New

 A new year and some new things happening around here.  This year may (or may not) see a whole lot less blogging.  'The Littles' require so much of me and I require some time for myself...and with "the Hubs, too.  While I used to get so much out of blogging, I am feeling pressured to keep up with it these days. I don't necessarily enjoy spending all of my me time blogging.  I don't want to give up on this wonderful journal so I will just say this.  I will try to blog once a week.  And if it doesn't happen...oh, well.  I hope you all continue to read about our adventures.  And here is a whole bunch of random ones from January...

 ...hanging out at Panera...
 

 ...So excited to ride the new Radiator Springs Racers...

 

...it's not easy to get these monkeys to all look at the camera at once...

...'The Hubs' took me out for one of the best dates ever!  We got a new bed for my poor aching back...

...These two love to wrestle...

 ...I enjoyed breakfast with my 'Mister' while the other kids were at a sleep over...

...someday, they will deny this ever happened...

...our little mermaid dressed herself...

...'The Hubs' laced me up properly...

...My mom and I had a girls day and cried through this movie...so good...



...we used to carry formula in this to go canister...now its protein powder...

...Still loves trains...

...Just Dance Disney...

...Studying the map like we have never been to Disneyland before...

...why I run...

...'The Hubs' finally built us a storage system in the garage...

...'Munchkin' clearly is not a fan of basketball...

 

...bouncing away at a party...

...first ever pinata swing...

...We got to spend a day with 'The Hubs' best friend from childhood and his family. Happy first birthday, Little Ricky!

At Eleven Months

'Mister',
     You are eleven months old.  As in almost one year.  It makes me a bit sad that you had to grow so much in this time.  I wish that I could keep you little forever.  Especially since you are my last baby.  So many of your first are the last firsts I will see until you 'Littles' have children of your own.  I suppose it will always be that way.
      As sad as I am to see you grow so fast, I love so much about this age you are at.  I adore your sweet giggle and that you have different smiles for the special people in your life.  I love that you can tell us when you want "mama" or "dadad".  My heart melts when I see you playing with your brother and sister and breaks when they get mad at you or leave you out.
     Growing by leaps and bounds with new teeth sprouting up faster than I can kiss away the tears they cause.  Discovering left and right, testing our baby (and sister) proofing.  Dont' worry.  We've had a talk with her.  You will not get prayed in the face with Windex ever again.  And I'm really, really sorry that it happened in the first place.
      Next month, you will be one year old and we will celebrate.  We will celebrate the anniversary of your birth.  We will celebrate Mommy and Daddy making it through the year (because it is tough sometimes).  We will celebrate the closing of one baby filled chapter and the beginning of a new one for our family.  And we will celebrate you.  Wonderful, amazing you!

New Year's Eve

We had been getting some wonderful winter weather over the holidays and we had absolutely no plans for New Year's Eve so we decided to take 'The Littles' for a quick drive to Idyllwild.  They were pretty excited.  It was their first time in the snow.  That's right...it's only an hour away but we never managed to get up the mountain in five years!

They acted like they live in the snow.  And they would be super happy if they did.

'The Hubs' helped 'The Boy' build a teeny tiny snowman.

'Munchkin' ate her way through the white stuff.

How cute are her snow boots?

'Mister' wore a hand-me-down snow suit that was two sizes too big.

His pants were totally soaked after this and he didn't even care.  That is a big deal for this one.

Me and my little 'Mister'.

'Mister' just sat in this spot for a good ten minutes.  He looked like a little butterball stuck in the snow.  Poor guy couldn't even move his arms because he had so many layers on.

We changed clothes, grabbed some hot cocoa and headed back down the mountain to ring in the new year.  'The Hubs' stopped at the store to grab some silly string and party horns for midnight.  'The Littles' made their own pizzas and then we tested out my new popcorn maker that they got me for Christmas.

It makes the best popcorn!

Thank goodness for time differences.  We watched Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin ring in the New Year on the east coast. 

'The Littles' didn't know the difference.  They loved celebrating.  And 'Munchkin'?  Totally terrified of silly string.  Haha!

 

A New Year's kiss from my guy.

Happiest New Year!  Welcome 2013!

Random Samplings of December

'Munchkin' was very insistant on wearing her hair like this.

We had fun at Pump it Up with 'The Boys' soccer team.

It was 'Munchkins' first time since she's been able to run.

She had a blast.  So did 'The Boy'.  he was off running around with his friends the whole time.

This one is having a rough go with teething.

One side of one of the pages of instructions my mom required us to leave for her when she watched 'The Littles'.

'The Boy' finally passed a level at swim.  He was so proud.

Santa's a pretty handsome fella.

'The Boy' sat on the office stairs at school one day and begged me to take a picture.  Very rare so of course I jumped at the opportunity.

'Mister' trying to figure out how to break in.

'The Hubs' had to have knee surgery to clean up a previous injury.  He decided to do it just before Christmas so that he would have three weeks at home with us. 

Post surgery, he was incredibly loopy and raved on and on about how great the coffee was.  I didn't have the heart to tell him it was instant.

Pajama day at school.  They watched The Polar Express.  pretty much 'The Boy's' favorite day of school ever!

It has been so cold in the mornings I have been using the seat heaters.  Never thought I'd need to turn those on.

'The Boy' spent hours playing with his new train set.

'Mister' loved his new motorcycle.

This is the most fun game.  Thanks, Santa!

'Munchkin' spent some time sitting on her bike.  it's going to take her a while to figure it out.

I've been putting on some miles in my new Nikes. They are runtastic!