WOOHOO!!

Tucker and Rylie have a ton of books. Their bookshelf was tiny and full...plus 3 boxes of books in the closet..plus a BIG box of books in Bapa and Papa's garage..plus Christmas present books coming..

So I asked Papa if he could make them a bookshelf for Christmas. 

It is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

(I promise to take better pictures with a camera better than my iPhone's soon.)

But this is a little preview of how amazing it is!!

4 shelves plus a storage spot above..dedicated to coloring stuff, puzzles and other craft things.

See how amazing it is!??

I promise more pictures after Christmas.

Santa may have gotten the kids about 30 more books..and I still need to get the books from my parent's garage.

So a big thanks to my daddy..this thing is AMAZING and we love it!!

Beginning of Christmas 2011

So..anyone that knows me..knows that I am a major

scrooge.

I don't hate Christmas..I just hate all the hype, the crowds, the music, the decorations, the planning, the decorating, the crowds, the music, the decorations, the planning...all the things that go along with Christmas.

I do NOT like lying to my children about Santa Claus and in a way don't even want to go along with the whole "he's real" thing.

Blah blah blah..Rylie is too young to care or know what all is happening this year, but Tucker is really starting to understand.

Tucker LOVES all the things about Christmas that I hate.

And I LOVE seeing the look of delight on his face as he does all the Christmas-y things.

The boy LOVES doing Christmas crafts, loves decorating, going to Grove Park to look at gingerbread houses, loves looking at decorations..he just loves it all.

And THAT makes doing it all with him 100% worth it. Yes, I even put up a tree, hung stockings AND did a Christmas tree craft with him. He LOVES it.

And this coming weekend, we are making a gingerbread house of our own.

Painting the pine cone "tree"

 Adding the snow and ornaments.

 All done!

 Bapa and Papa with Rylie. Bapa made Tucker and Rylie each a snowman globe. Rylie is getting hers for the first time here.

 And Tucker is giving his new snowman globe a sweet little kiss.

At the Grove Park..

 Tucker, Rylie and Davyn on a sleigh at the Grove Park Inn.

 Davyn, Tucker, Rylie and I with a giant gingerbread man.

 On the sleigh again.

 My favorite "house"

 Kayla and I at the GPI.

 In front of a HUGE fireplace at the GPI.

 My second favorite "house." A giant playground scene. Wonderful details!

 Tucker on the stone wall outside the GPI as we were leaving.

Tuck being amazed by parts of Bapa's Christmas village!

 The boy loves globes!

Rylie playing with a few ornaments while we decorated our tree.

 Tucker LOVED putting on the decorations..Now if only I could figure out a way to keep him from plugging it in everytime I turn around :)

 Rylie helping Mama put on a snowflake.

 Tucker hanging his favorite candy canes.

 And the stockings were hung..

 Our little tree.

 The kids in front of the tree. It was impossible to get them both looking AND smiling at the camera.

Tucker wanted to put the star on top of Papa's tree SO BAD. Once he got up there, he got terrified of how high he was and had a small meltdown of terror..but he never stopped trying until he got that star up there!

 Rylie hanging an ornament with Bapa.

 Me and the kids with my parent's tree we also helped decorate.

 My sweet babies after 2 days of Christmas decorating. Love these 2 so much...

November in a Nutshell!

Can I just say that I am INCREDIBLY BLESSED!!

A (paid off!!) roof over my head, a wonderful husband, a great puppy and

the two most beautiful and sweet children ever.

Look at how gorgeous this boy is!!

He gives TONS of kisses. The "kissy face" he makes is absolutely adorable.

 This was at Rylie's 6 month check-up. Just a quick snap shot with my iPhone.  This girl's smile just melts my heart.

She just gets so excited! LOVE her little excited squeal! 

 Ry does NOT use a paci. She'd probably sleep better if she took one, but the girl refuses. And I guess in the long run, I am thankful..one less thing to get her off of in the future! She doesn't need to carry anything around with her all day (like a big CareBear blanket ;)) and she CAN sleep without it...but the girl does love to cuddle this bear blanket. Its pretty sweet and cute how I walk in to check on her at night and she is all cuddled up with it.

 I have never seen a little boy so in love with his baby sister. He loves to help me in any way that he can. Including the messy fun of feeding her.

 And she loves having him be by her side almost constantly. He loves nothing more than to hear her giggle, see her smile and/or hear a squeal of delight. It never fails to make him squeal "Mommy! I make baby Rylie HOPPY!!" (happy)

Rylie went thru an adorable phase..whenever she would get really excited or really mad, she would wrinkle up her little nose and breath thru it really fast and hard. It was soo cute! 

 Snuggling in Rylie's crib...caught by mama. :)

She squeals and laughs in delight when he holds her hands and tips her backwards..the girl trusts and loves him unconditionally.  

Snuggling in mama's bed. 

 "Mommy!! I feel a tooth!!" Luckily, although he still feels her gums about ten times a day, she hasn't bitten him yet. He tells me daily how many teeth she has now. (The answer is still only 2 lol)

 And at almost three years old, Tucker's main love is still blankie.  The comfort this bit of fluff provides him is unbelievable..

Check out that hairdo..just wait until the little princess gets some hair :) 

 Her blue eyes are amazing. Her love for frozen banana..is not. This face proves how she feels about them.

Who doesn't love to get a little pedicure and relax with a teether frog? 

 Telling Rylie about a fire truck..

 Mom..I am too old for bath pictures. Don't worry baby boy..I promise to only take ones of your pretty little face :)

Can't get enough snuggles from my baby girl!

 Look at those baby blues :)

I think Tucker knows how to use my iPhone better than I do.. 

 Showing off his new Lightening  Mc"Queen" watch and eating "cheese noodles" at Bapa's house!

Self feeding some puffs. SO proud of my little girl's accomplishments! 

 Dinner was finished and everyone was busy doing little random things.. Bapa and Tucker had gone off on some mini adventure in the other room, Papa was cleaning counters, Bud had left for the FD, Daddy was wiping the table and I was doing dishes..we turn and little miss had her hands folded together and was quietly waiting on someone to let her out :)

November was a pretty great month overall! I fall more in love with these two every day. I am blessed :)