Christmas for Thanksgiving And Other Catch Up

OK, here we are a week away from Christmas in December and I haven't even posted pictures from Christmas in November! The past two years my mom and Chuck have come to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and we have gone all sorts of festive and done Christmas early with them. It's a lot of fun, and as a super big kid who LOVES presents, it's fun to know I get some a little early :))). Chase had a GREAT Christmas from Nana & Grandad since he got his new train table that he has been wanting oh so badly. Thank you Chuck for putting it all together. It took you a long time, but would have taken me FOREVER! 

Everyone got in on the tree trimming this year…a nice break for me!

 Present wrapping in full effect...

 I don't think Chase was as scared as he looks!...

 My little "elf" passing out gifts!

 Let the opening begin!

 Audrey had fun too…with the paper!!!

 I think she likes her little beret :)

 Waiting patiently for his last present!...

 So excited to put it together!

 Who would have known it would take an additional two hours AFTER all the time Chuck spent on it prior!

 Thank you Nana!

 He's since spent many hours playing with it…and I moved it to the playroom keeping my family room clean!

Chase also celebrated Thanksgiving at school with a few songs and a "feast." He was so cute with the songs but didn't seem to really get when he was supposed to sing. I think he was a little shy in front of the crowd!

Audrey also got to meet her Texas friend Payten over the Thanksgiving weekend. They were born exactly one week apart (Payten is the oldest)…they had fun checking each other out and we are super excited to visit them in March!

 Hey Payten…Check out my toy!

Connor stopped by for a rare opportunity to have both of his gals in one spot :)

Stephine had a (SUCCESSFUL) surgery to remove a tumor from her brain earlier in the month and can I just say, like always, she ROCKED IT?! Yes, she was at our house for dinner THE DAY she got out the hospital. Mighty impressive if I might say so myself! Pete and Katy were also in town to visit...

 New trucks for Chase from Pete & Katy…HIS FAVORITE!

Chase checking in on Audrey first thing in the morning…

Christmas Baking!

Totally behind. Again. Surprise, Surprise! Here are pics from our annual cookie baking day. We finally got to meet baby Olivia…she is just such a doll! Wishing I wouldn't have eaten so many of the cookies right about now, but we sure did have a fun day! Thanks Auntie Aye for putting together such a great cookie day this year!

December 10 on 10

For those of you who follow my blog, you know I am an avid fan of The Bloom Forum. It is a wonderful place where I can learn, grow and share. This month I bring you a new project and a new opportunity for me to document my family. Plain, uncensored, and real. It is not only a way for me to join a fabulous group of girls for some photo fun, it is a way for me to connect with my family and remember the little things about life that make it so sweet. This project is pretty simple: 10 photos in one day | taken roughly every hour for 10 hours | posted on the 10th of the month. I hope you join me on this new photo journey and then head on over to the fabulous Roses and Rattles Photography of Central New Jersey,  to see her images for the day. xoxo

7'ish am  |  Baby girl is independent. Ridiculously so. Maybe takes after mama? Played with a little different post processing here and added a soft tint. Not really my style but worked for this image...

9am  |  Pinocchio made his way into our garland last night.

11am  |  Waiting to go to lunch and catching up on some serious reading. My post processing play worked for this image too...

1pm  |  Catching up with an old friend for lunch

2:30pm  |  The server took our picture…Not too bad on his part :)

4pm  |  Tired boy strikes a pose.

7pm  |  Dinner with friends…across the street. We are lucky :)

8'ish pm  |  The box says it all.

9pm  |  Waaaayyyy past bedtime. And fighting it.

11pm  |  Major Tree bokeh. Not much else to photograph right about now!

Seven Months!

This month I'm forgoing Audrey's sweet monthly numbers and sharing an image from her recent photo shoot for Thirsties Diapers. Audrey is a proud wearer of these easy to use reusable diapers and they are coming out with a new line of all in one…no stuffing, folding, or separate pieces. They are easy peasy! Luckily for A, she's the right age to be a Thirsties spokesmodel so she, along with her good friend Charleigh, played in front of my camera for some images for the new Thirsties ads!

 My personal favorite is below…hello Sassy!

Besides spending her days in the fashion world, Audrey is mastering the art of the army crawl. She doesn't much care to get up and rock back and forth in prep for a real crawl. I'm thinking she may army crawl her way around the world until she decides to walk. She's also doing really well with her solid foods. She's progressed so much in the past month. Her FAVORITE food is a pumpkin/apple mix with a little added cinnamon. She's also talking (baby babble of course) a TON and last night when she woke up to eat (yes, she's still waking 1x/night to eat, we are working on that one) Mike swore she said "mama." I'm not really buying it but for memory's sake, lets just say that Mama was her first word!

Gilcrease Ranch

A few weeks ago (maybe months?!) we headed out to Gilcrease Ranch to do some veggie picking. Not only did I not know that such a cool place existed in Vegas (eggplant, zucchini, squash growing in Vegas? Who would have thought!) but I was SO excited to see that they also had fresh backed apple cider donuts.  Let me tell you, these donuts are one of my favorite memories from living in Portland and something I always miss in the fall. But now instead of a 3 hour flight I just have a (slightly long) drive across town. I'm so glad I got to share them with Chase and A (well, A just looked at them but she seemed to think they smelled good!). Seriously if you have never tried these donuts you definitely should!

Chase was in full on crush mode with Skylar's cousin Lily :) 

That's my boy…can't handle dirty hands!

Our bounty…all for seven bucks!

He may have been crushing on Lily but his heart will always be with S :)