Our First Christmas as a Family of Four!

Despite the calendar having rolled over to 2014, let's revisit Christmas 2013, shall we? I'm a bit behind on blog posts :)

Our first Christmas as a family of four was pretty uneventful - and that was just how we wanted it to be! Still fresh into the journey from a family of three to a family of four, I just couldn't quite bear the thought of packing up all the stuff you need for a tiny little person and hauling it, the two kids, and our dog several hours south to the in-laws, and so we opted to stay at home and see them over the weekend instead for Ava's party (a post to come on that Monday!). Though I do prefer the bigger family Christmases of my own family, it was a nice change of pace to be at home and able to do what we wanted to do with the kiddos, and starting our own traditions for our own family. 

We started the holiday season off with a trip to see the jazz nutcracker, and then opted to skip the Trail of Lights this year in favor of checking out Mozart's famed light show instead:

We also baked some (dairy-free!) sugar cookies for her end-of-the-semester holiday party at school:

On Christmas Eve, we generally let Ava open one pre-selected present (spoiler alert: it's Christmas books to read before bedtime), but this year we had a second gift for her to open: a gingerbread house kit! I had been to the Thinkery (our new children's museum) the week before and saw that they were selling their workshop kits, so I thought it would be a perfect time (and age!) to start this tradition!

Then we let Ava put the new tree topper on top of the tree - she chose the star earlier that day:

Before bed, we put out some cookies for Santa, and carrots for his reindeer, and anxiously awaited Santa's arrival!

As for Christmas morning, Santa was good to us this year! Ava had asked only for a bike, but her grandparents had her covered on that one, and so he brought her a playhouse that you can assemble and color - he must have remembered her playing with one at Stella's house! She had also requested new bath toys, paints, and for "him to bring toys for her baby brother", and so those things arrived as well :)

 Her bike was the last thing she got, and so we had her close her eyes and surprised her with it! It's safe to say it was a hit!

Baby Jack's first Christmas!

How was your Christmas? Was Santa good to you? And at what point do you transition from training wheels to without?

Happy New Year!

Happy, happy new year, friends! This is a picture of three of the four of us from a kid-friendly NYE party last night. Ava was too busy being the object of two little boys' affection as they vied for her attention to join us!

Hope you all had a fantastic end to 2013, and wishing you many blessings in the coming year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, from our Longhorn-loving family to yours!

Halloween 2012: My Little Ladybug!

I've gotten a renewed sense of just how much fun Halloween can be since becoming a mother, and this year was no different! Like in years past, we enjoyed our playgroup's annual Halloween parties for both big kids and the little kids, as well as a Halloween party and trick-or-treating the night of.

Check out all the fabulous costumes!

Our annual Halloween party for the big(ger) kids, complete with treats, trick-or-treating and a treasure hunt, and potato sack races!

And then for the little ones:

The big event, however, is always the D's big Halloween shindig, which begins with apps and drinks, and this year ended with a golf cart full of kids, roadies, and Halloween jammies! What more could you want from the start of the holiday season?

Here's my little ladybug in action:

Happy (oh-so-belated) Halloween, y'all!

Happy Easter!

Valentine's Parties (A Week Late).

Oops.

Anyhow, V-Day was pretty dang awesome this year, with us hitting up not one but two Valentine's parties with my mom's group. The earlier one, for the younger kiddos not in school, was held at a local park we love, and the second and one of our favorite places around town: Kids n Play!

At our first Valentine's party (and yes that is the same outfit from last year, just now it is capris instead of pants :)):

My happy Valentine!

Me and the ladies :)

Onto our second party of the day...

Sliding down alone this time:

She really got into the whole Valentine's card giving!