Christmas Pictures

I mentioned earlier this month that we had our family  pictures taken at the end of November.  Amy Holland (with MasonBlu photography) got a few good ones, but it is hard with littles! Anyway- here they are, along with our 2015 Christmas Card :)

Merry Christmas!!!

:)

School Pictures

So I mentioned previously that we ordered some of the boys' school pictures earlier in the year. They weren't the most amazing pictures but there were some cute ones :)

Here are the high res photos that we purchased rights to. Enjoy!

Xavier- 3 years 4 months
Luke- 4 Months

More Home Updates!

Our home is certainly a work in progress. Though it was mostly redone when we moved in, there have been little (and big) projects here and there. I thought you all might enjoy seeing some of the changes we've made both big and small :)


I handmade curtains for the kitchen, breakfast area and laundry room :)

Dustin added cottage hardware to the garage door to fancy it up. I LOVE IT!

I have made several (too many according to Dustin...) wreaths/door hangers for our front door :)

Indiana Wreath!

Christmas Door Hanger

Our Halloween door hanger :)

I updated the fireplace by refinishing the insert :)

Before

After

We did a minimal amount of landscaping. Most of this we are saving for next spring.

I finally finished the feature wall in the back of the living room. This will one day be the dining room but in the meantime it is the playroom :)

Bryan came to visit this week and work on a few major projects so their are MORE, much more impressive pics to come :)

Recent Videos :)

Xavier playing Mario = HILARIOUS!

Baby Love <3

Xavier being Xavier :)

My baby!

Watching DT

Xavier discreetly asking Cookie Gem to tell Santa he wants a firetruck for Christmas!

No desire to roll...

Thankful for Mama

Xavier reading to Luke. Only caught the end :(

What we do while daddy rakes

Grandma Lucy's reindeer...the legend!

Can't get enough of these baby kicks

Xavier casting a spell!

SMILES

Soccer with Daddy!

Hilarious Google Videos!

So, I recently found a feature on my phone that allowed me to edit together clips of videos I take and create funny videos with sound. Here are a couple from our weekend away in November!

Xavier's Brains :)

Xavier's brain is growing, growing, growing!! We have a very smart little guy on our hands. He has been writing his full name for nearly 3 months now without help. Also, he can now identify all of the letters of the alphabet as well as their sound. If you ask him what a word starts with, he can almost always tell you so that is exciting!

Here are some videos of him being silly and showing his stuff!

2015 Ornaments

While we were in St. Pete vacationing, we spent time at one of our favorite malls. While we were toy shopping for Beanie, I found the perfect ornament for me! My favorite Disney movie is Cinderella and when I saw this ornament, I thought it was adorable. Xavier encouraged me to get it so that swayed me too.

I asked Xavier if there were any at the Disney Store that he wanted but he came up short. As we were leaving the mall, however, we came across a custom ornament kiosk. Here, he found a soccer ball that he just HAD to have. We asked the man to customize it with his name and the year as well. Since we got Bean's here, we decided to look for Pound Cake's as well. I found a super cute baby ornament that we decided on and had it customized as well :)

Customizing our ornaments

2015

After we got home from our vacation, Beanie put all three ornaments on the tree.

Unfortunately, Dust didn't find anything he was interested in on our trip. Once we got home, we all went to a few places to look for one for Dust and came up short again. Finally, he and Bean took a trip to Books-a-Million and, there, he found his ornament. He chose Baby Groot, a character from one of his super hero movies. Too cute!

So, there ya have it, folks! 2015 ornaments are a wrap!

Visit from the Mayor

Recently the mayor came to visit Beanie's class. We got this picture and thought we would share <3

Cookie is Back!

The week before Thanksgiving, we read our Elf on the Shelf book again with Beanie and it was like NO time had passed between last Christmas and now! He remembered every detail! He knows that Cookie is here to watch him be good and he remembers that Cookie is to be found each morning when we wake :)

Also, after 2 days of Cookie, Xavier informed us that his name was actually Cookie Gem. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Cookie is watching you so you better make a better choice!
Xavier: No mom, it's Cookie Gem.
Me: Gym like P.E. or Jim like Unlce Jim?
Xavier: No, Gem like daimond!

Hahaha- conversations with 3-year-olds are the best!

So far, Cookie Gem has hid in some really interesting places including...

Reading a "Precious Moments" Thanksgiving Book

While mama was away...

Xavier just LOVES Cookie Gem :)

Trying to Feed Himself!

Here was a cute moment I caught. He so badly wants to be able to feed himself! We will get there soon enough :)