Merry Christmas!

This Christmas season has been very different for my family.  We didn't put ornaments on our Christmas tree because when we put the tree up, Britton was in a klepto phase.  Anything and everything she found, she would put in her mouth or walk off with it.  I didn't want to take a chance with her eating any of the ornaments.  Our family didn't have our annual candy making day, which I look forward to every year.  Mommer celebrated her 90th birthday in the hospital with a broken hip, so her birthday party was cancelled.  My family had everything planned to have Christmas dinner, like usual, at Mommer's with checking Mommer out of the hospital for a couple of hours to come eat with us, but that was cancelled.

Now, the normal things that did take place was our Elf on the Shelf was finally named........................  Bono!  Holland really got in to having Bono this year.  Every morning she would rush into the living room to see where he was.  We watched the Elf on the Shelf cartoon umpteen times.  We had our family advent calendar that Holland loved getting to do every morning.  She would say, "we're getting close to Jesus's birthday!"  Our little family had our traditional gift opening Christmas morning then went to Mom's for brunch and gifts. 

Christmas Eve before bed.

Santa brought Britton the little Tikes car and Holland the Disney Princess Castle with Princesses.  Both girls LOVED their gifts!

Britton and Holland enjoyed opening their gifts. 

We got the girls a trampoline, but unfortunately, it was lightly raining Christmas morning so they didn't get to jump.

After gifts at our house, we headed over to Mom's.  The girls got a lot of clothes and some toys.  Holland especially loved her easel and LeapPad.  Holland has played with the LeapPad so much that I've already had to change out the batteries.  Britton loved dancing and singing while we all played Xbox dance games. 

The rest of Christmas was spent relaxing at the house, going to visit Mommer in the hospital, and playing with all our new toys.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!





Christmas cards

I didn't get our Christmas cards out this year because I didn't get pictures made until the 22nd.  Dixie was so awesome to squeeze us in and make us a card to use.  Love Dixie!  She is the best!  So, here is our Christmas card for 2011. 

8th Anniversary

Kirk and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on the 20th.  We always order a cake, but this year, I ordered Georgetown Cupcake (DC Cupcakes).  Total YUMFEST!  We met some friends for dinner the following night.  Kirk and I haven't had a date night in probably close to two years now.  So, dinner with friends was really nice. 

Fantasy of Lights

We had a family date night with the Tacks.  The girls loved it!  We met for dinner, Starbucks, then took the girls to the Fantasy of Lights.

Happy..................... Black Friday!!

Black Friday was awesome!  Sara talked me into going this year and I'm so thankful I went.  Granted, I am worn out and sore, but it was totally worth it!  Unfortunately, both Sara's and my families had their Thanksgiving dinner at 6pm, which meant we had to miss celebrating Thanksgiving with our families.  Sara, her husband Bill, and I met at Walmart at 4pm to get in line for some of the amazing sales.  We were first in line to get the xbox combos.  I bought some walkie talkies at Walmart, so we communicated with each group with those.  It was so much fun!  Kirk came up after our girls were in bed and the guys and some good friends secured our other big items.  The toy sale started at 10pm, and we were driving off from Walmart by 10:30.  We went to Kohl's and stood in line there and got what we wanted when they opened at midnight.  By then, we were starved so we ate and then went to Target and Toys R Us.  We got everything on our list at those places, too.  It was around 3:30am when we went separate ways for a bit.  Sara and Bill went to Penneys and Kirk and I went to Starbucks and Walmart again to see if we could get even more stuff ......... which we did!  The guys went to stand in line at Academy and Sara and I stood in line at Shoe Carnival.  Sara was first in line and got everything she wanted for free.  I was just there for support.  Us girls went to Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, then we met up with the guys.  Sara/Bill went to Office Depot and Kirk/I went to Tractor Supply.  We all got everything we wanted and a ton more that were bonus buys.  I asked Sara to make us some really cute Black Friday shirts.  I love both our shirts!  This one is mine.......

Sara sitting in line for the xbox combos.  We were in line for 5 hours!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Britton is 1!!!

Britton is one year old!!  We had her birthday party at Gaga's house.  It was so awesome to just decorate over there and show up.  Thank you Mom for letting us use your house!  Britton's birthday theme was Princess 1st birthday.  It was all pink and adorable!  We grilled out burgers and hot dogs with all the fixings and had cake.  Britton loved her cake!  She tore into it and ate a ton of buttercream icing.  Britton had a great 1st birthday!
The birthday Princess!

Thank you to everyone for the clothes and toys!

Hairbow holder made by Sara.  Love it!

Britton is thinking, "what is this?"

"Well, whatever it is......... it's delicious!!!"

After a few hours of running around and playing, Holland and Molly sit down to watch some cartoons.

Happy Halloween!

Holland's class went to the pumpkin patch the week before last and had their Fall Party last Thursday.  Holland loved it all!  She was so happy Gaga and I made cupcakes for her class party and that Kirk and I went to the pumpkin patch with her class. 

Just planted her flower and patiently awaiting the goodies!

Delicious!

Saturday we went to a friend's Halloween party, VFD Fish Fry, then to Mommer's for Halloween with the family.  Britton wasn't a fan of wearing her baby strawberry costume.  Holland, on the other hand, loved wearing her strawberry fairy costume.  Boomtown Embroidery made her shirt and I made her tutu.  The rest of her costume we bought with Britton's.   

Tonight we went to our church's trunk or treat.  The girls had fun and enjoyed dressing up.  Afterwards, we came home to pass out candy to all the little trick or treaters. 

Gig 'Em Aggies!

We have been rooting for the Aggies this season in our new Aggie gear from Boomtown Embroidery.  The cheerleading costumes are awesome and Sara even put Gig 'Em on the girls' bloomers. 

I can never get a picture of both girls smiling, but I can get the deer in the headlights look. 

Our little strawberry is 11 months old

Just 1 more month!  I can't believe Britton is 11 months old now.  The days are flying by faster and faster.  So....... updates on Britton.  She LOVES attention.  Whether it's being held, sang to, tickled, or playing with Holland.  She eats anything and everything we offer her.  Britton is cruising really good now and will stand on her own.  She is only saying mama, dada, and nana.  She will say hi and bye bye when we say it to her.  We had Britton's 11 month photos with Dixie using Britton's Halloween costume.  Too cute!

Britton's 10 month photos

Dixie has been wanting to do a bear scene with Britton wearing bear ears and bears all around. Well, it turned out so cute!

10 months old

Britton is 10 months old today! She has progressed so much in the past month.  She has her two bottom teeth and her first top tooth is starting to come in.  Britton crawls, pulls up, and tried to take a few steps today pushing her lion cruiser.  She has a blast sneaking around and getting into things.  Britton loves to get under stuff like tables, chairs, etc.  That is opposite of Holland, who loves to climb up on things.  Britton is really good with her hands.  She loves to take apart puzzles, games, etc.  Britton is using her hands to self feed little things like the puffs and freeze dried yogurts.  I can't believe she will be 1 in 2 months!  Time to start planning a birthday party.

Gymnastics

Holland watched an episode of Max and Ruby where Ruby did gymnastics.  She did a somersault, a cartwheel, and held a handstand for five whole seconds.  At that point, we knew Holland might love gymnastics................ and we were right!  Holland loves gymnastics!  She goes to the same class as her friend, Molly.  They do all kinds of stuff like trampoline, rings, balance beam (not a raised one), and one of the uneven bars. 

80th Annual Pioneer Reunion

This year was really good for us. We only went to the Friday and Saturday night rodeos and Kirk was able to go with us instead of working. Britton enjoyed her first Pioneer Reunion. She clapped all the time. By looking at the pictures, Britton doesn't look like she is having fun, but she really did.  I don't think she likes to smile for me when I'm taking pictures. 

Britton's 9 month photos

Kirk was a sweetheart and took Britton for her 9 month photos with Dixie this week.  I couldn't wait to see the pictures.  We made it simple.  Big flower and bow with pearls.  The pearls are Moms and my pearls from Spain.  Dixie thought it would be cute to show off Britton's hiney from behind.  It doesn't look like Britton enjoyed flashing everyone.  Britton's second tooth broke through this week so she's not been in the best mood.  She's getting so big and growing so fast.  She crawls on her tummy, can move back forth from crawling to sitting, and is almost pulling up.  Britton is chewing her food now, so I can't wait to try more table food.  I love the pictures - thank you Dixie!

Communion

Kirk had his first communion today as a confirmed Lutheran.  It was really awesome to have all four of us going up for communion as a family.  What a blessed day!

9 months old

Britton is 9 months old and growing so fast!  We had her 9 month appointment on Friday.  Britton weighed 20 pounds and 6 ounces, which is in the 75th percentile.  She was 28 inches long, which is also in the 75th percentile.  Dr. Mike said she is "perfect" and of course, we totally agree.  For her development, Britton is getting up on all fours and rocks, so any day she will begin crawling.  She's almost pulling up.  Britton lights up when Holland comes in the room and talks to her.  Britton has a very active tongue.  She can roll it, flip it, anything you can think of, she can do.  It's crazy amazing!  She has her first tooth in this week!  It's the bottom front right one and the left one is close behind.  Poor thing is having more trouble teething than Holland did.  Britton doesn't get much sleep at night while teething.  Thank goodness for meds and orajel.  We have her 9 month photos with Dixie next week.  It's going to be so cute!  Doing a bear theme and pearls theme.  So fun!!! :)

What class?

Holland, what class are you going to be in?

That's correct!  You're going to the two day, three year old class at WCS!

Today was Holland's first day of school and she was so excited!  She loves her teacher, Mrs. Wade, and has a few of the kids from last year in her class.  The morning started with the use of her first alarm clock.  She was so excited to have her own alarm clock to wake her up in the morning.  We all dropped Britton off at the sitter's and then took Holland to school. 

The kids' paint sets were out for the kids to start painting, so Holland walked right in, and started painting.  We gave Holland hugs and kisses and she blew kisses at us when we left.  She is so grown up! 

After school, we went to Braum's for ice cream.  It was a GREAT first day of school! 

Colorado Springs

Our first family vacation with the girls!  We had planned on going somewhere here in Texas, but with the 60+ days of over 100 degree weather, Kirk and I said we have to go somewhere cool.  Our trip started out with a drive to the Abilene area to have lunch with Kirk's parents.  Then, we headed to Lubbock to have supper with Kirk's high school best friend, Sean.  After supper, we were back on the road, to stay the night in Amarillo.  When we got to Amarillo, the brand new car top carrier we bought didn't unlock and open up.  It was a long night since the pack and play was in the carrier and we couldn't get to it.  Tuesday morning, my birthday, we were at Sears in Amarillo by 8am in order for them to replace the car top carrier.  We were soon on the road and headed to Colorado Springs (CS).  Once we were in CS, we went up to the Garden of the Gods.  It was awesome!  We walked around and had supper up there.  It rained every afternoon in CS.  Since we haven't had rain in Petrolia since the beginning of April, we truly enjoyed all the rain.

Wednesday morning we drove up Pikes Peak a little to go to the North Pole amusement park.  Holland enjoyed riding all the little rides and Britton enjoyed riding along in the stroller.

After the North Pole, we went to the Cliff Dwellings and then to Seven Falls. 

Thursday we drove over the mountains to Cripple Creek for Holland to ride the train.  She loved it!  Holland had been talking about train rides since we told her we were going to the mountains.  Holland kept singing, "all aboard the choo choo train, all aboard the choo choo train, all aboard the choo choo train. All aboard! All aboard!" from the Disney Channel.  Too cute! 

After Cripple Creek, we headed down to the Royal Gorge.  We drove across it (very scary!) and walked across it two times (even scarier!!).  It is very creepy since it is wood and you can see between each wood plank. They had places to eat, different places to view the Royal Gorge, and even a carousel for the kids to ride.

Friday morning we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in CS.  It was so much fun and all the animals were out since it was beautiful weather.  The Zoo even lets you feed the giraffes.  How cool is that!?!?  The bird cage is enclosed and they let the birds fly around in the room.  It's nuts trying to make sure you don't get a surprise on your head from the birds.  They even let you feed the birds, too.  We always get the girls a stuffed animal when we go places so Holland got a giraffe and Britton got an elephant, which she loved to eat!

These ground squirrels/chipmunks are all over Colorado.  They will come up to you to be hand fed.  Well, this particular one that Holland is talking to, followed her up the hill to go see the hippos and when we came back down it ran back up on the rock to see her again.  For some reason, this particular one and Holland had some kind of connection.  Holland stood there forever talking to it and it would just get closer and closer to her.  Soooo cute!

After the Zoo, we went over to the Ghost Town Museum to pan for gold and get some sarsaparilla sodas.  It was fun to pan for gold and Kirk was awesome at it.  He found 3 little gold nuggets and 1 gold flake! 

On our last night, the girls were having a blast playing on the bed together.  Sister love.

Saturday morning we got up and headed home.  It was a wonderful trip other than the issues with the car top carrier and the massive windshield crack we got from a gravel truck.  We can't wait to go back to Colorado!