A Year Gone By...

It doesn't really seem like a lot can happen in just one year, but looking back, it is truly amazing how much things have changed in 2012.

In January we found out we were expecting baby number three.
Reese graduated to a "big girl bed" which started as just a mattress on the floor in the nursery.

In February we took our first vacation to Myrtle Beach with Derrick's parents.
The kids enjoyed going to Medieval Times and cheering for the green knight!

In March things really started to get started in our garden.
We visited NJ and even got to go to the beach!



In April we enjoyed hunting for Easter Eggs.
We had warm enough weather to play with (in) the water table.
We saw the baby for the first time on ultrasound!!




In May we vacationed in the Outer Banks with Nani and Pop Pop
We enjoyed the great Sewickley Memorial Day Parade.
Uncle Mark and Auntie V stopped in Pittsburgh on their way from IN back to NJ.





In June we enjoyed the Splash Pad, miniature golfing, the Children's Museum, Living Treasures Zoo, and a trip to Syracuse, NY.
Reese was also officially potty trained.

In July we had Reese's Hello Kitty birthday party for her 3rd birthday.
We saw the Fire Truck Parade.
We visited the fountains at Station Square.


In August we visited Soergel's lots and lots, mini golfed again, went to the Natural History Museum and Kennywood.

In September, Reese was the flower girl in cousin Alexandra's wedding.
Baby Sienna was born on 9-11 after a rather harrowing labor for mommy!
We went apple picking as a family of 5!!!

In October, we took lots of hikes in the woods with the kids and the kids dressed up like Batman and a Cupcake for Halloween.
We got approximately 10 hours of sleep...the entire month.  OK, maybe slightly more.  :)  (Thank you, Sienna!)
Baby Sienna enjoyed her first "real" baths so much!







In November we had Carter's Angry Birds 5th birthday Party.
Rudy the Elf on the Shelf was a new holiday tradition...a birthday present for Carter.
We did Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh with both sides of the family.

In December we went to a Christmas parade in Pittsburgh, visited Santa at the Mall, cut down a huge Christmas tree, and had our first Christmas a family of 5.  Favorite gifts were Peppa Pig for Reese and Angry Birds for Carter.  He wore his red angry birds shirt with his green shorts to show his holiday spirit.
The garden reached a final tally of over 300 pounds of produce grown and picked in 2012!!!

Funny

Reese has introduced our family to Peppa Pig over the past year.  I saw this one the other day and couldn't help but laugh out loud.  Too funny!  You can't help but love a cartoon where the characters have British accents.

Buried in it

 The kids had a blast sledding for the third day in a row.  It is so nice that they can do so much of it on their own this year!

Christmas 2012

 I'll let the photos speak for themselves.  We had a very happy Christmas time together this year.

On the Eve...

 We're waiting for Santa around here.  Rudy has had some interesting "hiding" spots in the past few days like this crash landing in my candle holder.










The pets are getting some extra hugs today as we had to say a very sad goodbye to our good buddy Nimbus yesterday.  He became paralyzed from a blood clot on Friday night and there was nothing that could be done to help him recover. It was very sudden and very difficult for the kids to witness.  We are all going to miss him so much.  He was such a good kitty cat.

 Santa came through on his firetruck on Saturday night and the kids were thrilled, as always.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Peppermint patties

 Mom reminded me of these delicious peppermint patties when we were home last week.  So easy to make...no baking required.  Yet I somehow still managed to almost burn down the house melting the chocolate chips.  Yea...so I let them get a little black and the whole kitchen was full of smoke...no biggie.

I was enjoying the tree and decorations this morning.  Derrick constructed a pretty amazing evergreen garland using extra pieces from the bottom of our tree.

Rudy was enjoying a ride around his own little racetrack, much to the kids delight.

Derrick's awesome evergreen garland, and our tree

Rudy's Road Race!

We got an Edible Arrangement in the mail from our CA relatives...yummy!

And it's even snowing today....after about an inch of rain yesterday, even I, the self-proclaimed Snow Grinch, am happy to see the white stuff!

Me and my early riser

The week before Christmas...

 Twas the week before Christmas
and all through the halls
the baby was screaming
her parents were appalled.

Scrap felt put to good use...you know you want one!

For it seemed that this screaming
may never stop
and the poor tired mommy
thought her head might just pop.




The bathrooms all need a cleaning
the kitchen's a mess
and the kids' rooms...a disaster
it's causing distress.

There are gifts to be wrapped
and cookies to bake.
I'm still trying to convince Carter
that "Mall Santa" isn't a fake.


The stockings are all hung
on the banister with care.
If we have one more kid
there'll be no more room there!




And Daddy on the couch by me
is just a bit crabby
because I've made him watch another episode
of Downton Abbey.

When what to my tired, bloodshot eyes should appear
but a miniature sleigh with eight tiny reindeer.
With a little old driver so lively and quick
I knew my sleep deprivation was playing a trick.

But this conjured up Santa
turned to me and gave a wink
then he walked right on over
and washed the dishes in my sink!

He tackled dust bunnies
he tidied my drawers
he meticulously swept
all the dirt off my floors.

He paused from his work
to answer a text
then he turned to ask me,
"What can I do next?"

Even kid-weary mommies
deserve a few Christmas wishes.
So Merry Christmas to all,
and to all...lots of clean dishes!

Fun in NJ

 We took our first trip with the baby this weekend to visit the folks in New Jersey.  The kids did GREAT.  In fact it was one of the smoothest trips we've had in terms of weather/traffic and the kids behavior.  Hallelujah, it's a Christmas miracle!  We stopped on the way there at the Discovery Aquarium and the kids loved it, as usual.  There were some special characters there for Christmas, which they really loved.  Carter would only pose with the abominable snowman after I pointed out that he didn't have any teeth (just like in the movie).  Too cute!!

They also got to stand next to Rudolph, the namesake of Rudy the Elf (on the shelf)who also made the trip.  (Hey, maybe that's why they were so well behaved!)  

 I could not understand the costume of the Santa at the aquarium until friends pointed out that he was Scuba Santa and that he swam with the fishes during their feedings.  I was really concerned about why he was wearing red spandex!

 Sienna slept almost the entire way there and back.  Yay, good baby.  We got to visit some other family and friends while there and the kids loved playing with Nani and Pop Pop.  We also enjoyed the very mild temperatures and both kids showed off their bike-riding skills on the nice flat streets.  It was a great time!

Last night we were at a gas station filling up the van for our trip home.  (Gas for $3.11/gal AND Full Service...oh how I miss NJ).  This punk kid was there in his sporty car and kept revving his engine really loud.  I told Derrick we should totally rev our engine on the minivan and roll down our windows so we could crank up the volume of the radio.  We were, at that moment, listening to the Burl Ives version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  I don't know who the kid was trying to impress...everyone else there was old and tired like us.  hahaha

Carter with Scuba Santa...now I understand why he was wearing red spandex!!