Christmas in Virginia - Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas with my family in Virginia this year. It was a shorter trip than usual, so we were busy trying to fit as much in as possible. We drove up on Friday and arrived shortly after bedtime. It was a brutal drive, but we somehow survived it. Layla is not what you'd call a great traveler, and is at that hard age for any length of road tip. I sat in the back and did my best to entertain her for 8 hours...talk about exhausting! But it's always well worth the effort when we pull into Mimi's driveway.

 

On Saturday night we threw an early 1st birthday party for Layla, on Sunday we had our annual Christmas brunch at the Norfolk Yacht Club, Monday we had our big Christmas Eve party, and Tuesday was full of Christmas day traditions. Our time flew by, but we made sure to make a lot of special memories along the way.

 Eli and Mimi made Santa claus pancakes on Christmas Eve morning. I'm sure this is something that Eli will want to make a tradition :)

 

 My handsome boy. I'm thankful that Liz took my camera for the night and captured lots of cuteness!

 The Christmas Eve party is at my Aunt & Uncle's house every year. Our friends and family always look forward to that time together. It was extra special this year as we got to introduce Layla to more new faces.

 Layla met my Aunt Ann that night. I see SO much of my dad in her. It was an emotional moment for me to see her holding Layla.

 Patrick and Brittany always have so much fun with our kiddos.

 Maybe a little too much sometimes...:)

 Aunt "Wiz" as Eli calls her. My kids probably think she's their second mother. She's so good with them, and always such a willing help.

We ended up going to the later Christmas Eve service that night. Mimi stayed home with our sleeping girl, and Eli joined the rest of us. I feel like he grew up right before my eyes on this trip. He was such a 'big kid' and did a great job hanging with the adults. He did a lot of fun outings with us at night after Layla went to bed. We all loved having him be a part of some of our fun traditions.

Preschool Christmas Program

Today was Eli's Christmas program at school. His class had been practicing for weeks, and they did an amazing job with their songs! I think the hardest part was keeping a stage full of 2 to 4 year olds on their bottoms for 20 minutes :). We were all very impressed, as you never know what to expect! We got the best surprise when daddy walked in. We knew he had a busy day at work. He told us he couldn't make it, when in reality he wouldn't have missed it for the world. Love those surprises!

 These are Eli's three amazing teachers. Mrs. Meagan, Jamie and Vicky all pour so much love into their kiddos, and it really shows!

 Layla was just as happy as ever during the program. I think she even tried to sing along a few times. :)

Cutest little shepherds I've ever seen :). We all had tears watching them come into the sanctuary. You could tell Eli was on cloud nine! He loved being up on stage. He sat there with his legs crossed, and had us all in stitches just watching him. He's such a ham sometimes! I think he would've sang a solo if they passed him the mic :)

 He sang his little heart out.

 He made sure we knew he was a 'cheetah' shepherd. :)

What really made today extra special, was getting to have GG, Goomba and Nana in the audience with us! Eli was so excited and pointing them out to his friends from the stage. I know it made him feel extra special to have them there.

 

We're so proud of our little guy, and look forward to MANY more of these special performances!

'Tis the Season

We kicked off the month of December in our very traditional and favorite way, at the Bluffton Christmas parade! This year was even better than the last few, because Nana, Pop Pop, GG and Goomba joined us! Eli plopped himself down in Nana's lap and never moved! He LOVES this parade, and looks forward to it all year long.

 We always go with the Thomas family as well, so we had quite the crowd! It was fun to see Piper and Layla at their first parade. Molly and I both had big baby bellies last year!

 

 

 I think everyone really enjoyed it!

 

The night before the parade we went to a local event in downtown Bluffton. Santa was there, and we were so glad! We typically have to make the trip to Savannah just to sit on Santa's lap, but not this year!

 Eli talked Santa's ear off! We got there early, so there was no line, and he really got a good visit in.

Layla was perfectly happy in her stroller taking in all the sights! There were bounces houses galore, and they were showing a Christmas movie on a big screen on the lawn.

 Right before leaving I felt like we should at least get one picture of Layla on Santa's lap. We all knew how it would go...but it still had to happen. :) I stayed out of sight and let Danny plop her down, but she still wasn't having it.

This is Eli's last week of school before Christmas break. Today his class had their Christmas party and they got to wear their pajamas to school. He thought that was the greatest thing ever!

Thursday he'll be in his very first Christmas program, and I cry just thinking about seeing my sweet boy up on stage!

Myrtle Beach Trip

I hate that there's no time for blogging anymore, but that's just life nowadays! I've made myself keep up with Layla's monthly updates, and now I need to catch up on what else we've been up to. The first weekend in November we took our annual trip to Myrtle Beach. It was a short weekend trip, but we wouldn't have missed it for the world. My mom and Tom have wonderful timeshares, so we had a cozy two bedroom suite all to ourselves. Certainly made sleeping arrangements for the kids much easier. My mom graciously prepared a full spread Thanksgiving meal for all of us on Friday night. It was nice to sit down to a hot meal and not have to brave a restaurant after that drive. Since we wouldn't be together for Thanksgiving, we just celebrated a few weeks early!

 

This was Layla's first stay in a hotel, and she seemed to enjoy herself all weekend. Her favorite spot was right in front of the sliding glass doors. The girl loves a good view of the ocean!

Eli's favorite spot was definitely in the arcade/game room. We had to draaagggg him out of there.

He played his little heart out until all of his quarters ran out.

They had several indoor pools and a heated lazy river that Eli and Cindy took advantage of on Saturday. They must have been in the pool for 3 hours straight!

Eli discovered the giant bathtub, and never made his way back into the 'not so heated' swimming pool.

 

My mom and I hit the outlets on Saturday afternoon (amazing!), and really enjoyed that time together. The weekend seemed to fly by, but we fit a lot of fun into a few short days. I think this fun fall weekend at the beach is a tradition that will stick!

11 Months

Layla Grace, my sweet girl, you are 11 MONTHS OLD today! The next time I sit down to write one of these, we’ll be celebrating your 1^st birthday. It’s unimaginable that a year could fly by so fast. This month we’ve seen you learn so many new things, and become much more independent. At home, you’re so happy just down on the floor playing by yourself or with Eli. Once you learned to get around, you became an even happier baby!

*You are about 18.5 lbs, and wear size 6-12 month clothes.

*Still.no.teeth. How long will we be saying this?!?

*You have been sick SO much in your first 11 months. You handle it like a trooper though! You’re in the middle of your second stomach virus right now.
*You aren’t showing a whole lot of interest in walking. Your new thing is to stop mid crawl, and do the ‘downward dog’ yoga pose. Too funny!
*You learned to clap this week, and have been practicing ever since. You go from waving with both hands, and back to clapping all day long.
*You love the sound of your voice, and try to copy our sounds a lot. You just started saying “hi, daddy” and it’s the sweetest thing ever!
*You are no longer nursing, and down to taking just 3 bottles per day. I’m hoping to have you completely done with bottles before your first birthday. Thankfully you love your sippy cup.
*I’ve been waiting 11 months to say that…you are FINALLY sleeping well!!! No more middle of the night wake ups, and you’ve even kicked your 5 am crib party. We were beginning to think that you’d never sleep through the night on a regular basis.
*You are 100% a mommy’s girl. On a 1 to 10, your mommy attachment is at about 15. I know it won’t last forever, and I certainly don’t mind the extra loves throughout the day.
*You will still eat any and all table foods. You got to try some more new foods at Thanksgiving this year, and continue to amaze us at what and how much you can eat!
*You stayed in your first hotel this month! We spent a weekend in Myrtle Beach and you seemed to love checking out some new scenery.

 

You are such a precious, precious gift. And I can’t help but think about last year at this time, and all of the anticipation I had leading up to your arrival. I just couldn’t wait to set my eyes on you. I love being your mommy, and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for you.

Thanksgiving 2012

It was definitely a happy Thanksgiving! We spent the long weekend here enjoying lots of family time, and Eli got his cousin fix! He love, love, loves when the Smoak boys are in town. They are just inseparable, and always pick right up like they see each other everyday of the year.

 

Miss Layla enjoyed her first Thanksgiving, and even got to enjoy the meal! She ate her fair share of turkey, and Nana made sure that her girl didn't miss out on the pumpkin pie. :)

 I'm finding it almost impossible these days to get a decent picture of my two together. This ONE picture of them on Thanksgiving day just about sums it up...

 Turkey time!

 Not sure who's idea it was...but all of the kids went for the 'death by chocolate' cake instead of the pumpkin pie this night. Danger, danger!

 Such sweet boys!

 These two are just the best of buds.

Pop Pop and two of his grandsons watching the Thanksgiving day parade.

 

We also started what may become a new tradition...Thanksgiving night midnight madness shopping!!! We were out there with all of the other crazies. Thankfully, we survived (barely). I wasn't looking for anything specific, but it was still fun to hunt for great deals, and spend time with the girls!

 

We are so blessed, and so thankful for MANY things. Most importantly, thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves us unconditionally. When life gets crazy and throws us curveballs, it's nice to have Him has our constant source of comfort.



10 Months

Layla Grace, you are 10 months old today! We are loving watching you grow and learn new things every day. You are SO smart, and surprise us at how fast you learn! Your main goal in life right now is to keep up and be a part of everything your big brother is doing. You want to be right next to him, touching him, and sharing whatever he has.

*You are still just a little munchkin. I don’t realize how petite you are until I see you with other babies your same age. I don't think you're quite 18 lbs yet.
*We’re still waiting not so patiently for you to cut your first tooth. You have endured months of torture and still no pearly whites to show for it!
*You are finally feeling better, but still have a lingering cough that just will not leave you alone.
*You are a full time crawler, and a FAST one at that! You slither across the hardwood floors faster than a snake. When you are army crawling we call it your ‘gator crawl.’ You do crawl on all fours but only when on carpet.
*You haven’t taken your first steps yet. Now that you’ve learned to crawl, you prefer to do that rather than practice walking. This is fine with me!
*We have another talker on our hands. You can say dada, Uh Oh, dog dog, bubba and ball. Daddy and Uh Oh are the easiest to understand. You drop/throw/hurl things all day long just so you can say Uh Oh! This week you started saying ‘B’ sounds.
*You would sit in your highchair and eat for hours if someone kept putting food on your tray. I wish I knew what your favorite foods were, because these days, you’re into everything! You honestly haven’t turned your nose up at any table foods yet. You get oatmeal/fruit for breakfast, turkey/cheese/fruit for lunch, and whatever we’re eating for dinner.
*You are down to nursing just one time per day, and getting formula the rest of the day.
*You are an excellent napper. Wish I could say the same for your night time sleep! We're still not so predictable in that department, unfortunately.
*You are mommy’s little sidekick. If I’m in the room/within sight, you typically won’t go to anyone else.
*You spent last Sunday in the toddler room at church and did MUCH better. You entertain yourself really well, and loved having new things to play with.

You are such a love, and I want to remember every single thing about you at this age! I have enjoyed countless hours rocking you in your nursery over the past 10 months. I’ve learned to cuddle you a little longer, just because. I’m so thankful for you, sweet girl!

Happy Halloween 2012

I love Holidays. Especially ones that involve dressing up and candy! I could do without the tacky/scary/obnoxious decorations, and people ringing my doorbell well past 9 pm. The fun fall festivals, trunk or treats, and trick or treating with friends is more our style.

 

We started off last weekend with an indoor fall festival at our church. It became an indoor function due to hurrican Sandy. It was lots of fun, and because Mimi was in town for the weekend, she got to tag along with us! She left the day before Halloween, but I love that she still got to see the kids in their costumes and be a part of that.

 Our little chef and cupcake!

 I just couldn't resist doing coordinating costumes. We somehow talked Eli out of a superhero costume and into this one. :)

 All 4 of us in a picture...a Halloween miracle!

 There were lots of fun games.

 And a firetruck! Eli's best friend from school, Russell, even came!



 Our little pumpkin is getting so big!

 

I took Eli to a fall festival/trunk or treat at his school before trick or treating. He had so much fun with all of his school friends! I forgot my camera :(

 When it was time for trick or treating, we had some special visitors! GG and Goomba came to spend the evening with us! They went to some houses with us, and then sat and handed out candy to the masses. We also had Molly, Josh and the girls over too.

 Our little guy had no problem remembering what to say and do!

 I just love these two together! They have such a special friendship, and take such good care of each other. Amelia was scared and Eli held her hand just about the entire time!

 Me and my sweet cupcake on her first Halloween.

We made some of the sweetest memories with GG and Goomba, and consumed lots of candy together!