Christmas

We had such a fun Christmas! I am so thankful we are in our own place and could celebrate however we wanted. On Christmas Eve we read the Nativity story from the Bible and had snack foods for dinner (spinach artichoke dip, cheese and crackers, lil smokies in BBQ sauce, and egg nog). Then while Cole was out playing Santa and picking up Rylee's new toy (a kitchen handed down from a cousin that was in perfect condition- from a house with no little boys- Cade has since destroyed a few items of the set). While Cole was gone, I set up the kids for a photo in front of the Christmas tree. Turned out cute. I was experimenting with my camera settings, so we'll see how much editing I need to do. Then the kids went to bed with many warnings that Santa can't come til they're asleep. We got everything ready then woke up about 7am and woke the kids up. We had family prayer then came out to do presents. It was so much fun. I think Rylee opened all the presents. Cade didn't really get the whole tearing off the paper thing like I thought he would, but maybe Rylee just beat him to it most of the time. They loved playing with the kitchen all morning and the house looked like a tornado hit when everything was done. So fun. After presents, calls to family, lunch of leftover snacks and naps for everyone, we went over to Cole's parents house for dinner and we watched Elf on TV (funniest Christmas movie ever-love it). Here's the Christmas eve picture.


credits: Template from 2 sisters design at www.scrapartist.com; paper and everything else by Diane Rigdon at www.shabbyelements.com.

What's Up?

This is me at 20ish weeks- just barely beginning to show and still feeling cute and right after we found out it's a girl. I haven't taken a belly picture since, so this might be it for this pregnancy. I took pictures of my growing belly every few weeks with Rylee (about 6 or 8 total), then with Cade I have one picture at about 30 weeks, and then this one with baby #3.

credits: template from 2 sisters designs at http://www.scrapartist.com/; papers, buttons from strawberry lemonade kit at http://www.jenwilsondesigns.net/; flower gems from http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/; alpha from http://www.shabbyprincess.com/; glittery star trail from http://www.digitaldesignessentials.com/; stitches by Gina Miller at http://www.ginamillerdesigns.com/.

Rylee loved being a birthday princess. She got to dress up in her fanciest Sunday dress (and completed the look with a crown) on her birthday and we ran errands. She got lots of comments at Costco! I can't believe she's 4 already. She is growing way too fast. (BTW love the 4's- much much better than terrible 2's and independent 3's, she can be reasoned with- most of the time, and she loves to help out, although she tends to be a little bossy with her brother, but maybe that's just being a big sister ;)

credits: I think I used a template for this, not sure though; pink papers and buttons and labels from Pink Lemonade kit by Jen Wilson at http://www.jenwilsondesigns.net/; brown paper, beads and flower by Michelle Coleman freebie on her blog.

A big part of our summer was spent playing with these little guys. Rylee and Cade loved it. Well, Cade not so much- puppies bite a little too much for his taste. They were just too cute and we had to play as much as possible before they were all gone in a few months' time. Oh, these are Cole's brother Alan's puppies from his dog Hallie. Molly and her were both bred at the same time (before the job change and such), but Molly's didn't take. We count this as a big blessing- that we didn't have to try and sell puppies as we made a huge life change.

credits: this is a premade page from the French Countryside album available at http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/ or http://www.christinareneedesigns.com/.

Cole with an armful of puppies- he hated playing with them;) and our neice Ryska. She had named all of the puppies and in the pictures above I have been informed that some names are wrong. Anyway, lots of puppy love this past summer.

credits: same as above: French Countryside album.

Also this past summer, Rylee and Cade have enjoyed playing with their cousins. Seth is 6 months younger than Rylee and they get along pretty well most of the time. These pictures are from when we all went to the park. Rylee is "hiding" behind the tree during hide & seek. There was also a water fountain that sprayed like five feet beyond the spout, so the kids, Cade especially loved getting wet. There is also a huge playground at this park that they loved.

credits: I know I used a template for this one too, but don't remember where it's from; Everything else is from the Fiesta kit by the Scrapartist designers as part of their summer birthday celebration http://www.scrapartist.com/.

Halloween this year was so much fun. Rylee wanted to be a witch and we found this costume at the local Goodwill. Cade was supposed to be a scarecrow, but he kept pulling off the "straw" that was made of felt. This is the only picture of him with it on. Oh and I won't ever be taking another picture of me from the back while pregnant. These were all taken at BYU just outside of the ASB. Loved the fall colors and wanted to go somewhere else on campus, but the kids wouldn't have lasted that long.

credits: template by 2 sisters designs; papers and such by Gina Miller- October grab bag- at http://www.ginamillerdesigns.com/; diamond paper by Shabby Princess- Harvest Spice kit at http://www.shabbyprincess.com/.

Loved these pictures. Cade had so much fun with the leaves and he's just so irresisably cute!

credits: template by Jen Caputo (don't remember where I got it); all papers and alpha from Harvest Spice kit at http://www.shabbyprincess.com/; big leaf thing is from somewhere else, but I don't remember where exactly.

This is my current favorite LO of my little boy. Cade after a haircut looks so grown up! And in his little Sunday clothes- such a cutie-patootie. His little blazer I found at baby Gap on clearance, and paired with cords, just too cute for words. Pictures are taken just outside Cole's parent's house (where we stayed all summer/fall- about 9 months) and loved the colors. My favorite picture of Cade.

credits: Oh man, where do I start- this is kind of a hodge-podge of lots of stuff I liked; template from 2 sisters designs (I really really like these huh?) at http://www.scrapartist.com/; all of the papers are by Jen Wilson- Meaning or 8? kit at http://www.jenwilsondesigns.com/ and the ribbons too; buttons and negative frame from French Countryside kit by Shabby Princess and Christina Renee at http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/; stitches and "B" letter by Gina Miller at http://www.ginamillerdesigns.com/; "O" letter is by Christina Renee from the Miles free kit and black Dymo alpha and brown little tag is by her too at http://www.christinareneedesigns.com/; "Y" is from http://www.shabbyprincess.com/; date circle and photo corners I can't remember.

Pictures from the summer time. We loved playing outside at Cole's parents' house- great to run around in grass and get some energy out. I can't believe what chubby little cheeks he had just a few months ago! Time flies.

credits: Quickpage from Smarshmallows piece-a-cake album at http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/
Photos of Cade during the summer- June- outside. He was being so cute.
OK, so what's up with the once a month posting here? Sorry everyone. And this one is just a quickie too. A bunch of pictures of what we've been up to for the past little while. I'll add captions for all of these in a few days. Thanks!

Updated Jan 9th. Thanks for looking!