'Twas the night before

We were really sad to say goodbye to Kati this year.  We had so much fun with him.  It was really nice that he left us a sweet little goodbye note and gave each of the kids a new pair of PJs to wear.  He went out with a bang with his last location.

  They loved that he wrote a letter.

Ryan & Reese received Justin Bieber PJs and Ryder had a 2 pack of Elmo jammies.  

 We went to church at 5pm and then headed to Jess & Jared's house for dinner.  The kids exchanged their gifts to each other and we were so excited to give Will his Cozy Coupe car and soccer ball.  Here is a picture that was taken of me and Cory together (which rarely happens).  Too bad I'm looking at one camera and he's looking at the other.  

These two are the best of buddies.  Ryder cries for Will and tells us, "I wanna see Wo!"

I was up until about midnight getting things ready for Santa to arrive.  I've been meaning to take photos of our tree since it's been up.  Here is one of the best shots I could get with my little camera.  Can't wait to see the kids' faces in the morning.

Christmas Eve Eve

We had a family dinner at Mimi & Papa's house so we could celebrate Christmas with our extended family.  There was yummy Mexican food with homemade tamales, refried beans, and green chili chicken.  The food was delish and totally hit the spot.  We had a fun white elephant gift exchange and had a nice chat with Alexa, Justin, & Lexington via FaceTime.  We were missing them and wishing they were with us, but it was fun to see them in their matching pajamas on the computer.

We always try to get a photo of all the cousins when we're together, but it's seriously impossible to get them to look at the camera at the same time.  It's still a cute photo of all of them together :)

 Then we tried to get a photo of Ryder and bestie cousin, Will.  I don't think Will was too excited.

 I'm pretty sure Ryder was going in for a kiss on this one.  What a riot!  We were all dying with laughter.  They are SO cute!!

Seeing Santa

I put this off until the very last day possible.  December was just so busy and we just never found time to visit Santa until today.  The mall charges way too much $ to get a photo so we decided to visit Bass Pro Shops for our Santa adventures.  We met up with Jess, Jared, & William so the kiddos could all be together.  The store is pretty amazing and we were all like kids in a candy store checking everything out. 

 Ryder and Ryan loved watching the catfish in the aquarium.  The biggest one swam right over to us and just stared through the glass for awhile.  They got such a kick outta him.

 Will was terrified of Santa.  We all had a little chuckle because the crying photos make for the best memories.
  Here is the photo of all 4 kids together.  Reese & Ryan were on cloud 9, Ryder was ambivalent, and Will was a hot mess.

I must say this is a great place to go see Santa but if you wait until the 23rd like we did, be prepared to stand in line.  Just make sure you get a spot near the fudge cart so you can chow some yummy treats while you're waiting :)

Christmas lights

We have been trying to find a night to go looking at Christmas lights and tonight was it.  We headed out to our favorite spot--Upland Street in Chandler, near Goodman elementary school.  Every house on the street is decorated to the hilt.  We park the car and walk up and down the street to look at all the houses.  The kids love it and it's so festive.  I think it's so fun that an entire block comes together to decorate for Christmas.  It's a great way to get in the spirit of things.  Auntie Casey & Haley joined us as we cruised around looking for the best light displays around town.  Upland St was definitely the best but we saw some pretty cool streets in The Islands neighborhood (thanks to Kyna for the recommendation).  I only had my Iphone so we didn't get any stellar photos but this one was cute of the girls with Haley.

I love the pajamas with tennis shoes and boots!

Pinterest party

Kyna, Karen, Misty & I had a little Pinterest Party at Kyna's house to celebrate the holidays.  I brought a few crafts to work on that really did not pan out.  Thankfully Kyna is Martha Stewart reincarnated and she had some backup crafts for us to make.  Ribbon bookmarks with charms attached.  They were so adorable and mine turned out great after Kyna and Misty helped me tie on the ribbon (I am SO bad with bows and ribbons!)  Kyna, please have a good laugh at my expense.

Anyhoo, the little bookmarks are awesome and I'm so excited to give them out to my family as stocking stuffers this year.  Reese & Ryan loved them when I brought them home and have been deciding who they were going to.  I can't wait for our next get together next month ;)

Ryder's first haircut

It was time.  His hair was hanging in his face and bugging him so bad.  Cory made the decision that we would get him a trim.  We were all pretty excited.  We headed out to Snip-Its on the rainy Sunday afternoon.  Here's Ryder boy pre-haircut.  You can't see the mullet in the back but it's L-O-N-G.

He didn't really dig the trim.  There was no way he was sitting in that chair by himself so I held him and the lady took a bit off the back and the top.  No more shaggy bangs and mullet for Ryder.  It's so minor that you can barely tell we cut it, but that's what we wanted.  He's still officially growing his hair out, now it's just evened out.

Remax Christmas party

We had our Remax Infinity Christmas party this past weekend at Casino Arizona. Cory and I didn't get to go last year because we were out of town so we were excited to go this year.  I have been fighting off a cold but I took a hot shower and was ready to go.  My dad rented a party bus that everyone crowded on and I feared for my life a few times in the 20 minute ride.

No joke, someone almost sideswiped us on the 101.  How could you not be scared when the bus pulls up and you see this sign on the outside?  Needless to say I rode home with my mom

Despite the crazy bus ride, we had a great time at the party and enjoyed our date night out without the kiddos.

Teddy Bear Tea

I'm pretty sure we have a new tradition to add to the Christmas list.  The Teddy Bear Tea at the Ritz Carlton.  Mimi treated us to a special girls day out and we had an amazing time with her & Auntie Cece and Keira.  We had a perfect little corner table and enjoyed some delicious food and treats.  I thought the food was so tasty and when they brought around seconds I had them load up my plate (not very Ritz style, but I couldn't turn down those sandwiches!).  The girls got to sip hot chocolate with marshmallows and eat PB&J and ham/cheese sandwiches.  It was so exciting to get dressed up and enjoy a fun, fancy day out with the girls. Great food, amazing company, beautiful location--what more could you ask for?

 Hot chocolate faces!

 Please join me in salivating over that dessert tray. 
Don't worry, we got our money's worth by eating the entire tray.

 The 6 foot teddy bear was a tad creepy with the glasses but the girls didn't seem to notice.  Keira was NOT diggin' him but that's to be expected when you're 2 years old.

 We loved the decorations throughout the hotel.

It really was such a wonderful afternoon with my family. 
I'm so excited to go back again next year!

Can somebody please get these kids a hairbrush?

Ryder's hair always takes the cake.

23 months

It's hard to believe that in one month our little baby boy will be turning two.  It's funny because he really does seem like a baby still and I remember the girls seemed so grown up to me when they were turning two. He's doing all the same things as they were at this age--jabbering away in full sentences, starting to show interest in the potty, having a distinct opinion about what he'll wear--but he is just my little peanut that I want to stop the clock for.  Cory and I get lots of one-on-one time with our little man these days.  The girls are busy little bees that want to go to Grandma's house, Mimi's house, school, etc.  They go, go, go and then crash out at 7pm.  Ryder gets his afternoon nap and usually stays up an hour or two after his sisters.  We love this snuggle time with him.  He's usually putting on a performance of Old MacDonald or dancing to a song that's playing.

I haven't weighed or measured him in awhile so I'm not sure of his stats.  I know he's still a skinny guy, wearing 18-24 month tops, but the 18 month bottoms fall off his skinny waist. He needs the length but other than that the 18-24 month size is waaaay too grande.  He loves his breakfast foods like oatmeal, pancakes, french toast, and is constantly asking for "More unny" (honey) on everything.  We're still breastfeeding a few times a day.  With all the talking comes the requests for nursing.  He's started saying, "I want to eat booby".  I get some awesome stares when we're out in public and he starts blurting out those words.  The weaning process is going to be a tough one so I'm in total avoidance mode right now. I know it's gotta come soon but I'm not ready to deal with it, so we'll just keep trucking along as is.  I'm thinking it will happen after the first of the year.

 Here are some photos of our baby boy on his 23 month bday, dancing in the family room.  Love you so much, my little Ryder boy!

Helpers

Ryder has so many helpers.  The roles were reversed with this one.  Ryan was in big sis mode while Reese took photos.  He had to make sure his pee and poop were going in the potty :)

 Ryan's not sure it's all working...

 He will kill me for this some day but who can resist a shot like this?

Kati & Skipper

We weren't sure where to place Kati (I've now been informed that this is how we spell it) tonight.  It was a toss up between placing him on the shelf reading a book (my idea) or nuzzling up with Reese's new Barbie set.  Cory is usually in charge of Kati's placement and the Barbie scenario won out.  Ken & Barbie are married (check out her fab wedding gown), so Kati is makin' the moves on Skipper the bridesmaid.  We've been cracking up about this and hope the girls love it too.  Check it.