Cooper's Birthday Vest

When Molly was born, I had the idea to make a pillowcase to take to the hospital (add some spunk to the hospital room, know what I mean?) and then use that pillowcase to make an outfit for her first birthday. 

You can see pictures here of Molly's dress.

It was a little more difficult to pick the fabric for my pillowcase when Cooper was born, knowing that boy's outfits are slightly more difficult than a girl's dress.

Here's the best shot of the pillowcase in use. 

(Note: best shot of the pillowcase, NOT myself, HAHA)

And here is what I made of it for Cooper's first birthday party. 

I'm pretty excited about how it turned out, and love that I was able to keep this tradition for both kids! :)

One gigantic CHRISTMAS post.

Because, ya know, it's been a while. And New Years seemed like the perfect day to recap Christmas. :) 
This post is going to be long and picture-heavy...just a fair warning!

**************

Setting up the tree together was SO fun this year. Molly loved putting up the ornaments. 
Here she is right before putting the tree up:

We decided to get our kids a new ornament each year when we put up the tree so that when they leave our house, they have a box full of ornaments for their own tree someday! 
This year I got Molly a baby, because she looooves babies so much. Safe to say she was pretty excited about it. :)

I finally have a mantel to decorate! So fun!

We went to see the zoo lights on a beautiful night...see, we didn't even wear coats! We thought it wouldn't be that crowded, being a weeknight. Everyone else in Columbus thought so too. :)

Chris's work had a Christmas party one Saturday this month, which had a ton of fun activities. Molly was pretty unsure of the idea of getting her face painted, so I went first. Here are our matching bows:

And this was Molly's face when she first saw Santa. She immediately exclaimed, "I don't like Santa Claus!" haha

And yes, we got the classic picture of a screaming child on Santa's lap. 

Cooper, on the other hand, was infatuated with Santa. Especially his nose and his glasses.

Molly and I making Christmas cookies together:

We travelled to North Carolina to spend some time with my family before Christmas. It was nothing short of amazing. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family that loves each other and gets along so well. :)

My mom bought a bounce house! Yes, a bounce house! Haha. It was so cool, and the kids loved it!

We came home from our trip to a flooded laundry room. Just two days before Christmas. It was terrible timing, to say the least. Monday was such a discouraging day for me, as I was trying to keep my joy amidst all the crazy of the laundry room situation, our cars having issues, and just the madness that IS two days before Christmas. 

Then this happened. A sweet, sweet friend from church delivered this beautiful plate of goodies. It just couldn't have come at a more perfect time! God knows best! Thank you SO much, Mikayla and Whitney! 

The kiddies before Christmas eve service. You can see how much she adores her little brother.

Also, let it be known that Molly wore the same dress two Christmases in a row. My tiny, petite little girl. (last year on the left, this year on the right)

Molly at Grandma Dorothy's with the big giant Christmas bear:
(I'm not sure why there's snow on this picture, but it's kinda cool, right?) 

Christmas morning was the four of us at our house. It was so relaxing and full of joy. 

The annual stocking picture:

Chris had this incredibly old pair of shorts that used to be his dads that were getting super worn out. He literally could not take one step without them falling down (the elastic was so stretched out!) I was finally able to convince him to get rid of them, but without him knowing, I fashioned them into a pair of pants for Cooper.

I figure my sister-in-law is making babies to carry on to a third generation....I'll make a pair of pants to do the same! ;)

Hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas. 
Here's to a wonderful 2014!!!

A lesson in the leaves.

A couple of weeks ago, I was catching up with my cousin. Since the last time we had talked, both of us had had babies (yeah, it had been a while!). At one point in conversation, she seemed surprised that this whole being-a-mom thing is difficult for me (she has two as well). It made me step back for a second and question what kind of "front" I put on, even if it's unintentional.

I try hard to capture beautiful moments in our life. I do occasionally take pictures of our house when it's a mess just to remind me of it later (and give me a good laugh). But the pictures I post to this blog, to Facebook, to instagram? I mean, of course I want/hope to show pretty pictures. :)

BUT but but, just to ward off anyone thinking this is all a walk in the park for me, allow me to depict for you the events that took place before this fun little photo shoot of my kids joyfully playing in the leaves. 

It was about 4pm. Chris would be home in about an hour and a half, and I thought, "oh, I'll just take the kids outside and let them play while I do a little yard work." Easy peasey. Fun for all.

Ha. 

First off, it was my first time trying to strap Cooper into the carrier on my back, which was extremely difficult and awkward. 

It also just happened to be one of the windiest days we'd had in a while. 

In case you're unaware, let me just assure you that raking leaves and trying to put them into a paper bag that is supposed to stand up by itself while wind is blowing everything on God's green earth all over the place.....Good golly, I lost my train of thought. Basically, it's not a pretty picture!

Fifteen minutes in, I was beat. I haven't exercised in--well, I'm not sure how long it's been--and my muscles were aching like crazy. My dog was barking at the rake and her leash was getting all tangled in it. Molly's bag of sidewalk chalk was blowing down the neighbor's driveway. It was getting more and more miserable by the minute.

But at this point, the unthinkable crossed my mind.

Let it go, Amy. 

Let go of your expectations to have this task completed in this amount of time. Let your kids be kids, and enjoy them! 

Haha, looking back on that, it seems so simple. 

So THAT is the point I ran inside, grabbed my camera, and told both kids to just have at it in the pile of leaves. 

It's so funny what a simple shift in your frame of mind can make. It went from this late afternoon being totally miserable to so enjoyable. So thank you, Lord, for helping me! 

Friday Highs.v48

Oh heeeey blog. Hey blog friends. 

*waving*

It's been a while. I've been busy planning a baby shower for my dear friend, as well as Molly's second birthday! AH, how is my baby almost two?!

Anyway, how about a little bit 'o Friday Highs to play catch up?

***********

Molly helping me make dinner. I love giving her little jobs and seeing her delight in helping me. Even if it may take just a little bit longer than if I were to do it myself, it's teaching her and I can see how much she enjoys it. :)

***********

Pretty sure I laid him on his play mat. Then looked over a couple of minutes later and here he was:

***********

First time drawing with sidewalk chalk. 

We are loving this weather and being able to do more activities outside. So refreshing!

***********

Molly's first ice cream cone.

***********

I mean seriously, is there a cuter face? 

And where would find cuter ears!? 

***********

Molly in her mismatched jammies, tucking Elmo into her bed. She pulled up the covers, said a Bible verse, and then sang "Jesus Loves Me." Little mama!

***********

These two precious babies. Cannot get over how blessed I am to be their mama.