Picture Perfect

I love having pictures of my family. Without pictures I wouldn't be able to compare my kids one year to the next. Hunter loves walking down the stairs and seeing pictures of family. Eden has a picture board in her room with family members' pictures on it. 

Recently a fellow Marine Corps spouse who has her own photography business has been awesome enough to capture moments for my family - pre-deployment, Christmas, homecoming - and for other friends of ours - newborn, monthly baby pictures, labor and delivery. I love that she's able to capture these moments for us. Megan has done a great job, and I couldn't have asked for more magical Christmas pictures of the kids!

Progress

A few weeks ago, this is what my garage looked like. There were boards everywhere, only cut to size. They needed sanding and other work to be done in order to make them into Eden's bed. I kind of laughed at myself at the idea of turning this pile of wood into a bed…but it's finally coming together!

 I've got the bed rails put together

The stirs are built and the headboard is close to complete - I need more screws that are longer than what the plans called for.

 The platform is built and so is the footboard.

There are only a few boards left that need to be put together. Tonight I started painting the project {we decided to color match her dresser} and hopefully before the end of the weekend we'll have the bed put together and in Eden's room! I wasn't in such a rush, but then this happened today at nap time…

He insisted on napping in Eden's bed. And he did. He napped for 2 hours in the big kid bed! I was so excited, but I wanted to cry at the same time. He can't possibly be big enough to be ready for a big kid bed…but he is. So now the pressure is on. I have to get Eden's new bed done sooner than later.

Motherhood Is…{51}

 

I am blessed by healthy, happy, and growing children.

Hunter has insisted on sleeping in Eden's bed at nap time. The first nap he took in the big kid bed was a good and long nap - he slept for 2 hours! We've since moved Eden's bed into Hunter's room and he's officially in a big boy bed.

This is very bitter sweet for me. When we moved Eden into the bed we had a baby on the way. Now that we've moved Hunter into the bed I feel like I'm losing my baby. There's not another one coming, and both of my babies are in big kid beds. Hunter is also starting to show *some* interest in potty training. Once he's not in diapers anymore, there aren't anymore diapers.

I know these are all blessings, but deep down it all makes me sad...

Where oh where...

Santa the Elf has been having a great time with us this year. He snuck into the car and rode down to Sea World with us {but I forgot to take a picture…} and he made sure he was at Eden's dance show. He even brought a rose to the show for her! On the day that we had Eden's friends over to watch the Polar Express we found him reading the book on the table from the back of Santa's sleigh. 

Each night Eden asks where we think he might be. Her ideas are getting more and more creative and she's always excited to find him. 

*He was also found in our "Daddy kisses" jar one morning.

Polar Express Playdate

I saw a picture online of a friend who had attended a play group for her son. The picture was him in a train car watching the movie The Polar Express. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to do the same sort of thing with our group of friends. This week we had friends over for a lunch playdate where we had pizza before hopping into our train cars for the movie.

During lunch I handed out tickets and collected them during the movie when the train conductor collected tickets, too.

 When the train conductor called for hot chocolate to be served, I served the kids their hot chocolate.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

This year I was able to help Lane's squadron bring Santa in on one of their planes. The nose of the plane was red {like Rudolph} and Santa peeked out of the top of the plane as they taxied over to the hangar.

 

The looks on the kids' faces were priceless.

Once Santa was parked and ready to depart his plane, he came by on his sleigh. Some of his elves and the Grinch stopped by to help bring the sleigh off the plane and into the hangar. Once in the hangar, the kids had a chance to sit with Santa and tell him what was on their Christmas lists.

This is the smile I got when I asked Hunter to smile for me. 

Super Sweet Holiday Show

Eden had her first dance show this weekend. It was amazing! We loved getting to watch her and she says she enjoyed being on stage dancing. I was wondering if she was going to participate or if she was going to stand on stage and do nothing. We had practiced her dance at home, and she had worn her costume to show Grandma, Grandpa, and Tommie the dance last week. I tried to let her do the dance as many times as possible to help her get comfortable with the moves.

She got on stage and she rocked it! I couldn't have been more proud of her. She watched the teacher and did the moves. She even gave a few extra booty shakes for us!