2011 Recap A Go Go

The 'a go go' gives it a bit more pizazz, eh?

Already the end of the year. 2011 was a good one, especially the summer. But lets start from the beginning.

In January, we watched and celebrated Emily Kay's baptism. (Our pastor there, Pastor Don, who has since left our church, has been such an important part of our family. Not only did he marry Dustin & I, but he baptized both our girls. I'm so grateful to him.) Our Emmy continued to grow as she said her first word (Momma, of course).

In February, snowpocolypse occured. And Brookie loved every single minute of it.

In March, we had our first mini vacay as a family of four.

In April, I captured one of my favoritest pics of the girls. Ever.

In May, Dustin & I took our first plane ride together ever and jetted towards Viva Las Vegas!

In June, our baby girl turned 1. And we celebrated with a pink & orange giraffe themed party.

In July, Dustin & I headed towards Cleveland to watch them beat the skanky Yankees on July 4th. I also went to see NKOTBSB with 2 highschool girlfriends....and squealed like a 14 year old.

In August, MIL & FIL went with us to see Paul McCartney in concert. That night was by far my most favorite time of summer.

In September, our Brooklyn Grace turned 3 and we celebrated with a puppy pawty. Dustin & I also celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss with a weekend away in a cabin.

In October, we visit the pumpkin patch, a few times actually. We also took our spooky witch & pumpkin out trick or treating.

In November, Dustin & I saw Lindsey Buckingham in concert. We also celebrated Thanksgiving with our loved ones.

And here we are, on the last day of December. We had a fun, albeit weather unappropriate month (really Ohio winter? 60 degrees 3 days before Christmas?), but we made the best of it by celebrating an amazing Christmas with our family.

There you have it! Our year. What will 2012 hold for us? Psh, it better be some new carpet for the downstairs because 1980 called & they want it back (BAM!)

Happy New Year to each & everyone of you! Be safe tonight! See y'all next year (BAM again!)

Christmas 2011

Whew.

Ever since Dustin & I have been together, Christmas with his family has always been a big celebration. It all starts on Christmas Eve, with his mom's side of the family.

Christmas morning we started over to Mamie & Pawpaw's house for brunch. I made an overnight french toast bake. It was super simple & SO GOOD!

*2 loafs ciabatta bread, cut into cubes
Soak them overnight in a mixed bowl of...
*5 eggs
*1/2 cup melted butter
*1 cup brown sugar
*1 tbsp of cinnamon
*1 tbsp of vanilla
*1/2 tsp of nutmeg
*1 1/5 cups of milk
After soaking up all that yumminess, I spread the bread out into a sprayed baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes covered with foil at 350.
Then take off the foil & drizzle maple syrup over the top. Bake another 10-15 minutes so the syrup gets all carmelizey.
Serve with more syrup on top. I want to try peaches or strawberries next time.

The girls couldn't wait to eat though. Present had to start ASAP!

We came home that afternoon to take naps & clean up for Christmas Eve. The girls were in (not so as of lately) rare form, so we missed the church service. Next year should be much better, at least that's what I'm comforting myself by saying. Then we headed back to the inlaws for dinner & presents with the rest of the family.

All the grandkiddos, ranging from 15 to 1 year. And yep, there's only 1 boy in the group, poor Grady.

After staying up WAY past bedtime, we headed home to get everything set up for Santa. Per Brookie, he wanted chocolate milk, cookies, & chicken nuggets. Too bad we were out of nuggets. And, of course, carrots for Rudolph.

We read "The Night Before Christmas" together...

and then Santa's elves got busy.

Since the girls didn't go to bed until close to midnight, they were still fast asleep at 7am.
And 8 am.
And 9 am.
Did I mention Dustin & I had been up since 7am? Anxiously awaiting the pitter patter of Brookie's steps and Emmy banging her books against the crib rails.

But nada. So we waited downstairs, drank coffee, & listened to Christmas music. Then by 9:30, we couldn't wait any longer. I went upstairs to wake up Brookie & as soon as I touched her, she hopped right up and said "He's been here?! Santa was here, right?!" We woke up Sissy & came down the stairs, ready to begin Christmas morning.



That night, my momma came over to celebrate with us & the girls. And well, these nuggets got even MORE spoiled. Aaaand I made my very first turkey. Not to toot my horn (never mind, it's my blog. So TOOT TOOT), but it was shamazing. Stuffed full of thyme, garlic, & lemon, slathered in lemon zest & butter. I mowed down my friends....it wasn't pretty, but it was good. (Hello WW, see you again on January 1st.)

I swear we're one My Little Pony from an episode of "Toy Hoarders".

And me? Well, apparently I was a very good girl this year. Not only did I get an awesome new tripod & camera remote from the inlaws so I can actually BE in some family pictures, my mom got me the Canon 430 speedlite from my wishlist! (And the LC boots too, squee!)

And from Dustin? A few new movies, a new book ('The Help', I can't wait to get started on it), new clothes, gloves, & bracelet (pays off to email your shopping challenged husband a Forever 21 wishlist including links!), and best of all, this.

He was SO excited for me to open this. I had asked for a watch, mainly for work, but didn't expect this. Especially the engraving on the back. How cheesily beautiful is "our love is timeless"? Smitten, I am.

It made me realize though that our love, the love we have for our family, especially our daughters, is timeless. It'll never get old. Just gets better & better each year. This Christmas couldn't of been more perfect.

2 Things, Friends...

One.

Hi lovelies! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas weekend. Ours was absolutely amazing. Such a blessed family we are. Here's just a few pics of maaaany (many many) to come soon, thanks to Instagram.

 Friday we baked cookies & saw the Christmas lights

Saturday we had Christmas morning at Mammie & Pawpaw's house, celebrated there that evening as well, & then got the yummies out for Santa and the reindeer.

Christmas morning! Santa visited! And then Mawmaw visited us Christmas evening.

Monday. After Christmas sales, whoop whoop! And, my favorite, celebrating Festivus with the greatest friends.
::Outfit deets:: for you, Andi :)
Tunic, coat, & scarf--Forever 21.
Shoulder bag--Target.

And two.

I didn't look at my blog at all this weekend. Notta once. And when I logged on today? I saw 201 followers. You guys are awesome!!

 Seriously, I feel so lucky to have such great readers. Makes me want to redecorate the place for new company. (And the fact that it's been about 4 months since my last blog makeover. Us Gemini's, I tell ya.)

Today I'm back at work...blegh. BUT I have the rest of the week & Monday off for New Years Eve so it isn't so bad. Especially when I have ALOT to look forward to for NYE.

Three words.

Glass.Hockey.Seats.

Oh yeah. It's happening. 

From our Family to Yours

Merry Christmas! (ya filthy animals)

I truly hope you all have a glorious weekend with your loved ones. Mommas--aren't you SO ansy to see your babies faces Sunday morning? That's what I'm looking forward to most. Watching Brooklyn & Emily come down those living room stairs & see that Santa Claus has been here.

TWO days! I'm as excited as....well, you know.

Ho Ho Nooooo

With only three days (threeee?!) left until Christmas, I decided to do my annual oh shit last minute holiday list. One of the main things I realized doesn't have a check next to it?

Visiting Santa.

So we dressed in some holiday attire (gah I adore this 2009 gingerbread line from Gymboree) & headed off towards the mall. Sans lunch. Sans nap. Sans patience.

All was good while we waited in line...


and when Brooklyn saw Santa, her face lit up. She ran right over to him & asked for a purple doodlebear for Christmas. Santa didn't even have to ask her if she's been good this year because while bartering with him, she reminded him that she was on the nice list this year.

So while Brookie was chatting away with Santa, I tried to get Emily excited to see him. She did great from afar....and then I handed her over. The rest went a little something like this...

Aaaaand scene.

But? Totally worth the $20 bucks. And the crowd waiting in line watching sure appreciated the laughs.

 Seasons Greetings!

Steppin' Out 12.17.11

::momma's deets::

cardi--kohls

long sleeve tee--tj maxx

leggings--target

sweater boots--dsw

::brookie's deets::

long sleeve tee--children's place

jeggings--kohls

boots--kohls

Yesterday we just headed out for a little Kohls, Olive Garden, & Target with my mom & nephew. Got the guy some new threads, which I think he was pretty stoked about. A new pair of Vera jeggings & a pair of tights for the girls might of snuck in the bag too, can't confirm nor deny that.

Brooklyn got a call last week from her cousin, Hadley (whose almost 2 years older). Long story short, they love each other. Like Joey Lawrence whoa. Weren't too fond of each other at first & have their occasional spats (first child sydrome. sharing sucks), but they truly are little best friends.

So when Haddie called asking Brookie if she could spend the night, Brookie's face lit up. It was all she talked about all week. Couldn't wait for happy meals, decorating cookies, playing house, camping out in the Aunt Tiffy & Uncle Josh's living room floor, and sunday school the next morning.

And me? Well I was a bit teary. My baby was going to her first sleepover. Sure, she'd spent the night at her Mawmaw's & Mamie and Pawpaw's, but this was like her first friend sleepover. I was so excited for her, seeing her so excited to go.

Another little milestone for my girl. I can't wait to pick her up today & hear all about it.

So you know what that meant for me tonight? Yep, someone got Momma all to herself.

 

Linking up with Mandy at The Haps.

pssst...Christmas is a week away. Scurred yet, cause I sure as hell am. (NO time! There's never any time! I don't have time to study, I'll never get into Stanford. I'll let everyone down, I'm so confused.)

High five to all those who got that.

Could You Repeat That?

When I found out I was going to be a momma in January 2008, I instantly had this urge to better myself. To shape up. Not physically (Nooo, not physically. 55 lb weight gain the first go around? Yeah, definately not physically), but moreso from the inside. Here I was bringing this innocent nom-alicious little being in this hectic world, it was the least I could do.

I needed a sense of calm. A happy momma means a happy baby, amiright? Might as well start whilst in utero. So first things first? Clean up the potty mouth.

Yep. Mine. I do fancy a good f bomb. But I knew I needed to clean it up before those repeating ears reached mimicking age.

And well, I thought I've done pretty good....around those ears, that is.

Until this scenario happened recently.

Brooklyn asked me to turn on Max & Ruby. I scroll down the DVR list & find the episode she wanted. Only Dora came on, not Max & Ruby.

"Ughhhh....dammit!"

Nope. Wasn't me pissed about Nick Jr screwing that one up. So I explain to her...

"Brookie. You aren't in trouble, sweetie, but we don't say that word" (Translation--Crap! She hears everything!)

Her reply?

"Oh shit, I'm sorry Mommy"

Winning, party of one here.

Wordless Wednesday

I almost feel bad for laughing about this....

Almost.....

Just goes to show--bribes don't make them cooperate.

Or happy.

Nope. Strawberry yogurt melts weren't going to pry a smile out of this Cindy Lou Boo Hoo.

Linking up with The Paper Mama, A Little King & I, And Then She {Snapped}, Supermom, Live & Love Outloud, A Beautiful Mess, Parenting by Dummies, Growing up gardner, jenni from the blog