Christmas 2009 at a glance

We did it. We survived our first Christmas on our own. It was not nearly as lonely as I thought it would be. A little weird, yes, but overall i think we really enjoyed it. It came and went WAY too fast. Good times were had by all!

Waiting at the top of the stairs

Santa Brought Avery a new bike

Alivia turned 3 months old on Christmas Day

Drew got a Buzz Lightyear robot from Santa

Checking out the goods

This pictures makes me laugh :) Santa always puts an orange at the bottom of the stockings. Drew thought it was a little silly

I was So excited about Avery's present. Two of her favorite things to do are play school and do projects so I wanted to get her a desk and chalkboard for Christmas. I found a vintage school desk on craigslist and painted it pink(her favorite color of course) and Andy made her chalkboard. When she opened it, she wasn't really sure what to think. The first thing she said was "Mom, it looks kind of old and dirty". We got a good laugh out of it. But now she LOVES it and spends most of her time sitting at her desk doing craft projects and stuff. It makes me smile to know she loves it as much as I thought/hoped she would.

We decided to make gingerbread houses on Christmas day. The kids had a lot of fun. Mostly because candy was involved :)

I hope you all had a great Christmas too!

Christmas Sunday

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for sending us your cute Christmas cards! I love to read the updates and see your sweet families. Sorry, but you won't be receiving one from us this year. My big postpartum rear end refused to be photographed. :)Maybe next year! I tried to take a picture of the kids after church, and they just weren't having it. You get what you get, terrible flash photography and all! Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!

Avery's Birthday and stuff

Avery and Drew both LOVE the book Pinkalicious. It is about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink. The doctor tells here that she has to eat a "steady diet of green vegetables to return to normal". So we decided to have a Pinkalicious Cupacake party for the big day.

Here are the invites

and of course the cupcakes :)

For lunch we served all green foods. Green jello, green grapes, celery, cucumbers, green ranch, green pasta, and green juice. The kids thought it was so fun!

The kids and I made a cupcake pinata. It was a fun project to do, and only cost about $5!!

reading the story

Make a wish!!

The Birthday girl opening presents

Avery and Bailey

Here are a few snapshots I haven't posted yet. Livi on Dec. 3. look at the chubs!

Nov. 13 (1 1/2 months old)

Avery was holding Liv in the rocking chair and fell asleep. so cute!

Trying on Grandma's glasses

Say it ain't so!

My baby is

TODAY!!

Where does the time go? Happy Birthday my sweet angel baby. we love you! And now for the picture overload :)

Blessing Day

What a great day!! We blessed Alivia today, and I couldn't ask for a sweeter husband to give such amazing blessings to my kids. He always does such a great job. I held my breath as he paused before "officially" naming her. I was a little scared that he might change it on me, but Alivia Rae it is :) In the blessing he said that she was named after her great grandpa Ray Squires and her Grandma Cindi Rae and how they found/find so much joy in life. Joy seemed to be the theme of her blessing as he blessed her that she too would find much joy and happiness in her friendships, through her talents, as a mother, and most importantly in her relationship with the Savior. He also blessed Alivia that she would always remember and strive to live up to her potential as a daughter of God, and to always serve and love those around her. I know this little girl has a great life ahead of her and I feel so lucky to be a part of it! She brings so much joy to our family. We love you Livi!



At 9 weeks she weighs in at 10 pounds 10 ounces. She is starting to get CHUBBY :)

here you go ashlee!

there's no place like home for the holidays

Before Livi was born, we decided that it would probably be too hard to travel with 2 kids and a newborn. So we didn't make plans to go anywhere for the holidays. Now that the season is upon us, I am feeling a little home sick. We've always gone home for the holidays, both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm pretty sure I can make it through Thanksgiving by ourselves, but I'm not so sure about Christmas. To me, Christmas is full of cozy traditions and fun times with the family that help us reflect on our love of life, family, and the Savior. I have so many fond memories of celebrating with my family and love the new traditions added to the mix from Andy's family. The kids love it too!! Since we are on our own this year, I want to start our own little family traditions that our kids will remember with fondness through the years and try not to be so homesick!

Some of my favorites include opening PJs on Christmas Eve and then eating grandma's orange rolls with hot chocolate and wassail. Or anxiously waiting for my turn to eat the chocolate mint candies tucked into the advent calendar pocket and hanging an ornament on the felt tree. Another tradition we started when we got a little older was that the girls would do a fun craft on Thanksgiving while the guys watched football.
I think this year on Thanksgiving I am going to make an advent calendar similar to the one my mom made and using some inspiration from this one.

So what is your favorite family Christmas tradition old or new? Please share and help us have a better Christmas this year (or you can just buy us plane tickets ;) !

A Little Closer to Home

Last week we found out that the Air Force is sending us to Omaha, Nebraska after Andy graduates. He will be doing a 1 year residency(the AEGD). I've heard good things about Nebraska, so I am excited. Even more excited that we are that much closer to the west coast! If anybody knows anything about Nebraska, let me know! We will probably be going out there in a few months to check it out. For right now, I am just doing a little research on the internet. They have a Costco, Target, and Mall nearby, so I think I am good to go :)

Happy Unbirthday to You

look who's 6 weeks old today! Little Livi Lou is a stinker, but we still love her. 

Happy Halloween!!

We had a great but COLD Halloween this year. I decided to take it really easy with costumes and told Avery she could be any princess that she wanted to be out of her dress ups. She went with Cinderella. Saturday morning she reminded me that she needed a choker, earrings, and a headband. I totally forgot and started worrying that I was going to have to drive around looking for the stuff. But, I was lucky enough to find everything we needed in my trusty old crafting stuff. I found some rhinestone and stuck them to her ears with GLUE DOTS, and then attached the headband and choker with glue dots as well. Worked like a charm! Here she is in all her glue dot glory. Sorry for the overload, I couldn't decide which pic I liked better.

I just love her eyes in this one

Drew was Buzz lightyear. I took him outside to take pictures and he wouldn't hold still for 2 seconds. He ran around saying he was flying and yelling "to infinite and beyond!"

The kids have been eating candy all day and Drew has been super hyper. I just walked into his room, and this is what I found. The big crash after the sugar rush. He NEVER falls asleep like this!

Still waiting for a real one,

...but here is a gassy one for now :)

10 days old

Livi's Anouncement