overall it was a very good Christmas for the kids.

Visit with Santa 2014

Every year since Brady's been a baby (minus our year in Disney), we have gone to the same mall for Santa pictures.  They are the best because they do appointment times rather than a standing line.  Last year, we made the mistake of waiting until December, paired with a Friday, and it was a disaster.  Our appointment time was four hours from when we arrived, so I spent most of my day driving around getting other things done while waiting for our private audience time.  This year, I decided we would be going before Thanksgiving in an effort to get in more quickly.  He came on Saturday, November 15, and we decided we would go the next day, as Brady has school Monday through Thursday, and Friday was a madhouse the last time.  That also meant Andy could come as well.  He had never seen the kids see Santa, minus when we took Brady to Disney.  The only hiccup is that they don't do appointment times on the weekends, and it's a regular line.  They open for Santa daily at 8AM, but the mall didn't open until noon, so we decided if we went early, we shouldn't have a long line, especially so soon after his arrival.  We got there around 10AM and walked right in to see Santa!  I was so pleased, we will definitely be doing it the same time next year.

 Brady has never once been terrified and screamed when it came to Santa.  He had been rehearsing all the things he was going to ask for weeks in advance.  He ran right up to him and jumped onto his lap.

 Izzie let Brady go first and that might have been wise because she's got an attitude and won't do anything she doesn't want to do.  I thought for sure this was going to be our first year with a screamer.  She did great!

 A look back at all five (FIVE?!?!?! can you believe it?) visits with Santa.

Izzie's comparison from last year.  It's unbelievable when we look at videos and pictures from a year ago how much she has changed!  Her hair is certainly one of the more visible changes.  It's so long, curly, and unruly now!  She's almost two now and has lost almost all of her "babiness."

The together shot comparision from last year.  Izzie was more smiley last year, but it's so much harder to get them both looking now.  We'll see what future visits hold for our family.

Happy Halloween 2014

I try to keep the kids' Halloween costumes each year a secret and mail a picture card to close friends and family in October to reveal them.  This year was no exception.  I'm usually a year (or two) ahead on these so I knew over a year ago that they'd be Pebbles and Bam Bam this year, I just couldn't resist due to Izzie's natural red hair.  I recruited the help of my mom who made all of our Halloween costumes growing up to make theirs.  And yes, next year's costumes have already been either purchased or acquired (Brady will be wearing one of my brother's homemade costumes from our childhood).  They will still be a cohesive theme ;)

The night before Halloween, we finally got around to carving the pumpkins we had picked out at the pumpkin patch.  Izzie was fascinated by the seeds and quite a few of them ended up in her mouth, but none of them were eaten raw.

This was Brady's fifth Halloween, so by now, he's an old pro at carving pumpkins.

She decided to pose for me when I had the camera out.

To prove it wasn't a fluke, she did it for me twice!

Andy carved Izzie's and since she's obsessed with Sophia the First (So-So as she says it), we printed a template.  It was certainly the most intricate pumpkin we've ever carved and Andy did a great job!

I was in charge of Brady's and after poking in all the holes for the Mario pumpkin, I took the template away and couldn't even tell which pins were for which part.  It also didn't help that we only had one pumpkin carving knife and I settled for a steak knife, which is a lot bigger and harder to move around to make curves.  I did the hat, then the rest kind of became a standard face.  We'll know better next year, but he was happy anyway.

As for actual Halloween, we've had a mixed bag in our three fall's in this house in Michigan.  The first year was chilly, but not too bad, and Brady came home covered in sweat.  Last year, it was 70 degrees but rainy.  This year, the weather forecast was not kind to us.  It was calling for wind chills of 29 degrees and 25-30 mph winds, with rain on top of it all.  Izzie had a cold and it was decided that she'd have to sit this year out, which bummed me out because it was supposed to be her first year going door-to-door.  Andy got sick and was so bad that he even stayed home from work that day.  We spent all day debating who was going to take Brady out as I had recently had LASIK surgery and couldn't be out in the wind and rain.  Ultimately, Andy went with Brady (wearing a full set of clothes under his nude unitard, with fleece costume overtop, and a winter coat), and Brady was sweet enough to share his candy with his sister.  He offered some to us as well, but we still had enough left over from what we had bought to hand out.  Despite the poor weather, we had a really good turnout and I'd say we easily went through 5-6 bags of candy.  Hopefully next year will be a tad warmer and less rainy.