december ends, january begins. etc. and things.

serena & a homemade christmas card.

we all got a nasty stomach virus.

family christmas party.

serena was the angel.

attempting to get my sick kids to eat some toast.

lining up the toys- serena's favorite game.

went to see some christmas lights.



made some christmas cookies.

harper wished everyone a merry kiss-mas.

mom took a shower and harper did this...

serena played on grandma's piano.

and did other silly things.

like this.

and made me lunch.

we wished and wished and wished for snow.

and then it came!

and harper was sooo cute. exhibit a.

exhibit b.

exhibit c.

exhibit d.

exhibit e.

exhibit f.

the girls got new sunday clothes.


my family had a big shrimpfest.

we rang in the new year by watching "she's the man" until midnight. love that movie!!

had a rare cuddle moment with both of my girls.

played with the new ikea tent.

and the farm set from my childhood!

and i had my LAST day at work! officially a stay-at-home mom!!!

coming soon- our hawaii 2012 vaction :)

christmas book advent.

i've been collecting books all year, and finally {just in time} found all 24 books for our advent!

here they are, in no particular order:

1. a christmas goodnight {nola buck}
2. the night before christmas {clement c. moore}
3. stopping by woods on a snowy evening {robert frost, illustrated by susan jeffers}
4. white snow, bright snow {alvin r. tresselt}
5. wake up, santa claus! {marcus pfister}
6. snowmen at christmas {caralyn buehner}
7. snow {uri shulevitz}
8. i'll be home for christmas {holly hobbie}
9. the twelve days of christmas {jan brett}
10. a wish to be a christmas tree {colleen monroe}
11. mr. willowby's christmas tree {robert e. barry}
12. how the grinch stole christmas {dr. seuss}
13. christmas is here {illustrated by lauren castillo}
14. bear stays up for christmas {karma wilson}
15. who is coming to our house? {joseph slate}
16. christmas in the manger {nola buck}
17. snowmen at night {caralyn buehner}
18. the polar express {chris van allsburg}
19. making a friend {alison mcghee}
20. the christmas magic {lauren thompson}
21. christmas oranges {bethers/sowards}
22. how murray saved christmas {mike reiss}
23. santa mouse {michael brown}
24. the wild christmas reindeer {jan brett}

i can't wait until december 1st!!

park.

chilly fall weather.

jackets.

leaves.

playing at the park.

we had a perfect afternoon.

doll bed makeover.

before:

after:

i've been meaning to post this makeover for a long time, but here it is several months later. serena got this $20 ikea doll bed for her 2nd birthday. as a ploy to get her excited about sleeping in a big girl bed, i thought i would spruce it up a bit. it came with unfinished wood and the most hideous bedding ever {meant to be gender neutral or something}. so i found some fabric and my mom did the sewing. i painted and mod podged the bed, and voila! we bought serena a big girl doll {one with hair} to put in it, but she is napping with her at the moment, thus the baby doll.

if i were to do it over again, i would paint the bed a paler pink or white and skip the mod podging, but overall i like how it turned out.

did the ploy work? not really. but that was weeks ago and she now sleeps in her bed like a champ. for the most part.

one, two, babies.

serena likes to sit next to harper and count the babies.
"one, two, babies!"

{harper and herself.}

she acts like such a big girl these days. sleeps in her big bed. is getting ready to potty train. talks nonstop. sean and i were looking at old pictures of her on my phone yesterday and marveling at how much she has grown! craziness.

i asked sean this morning "when did serena get to be so sassy??"
when did it happen?
she's only 17 months older than harper...
so somewhere in the next 17 months,
harper will likely develop a sassy little toddler attitude.
yikes!
one, two, sassy toddlers!?

sure wish my babies would stop growing up!!

colors of our summer.

1. yellow blossoms on my tomato plant
2. red toes
3. neon yellow + turquoise {can a woman of my age, marital & parental status pull off these glasses? truthfully, now.}
4. pinwheel baby shower decorations
5. colorful summery notebooks
6. harper in her pink hat
7. blue swings + blue eyes + green grass
8. summer salads + grilled hot dogs

and last but not least:

9. red theater seats + us
10. darkened theater + spotlight on brian regan
{we laughed ourselves silly. tears were streaming down my face. so very hilarious.}