Christmas Dress

I have two favorite Sundays every year...Primary Program and Christmas Program! I have always loved the Sunday before Christmas. I love Ooohing and Aaahing over all the little girls' Christmas dresses. I love the music, the program, everything. This was my first year to dress up a little girl and I have been SOOOO excited. I'm definitely a newbie because her tights were way too big, I forgot to get black shoes, and thank goodness it was warm enough to sport this sleeveless dress because I didn't think about a plan B if it was too cold.

I tried to take some pics of my two kiddos together and unfortunately, most of them ended up like this...So, Daddy distracted the big dude and I tried to get a couple of Reese's cute outfit.

3rd Annual Sweater Palooza

Friday night we helped host our 3rd Annual Sweater Palooza. Unfortunately the Theurers had to miss the party, but if there is any excuse to miss it, having a baby is it!

Welcome Baby Boy Theurer!

white elephant gifts...people seem to get a more and more brave each year...

some of the yummy grub...

this pic is everyone being sad that Nate and Becca weren't there...We ate, had a white elephant gift exchange and then played Minute to Win it games. Seriously the highlight of the night for me!
I can't get the videos to upload here, but I did get them up on Facebook if you'd like to see us all humiliate ourselves! :)

Santa

My kids had their picture taken 3 times with Santa here.
Take #1- Reese Screaming, Maddux smiling.
Take #2- Me holding Reese standing next to Santa, Maddux smiling.

When I told the lady that I wanted the screaming picture not the one with my happy smiling child, I found out she had deleted it (what crazy mom would rather have the crying pic anyway!?!) So, back to Santa's lap for a redo...

Take #3- Reese screaming harder, Maddux smiling, Santa confused. :)

12k's of Christmas (or 6...)

My friend and I ran the 12k's of Christmas race here in Gilbert this weekend. We decided during the week before the race that we'd rather do the 6k...so we did! :)

I'm NOT a fast person and never have been, but I'm kinda proud of this race! I still have a LONG way to go...but I'm glad that these early mornings are starting to pay off!
I was the 8th female finisher and 4th in my division....26th overall (478 total runners).

It was a fun race and I've loved getting to know Alicia so well, we are run-aholics together. :)

my socks have snowflakes and a red bow in my hair. This is as Christmasy as I got, some people had full santa costumes on, bells, elf shoes, santa hats. wow!

Maddux

Here is a little Maddux update....

*He has no lack of energy, still going strong...
*Adores his baby sister and is very protective of her.
*His diet consists of pizza, taquitos, quesadillas, PBJs, yogurt, chicken nuggets, and junk food. I seriously need to work on this!
*He loves the park, play areas, walmart and target.
*He can be very helpful, when he wants to be.
*He is very polite and says Please, Thank you, and your welcome and is quick to remind us if we forget to do the same.
*Is always pretending to be a super hero. Sometimes it is a well known superhero like batman, spiderman, the hulk (when he takes his shirt off). And sometimes he makes up his own -"jumpy guy" is a favorite.
*Loves everything Christmas. EVERYTHING!
*Cannot (or will not) sit still for anything. Not for dinner, prayers, church, shows... nothing.
*Says the cutest and funniest things on a daily basis. I should start writing them down.

7 months

Reese is now 7 months old. Craziness!

*She got her first tooth this month and now has another one poking through.
*She eats anything and everything we offer her. If we are holding her and take a bite of something, she has her mouth wide open like a bird, just waiting!
*Bananas are her favorite.
*She shrieks soooo high pitched ALL the time
*She is trying so hard to crawl but can get anywhere she wants by rolling.
*She went through a stage this month of waking up in the night again. We've finally taken care of that by adding formula to her diet.
*She weighs 16 pounds, according to my less-than-accurate bathroom scale.

Thanksgiving

I loved Thanksgiving this year. My friends and I ran a 10k Turkey Trot in the morning, we had the Ingrams, Craigs, and Carlsons all together for dinner, and we did a few crafts with the all the kids. It really was a fun day with lots to be thankful for!

All the cousins, except for 6 day old Baby Vander, Talie, and Reese
(their Turkey hats didn't fit them) ;)

7 years!

Happy Anniversary to my BFF! I couldn't love this guy more.
He is a great dad and an awesome husband!

7 years ago, this is the only taste we got of our wedding cake. We thought, like most couples, we'd eat the top layer of our cake either after the honeymoon or on our 1 year anniversary. WRONG. My fam busted it out while we were away and it was gone before we got back! We have teased them about it for years!

This year I thought it'd be fun to surprise drew and order a replica of our cake for our anniversary. It didn't work out exactly how I had planned it in my head, but it was still fun!

the original...
the duplicate...(kinda)...
This is what Drew surprised me with...My gift to Drew...Celebrating at the most delicious dinner ever...

6 months

Reese is 6 months today.

*She is going to be our drama queen. The girl knows what she wants and lets us know it! yikes!
*She smiles at anyone who glances her way. She is a super happy baby.
*She has started eating rice cereal and some green vegetables.
*(Usually) sleeps 12 hours a night.
*Still adores her big brother.
*Rolls all over the place & loves to roll to the end of the rug and stomp her feet on the wood floors.
*She is very strong- necks and legs. She loves to stand up.
*Has mastered a killer whine. Not my favorite sound.
*Drew swears she won't be able to see out of her left eye when she grows up because it's always half covered with a giant flower. ;)
*She squeals, laughs and makes noises that I'm fairly certain she thinks we understand.
*Still has no hair, just a few wispy strands that have sprouted.

She weighs 15lbs, 9 oz - 45 %
She is 27.1" tall - 92%

Current nicknames include: Reese Monkey, Reesie bug, and Chunky Monkey.

Halloween

This was the Halloween that wouldn't end. Don't get me wrong..I love the holiday. We had so much fun. It was just TOOOO LONG. The past 2 weeks we had: Halloween birthday party, Halloween preschool party, Halloween playdate, 2 other Halloween parties, a ward trunk or treat..and THEN Halloween.

Our family dressed up with a Super Hero theme (Maddux's request), He was, of course, Batman. Reese was Catwoman, I was Supergirl, Daddy was Clark Kent/Superman (Maddux is still confused by this because Joker was his request for Daddy), Joel was Mr. Freeze, and Kasey & Vander were Batman. :)

Ward Trunk or Treat

Other Halloween parties

Saturday

Saturday we woke up and realized we had nowhere to be and nothing we HAD to do. (of course we had plenty of chores and errands that we should have done, but nah) We took advantage and took off for an awesome family day.

We scoped out the coolest McDonalds play place for lunch (gag), drove to the "summit" of South Mountain and played, shopped a bit, met up with the Ingrams and had dinner, played at the play area at Chandler mall.
We wore the kids (and myself) out really well!