Merry, merry!

I love this picture of Lola and her cousin, Madison. Lola's expression here pretty much sums up how she felt/feels about Christmas. It was fun while it lasted! More pics to come, I promise.

Simply magical

For parents with small children, time either drags on (like when you're battling through a horrible sleep phase with your 3-year-old) or it goes by way too fast (like when you're immensely enjoying the holiday season, really seeing it for the first time through your childrens' eyes!)

^^That's us, by the way.

Will someone please tell me how it's already December 19? Two months ago, I thought, "Wow, we have so much time to enjoy the holidays and Christmas..." But, those days and weeks flew by, and now Christmas day is rapidly approaching, and I really just don't want it all to end.

This has been the most fun Christmas season with our kiddos. Last year, Lola really enjoyed Christmas, but she was still a bit young. And Finn, of course, was only about six weeks old. We were still in the sleep-deprived-sometimes-zombie-like phase that goes along with having a newborn.

But, this year. Well, this year has really been magical.

I'm behind on my blogging (big time), and hopefully I can get caught up over the next couple of weeks. But, for now, here are a few photos from our trip to Silver Dollar City last weekend. (Note: I hadn't been to SDC in at least 15 years. Probably 16 or 17, actually??) This was Lola's first time at SDC. Her first time at any kind of amusement park, actually. AND... her first time on a roller coaster! It was so much fun. I actually laughed out loud and squealed along with her on the spinning tea cup ride! Matt almost lost his cookies on the swings. We were all kids that day. It was emotional for this mama, too. I actually had to choke back tears when Santa showed up at our lunch (the look of wonder on her face was priceless.) I was also very touched on the train ride by "grandpa's" telling of the Christmas story. And the lights. Oh, the lights! We almost left early - it was cold, and we knew we had a long, crooked drive ahead of us (did I mention Lola threw up twice on the ride over?) But I'm so glad we stayed. (And she slept all the way home!)

 The kid was speechless (this never happens). And refused to smile.

She said this was "kind of scary," and she was afraid it was going to fly off the tracks.

(She's definitely her mother's daughter.)

The Frosty play was so cute and funny!

Regan and Lola are on stage in this picture. And Jessica, too. :)

These faces sum it all up!

The parade: a perfect, magical way to end the evening.

Finn gets to go next year!

Finn Henry is ONE!

Happy, happy birthday to the sweetest boy! 

One day he'll be bigger than her...

Our weekend: another birthday, story time, the farm and pumpkin carving

Thanks for all the birthday wishes: calls, texts, FB messages (my goodness, the FB messages!) and real, live cards. Nothing beats a birthday card in the mailbox on your birthday!

A birthday treat.

We were supposed to be in Columbia for Homecoming, but Lola was just getting over being sick (and turns out Finn sprouted a fever on Saturday evening), so we stayed home. Lola and I went to the library Saturday morning for story time.

And craft time.

 We drove out to the farm on Sunday and got up close and personal with some cows.

Lola drove!

And rode.

And explored the woods.

We carved our jack-o-lantern, so we're all ready for Halloween. Lola is SO excited for Halloween and to go trick-or-treating. I'm not really sure where she gets all that excitement - it's not like we have been talking it up a whole lot. I guess it's just instinctual when candy is involved.

Boo!

He will retaliate one day

Throwback Thursday

This was me, one year ago today. 33 years old and 38 weeks pregnant. Today I am 34 years old, and that "bump" is two weeks away from turning ONE. Wow. Not even 9 a.m., and I've already received so many birthday wishes. You all know how to make a girl feel special! xo

This guy

...turns one in TWO WEEKS. Say it ain't so.

Never a dull moment when big sis enters the pic.

Giving him "huggies."

And "kissies."

Feeding him grass.

And chasing him on all fours.

'

All that blogging I promised is still in the back of my mind.

If only I could find the time.

Be back soon...

Get ready for an overload of pictures with fewer words than I would like (TIME, people, where does it GO?) This is a sneak peek from our trip to Columbia last weekend to cheer on the Tigers! More soon.

Photo Recap

A snippet of what you've missed since I've been too busy to blog.

An afternoon on the lake:

FH is full-on crawling, pulling up and standing... and he's almost 10 months!

Lola helped me bake her "practice" birthday cake. The big day is TOMORROW.
(Somebody is watching us...)

We visited the Mountain Home library for the first time, and it was a hit!

It got cool enough for sweatshirts!

So we broke out the new chiminea and made s'mores.

FH discovered Lola's kitchen, and he loves it.

Power breakfast before working Saturday of Labor Day weekend: quinoa with cinnamon and nutmeg, homemade yogurt (thanks, Gigi), local blueberries, ginger golden apples, sliced almonds and walnuts. Yum!

The Tigers won their first game of the season.

It's football season, people!

We said an unofficial "good-bye" to summer.

Now it's time to get ready for Lola's third birthday party and start thinking about Finn's FIRST birthday party. Whaaaat?? Time for football games, pumpkin patches, soups, fall crafts, fall projects (we're painting the exterior of our house!), Halloween costumes, Thanksgiving get-togethers and Christmas shopping. Eeeeek! Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself... or am I?

Only 114 days til Christmas, people.

FH is crawling... for real this time!

As of yesterday (Aug. 14) Finn is up on hands and knees crawling... and pulling up and standing (in his crib and on anything else he can climb). He's sort of into everything, and I don't really know what to do about it. (You'd think this was our first rodeo.) I've caught him chewing on shoes, eating carpet fibers, pulling on electrical cords (yikes!) and a few other stunts. He mimics (or tries to mimic) anything we do or say. He can clap his hands and wave. He (sort of) says what sounds like mama, dada, buh-bye. And Miss Linda is teaching him to say "bird." He doesn't feel well today (I blame teething). Hopefully it passes quickly. I'll try to record and post a video of his shenanigans soon!

Catching up in photos

I'm waaaaay behind on blogging. Again. So I'm throwing a bunch of pictures out there to give you a glimpse of what we've been up to. These first few photos (with the turtle) are from the beginning of July, and my, how the kiddos have changed since then!

Turtles are strong. See, they can hold an 8-month-old baby!

This turtle wasn't shy. He was kinda freaky, really.

Holding a days-old baby guinea at Miss Linda's almostafarm.

(It pooped on her, and thank goodness she didn't realize it.)

We had friends over a couple weeks ago and forgot to serve the peanut butter pie for dessert. There were four little girls running around - and Finn - so needless to say, it was kinda chaotic. So I ate it for breakfast the next morning. And the next... and the next...

Lola's first kiss. Oh my! (And he's a younger lad, too!)

Big boy is 9 months old.

And he still likes to snuggle.

They love smoothies. This is pretty much the only way Lola will eat veggies anymore, so I really need to be making these daily.

Lola and Maddox, sweet cousins.

Lola was very concerned about this baby bird that apparently fell out of its nest. (I was concerned, too.) We hope the mama bird found it. :/

Loving that these two can ride in the wagon together!

Playhouse fun.

On Saturday we did a spontaneous thing. Lola spent the weekend with Matt's mom, and Finn stayed at my parents' house Saturday night... so Matt and I went AWOL! We snuck away from the dock, boated down to another marina and went out to dinner. Then we cruised back at sunset. It was so. much. fun. And much-needed time away together!

Sunset over BSL. Sigh.