deck the halls

These are just a little old, but I'm trying to catch up. We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Birdie loved decorating the tree--and then messing with the ornaments for a month. The two at the bottom are from a neighborhood Christmas party. I've got several posts of Christmas morning pictures and then I'll rejoin the rest of the world already living in 2012!

stricken from the record

So, January has been a bit of a whirlwind. Fortunately, my photography business never slowed down this month like I had anticipated. Unfortunately, that means I have done pretty much zero of the plans I had made. I've made a command decision and have declared that January never happened. That way, all of my thank you notes from Christmas won't be late, it won't be ridiculous to post Christmas morning pictures, and I won't have to remember all of the poo I've been cleaning up the last 30 days. Sounds like a great idea to me.

David and I will celebrate our 17-year dating anniversary tomorrow. I'm happy to say that we are still pretty cutesy-wootsey and leave little love notes for each other every now and then. This is one he came home to when he had to work late the other night--it's a pretty good summary of my January.

What? I remembered the "xoxo."

Vegas, baby!

I took the kids to Vegas a few months ago to visit a friend of ours and her daughter. She and I used to teach together in Colorado. Despite the kids never adjusting to the time difference (4am wakeups) and our very first trip to the emergency room (B dropped a small dumbell on her toe two hours before we were supposed to leave for the airport to come back), we had a blast. Here are some of the highlights:

This is B dancing around in her new fancy socks before we went to the playground.

I hate to leave Winston out of so many pictures, but it's hard to take pics when they're both awake. This is how he spent our playground time.

In all the times I had been to Vegas in the past, I don't think I ever thought that I'd one day be pushing a stroller down the strip, but we did it.

Outside our fave hotel, The Venetian:

The kids couldn't have done any better on the plane rides, and B cracked everyone up when she would always say, "Vegas, baby!" She just saw me working on this and said, "Can we go to Vegas, baby, right now? I have to pack my bag!" Thanks for a great trip, S and A!

9 months

I feel the need to gush. I am so over-the-moon, head-over-heels in love, and any other cliche you can think of. I'm infatuated with this kid, and I feel little heart palpitations when I scoop him up and he hugs my neck so tight. I'm not shy to admit that he's totally in love with me, too; he's a momma's boy. I know that the day will come when I'm no longer his #1 gal, so I'll soak up every second I can.

Baby boy, you are 9 months old today, and I can hardly believe it. We feel so incredibly blessed and lucky to have you in our lives. We love you!

The Big Easy

Big Daddy's new nickname for W is "The Big Easy." It totally suits him. We don't have any New Orleans pics to go with, but here are some from the last time we were in Louisiana.

 

This is from us hanging around the house. I was trying to get a good profile shot for my new header (which is why it's so overexposed), and I thought this one was funny.

even Elf doesn't have days this fun

If you'd like to have a day like Birdie's, it should go something like this:

After playing dress up for a while, settle on a size 12-month swimsuit cover up, and then show off your sweet dance moves.

Spend the next hour wrestling your little brother.

Head to the playground and swing for a while.

Help feed some carrots to baby bro.

Take a bubble bath in the kitchen sink while watching your favorite cartoons.

Do some quick acrobatics before bed:

 If you're ever curious about what we do all day, that's a pretty good summary. Pretty cool.

my girl

"Can I take your order, Sir?"

Birdie and I play pretend all the time with tea parties, princess rescuing, ice cream making, and pet store shopping to name a few. This is "restaurant." She got the idea when she found the jewelry catalog in the recycling bin, and it became her menu. The other patrons are Flopsy and Sweaty Bear, and everyone needed glasses apparently. Love it. 

He loves to laugh...long and loud and clear.

This boy. Words can't describe how my little heart melts every time I scoop him up. Since he's our last baby, I'm trying extra hard to really cherish every moment I can. This kid is the snuggliest, cuddliest, most smooshable little teddy bear baby that ever existed. Birdie loves it when he wakes up from a nap, because I always ask her if she wants to go see him first. She runs in there and says, "Shh, shh. Birdie's here. Birdie's here, Winston." And then she usually climbs into his crib with him and gives him a kiss...and then proceeds to taste test all of the pacifiers in his crib, and the moment's over. And then when I pick him up, he smiles and squeezes me and holds my neck like we haven't seen each other in months. Sigh. 

This is just a cute little video of him laughing. It's not hyperbole to say that I spend hours every day making him laugh. He thinks it's really funny when I do silly voices. Enjoy!

 

a chocolatey face and an afternoon nap

All the signs of a great Thanksgiving:

Happy Thanksgiving!

for the birds

Here's my fam waiting on me to finish a photo shoot. Love these dudes. I'll bet you didn't know Nessie lived in Texas.

How cute is that eyebrow?

What do you mean you've seen this dress before? Wait. Oh, you're right. I have seen this dress before. It was yesterday. And the day before that. Oh, yeah, and the day before that. Her name is Birdie. And she's addicted to being a princess.

so close...

Winston is minutes away from crawling, I think. Check out these moves:

the princess and the pout

B is pouting because her favorite friend can't come out to play yet. She doesn't realize that normal people don't get up and get dressed in full princess attire at 6 am. Well, except for actual princesses. They might.

Little Red

I forgot about our wardrobe change the other day after her first jacket was too wet. Sidenote: we go through several "princess" outfit changes a day these days. Anyway, this was my coat when I was little. So stinkin' adorable.

down came the rain

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've been crazy busy with fun photo shoots, and then I took the kids to Vegas, so I have lots to post. These are from a week or so ago. Pretty cute.

The boys: