december iphone dump

Please don't tell Kelle Hampton I stole her idea & I will work on the formatting.

christmas

Christmas morning. In Avery's defense, he didn't feel well.

This picture is for Cathryn. I usually don't take pictures of food, but these cinnamon roll pancakes (thank you, Pintrest) turned out so beautifully, that they are now a Christmas morning tradition.

Vivi just chillin' at the hotel. She was in heaven when I let her eat pizza in the bed.

Poor Avery melted into the cot.

And then, my Bear got sick. 

After 12 days of diarrhea and vomit, you eventually decide to just go on with your plans. The kids had been sick for FOREVER and we thought, what the hell, what's the worst that can happen? Before you judge us for taking sick Avery to Breckenridge, he was doing okay and really wanted to go. He did great on the car ride and soon after arriving, he exorcist styled all over the hotel bathroom. My first thought was, "At least it's not my bathroom." I think all in all the kids had a great time. We didn't leave the hotel room and the TV was on the entire time. He later told me that he loved staying in the mountain hotel, so no permanent damage done. We'll try again next year and hopefully make it out of the room.

 

sick boo

And then, my Boo got sick.

snow!

And then, it snowed.

annual hanukkah party

This is totally pay back for the time when our downstairs neighbor had a raging all-night party when Avery was 4 months old.

Hannah, Reuben, Avery, Vivienne, Annabelle, Madelyn & Eli

Yes, this is where you put 7 kids for dinner in small condo.

Mady playing with the psychedelic dreidel.

Where would we be in life without our girlfriends?

You can't argue with this tradition!

the first night of hanukkah

Avery was convinced this package was his much anticipated Leap Pad. Too bad for him, it was a book!

What could it be!?!?

A dollhouse...hooray!!!

Ah, there's the Leap Pad. I don't have any pictures of him opening it since I decided to video that portion of the evening.

Yowza. That's a lot of pink.

See ya in a few days, Avery.

Scott and I spent a lot of time figuring out our holiday season game plan and I think we did a pretty good job of finding comfortable ground for both Hanukkah and Christmas. We made sure the 'best' toys were equally divided and decided to give them their biggest gifts on the first night of Hanukkah. 


Ultimately, I want to make each holiday special and memorable and if that means more presents than I think is reasonable, then so be it.

girls night out

Sorry, Cathryn, this might be my favorite picture of you. Please note the Flinstone's rib she's enjoying. ***Insert inappropriate joke about bone here***

Heather, Cassie, Cathryn and Cheney on Larimer Square. Totally sober.

Just after the Girls Only comedy show.

Ok, I had a phenomenal birthday night out. The only major hiccup was that Stacy's babysitter forgot to show up so she tragically had to miss out. The four of us ate a great dinner, had many drinks, watched a pretty funny show and then had some more drinks. For the first time in awhile, I was hungover. Not such a good feeling, but it was totally worth all of the fun I had the night before. I have some amazing friends.

i guess you could call it ice skating

They're all smiles now.

Getting ready to hit the ice.

And this is just about where misery set in.

Or here.

It was much more fun to watch.

Daddy and Sister were there too.

Sister at least had a little fun out on the ice.

Avery enjoyed it after we took the skates off.

Finishing up the evening with some hot chocolate.

Since last winter, I had been hoping to take Avery ice skating. So, on a random Monday evening Cathryn, Scott and I bundled up the kids and hit the rink after work. It wasn't a hit. I'm going to go ahead and put that out there. The big kids just couldn't seem to figure out how to even stand on the skates and were completely unnerved by their lack of balance on the ice. Avery and I only made it around the rink by brute force. I certainly got a work-out that night. We tried putting skates on Mady, but she would have none of it. Viv liked being on the ice, but in her boots. Finally, we gave Avery a walker and sent him out in his boots. He made it around the rink several times before security made him leave. Apparently, one has to be wearing skates to be on the ice.


As you would expect, we finished off the night with some hot chocolate.


Even though ice skating itself was kind of a bust, I appreciate that Cathryn and the girls were in for a last minute adventure and grateful Scott decided to come along. We couldn't have done it without him.

back in time

Here are the links to a few blogs that I just got around to posting:

The Turbow Photo Shoot

Fall Photo Shoot

At the Local Race

disney on ice

Those are some excited boys right there.

He even brought a few select characters from the birthday cake collection.

Buzz Lightyear's grand entrance.

This is what you get when you try to take a picture of boys who are too excited to sit still and do not want their picture taken.

I love the silhouette shots. They really capture the excitement of being there.

Toy Story Disney on Ice was in town and even though I really wanted to go, I never got around to getting tickets. Luckily, Erica stepped in at the last minute with complimentary tickets from her office. It was so much fun and great to spend the afternoon with my favorite boy. Avery and Eli were so excited and interested in the entire show. The mamas had a pretty good time too.

ipod kids

Nothing too spectacular about these pictures, except they capture Avery and Vivi playing together with Scott's iphone and then Viv taking a header into the back of the stroller, on purpose.

Also, I shot these photos in RAW format and I do see why it is the preferred format of professional type photographers. 

officially a walker

When I saw her walking towards to door with the intention of doing it 'by self,' I grabbed my camera, knowing it would be a moment.

With a little help from Brother, Vivienne walked all of the way down to our car.

This is exactly where my heart broke.

I promise, this is the last one (for awhile) about Vivienne getting older because, for the time being, the transition is complete. Our girl is officially a walker. Officially a toddler. The scootch is rarely seen. She is forming more complex sentences...and demands. She is growing before our very eyes. 

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that I can set her down and she can get herself in a clean manor, without scuffing her shoes from point A to point B, but there is something big about becoming an Official Walker (Stacy even called me when Reuben made the switch). She let me hold onto that baby for quite awhile because she's on the late end of walking, and I enjoyed it.

I am thrilled that I had my camera with me and through teary eyes, I captured her first journey out of the house on solid feet...well, mostly solid.

playing

This is not the last post about the shift that is happening with Vivienne. She has really started to play with her toys in a different way. Here, she's pushing her pony on it's little wagon around the kitchen. A little moment, but huge in her Mama's heart.

sometimes I find

Sometimes, when the house is quiet and I haven't heard a peep out of the kids, I sometimes find this:

They are quietly reading books together in their room.

Other times, often in the same day, I find this:

A cutting, foam sticker mess spectacular.

At least they're doing it together, right?