Picture Catch Up - Part 1

Since we got our iPad, I rarely turn on our laptop. I pulled it out tonight and thought, I'm going to upload all the pictures I've taken recently and write a blog post. As I started selecting some of my favorites, I realized...holy cow, a LOT has happened since I've written any sort of update. This is definitely going to have to be a two part post (at the very least) or else you'll never make it to the end of the post. Let's get started, shall we?

In early December we went on a long weekend trip to our family cabin with two other families. One family has a daughter who is Emma's age and the other family has a daughter who is Colson's age. So, we had a fun getaway with friends! Colson loved Rylee's jumper. :)

...did I mention my little guy started crawling? It's pathetic that he's two days away from turning 9 months old, started crawling at 7 months and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. At this point, he's super fast and is pulling up on everything. He actually would prefer to be walking all day long. He reaches for your fingers every time you hold him to help him walk. I pulled out our walker, thinking that he'd struggle to control it but he is a pro! He walks all over the place by himself! Crazy!!

Before we knew it, the Christmas season was in full swing. Emma loved helping her Wadi (Grandma) build this gingerbread house. She licked every.single.piece of candy before she stuck it on. haha yummm

Look at my girl sitting at the "kids table" with her cousins! We celebrated Christmas with Jarred's family on Christmas Eve. It was so relaxing to spend the day together...we had a mid-morning brunch, opened gifts, took naps, and then had a big ham dinner mid afternoon. Since both of our families live very close, our holidays are often very rushed and busy, trying to see everyone and do everything and Jarred still has to work so this year was such a nice change of pace!

On Christmas morning, we spent time just "us" before church. I have to record this because it was just too funny. Don't let this picture fool you, Emma was the "Christmas bummer" this Christmas morning. Jarred got in from work around 6:30am and came up to our room to wake her and I up. (she had crawled in with me around 5:30am) We told her we could go downstairs to open her presents and her stocking gifts but she just cried and told us that she "just wanted to watch a show!" ummm ok? We got downstairs and I put her bulging stocking in front of her, sure that actually seeing the gifts would get her excited. But no. She slowly pulled the little things we had in her stocking, cracking a smile every once in a while.  Then it was present time. We had 2 little gifts and one big box (the dress up trunk in the back of the picture) She opened the two little ones and then we were SO excited for the BIG ONE! Come on, everyone knows the biggest present is always the best and most exciting. My unpredictable little Ebenezer turned to us and said, 

"It's too big for me. I don't wanna open it."

**silence** 

Daddy teases her...."Should Daddy just open it then?" Surely this will get her. 

"yeah...."

haha Seems my girl really is MY girl. Both of us take about an hour of waking up time before we're really ready to talk and be excited and interact. :) Needless to say, it wasn't really how I pictured Christmas morning to go down.

Another funny story:

We started to talk with Emma this year about what Christmas is really about. We explained that it's a celebration for Jesus' birthday. After she heard that, her next question naturally was, "Well are we going to have a party for him?" She wanted to have cupcakes and hotdogs....perfect party food in her two year old mind. Since we were planning to have lunch on our own anyway, we thought...hey why not?!?! Jarred's family invited a single woman from church over and she wanted to bring the cupcakes and ice cream.  She picked out what she *thought* was a tree and asked them to write Happy Birthday Jesus on it. She got some weird looks from the bakery people....what kind of tree is red anyway? It wasn't until she arrived that she figured out it was actually a santa hat. haha A Santa hat, Happy Birthday Jesus cake. :)

Then we headed to my parents' house for more fun. Do you think Colson had fun or what? I love that happy little guy! and this girl?

She had a great Christmas too. :) We are so so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many people we love (and love us!). 

ok, that's it for part one. Stay tuned for more another day!