Tis the Season

My favorite time of year has arrived: DECEMBER! I'm a Christmas baby, so this month has always been my favorite. I've always felt so honored to have a birthday so close to Jesus, so it's a special time. Once I had my own family, it got even better! Right now life is all Christmas cookies, Christmas shopping, Christmas music, Christmas decorating, and let's not forget Christmas stress (I'm about to turn 30, after all)!

In and around all the Christmas fun are two young tots going about their normal routines wondering why everything is suddenly so frantic. This past Sunday as we were racing about our house trying to get "Sunday stuff" (like cleaning and laundry) done between Church and a family Christmas party, Brady was missing his afternoon nap. Not wanting to go to sleep on his own, he decided to bring his stuffed animals downstairs to the kitchen one by one and make a nice soft place for himself to sleep. We realized what was happening about 4 stuffed animals into it. Miss Brynne was hanging around the whole time emulating her big bro, and hilarity ensued! See for yourself...



Building his pile between runs up and down the stairs...

Like I said, one by one....

"Look how comfy I am!"

"Mom, what's he doing?"

"I guess I'll join him."

 

Needless to say, this little episode gave Jason and I a reason to stop the madness for a quick second and have a chuckle and remember how lucky we are to be parents to these two adorable, amazing, perfect babies. We complain a lot in our sleepless, stressed-out states, but ultimately we couldn't be happier with the family we've created. I look forward to every moment with these two crazies, I'm sure there are many more like this to come.

Merry (Almost) Christmas!

November Moments

It's been a whole month since I have updated this blog. I'd say I was sorry, but the truth is that this month has been so "challenging" that really the last thing on my mind was blogging. For starters, I lost a dear relative--a great aunt from Alabama who was truly a cherished family member. Then, you guessed it--the kids have been sick. Because I am overworked, overstressed and underrested, I've been battling this newest "daycare plague" right alongside them for the past two weeks, so that's been fun. And of course, we have our crazy everyday lives in between to contend with, which is no mean fete! However, in spite of all the "challenges" thrown at us this month, there have been some good times. Brady loves to play in the leaves, and my sweet baby girl is getting so big! See below for some precious "November moments"...

Three generations of Mommy love.

Daddy and his little cupcake.

The Bubba playing outside at Gigi's house.

He loved that!



Room to run! With cousin Lexie.

Stopped to catch his breath...

before getting into the leaves! He can never get enough of them!

Sitting with her Great Papa

That was fun!

An all-time favorite photo of mine. She has his eyes.

A kiss from Grandma

All dressed up for the mini "Grove Reunion" at Grandma F's house.

So adorable!

This is what happens when we try to take a family picture...

Not exactly "picture perfect", but it wouldn't be honest if it were!

Miss Brynne loved the bubbles...

She thinks she's eating an ice cream cone. She might be her mother's child!

Playing with Uncle G and Aunt Jamie

There aren't nearly as many pictures as I'd hoped, and I never got the chance to photograph the many family members we saw, but as per usual I was busy wrangling two babies so the camera had a tendency to sit the game out. This week is Thanksgiving with Papa Lewis and Grandma Jen, I promise to devote some effort to capturing the festivities.

Stay tuned, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Tricks and Treats

Last night was Halloween, and for the first time I can remember we actually had trick-or-treat on the 31st. It rained most of the day so we were nervous, but the weather ended up clearing up pretty well for Brady's first real trick-or-treating experience in our neighborhood. Once he got the hang of putting the candy in his bucket, he had a great time! Grandma and Pop Fischer were able to stop by to help since they don't get too many trick-or-treaters out where they live, and we made it to Aunt Courtney's house a couple blocks over before it got too late and the meltdowns began. We intended to go see Uncle Garrett and Aunt Jamie too, but Miss Brynne had decided she'd had enough being awake by that time and it was time to take her home to bed. It was a fun experience for Brady, and for Brady's parents! Next year will be a much bigger deal, I'm sure.

Lightning McQueen and my little Cabbage Patch Doll were the cutest trick-or-treaters ever! See for yourself...

I can't get enough of this picture! The outfit is the same one my first CPK doll wore when I was little.

Daddy forgot to mention Miss Brynne's hair was falling off when he took this picture.

On the way to the first house!

Lightning McQueen was VERY happy about the candy.

"Gaga" made it just in time for the second house.

Having fun!

There were several shots taken here, and this was the best one. What does that tell you? Lol.

Having a lollipop with Pop.

"Trick-or-treat, Aunt Courtney!"

Brynnie loves her Aunt Courtney but was super tired and ready to go to bed by this point.

The last pic. This is why we didn't make it to Uncle G's.



It was a fun "first" for us. I know there are only so many "firsts" left, so I try to capture each one. This time, unfortunately, I had the wrong lens on the camera and the shots weren't great. I won't make that mistake again!!

Happy Belated Halloween, can't wait until Thanksgiving!

Streets of Treats

This post is a little late coming, but last weekend we went to Mechanicsburg's "Streets of Treats" festival with the kids. It was an event on Main Street where the children could trick-or-treat at the local businesses. Brady had never gone trick-or-treating before since he's only 2, so this was his first experience. It took him awhile to figure it out, and at first he wanted to hold all his candy instead of putting it in his bucket, but eventually he got the hang of it and started having fun. My little "Lightning McQueen" (he wouldn't wear the hat) was adorable, and everyone was complimenting him!

Ready to trick-or-treat!

"Wait, I get candy for no reason???"

"Come on, Daddy, hurry up!"

Scouting the scene.

"What is that big lion?"

"There he is!"

A little uncertain once we got close...

but he warmed up when the candy came out!

Miss B was along for the fun in the baby carrier with Mommy.

True to form, he ate nearly every single piece of candy as soon as we got home. He loved going through that bucket! I guess we will have to prepare to get him to pace himself on the real Halloween, I can hear the sugar-induced tantrums now!

Have a great weekend.

#TBT - Brady (vs. Brynne) at 8 Months - April 2012

Today's Throwback Thursday task is to compare my two little sweeties at 8 months old. So, we are throwing back to April 2012 in the picture on the left, when Brady was 8 months old, as compared to the picture on the right, which was taken on Saturday of Brynnie at 8 months. I see similarities in them every day, but looking at these two side-by-side, there doesn't seem to be much in common! One is the spitting image ("the spit" as the Brits called Prince George yesterday) of his mommy, the other is "the spit" of her daddy. I know one thing for sure--neither of these babies was/is a huge fan of sleeping at 8 months old! I love 'em anyway. See for yourself...



Brady vs. Brynne at 8 Months Old
April 2012/October 2013

 

Another thing is certain--my photography skills have gotten infinitely better since Brady was a baby! His photo was taken with a humble (crappy) camera phone, and Brynnie's was taken with a DSLR and low aperture lens. I tried to pick photos where they have the same look on their face. Sorry Brady! Just because I didn't know how to use a camera back then doesn't mean I love you any less. :)

Happy Thursday!