The busiest and best time of the year

     From November through January we are busy in this house.  With Harper's birth, we were even busier this year.  Between Thanksgiving, birthdays, and Christmas, there's always a lot to plan for... but also a lot to look forward to.

Christmas this year was really good.  I did most of my shopping online and plan to keep that up in the future.  We got our tree early.. and even got to go back to the tree farm again to help my mom pick out hers.

     On Christmas Eve we went to church.  We first began attending our church on Christmas Eve three years ago.  I always say that making the decision to attend that evening was the best decision I ever made.  I truly believe that God led me and Brandon to our church.  We have grown so much there and my whole perspective on life has changed.  I've never once regretted my decision to place my faith and hope in Jesus.  Service was really inspiring this year and Harper did well in the nursery, which was great!  Later that evening, Brandon's dad made us dinner at home.

Christmas morning...

     I loved getting to watch Peyton open his presents this year.  We really took our time picking presents that we thought he would enjoy.  We didn't want to just get a whole bunch of gifts for the sake of getting gifts, so we chose five gifts for Peyton and two for Harper.  Christmas means so much more to me than it did in the past.  It is about spending time with family and giving, but the birth of Jesus, who came into this world in such a humble, vulnerable form as a baby, is why Christmas is so important.  It's more important to Brandon and I to teach our children about this event and it's significance than anything else on this day.  Next year we want to scale back even more.  I found the "4 Gift Rule" on Pinterest, and we're thinking of using this as a guide next year.

     As for this Christmas, I still think we did a pretty good job of keeping things under control.

     Christmas was even more special this year because it snowed on Christmas Eve.  It was the real first snowfall and it was completely unexpected.  Because it barely snowed at all last year, this was the first time Peyton got to play in the snow.  On Christmas morning, Brandon and Peyton went sledding in the backyard.

     Peyton and Harper got to spend a lot of time with several different cousins on Christmas day and later in the week.

Harper hung out... looking cute

     Christmas went by quickly, but our celebrations didn't end on the 25th.  I'll post again (soon hopefully) to recap the New Year, Brandon's birthday, my birthday, and Peyton's birthday. 

normal around here

We've been busy getting ready for Harper and enjoying the fall.  This year like the last few, we visited a local farm in the area.  Peyton was old enough this year to participate in the activities and run around the pumpkin field.

When we got home, I let Peyton paint his pumpkin.  He seemed like he really liked painting it and he wasn't too messy about it either :-)

Two days before Halloween, Hurricane Sandy hit our area.  It was actually bad enough to close school for two days.  We lost power for a little less than 24 hours.  But things quickly resumed to normal on Halloween.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for everyone hit by Sandy :-(

Today is Election Day.  Brandon, Peyton and I went to vote early this morning.  I had the day off, but I had a ton to do to prepare for my leave.  I feel good knowing that Peyton will learn about the election process from a young age (part of the territory when your mom is a social studies teacher).

And today I had my last doctor appointment before Harper arrives!  It's pretty amazing.

Independence Day with my independent boy

This year, like last year, we spent the 4th of July downtown.  This year, however, it was HOT!  So we left for a little and ate dinner in an air conditioned restaurant.  I would say it was a good move.

This was the 4th last year...

Peyton was 6 months old.  Now he's 18 months old and July 4th was a whole different experience.

He's such a big boy!

He rode a pony for the first time!

He played with the petting zoo animals.

 He gave his dad a workout by slowly crawling and then darting out past the "don't go past this line" sign.  Luckily the Police officer was nice about it.

 As it got darker, he waited patiently.... (with the help of food and bottles)

And finally! (at 9:30!) he watched the fireworks with Mama!  He did make sure my hands were around his waist at all times, but he never cried or fussed once :-)

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day 

to my amazing husband and baby daddy :-)

Do you know you're the best dad ever?!  Well you are!!!

And... Happy Father's Day

to my father

I love you both and am so grateful for you in my life and in Peyton's