January: A pic a day fail and a collection of short stories

 Once upon a time on Pinterest I saw a great idea to take a picture a day for a year. I wanted to do it and heaven knows I tried. And then life kicked in and I ended up feeling like a failure on the days where I got too busy to pull out the camera. I released myself from the assignment but I did end up with some cute pictures of our life indoors.

 Clara is a morning person, Kenzie...not so much

 Laundry. Because this is real life and this is what it looks like all day before I kick my butt in gear and manage to fold/hang it. Sorry for the wrinkly clothes Keith, my mom taught me better.

 9 months, he started pulling himself up.

 Apartments have great windows (not) and they don't stand a chance when temps fall to the teens.

 We finally got around to making gingerbread houses. Because I waited until January, I got a huge tub of pre-made gingerbread dough for $.90 at Target. It was delicious, easy and my kids didn't feel cheated. Special shout out to all those kids Kenzie goes to preschool with that told her about gingerbread houses. You all make my life harder.

 This hug ended in tears seconds later

 Her smile is seriously the best.

 Cool story here, sometime in December I turned on my kindle (with special offers) and saw an ad for the new Honda Odyssey. Because we own a Honda Odyssey, I wanted to check out the new features. Somewhere on that page I entered a contest for an amazon gift card because they already had my info and it took two seconds. Fast forward several weeks later and I get a spammy sounding call from a woman in Seattle who works for Amazon and tells me I won the contest. Because I have mom brain, I tell her I don't believe her and she sends me all the info with a link to the site. Turns out, contest was legit and the memory of entering thankfully came back to me. I was stoked and we're currently debating over what to do with the money.

 One Satuday, I was bored. Keith was playing a computer game, the kids were fighting and my chores were done (or being put off...who really cares anymore). Kenzie had been pretty set on earrings for her 5th bday and then chickened out. Earlier in the week, I kept thinking how cute Clara would be with earrings and decided to throw the idea out to Mackenzie. She surprised me by saying she wanted to get her ears pierced and told me she wouldn't be scared. Keith, being the good husband he is, went along with us and even took pictures.

 Kenz was a pro. No tears were shed and she's been pretty happy with her choice.

 Clara on the other hand felt betrayed and annoyed. The sucker distracted her but only for a moment...

 She has since forgiven us and loves when people notice her earrings.

 Emmett is just getting so big and fun. He giggles, cries, squeals, screams, wakes up at night and loves his mom and dad equally. He adds a lot to our family and we're so happy to have him. Also, he doesn't believe in wearing pants.

 

Clara doesn't believe in clothing at all. For those judging the diaper, judge away, I'll let you come clean the pee off the floor every time we try to introduce underwear. Whoever heard of a kid that will poo on the potty but not consistently pee?

Christmas

 We had a great Christmas. The Sunday before, I stayed home with Clara because she wasn't feeling well. It ended up being a smart decision on my part because I started coming down with the flu and developed what ended up being the worst sinus infection I have had. Anyways, the Faircloughs, one of the sweetest couples in our ward stopped by that night with a red tin full of goodies, presents, and a turkey. I had given a talk in church a couple of weeks earlier and they said they couldn't stop thinking about us. I have never been so touched by the Christmas spirit and will not forget their thoughtfulness. The kids were so excited and couldn't wait to see what they got.

 On Christmas Eve, we had Niel and Dani Hayes and Eric, Suzanne and Grace Fairbanks over to share dinner with us. Everyone contributed food and it was a great meal. After the house cleared, we started to set up the magic.

 On our drive to Kenzie's school, we always see horses and every day Clara asks to ride them. Keith had the great idea to get her a spring horse like he had growing up. Emmett thought he would help dad put it together.

 We were so blessed to provide clothes, blankets and a couple of toys for each child.

We took more video than pictures. There's nothing like watching your child wake up on Christmas morning to see that Santa found their house and left them gifts. We also enjoyed skyping with both families which included my brother Caleb who is currently serving a  mission in Fiji. It's hard being thousands of miles from home, but technology definitely makes it easier.

December

 We continued our fresh tree tradition by picking out a tree at Lowe's. This year's tree was much smaller than last years but it fit our space well. It was raining the night we bought it and so we didn't get it in water as soon as we should have but it lasted through Christmas.

 Clara and Kenzie helped decorate the tree while Emmett helped rearrange.

 We took a couple of trips to the aquarium, once with Suzanne and Grace at the beginning of the month and then as a family after Keith's work party.

 These cute dolphins are scattered around the aquarium

Kenzie's poses crack me up in these

 We thought the kids would love to see Santa at the aquarium but they were too scared. It was still fun to see the aquarium decked out in lights.

 My boys are so handsome

After the aquarium, we met the Tafoya's at Centennial Olympic Park. They came to Atlanta to celebrate their anniversary with a few days in the city and a showing of the Nutcracker.

That night, we had dinner at a pizza place that acted like they hadn't really seen kids before and looked at the fountains and ferris wheel because we were all too cheap to take a ride on it.

On Saturday, Tafoya's invited us to join them at the Nutcracker and I was pretty excited about it. I love the ballet and it did not disappoint. The performance also fell on the day before our 6th wedding anniversary so Keith was able to kill two birds with one stone.

 We had so much fun with them and weren't ready to see them go the next day.

Last day of school before the break. Even though she doesn't look happy in this picture, Kenz was excited to give her teachers these reindeer bags filled with fudge.

Thanksgiving in Kentucky

We had an amazing Thanksgiving. Knowing Keith would have to work at Christmas and we wouldn't be able to travel then, I desperately wanted to spend Thanksgiving with friends that we consider family. I called up the girls in Kentucky (Sarah, Brynn and Brittany) and they were all so sweet and offered to forgo anything they might have wanted and open their homes to us to share this holiday. 

Keith worked a half day Wednesday and as soon as he got home, we were back on the road heading for Lexington. The kids did great and only cried the last 30 minutes. I think we got to Lexington around 9:30 that night. It was so wonderful to see Sarah, Andy and Cooper and be able to stay in their cute home. Emmett was a pill that night and refused to sleep longer than 30 minutes at a time. The next morning was Thanksgiving and we spent it lounging, talking, playing, watching the parade and eating a yummy pancake breakfast. Kenzie absolutely adores Sarah and was excited for her to do a ballerina bun for her.

 Around noon, we made the hour trip to Louisville and I amazingly held it together as we drove past all of the places I loved so much. Brynn hosted dinner and the Barratt's joined us. The food and company was incredible. Morgan and Mackenzie didn't miss a beat. Their friendship is so special and it made the trip all the sweeter to see them together again.

After dinner, we played games and hung out. Keith and I didn't make big plans for our trip because we really just wanted to enjoy being with friends again. Brynn and Danny were brave enough to have our girls stay the night Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A couple in the complex that were out of town for the holidays offered their space to us, so Keith, Emmett and I slept there. On Friday, we went to a place called Catch Air which is basically a big building full of trampolines. The kids had fun and we were able to see the Haskells and Halls. We did a little black Friday shopping and played games again.

These two tried their best to match every day

Saturday was packed. We met Kameron and Jodie Kuhni for breakfast at our favorite place, wild eggs. It was great to see them and felt nice to be able to talk about non-dental school topics. We had lunch with Suzy and Nate Hicks. I always have a blast hanging out with Suzy and my girls love her boys. After lunch, we stopped by the Isaac's so we could see them and I could spend more time with Sarah while she cute Allie's hair. She was also nice enough to cut Kenzie's hair. The day before we left for Kentucky, Kenz took matters into her own hands and chopped some big pieces off the front of her hair so it was good timing.

That night we went to the Saxton's house and had dinner with the Barratt's. The girls left for a bit to shop and get some gelato and when it got too late, we went back to Saxtons to join our families. Keith and I had too much fun and definitely overstayed our welcome. I think it was around 11 PM and they pulled up beds for our kids and we ended up staying the night. The next day I so badly wanted to go to church. It had been our plan the whole time so that I could see everyone. Unfortunately, their ward meets at 1 PM and we let the traffic and our whiny kids scare us off. We stopped by Snyder's for a last goodbye and then spent a couple more hours with Barratt's. The drive back took so much longer! We went through Chattanooga this time around and ended up in terrible traffic so the drive took several more hours. It was bittersweet to be "home" in Atlanta. While living in Kentucky, we always enjoyed our trips away but were happy to come back. Going back to Atlanta felt like a weight was put back on my shoulders and I had to mourn moving away from the people I love all over again.