New Year's Eve 2011

Getting ready to ring in the new year. The kids still went to bed at their normal bedtime and Shawn and I really thought about staying up to watch the ball drop. But, at 11:10, Shawn asked me if we were staying up. I immediately said no. He immediately shut off the tv and we went to bed....only to wake at the sound of our neighbors kids counting down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Happy New Year! Along with, what sounded like the entire island shooting off fireworks, they were banging pots and pans. I don't even think we said anything to each other and went back to sleep:o)

Amelia's 1st Birthday!

ONE!!Can it be true?

Amelia is ONE YEAR OLD!!! She isn't too sure about everyone singing Happy Birthday to her. In order to let everyone watch her devour her cake, she had to be on top of the table:o) Really? This is for me to eat? With my hands?! OK, here I go...Not bad.No more games. I'm digging in!This is way too much fun!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, AMELIA!!

It's hard to believe a year has already passed. You have blessed our lives more than you will ever know and we can't imagine our lives without you. You have such a strong willed personality and we're pretty sure you will fight to get your way. You are already tormenting your brother. You will eat anything put in front of you. You understand yes and no and will tell us if you want something or not. You think it's fun to bang your head against anything hard when sitting against it. You pull up and stand, but aren't walking yet. You love to splash in the bath. You give kisses. You hug and rock your baby dolls. You point with your finger when using your left hand, but when pointing with your right, you use your whole hand and twist it to the left. You make a fish face. You wave hi and goodbye. You play peek-a-boo with the palms of your hands facing out. We will go to the doctor at the end of the week to see how much you've grown. We can't wait to see how you grow in this next year! We love you!

One More Day

I can't believe that this funny faced little girl will be 1 YEAR OLD tomorrow!!!

Indiana Christmas 2011

As I started going through all of my Christmas photos, I realized how little I took this year. I'm actually pretty upset with myself! I vow next year to have my camera out at all times and to overwhelm everyone with a multitude of flashes:o) Or maybe I didn't take that many pictures because we were having too much fun and I didn't want to bother having to get it out. Or maybe it was because there was a nasty stomach virus going through both of our families and who wants a camera in their face, when they're feeling crummy? Either way, I will do better next year. We did get to spend alot of time with everyone in the family. Amelia was sick the entire time and attached to me at the hip. Caleb and Mamaw got to make these cute little Rice Krispy treat ornaments. His not one that likes to get dirty, so I'm surprised he actually put his hands in the bowl.

We tried something new this year since our niece was going to be at her dad's for Christmas. On Christmas Eve my immediate family got together for brunch and opened presents. It also makes Christmas day a lot less hectic (for us) so I'm thinking this should be our new tradition. My brother made everyone really cool things from the company he works for. Caleb got this awesome Prowler that sticks to the wall. I can't wait to hang it up! He also made him Woody and got Amelia Mickey Mouse.

Adarrah got a Justin Bieber one:o)

There were way too many other presents to mention...but these kids are way spoiled!

Christmas Eve sends us to my aunts house for great food and a little visit from Santa. The rule is, you have to sit on his lap in order to get your present. This poses a problem for Caleb, who is deathly afraid of him.

We decided making him cry wasn't the best idea, so Shawn took his present but make him say Thank You. As he left, Caleb said bye to him. I think he realized, "This guy brought me Buzz Lightyear. He can't be all that bad."

Can you see Amelia (she's so tiny) looking at him like, "Who the heck are you?!" That was it. It was screaming after that.

That night we sat out cookies and milk for Santa and went to bed. When we got up, the cookies had a bite out of them, the milk was all gone and there was a note telling Caleb and Amelia Santa left them lots of presents at Grandma and Papaw's house. Caleb was pretty excited (and is still telling me how Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk), so we headed to their house....at 6AM!!

A kid could get lost in all of these presents!

After that, we headed down to Nan and Pap's - not a single picture taken. Then we headed to Great Grandma Capps' house - not a single picture taken. Then it was back to my parents' house, where I did manage to snap a few.

Here's Caleb and Delaney waiting patiently for, what else, more presents!

We had a great time in Indiana. It's always nice to get to spend time with family. Today the UPS man dropped of three very large boxes, each totalling 34lbs, 36lbs and 50lbs. I think next year we are going to have to make a rule, one present for each person to open and then gift cards! We already have plans for family to come out at Spring Break and early summer. We can't wait to start planning for that!

Reindeer Games

Amelia's new headband.

3 More Days!

Bags are being packed. (Notice we're taking the stockings, so Santa can fill them where ever we are:o)

Squadron Christmas party tonight.

Tomorrow will be filled with last minute details.

Sunday = Wrigley to kennel, us on the shuttle, a good nights rest (we hope!) at the hotel and then boarding our plane Monday morning.

We're almost ready for Christmas in Indiana!

Long Hair

Mom finally got my bangs out of my eyes.

Scared Of Santa

We had our OCF Christmas party this past week and The Man In The Red Suit made a visit. All the kids got toys and he read them a story. Caleb was so excited to see him, he stayed behind the closed, glass door. Santa even made a special trip inside Caleb's "safe room" to give him his toy. Caleb slowely backed away as Santa handed him his gift, but politely said thank you. I guess Santa's just going to have to guess as to what Caleb wants for Christmas this year, because there's no way we're going to get him to sit on his lap!

Amelia Walking??!!

Amelia recieved this gift in the mail yesterday from our friends The Cromwells. If she keeps playing with this, I think she'll be walking before we know it!

Mt. Baker Sledding Trip

Saturday we headed east to Mt. Baker to do a little sledding. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! On the way up it was cloudy and looked like it would rain at any minute. But as we got closer and closer to the ski area, the clouds broke and the sun began to shine. I was trying to get Caleb super excited about playing in the snow and we were planning on throwing snowballs at and tackling each other. We were going to get on his new polar bear sled and slide down the hills.....but as we parked the car and started getting out, all H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks broke loose!

If you look closely, you can see that that is not the face of a kid who's excited about playing in the snow. He was pretty much in hysterics and we're not sure why. After a bit...no ALOT...of screaming and crying, we got him out there and he kind of (I think) enjoyed it.

Amelia, on the other hand, did great and seemed to have alot of fun playing in the snow.

And eating the snow!
We had a great time and I hope we get to go back (and that Caleb likes it a little bit better).