Au Revoir, January!

I bought myself a belated Christmas present last night :: a 50mm lens for my Canon.  I've been wanting this lens for a while, especially since I lost my Canon 7D a few months ago (still crying about that).  So this morning I took a few shots to try it out as we took Lucca to preschool & then a few additional shots of our morning in Sausalito.  I really have only spent 5 minutes with it, but so far I like it!  The only image that shows what it actually does is the first photo of Lucca.  In non-professional speak, it focuses on the close-up image and blurs the background.  See?  :)

The Sausalito Harbor 

This poor buddy with double ear infections is still not feeling awesome.  January has NOT BEEN our month!  It's been the worst month actually, but we are trying not to focus on the completely negative month it has been.  Tomorrow is February, a new start, and no one is happier about that than our little family of four.  Trust me.  Trust me.

So February, treat us right.
We are greeting you with open arms, open hearts, and hopefully the healthiest bodies we've had all year :/
♥

Little Old Lady

Is she 3 or is she 83?

This poor little thing woke up with a gnarly cough and runny nose. So Dr Mom came to the rescue and Lucca was served her first cup of hot tea with oodles of honey. Her favorite part? Warm hands. Just like her mama.

My best girl

This girl stole my heart the moment she was born, but every day just keeps getting better and better with her. She shines bright like a diamond. ALL THE TIME.

She's sweet, she's loving, she's smart, she's curious and she's FUN! So much fun. Right now, my favorite moments with her are right before bed when she says her bedtime prayers. That's when I learn what's on her heart, what she thinks about and what she hopes for. It's a pretty special time with a very special girl. 

She keeps telling me I'm the best mommy ever and I just keep telling her YOU ARE THE BEST DAUGHTER EVER!!!  No, really, you are.  XOXO my sweet Lula girl.

These two

These two are best friends.  Little mama and baby brother.  So thankful for them and so thankful they have each other.  She loves when he plays with her (most of the time) and he loves to play along (most of the time).

They are beginning to tag-team a little bit more and are becoming a little bit more difficult when they put their heads together -- like Lucca giving Jackson the great idea to take all the ornaments off the Christmas tree, or hey Jackson, let's throw all the diapers down the stairs, or hey bud, let's run full speed with hula hoops in the house -- all while becoming much easier to manage and self-sufficient too.  Make sense?  No?  ha.  

Making art together

Grrrreat place to hang out guys..

Scooter races!

Today was one of those days I felt extra thankful to be able to spend these early days at home with my kids.  

With a one year old and three year old, some days are rough, some days are magical, some days I daydream of my pre-baby life and some days I just feel so very dang thankful I am their mama.  

Today I chose to be thankful.

Christmas 2012

We are slowly saying goodbye to Christmas 2012 around here.   
This was the year of endless Christmases.   When you don't live by family, Christmas can go on and on! 

 {This is the longest post in the history of blogging, full of tons of photos of my kids and not enough of their mommy and daddy, but there's your warning, Christmas photo dump ahead}

We had our first Christmas celebration with my parents before we left for our trip back East. 

We headed to Georgia and as soon as we arrived, we met up with the whole family for a southern dinner and then went straight to Atlanta's Botanical Gardens for their Christmas Lights.  It was cold, but so fun and the kids loved it.  And they were troopers after flying all day!

The BEST part of the night was cousin Christian teaching Lucca and Jackson how to break dance.  What I should have taken a photo of was the crowd that gathered to watch these kids dance!!!  It was so awesome.

 

 

 

The next night we went ice skating in Centennial Park.  Also, freeeeezing, but Lucca LOVED her first time ice-skating with Daddy.  Watching them skate around and around was the sweetest (and funniest!!!) thing I've ever seen in my life.  Rustin did such a good job with her.  She only slipped once and that was because she demanded he let go of her hand.  She quickly held on tight to Daddy's hand after that for the rest of the time :)

Mimi & Papa's house never disappoints and Mimi had it decorated beautifully for our arrival!  The kids rooms were even decorated, to every last detail and it's something Lucca is sure to remember forever.  I think every day we were there, Lucca was wearing a different princess dress.  On Christmas Eve, she was Snow White...

 

Decorating Christmas cookies! 

The piano is where the kids always gravitate.  Sidenote. 2013: Must. get. a. piano.

 After cookie decorating, we went Christmas caroling in the neighborhood.  Mimi outfitted everyone with scarves, handed out recorders & jingle bells to the kids and off we went.   One neighbor came out in their robe, one neighbor came home from walking their dog as we were standing on their porch, two neighbors weren't home, and one lady was actually home, dressed, AND liked our songs :) 

 Lucca was SO EXCITED to ring the doorbells. 

Setting out milk & cookies and a note for Santa on Christmas Eve , and going to bed verrrry excited! 

And then the real fun began.  These two.  In the garage for hours, putting together toys. Well, two toys. A horse and a doll crib.  For hours.  Until 2AM actually.  And then the work really got done when me and Mimi went out to the garage to see what all the laughter was about.  Don't tell anyone, but if it weren't for a handy wife, that horse still wouldn't have his back legs attached...

And finally, CHRISTMAS MORNING!  Santa came!!!
For Lucca, it was all things fairy princess, doll, Cinderella, anything that screams three year old girl, and for Jack Stone, it was all about cars and trains! And Elmo!  Our dude loves Elmo.

We had the best time.  The kids came home with a million memories, thankfully not only about presents, but memories with family, friendships with cousins and a grasp of what the true meaning of the Christmas season is all about, thanks to Papa and his message to the kids on Christmas day.  

2012 -- The merriest of Christmases indeed!!