Washington D.C. 2013

Our resort that we stayed at was only 2 hours from DC so we decided to seize the day and go see the Smithsonians with the kids.First and foremost, Lo took a nap somewhere other than her crib. She knocked out in her stroller for about 45 minutes, it was a Christmas miracle!

Some of the adults waiting on the metro.

Cute girls waiting patiently.

I just can't get enough of the metro tunnels. They are so cool! Can you tell we don't have public transit where I live? Haha!

The Washigton Monument under construction.

The Capitol building

My two loves strolling the Mall together.

We were able to go to 2 Smithsonians that day. The kids really enjoyed seeing the gems and minerals, the fossils and other miscellaneous exhibits. We grabbed lunch in one of the cafeterias in the Smithsonians and the Hubs ended up with food poisoning and it was immediate. Our trip home includes lots and lots of vomiting which worked out okay since traffic was at a stand still. It was a terrible drive home, horrific even!

Lo at 18 Months

We had our 18 month well visit and here are Lo's latest stats-

Height: 32.2 inches (62.2%)

Weight: 24.9 pounds (77%)

Head circumference: 47 cm. (69.5%)

So, she's perfectly healthy and right on track with her other milestones. She is a bundle of energy and  keeps us laughing. She seems to be dominate with the left hand as of right now, is running, twirling and jumping, says all kinds of words (topping the funny list this month was "dang" "huh?" "What?" And "boss" when the kids told her to say "like a boss").

She still loves dancing and the great outdoors. She loves animals and loves water. Her current favorite foods are still avocado and cheese but also fruit snacks and pirates booty which she calls "booty". She finally mastered drinking out of a straw! She also said "angel Moroni" when we took her to see the temple lit up at night (completely unprompted by the way...don't ask me how she knew) and this week she has carried around her nursery handout that says "heavenly father and Jesus love me" and has sung "Jesus" over and over again (completely unprompted). Out of the mouth of babes? 

Lo's First {Unofficial} Day Of Nursery

In the LDS church, babies remain with their parents during all 3 blocks of church until they are 18 months old. As many of you can imagine, and/or have experienced- there isn't a whole lot of meeting attendance when you have a little one under 18 months. We do a lot of hanging out in the mothers lounge/hallway and foyers. The parents of these tots have dubbed the foyers the "pre-nursery class". 

Moving on- the nursery leaders approached me last week and told me it was time to start transitioning Lo into nursery as she will be 18 months on the 30th. I figured she would do fine since she does the gym nursery well, but ya never know with toddlers! Despite being very sleepy I think she did quite well. She is obviously not on the same level as the 2 other kids that are in there with her, they are 3 years old and about to transition to the regular kids program, but she held her own. We are so excited for her and know that she will enjoy being with her adorable nursery leaders and new friends. Yay for nursery!

Lo's first coloring page from nursery. We have it proudly displayed on our refrigerator.

Daddy's Little Model

She's 10 months!  Oh, how can this be?!  Time is flying by so quickly and we are enjoying every single second with this pretty girl.  She's got 3 teeth, 2 on the bottom and one on the top, and working on the other top front tooth.  She is starting to mobilize a little.  Still no crawling but she somehow manages to move through a series of stretching.  She still loves to eat any and every thing.  She is still just using a sippy cup, no more bottles for this girl. She loves meeting new people, being outside, laughing, reading and baths. Her favorite toys right now are her purse with lipstick and compact, disney princess little people, and anything with a tag. She loves anything that crinkles including her crinkly elephant that her Daddy got her for Christmas that they named "Captain Crinkles".  She is such a good sleeper.  She typically sleeps from about 7pm,wakes between 6:30 to 7am for a bottle and then sleeps a little more until about 9 or 9:30...we are so lucky!  She had a bout with the croup but other than that is very healthy.  We just love our little Lo!

Christmas Day 2012

After a late night with the family, we didn't take very many pictures on Christmas Day.  We opened presents that morning and then we hosted a Christmas Day brunch for the family.  I think that we may have gone a tad overboard on our brunch spread.  After a huge dinner at Jas and Nell's the night before we just weren't that hungry.  We had a good time hearing about what everyone got from Santa, played outside, watched the Christmas parade and relaxed. 

To: Hubby From: Wifey

My honey sure knows the way to my heart!

Cute girl on her first Christmas morning.

Mimi and Lo getting warmed back up after our time outside.

The food.

Punky playing with one of her new toys.

Christmas Eve 2012

We had the traditional Christmas Eve gathering of the family at Jas and Nell's.  Nell always puts on a good show- great food, games and quality time. Let's start from the end, shall we?  Usually we get home after a holiday and I realize that the Hubs and I have no pictures together.  He typically humors me with one even though at this point in the evening we look exhausted!

The Mr. and Mrs. late Christmas Eve night.

Her future's so bright she's gotta wear shades- part of Lo's stocking loot.

More stocking from Mimi and Pappy

The best Pappy gift of all time- a griddle for his famous shaped pancakes.

The kids gather round "santa's helper"-this year E took a turn handing out gifts.

Me and my best little girlfriend.

Her favorite part of Christmas present opening? The tags, of course!

The grandkids after their annual play.  This years performance featured Nutsy the squirrel as a banker.

Jas, Nell and Roc survey the damage.



Lo & Santa

Our 'Lil Nugget loved her some Santa Claus.  We were thrilled when we found Santa during a lull and he just let us take our sweet time taking picture after picture.  She even tugged on his beard, that's our girl!

Lo's First Fire Truck Santa

It was late one weeknight in December when I heard firetruck sirens...I knew that could only mean one thing- Santa was on his way!  I was so excited but had literally no time to prepare as the truck was only 2 doors down when I heard the noise.  We ran out in our pajamas to get a glimpse of Old Saint Nick.  Punky was generally unimpressed but it's a tradition that is important to me.

Trunk or Treat 2012

Pappy and Mimi's ward (church) had their Trunk-or-Treat out at a farm.  Pappy pretty much planned the night so the whole family went out to have some fun.  They had a chili and cornbread cook-off, costume contest, bonfire, hot cocoa bar, hot dogs...and of course, trunk-or-treat.  We got a few shots before leaving Mimi and Pappy's-

Bab and Lo

It took about 20 attempts to get this shot- all 7 grand kids in costume.

And a couple more once we got out to Phipps Farm- 

Kelc, I mean Goldilocks and the 3 bears, came with us and her friend Jasmine too!

Me and Lo

She loves her Uncle Jas, however she would not come off the smiles.

So Uncle Jas decided to fall in line with her expression.

We came home late that night because we had the Cub Scout Bicycle Rodeo to attend the next morning.  Here is a shot from lunch at the Rodeo!