December 3

Decorating the tree has always been one of my favorite parts of preparing for Christmas.  I love how the rituals of the Christmas holiday visibly demonstrate Michaela's growth from year to year and will for Avery as well.  Michaela celebrated her first Christmas at three months old, so we didn't even have to worry about her touching the tree.  Avery is nine months now and all over the place so her first Christmas will be a different experience.  This year, Michaela was more than excited to decorate the tree.  She loved opening the boxes and looking at all the ornaments from last year and adding the new ones into the group.  Her strategy for the decorating did not change much from last year; many ornaments ended up on the same branch on the bottom right side of the tree.  Ryan made the interesting observation that she put all the ornaments on facing the tree too.  Once all the ornaments were on the tree we asked Michaela which ornament was her favorite and she said "Tinkerbell".  Tinkerbell was her new ornament for this year and like years past it commemorated her Halloween costume.  We tried to include Avery in the decorating as well and not surprisingly she was more interested in trying to get the ornaments into her mouth.  Her ornament was a Baby's First Christmas ornament of Pooh and Piglet together.    

December 2

The 2nd found us making a day trip up to Green Bay in order for Ryan to attend the Packers game (a birthday gift from his parents).  We got there in time to attend church with Ryan's parents and then sent Ryan and his Dad off to the game.  The girls and I headed back to the house with Gramma to enjoy the game.  Ryan and his Dad had a great time and we were all able to eat dinner together before heading back home.  Even though the Packers won and the Bears lost :( it was a fun day.    

I love including different aspects of our family life in this album.  Getting to include memories from Ryan's day is important to me so that his story is represented as well.  On a side note, while I was determined to stay on top of this album things just seem to pop up and what can you do...that's life.  Avery has been under the weather the past few days preventing anything much from getting done.  So I still need to get the Instagram pictures printed, but I included them in digital form...

A day for Dad - This is what 34 looks like...

Ryan's caption on Instagram "Perfect way to celebrate a birthday...with 75,000 of my closest friends! Go Pack!"

December 1

We were lucky to have a slow Saturday (our first in months)!  We enjoyed time together and only ventured out in order to get Ryan his birthday gift.  Ryan was in definite need of a new phone and has been patiently waiting to get the iPhone5.  We made that happen a day early since we will be heading out of town for the his actual birthday.  Michaela loved the phone displays at the store and enjoyed calling people on several of the models.  We ended the day with a family dinner (Avery did awesome picking up and eating her peas). 

A very simple Day 1...

Prepping for December Daily

I wasn't sure if I could logistically commit to participating in the December Daily project this year.  My workroom has turned into Avery's bedroom, the girls commute with me every work day now, and we have our house up for sale which means cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning.  Then, as I was pulling our Christmas book basket together I was so happy to be able to add my first December Daily album.  I realized how much I love the project and I had to do my best to make it happen, but I also realized I had to make it as simple a process as possible.  So, after my work on Avery's baby book using the Project Life system I thought I would order a few more "plastics" and make that work for my December Daily as well.  I decided I liked the 6x12 size and made the album myself by making my own cover/back and adding rings.  I filled the book with design H, design I (the instagram size...definitely excited about incorporating instagram photos because I take pictures with that app so often!), and I can also use the regular 6x12 size if I choose.  In addition to making the album simple, I wanted to try and use supplies I already had on hand.  The snowflake on the cover of the album came off of a gift bag we were given last year.  It came together so easily that I am thinking I can actually make this work and keep up with it...we'll see how that part goes.  Happy December!   

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween.

Craving the pumpkin.  Daddy put her up to this, but she did a good job acting!

Tink and Peter Pan...costumes thanks to Grandma

Love these cuties!

Right Now...

Avery (7 mo.) is creeping quite quickly and efficiently and very close to a full crawl.  She will get up on her hands and knees, rock a bit, and then decide she'd rather "creep" to where she wants to go.  She loves to be on the floor, move in all directions, and explore everything.  She especially enjoys going for things she can't have like Michaela's toys or the television remote.  Avery is still all smiles and LOVES all things Michaela.  No one can make Avery laugh quite like Michaela!


Michaela (3 yrs.) is entering a new phase.  While she still remains her sweet little self, she is definitely exploring what she can control and making it known what she wants to control, which is just about everything these days.  She is loving time outdoors, playing her made up game with the made up name, "Up-rah" (I have no idea!).  She loves wearing dresses, but still want to play "chase" and jump off of or climb everything.  She is very into reading books herself and making stairs for her dolls out of stacked books.  She is struggling with bedtime.  Sometimes she struggles because she simply wants to stay up and others because she is developing a fear of the dark.  Michaela is still super sweet to her little sister.  She even rushed into Avery's room the other day to comfort her while she was crying.  Michaela sat down next to her crib and started to read Avery a book and of course Avery stopped crying and listened intently.  

Ryan is finishing up work on his doctorate and keeping busy at work.  He is enjoying time with his girls and is such a good Dad to them.  He is making time for exercise and watching football.

Besides commuting, working, and being Mommy...I am exploring pinterest (oh boy, can that suck you in!), trying to find time to work on baby books for both kiddos, and enjoying football on the weekends.  I am remembering how important it is to document what we are up to, before we hit a new stage or before I forget the details.

Right now, I am loving our ordinary life!

She's 3

We have been busy the last few weeks planning, prepping, and carrying out birthday festivities for Michaela.  We have loved watching her get to be in the spot light, something that doesn't occur as often as it used to with a new little one in the family.  Happy Birthday Michaela, we LOVE you!

Front and back of Michaela's birthday invitation

Then and...

Now