Gloomy Weekend

Last weekend, the weather was cold and rainy and overall gloomy so for the most part we decided to stay bundled up in our cozies and enjoy the comforts of our heater.  Jason and I did get to have a date night on Friday night which was so nice, but other than that, we just hung with the girls at home.  Here are a few pics of our snuggly weekend.

Addie got play-doh in her stocking this year, and we played with it a TON this weekend.

Nothing better than napping on a cold, rainy day

Doing a little cookie baking

Just a little taste before lunch  :)

Lila ate sweet potatoes instead....sorry baby bean  :)

It's ok...they are pretty tasty Mom

Addie was trying to point to get Lila to look at the camera.  She loves to help with Lila and really is the best big sister.

More snuggles.  Soaking up this sweet baby love.

jumpy jumpy

Ad decided she needed my gloves and her hunting beaning to watch her movie.  haha

Sweet sisters....these two melt my heart

NYE

This year, we decided to not get a babysitter for NYE and just hung out the house with our kiddos (we live on the edge, I know).  Dan, Monica and Jackson came over and brought Margie's homemade gumbo, and I made a few sides to go with it.  The gumbo was delicious as always, and we enjoyed just getting to hang out with friends.  Jackson is toddling around now, and he and Ad had a blast hanging out together.  We celebrated the new year around 9pm before putting the kiddos to bed.  I told Ad that we kiss and say HAPPY NEW YEAR!  She and Jackson proceeded to kiss, and Jackson just kept puckering up his lips as far as they would pucker.  It was soooo hilarious.  We all kept laughing so they of course kept kissing.

They would kiss

Ad would laugh

and then do this.  It was so funny.

Then they would rinse and repeat.

 

I wouldn't trade these moments for all the NYE parties in the world.  I love to think back on the year and feel so blessed.  During 2014, we bought a new house, had a new baby, remodeled our house and are truly settling in as a family of four.  Of course, there are always difficult things we encounter throughout the year, but God has abundantly blessed us during 2014 and for that, I am so very grateful.  I hope that each of you have the best 2015!!

Yum Yum Lila

Since Lila was fast approaching the six-month mark and I had some time on my hands, I loaded up on all kinds of fruits and veggies after Christmas and stocked our freezer with tons of homemade baby food for Lila.  I loved making Addie's baby food and plan to do the same for Lila.  To start, I made sweet potatoes, carrots, kale, spinach, squash, zucchini, beets, pears and apples.  I had also bought blueberries, but Ad decided to polish those off before they became pureed.  :)  I will be able to mix and match these to make various concoctions once she has been introduced to them all individually.  We started out with carrots below, and she did ok with them.  There was the normal about of gagging and spitting, but she did eat a few.  She is still getting used to the textures, etc but is getting better each day.  Hopefully, she will learn to be an adventurous and healthy little eater.

Christmas Break

I was fortunate to take off work this year from December 19th until January 5th.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  After all the Christmas craziness subsided, we did a lot of relaxing and playing with the girls.  My parents came in town for a few days which Ad was so excited about, and we all just re-charged before jumping back in our normal routine.  Below is a photo dump from our Christmas break:

For a few days, we started introducing potty training before I realized that we were spending our Christmas break confined to the tarp I had spread out in the living room and just weren't having much fun.  I rationalized that we pay enough tuition for Ad to go to school, that I would just let her teachers do the potty training heavy lifting and re-enforce at home.  She was so proud of the successes she had on the potty though.

And how cute is she in her panties.  :)

Mom and Dad kept the girls one night so Jason and I could have a date night.  We actually went to the movies which was the first time I had been to the movies in over 3 years....crazy I know.

Morning snuggles with MiMi and Papaw

One morning, we headed to the mall to get out the house.  Addie had a blast.

Riding the train

We played with some of our Christmas toys

Shooting baskets in our high heels...no biggie

We bundled up and went on a couple of walks around the neighborhood

We took the girls to Kinley's 3rd birthday party.  It was a painting party which Addie loved.

The girls used their chairs from Deanna, and I bet Addie watched the old Disney movie from my child hood, Robin Hood, no less than 10 times.  She's obsessed.

Then it was back to school and back to reality in January.

But aren't my babies so cute and cuddly in their winter gear!

Christmas Decor

Before I get too far removed from Christmas, I wanted to post a few pictures of our house looking festive (mostly because it makes it so much easier to back and look next year when I am trying to decorate).  Since this was the first year to spend Christmas in our new house, I had a blank slate to work with.  I used all of my same stuff but found new places for it all.  For the most part, I am a neutral décor lover, but at Christmas time, all bets are off, and I embrace the "the more sparkle and glitter the better" approach to decorating.  Below is a glimpse of what our house looked like for the month of December.

The entry way was adorned with garland and sparkly Christmas foliage.  This picture doesn't really do it justice.  I actually really loved our entry table this Christmas.

I was so happy to have my big Christmas tree back from storage this year.  We have 10 ft ceilings in our front living room so this became the tree's home.  I loved having it in front of the window so you could see it from the street.  I bought a few more sparkly sprigs to add to the top this year, but everything else was the same as past years.

I bought these flat glittery ornaments on sale and tied them to all my packages under the tree.  It made a huge statement and really made the tree so pretty.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it with all the gifts under it before they started being opened.

Buffet in the front room just got some garland and ornaments sprinkled about.

The bar housed our nativity scene and some greenery

The girl's Christmas art and cards from school were tucked into the shelves in my kitchen.  I just love seeing their sweet little hand and foot prints.

A small touch of Christmas in the bar area of the kitchen

My babies feet and some sparkly snow man also lived on the kitchen counter

We taped up the Christmas cards in the kitchen and filled a few apothecary jars with some festive filler.  I tucked some greenery and such around the jars and added a yummy smelling candle to the tray.

I put our small tree that we used at the rent house last year up in our other living area so we would have a tree in there too.  I also bought us new stockings this year which I really love.

Just a little more Christmas on the end table in the living room

 

I love having the house decorated for Christmas.  It makes it feel so warm and cozy, and I love sitting on the sofa in the evening with the little white lights of the Christmas tree illuminating the room.  I loved that Addie wanted to help decorate this year and will always look forward to the magic that comes along with celebrating Christmas. 

Cheers on Cindywood

The day after Christmas, Jenn and I co-hosted a progressive dinner for the family.  Everyone met at our house for heavy appetizers and drinks for a few hours before walking over to Jenn's house for yummy desserts and more wine.  Everything felt so festive, and all the food turned out delicious.  Everyone had a great time, and it was so nice to do half the work for all of the fun!

I served wine spritzers, red wine and beer for drinks.

Shrimp cocktail in tall shot glasses

Cranberry salsa over cream cheese

We also had black bean salsa, stuffed mushrooms, savory palmiers, baked brie, ham/rolls and cocktail wieners in sauce.

Since my Dad was off hunting, Mom came up that night to join the party.  Lila looks like such a doll.  Precious girl.

Mimi with her girls

Jenn's dessert spread.  Everything was delicious!

Jenn and I had made pre-mixed cookie jars for everyone to take home from the party.

Some of the girls