December

It came, it went. Flew by like it always does! It's probably my favorite month of the year. There are so many fun festivities, including both my girls' birthdays. There's always something to do. It just seems magical! The kids are excited, I get to shop a lot, the house is sparkly.. it's just fun and exciting!

I was so happy that everyone ended up healthy for Christmas- Isabelle and I got the flu the week before, and Ruby had an ear infection the week after, but we made it through perfectly for Christmas Day! So nice since it seems that kids always get sick for Christmas.

We had a fabulous month going to see lights and visiting Santa.  I hope the kids were able to realize the importance of the season and how wonderful it is to celebrate the birth of our Savior. They spent lots of time rearranging all of our nativities, and I loved finding all of the people in a circle around baby Jesus, just the way it should be. I love that even at barely two years old, Ruby would arrange them that way!

Santa brought the kids lots of good stuff! They must've been very good to get the stuff they asked for. We had so much fun watching them on Christmas morning! It's so nice to use the"Santa's watching" card for good behavior through the month. My girls loved Santa! We probably visited him at least eight times.

I always wish December would last longer. That's why I like to start it a little early. I had the house decorated before Thanksgiving this year, which made it less hectic to get done and gave us more time to enjoy the season. It's such a special month that I think we should celebrate it for as long as we can!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the month. It's hard to choose!

Pretty girls!

This is the real Santa who comes to our party each year!

Isabelle's request was Barbie's Campout.

Ruby asked for a baby doll.

Cuddling up to my Grandma Wilson who she calls Grandma Wilson Chair. This is because Isabelle thinks wheelchairs are called Wilson chairs because Grandma has one. We don't correct them because it's too funny!

I just love a sweet sleeping picture. It's exhausting being two.

Isabelle with her gingerbread house she made at preschool.

Isabelle's Christmas program for preschool.

Isabelle's two cousins are in her class. Ike's not much into performing, but the girls love it! The only reason he's even on-stage is because he was paid to be!

Cute little elf.

My mom calls these girls Thing One and Thing Two because they like to rearrange her house when they get together.

Can't believe they got so big!

We painted Daddy a Christmas present. Ruby's had about twenty layers.

Joseph Smith Building at Temple Square. The lights were beautiful, of course! I got hit with the flu on the way home though.

Cute pose!

A little performance of "Tapping, Tapping Little Elf." The grandkids did a talent show one night, but Isabelle had to go home sick, so she performed it for us a different night. Ruby is her little shadow.

The girls made beautiful pictures for Santa.

Christmas Eve. All ready for Santa to come!

Santa brought new baby dolls. So sweet!

Isabelle must've been good because she got the Barbie's Campout she wanted! It is quite the toy!

Ruby got a dollhouse of her own. She must've destroyed Sissy's one too many times. Of course Isabelle immediately offered to trade hers for the new one.

Our family on Christmas.

Love this girly!

Ruby in front of her Christmas tree.

And Isabelle with her tree.

James and his mini-me.

Daddy's girls.

I'm so lucky!

Isabelle took this picture. Not too shabby!

First time playing in the snow this season, and first time ever for Ruby. We just had to layer her up because she has no snow clothes. 

One Month

It's hard to believe that our baby is due one month from today! It's crazy! I am having so many mixed emotions right now- I'm basically losing it. I feel excited, but scared. I feel anxious. I feel lots of guilt- over everything. I am tired of being pregnant, yet I wish I still had longer. I hurt. I have sciatica so bad that there are times I literally can't walk. I love feeling my little one kicking around inside, but I also can't wait to hold the baby in my arms.

I have so much gratitude for all of those who have been helping me so much lately, especially for my parents. They have both helped a lot with my kids and my mom has spent a lot of time helping me with all of the deep cleaning. I have been in a serious nesting phase this past week freaking out about my house and preparing. I have organized every closet and drawer in the house. This might be the cause for the exhaustion I am also feeling!

The girls seem excited for the baby to come. I know Isabelle is, because she tells me every day. She always hugs the baby. Ruby puts her face right on my stomach and wiggles her head and says, "I lub you baby!" I'm so worried about how she'll feel when the baby actually gets here. She's been the center of attention in the family for so long and I hate to see her feelings be hurt.

I have no intuition/inclination as to what the baby is. I'm not really guessing because I've been wrong both times before! Isabelle had a dream last night that it was a boy, and I dreamt it was a girl, so no one is on the same page. I truly don't care either way.

So much to do over the next few weeks! Both of my girls were early, but I don't anticipate that this time for some reason. We haven't talked about induction with the doctor yet, so I guess we'll just wait and see. For now I'll be busy enjoying my girls and hubby, and these last weeks as our family of four!

And just because I'm not a fan of posts without pictures, here's a pic of my princesses. Oh, how I love them!

Where Did Those 5 Years Go?

Isabelle turned five on December 29th! I can't believe she's that old... and I know I can't possibly be old enough to be her mom! She's definitely been a light in our life. There is never a dull moment with Isabelle around. She is an amazing little person and has been my best friend from day one.

Isabelle had a Barbie themed family birthday party. She decided for her daytime activities she wanted to go bowling and to Red Robin Yum. That's what she calls it, and it's her favorite restaurant. We had a fun day with just our little family. We had family over that night for her party where we added to our already full collection of new Christmas toys. She had a great time and can unwrap a gift in about .4 seconds.

The next day Isabelle had a friend party at the Chick-Fil-A restaurant. She had ten friends come and she would've liked to invite more! We played Bingo, had lunch, had cupcakes and opened presents, and played in the playland. It was an easy, fun party! We had to take Ruby to the doctor right after for an ear infection (first one in a while and I hope for no more since she almost had to get tubes last year). Overall, I think Isabelle had a fantastic 5th birthday!

Here are some special things about Isabelle at age 5!

*She loves preschool and is getting very good at writing.  She loves to make pictures for people and practice writing everyone's names. She is getting to be such a good artist and the pictures she colors are detailed and always inside the lines.

* She has a bit of road rage. Don't know where she gets it. We came upon some traffic the other day and she yelled, "drive your stupid cars idiots!"

* She says the words "freaking" and "frickin" a lot.  We were at Wendy's yesterday and she took a drink and said, "oh my heck that's a freaking good Coke! It made my eyes water!" Ya, that sounds like something I would say.

* She says her daddy is the cutest boy in the world. I agree.

* She is so excited for the new baby. She really loves babies lately and she and Ruby visit them everywhere we go.

* She is very good at gymnastics. She never stops! She and one other little girl are the youngest in their class with kids as old as nine. She does a perfect cartwheel and almost has a front walkover figured out. They're working on their handsprings now too. She loves gymnastics and dance!

* She loves to sing. She's big into Justin Bieber! She got a Justin Bieber Paper Jams guitar and a Paper Jams kareoke machine for her birthday, and she gets very into it! She did tell me that she's decided to wait until she's eleven to become a rockstar. She says she'll be a rockstar when she's a teenager and a mom when she grows up.

* She likes to watch talented kids on You Tube lately, so she's been watching some clips from America's Got Talent. Then she plays it herself. She does her trick (she now wants to be a contortionist and she's pretty good at it), then asks the pretend judges what they think. I heard her playing and one judge said, "absolutely yes." Then the next judge said, "precious, but no." She's so funny!

* She is a good big sister. She takes good care of Ruby, especially when we go to places with playlands- she's her bodyguard. She takes a lot from Ruby lately, since Ruby has started being a bit of a handful, pulling hair and hitting.

* She is still a night owl. I like that she usually sleeps in until about ten or later, but she gets really wired at night. James was gone late the other night so we were all just falling asleep on the couch (at least we were supposed to be). Ruby and I were delirious and Isabelle was doing tricks and dancing wildly. Girl's got moves.

*She has grown up so much over the last year. She is such a nice little girl! I am so proud of her!

Birthday breakfast. James made a birthday picture on her new Lite-brite.

Birthday lunch at Red Robin Yum.

 

 

She still loves horses. They're always a big hit, and she's been wanting a Maximus and Flynn Ryder.

She got $30 for her birthday! She loves money and I'm waiting til a day when we're pretty bored to take her to Toys R Us.

This little kareoke machine's been a big hit! It makes you sound like a pro.

I made her a book like I made for Ruby with pictures of her. It's so much fun to look at!

Her cake was a crown, although I thought it kind of looked like a house. Oh well, I've filled my cake-making quota for a while.

Isabelle's friends (minus her cousin Ike who was hiding from the cow). Cute kids!