December pics

Started the month off with one of the most precious pictures I have ever taken. Its pretty hard to beat seeing your kids holding hands while they are sleeping together. It took everything I had to wake them up for school. 

Another screenshot of the messages I get from Hadley. I love getting to talk to her, even when I'm at work. And also a couple pictures of the kids playing on the iPad together and a movie date with Emma and Abby.  Hudson is so sweet to Abby who follows the kids everywhere and Emma just looks up to Hadley so much being 3 years older.

Hadley fell on her wrist during PE one day and the school called me after she spent some time in the nurses office. They said it was starting to swell a little and wanted me to come look at it. It looked very minor to me and she ended up wanting to stay the rest of the day. We iced it that night and although she babied it a lot she still wanted to go to school the next day. About 10am I got another call from the school saying she was crying in the office again and they thought we should get it checked out. After describing it to her doctor we took her in for an xray. Thankfully, it was nothing but a bad sprain and she was fine about a week later. We were so very thankful for this since we were leaving about a week later for St. Kitts.

I was folding laundry and heard this awful banging noise. After it went on for about a minute I decided to see what was going on. Bentley had stuck his head inside this empty coke box and gotten it stuck. In a moment of panic he was banging his head against anything to try and get it out!

Hadley had a few extra fans for her basketball game. Hudson was pretty excited to have Buck and Gunner there to play with as well.

Hadley had her Christmas dance recital today where they showcased a short example of what they have been learning. This is not something new to us but I still love it just as much as the first year. She has such a fun time and its a really laid back recital to make sure the kids are comfortable on the stage. Hadley and Lottie looked pretty precious in their snow hats!

Susan has been such a blessing for us as she has started watching the kids on Tuesdays to replace Kristin moving. She has been so wonderful and the kids have fallen in love with her. She brings a craft to do practically each Tuesday and always comes in with a plan. Today they made stockings, baked sugar cookies, made icing, and even decorated them. Best of all, I got to eat some when I got home from work.

Santa brought us the new pie face game and we loved playing it as a family. We have some pretty hilarious video but even these pictures were pretty funny. In case we someday look back and can't remember this game... You put whipped cream on the hand and rest your chin on the stand. Each person spins a wheel that gives you a number. You have to turn the lever the same number of clicks and wait to see if the hand slaps the whipped cream in your face. It definitely caused an uproar of laughter as each of us ended up getting the whipped cream in our face. Hudson and Hadley both enjoyed eating it straight from their foreheads!

He is growing up and looking so grown up too. I looked over to see him watching tv and looking so old. He's outgrowing his pjs and losing his baby face as well. And then to watch him build a lego set for 6-12 year olds completely blows my mind.

Hadley had Lottie over to spend the night and they loved giving each other a pedicure with Hadley's foot spa. We even pulled out the nailpolish and foot lotions. I have no problem getting into this girly stuff with them!

9 years of not being allowed on the couch. And now he has weasled his way up here...which is the main reason I can't quit taking pictures of it. The second either of the kids (or any of us for that matter) sit on the couch he is immediately in our lap. 

We had our first big "snow" of the year which actually turned out to just be ice. Unfortunately, the kids were determined to play in the snow and they went ahead and put on their snow suits and boots. They lasted way longer than I would have out there. But while I was cleaning up I kept hearing the door open and close. I walked into the kitchen to see a buffet of cone, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, and ice laid out. They had put the ice in the cones and drizzled them with syrup. They did all they could to convince me it was good but it definitely wasn't going to work.

SkyZone trampoline park with Lisa, Buck, and Gunner. We were introduced to this one by the Bakers and our kids LOVE it. We've made a couple more trips in about 2 weeks and I've decided the adults like playing dodgeball just as much as the kids!

Hudson's a little jealous that he isn't able to ride on Hadley's new Swagway. So he loves when daddy takes him on rides. Both kids LOVE Hudson's new Laser Maze game. And, actually, its fun for daddy and me as well.

Kristin came back in town for an appointment for Ledger and we were so excited to get to meet him! We miss Kristin so much but I'm glad she still has lots of reasons to come back in town. And Hadley made sure to get her phone number plugged into her iPad so I'm sure Kristin will be getting a lot of facetime calls!

New Years Eve has never been a favorite holiday of mine. First of all, I am terrible at staying up late. Second, I feel like it is always built up and then a bit of a let down when its all over. But this year was different. Bart and Sarah asked us to go to the Thunder game with them and then to eat at Mahogany. Mama and Papa watched the kids and we were excited for a night out. The game was a fun, really close game which made it exciting...it was also great since I haven't been in a few years. After the game we walked over to Mahogany and ate dinner (who cares that it was 10:30!) It hit the spot. We had a great time telling stories and laughing about funny ones. We got to see Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and their families come in and eat as well. They passed out free champagne at midnight and we were out the door as soon as it was over! We had such a great time!

New Years Eve

New Years Eve has never been one of my favorite holidays. I feel like its always built up so much and it doesn't help that it takes everything out of me to stay up that late!

This year was so fun though! Bart and Sarah asked us to go to a Thunder game and then to dinner at Mahogany downtown. The game was fun with a win and we were starving for a late dinner. We walked across the street and while waiting on our table to be ready Westbrook walked in with his wife. Soon one of the coaches came in, and finally, Durant came in with his family. It was fun to see all of them though we just saw them quickly walk by. We had a great dinner and loved hanging out with just the four of us since we seem to never be without our kids! We stayed until the ball dropped and the restaurant handed out champagne. We had such a fun night and are thankful for Bart and Sarah getting it all scheduled!

Christmas Day

This may have been one of my favorite Christmas Days to date! I can contribute so much of it to the lack of chaos. With Matt's family still in St. Kitts and my family celebrating Christmas last night, we had the entire day to enjoy time as our family of four. We had nowhere to be and nothing to do so we got to be lazy, play games, share stories, and be thankful for the reason we have this Christmas holiday to celebrate!

Santa gifts are out, kids haven't woken up yet, and we are ready! 

They're awake! And could hardly wait to come bouncing down the stairs. I love those excited smiles.

A few first glimpses. Santa did not disappoint this year and we had some happy kids! I love how they get just as excited for the stockings and all the little things inside. Hadley is always thrilled with anything girly and Hudson still loves his dinosaurs and legos (mixels especially)!

I tried to take just a few pictures of the kids taking presents but this year we just set up the video camera so I could sit back and take in the kids excitement and wonder! Hudson loves his toys way more than Hadley so he could hardly wait to open another present and see what it held inside. He loved every single thing and couldn't wait to open all the boxes. He got lots of Ninja Turtal stuff as that seems to be a favorite this year. Hadley, as I've mentioned many times before, is still so crazy about babies and even baby dolls. She wanted a realistic baby doll so bad last year and I held off thinking she wouldn't like them much longer. I made a huge mistake and she still wanted one this year. So I researched like crazy and found this Ashton Drake doll that I fell in love with. The look on her face says it all and she couldn't have been more excited. I don't think she put her down all day! She got lots of clothes, as well, which she immediately put on.

After we opened presents, Mama and Papa stopped by to see what all they got. The kids were happy to show off all their new stuff and even did some karaoke performances for them. After they left we spent the rest of the morning setting up toys, playing with toys, and building our new tree house bed for them. This is one of the gifts we were most excited to get the kids. We put it in the play room in hopes it could be a place for them to read, play games, and watch movies. Our plan is to move their desk underneath it so they can eventually have a place to color and do homework. It took a couple hours to build and we got it all done while the kids played.

We got hungry for an early dinner but knew very little was open. We decided on Ihop, as did the rest of okc that didn't have a meal planned for Christmas night. We waited a while but it was worth it in the end. We all left with some satisfied, full tummies and it was a memorable dinner. Hadley took her new baby, Sophie, in and it was incredible how many people thought she was real!

After dinner we went home to play some more! Baby Sophie got lots of cuddles and passed around a lot, Hudson and daddy built his lego spaceship, and Hadley attempted to learn to ride her new hoverboard from Mama and Papa. It was hard to go to bed after having such a fun day but we were all worn out and it sure didn't take long to fall asleep. The kids must have told us thank you several times and my Christmas was complete. At 8 years old and 5 years old, this was pretty much the perfect Christmas!