Punta Cana Sneak Peak

Happy Friday!! We are 3 days into our trip, and making the most of our stay here in Punta Cana. It's a little different than we expected...having never stayed in an all inclusive resort...but it's great to have so much one-on-one time with my husband.

We have enjoyed time at the pool, time at the beach, and dinner and drinks most nights. Today we went on a four hour fishing tour.....and I'll go into a little more detail in my next post about how THAT went. Suffice it to say, I'm very happy I brought a few samples of Dramamine along with us today. 

My internet connection here is not great, but it's been kind of nice to be a little "off the grid," although I'm missing Avery and Kendall like crazy, and trying not to think about it :(

...And we're off to enjoy the rest of our trip! More trip details to follow!

Beach Vacation Must-Haves

A little inspiration for the middle of your week. Travis and I have arrived in Punta Cana at this point, and I thought I'd share a little of the must-haves that I am looking forward to wearing this week at the resort! 

Blue Bathing Suit | Black Dress | Sandals | Black Tankini | Sunglasses | Button Shirt

Have a great Wednesday!

Another January Weekend

Good morning and Happy Monday! We just finished up a relaxing weekend around here. It was one of those weekends that was the perfect mix of relaxing and getting things done. We are headed for the Dominican Republic this week (ON TUESDAY!!) and were able to spend some quality time together as a family before we leave these girls for 6 days!

 Avery has been enjoying picking out her own outfits ;)

A closeup of Kendall with Pajama Time - a favorite book of ours 

Saturday morning Travis woke up with the girls and let me sleep in a little (until 8:30...pretty late for us haha.) He had a pretty long work week, so it was nice for him to spend a little one-on-one time with the Avery and Kendall. After we had some breakfast, we all did a little house cleaning. Even Avery helped for a little while, and then she entertained Kendall while we finished up. Travis picked up some ribs for dinner, and steaks for dinner tonight. 

In the afternoon I took Ranger for a five-mile trail run. This was surprisingly my first official run of the new year. I've been doing the 21-day fix workouts again everyday since New Year's Eve - trying to get in decent shape for our trip - but I decided yesterday would be a great day to get outside, and have some quality time with Ranger too. He was happy to go! We didn't get hit by the blizzard that hit the rest of the east coast, so the trails here were perfect yesterday....just a light dusting of snow for perfect footing.  Sometimes I forget how relaxing a winter run can be. I ran without my headphones, and just enjoyed the sounds of our breathing and our footsteps.

The rest of my afternoon and evening was spent doing one of my other favorite things...watching Figure Skating Nationals! The ladies long program was on Saturday night, and many of the ladies skated very well. It was nice to see a good competition.

Sunday morning we made my favorite waffles. Then I was off to a yoga class while Travis watched the girls again. We spent a little more time cleaning, packing, blogging, and spending as much time with our little girls as possible.

I can't wait to get out to the beach and work on my camera skills this week! I'm hoping to have some great photos and stories to share from our trip. Have a great week!

Saturday Morning Waffles

Mmm...I don't know about you, but I absolutely LOVE having a homemade breakfast on the weekends (or any day of the week really!). It's become a tradition in our house to make a big breakfast on Saturdays, and these waffles have been a staple for several months now. 

I am always looking for ways to get extra protein in my diet, and the girls' diets. Ever since I completed the 21-Day Fix back in May and June, I have tried to find easy ways reduce the amount of carbs in my diet, and eat protein at every meal. I started trying out some waffle recipes that were higher in protein, and lower in carbs, and after some refining and tweaking, I have come up with this amazing waffle recipe that our whole family loves! The main ingredients are low fat cottage cheese and eggs, which is where the high protein comes from. It does NOT contain protein powder, because I am not a big fan of food recipes that have protein power in them (unless it's a regular protein shake.) 

It only takes a few minutes to whip up a batch of these delicious waffles. They are honestly so good, and it is very likely this will become your new favorite waffle recipe and you'll never go back to the heavy carb-loaded version. Here is the recipe: 

High Protein Waffles - makes 4 large waffles

1 c. low fat cottage cheese

6 eggs

1/4 c. oil (I've used canola or coconut and both work!)

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. vanilla

dash of cinnamon to taste (I add a lot!)

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and pour onto hot, greased waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve with butter and real maple syrup, or Kendall's favorite - Yogurt! You can also freeze them to enjoy another day. Just pop them in the toaster to re-heat. 

I hope you enjoy them! Try them out this weekend, and let me know what you think. I will leave you with this...a few pictures of Kendall devouring them. These waffles have quickly become her favorite meal by far!

My Breastfeeding Journey with Kendall

I'm not going to lie...this is a tough post to write. I am officially done breastfeeding Kendall, who is almost 14 months, and the last few days have been very emotional for me. Her last nursing session was Friday morning - January 15, 2016 to be exact. I wanted to write this post now while the emotions are still raw, so that it can be a very real post. 

This breastfeeding experience was completely polar opposite of my first time around with Avery. With Avery I had no idea what to expect. I planned to breastfeed her for a year, and I had no idea that it wouldn't be so easy. Long story short, I only ended up nursing her for 14 weeks because she was dairy/soy intolerant, and I tried to eliminate those from my diet for eight weeks, but was never successful. After struggling with her digestion problems for two months, we tried Similac Alimentum formula, and it was a miracle for her. She was a newer, happy baby, and her digestion issues were solved almost immediately. I stopped breastfeeding her pretty easily, and never looked back because it seemed I was doing more harm than good in her case. I occasionally felt sadness because I didn't succeed in my goal of breastfeeding her for a year, but I realized you can't control every circumstance, and the most important thing is a healthy baby. 

Because of my experience with Avery, I wasn't sure what to expect while I was pregnant with Kendall. I wanted that second chance to try and breastfeed for a year, but I also knew that it wasn't the end of the world when we switched Avery to formula.  I did have a lot more confidence that I would at least be able to breastfeed Kendall for some amount of time; I just felt unsure of how long that time would be. 

I remember feeding Kendall for the first time in the hospital right after she was born. I was very appreciative of our breastfeeding bond, and somewhat fearful that it wouldn't last, so I really took in each moment. Her latch was a little painful, but I thought it would get better on its own. (It did eventually get better - but after some position changing and extensive latching research haha.)  Luckily, although I did experience a little pain in the beginning, her nursing sessions were very quick, and my main goal was to keep her awake to get a full tummy each time! 

If you are expecting, and planning to breastfeed - take note - Kendall fed from my right side first, and although I tried to have her feed from both sides equally, it was tough in those first few days because of how sleepy she was.  Breastfeeding frequently in the first few days really determines your supply for the entire duration, and I always produced a lot more milk on my right side than on my left side. Even now, after just a few days of trying to "dry up," my left side is about done, and my right side is still producing a significant amount. 

Our breastfeeding journey had many ups and downs along the way. The first six months were more difficult than the second half (7 months) but overall we had a great experience. We were able to get into a routine more easily this time around, and I was lucky that Kendall would only nurse for 5-10 minutes at a time. I never fed her more than 8-9 times a day, and even though she was breastfed, she was sleeping mostly through the night (8-9 hours) consistently by 8-9 weeks. That makes things a LOT easier. I also didn't have too many worries that she wasn't getting enough, or any of those fears that new moms typically have...maybe because it was my second time around.  

I wanted her to be able to take a bottle of pumped milk on occasion, and so I introduced the bottle to her pretty early on...within her first two weeks of life. She honestly didn't fight it, but she didn't drink very much from a bottle either. I pumped enough for her to drink from a bottle about once a week...for about the first 5-6 months. It wasn't a ton, but it was enough that over time she eventually would drink from a bottle if I wasn't around. I pumped less frequently in the second half of the year, with almost no pumping after 9 months. She ate a decent amount of foods by then, and she would go much longer between nursing sessions, making it easier for me to leave, and not having to worry about someone giving her a bottle. 

I learned pretty early on that if I wanted to have her latch without pain, I had to sit in a chair with back support (or a pillow behind my back) and I had to sit up straight with good posture. I was not one of the lucky moms who could nurse anywhere with Kendall, comfortably, even in my own home. I always sat in one of two chairs to nurse her, and for the entire 13 1/2 months I very rarely nursed her anywhere else. Because of that fact, I rarely nursed in public, because it was tough to get her into a good position in a chair I was uncomfortable in, and also it was difficult with a cover. Because we stuck to a pretty solid schedule, I was still able to make outings between her naps and nursing sessions. To me, working within a baby's scheduling limits is par for the course for a baby's first year. Of course there were times when I had to nurse her in public while we were out for the whole day, or on a vacation, and we made it work. 

By about 3 months, we got into a pretty good groove, and I was proud of our breastfeeding success at that point. I started running again, and then ran into a common breastfeeding problem - clogged ducts. It took some time to figure out what was causing them, but they occurred pretty regularly from the time she was three to six months old. It was very discouraging, but my sister dealt with something similar, and told me to hang on because they wouldn't continue forever. The thing that helped the most with my clogged ducts was a lecithin supplement. I also stopped running temporarily. For some reason, I could continue with other workouts, but running seemed to trigger them. Around six months, I was able to start running again, and never had any more issues with clogged ducts.

Here we are in one of our favorite chairs, right after a nursing session, 

when Kendall was 6 months old. 

 The way I breastfed her changed as time progressed. For the first three or four months, I would only feed her on one side for each nursing session, and switch sides throughout the day. When she started acting like she was hungrier more often, I decided to offer her both sides at each nursing session to see if she would drink more and extend out the time in between, so that I wasn't nursing her so frequently. That seemed to work, and we continued that way for the rest of the time. We did have a few times where she would want to switch back and forth after just a few seconds, but we got through it by keeping a calm environment, with as little distraction as possible while she was nursing. 

After introducing her to solids at six months old, and getting her down to two naps, we went from 7-8 nursing sessions a day, to about 4-5 nursing sessions by 9 months old. I nursed her in the morning, before each nap, and before bedtime for several months. I haven't experienced pain, clogged ducts, engorgement, or really any problems, and I am glad that I was able to experience the "easy" aspect of breastfeeding for the last several months. I cherished those moments with her, and honestly spent time just watching her and trying to memorize everything about our time together.  

When she was between 10 and 11 months old, I introduced whole milk to her in a sippy cup, just after dinner. That's earlier than the recommendation, but since she was still nursing, I figured a few ounces a day wouldn't hurt. It took her about 2 months to actually drink a significant amount of milk from her sippy cup, but it was nice not to have to rush things. We easily made it to her birthday in November, and I continued nursing her 3-4 times a day through Christmas. Between Christmas and New Year's, I decided to drop her nursing sessions before naps and bedtime, and Travis was home for that week, so he was able to help me out by putting her down for a few naps and bedtime.  By New Year's Day, I was down to one daily feeding first thing in the morning. 

I know that I could have kept this up for a longer period of time if I had truly wanted to, but Travis and I planned a trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for next week to celebrate our 10-year anniversary, which was actually this past September. We've been planning to do a big trip for this anniversary for several years, but I didn't want to go while I was still breastfeeding because I didn't want to have to worry about pumping on this trip. I just want to be able to relax and get back to myself. After nursing her for just once a day for two weeks, I made the decision to completely wean this past weekend. I wanted to give myself a little time before our trip to make sure that my body would adjust before we leave. Travis woke up with her Saturday and Sunday and gave her milk, and she was perfectly happy. I am pretty sure that it's been harder for me than for her, but I have been trying to give her some extra cuddles and hugs just to make sure she knows we can still have close bond. 

At this point we are not planning on having any more children, and it's hitting me hard that I no longer have a baby. My emotions have been all over the place since I started weaning at the end of December. I think weaning is hard for moms (like me) for several reasons. Not only are you changing your routine, and "breaking your bond" (even though your head is telling you your aren't) but also your body's hormones are physically changing to stop the milk production. It helped that we took Avery to Disney on Ice on Sunday, and had a fabulous time, and I know we have many things to look forward to as Kendall and Avery get older. It's very reassuring to see that there is more than one way to bond with your children. I am looking at this entire experience as just one of the first of many great things that I'll get to enjoy as a mom. 

I'm really looking forward to our trip next week. I am hoping to come home ready refreshed, and ready for life with a preschooler and a toddler. 

Disney on Ice

Travis and I took Avery to Disney on Ice in Cleveland yesterday, and it was every bit of the magical Disney experience that we were expecting.   I figure skated competitively in my youth, so I absolutely LOVE skating shows, but I also tend to have higher expectations. That being said, this show really delivered. 

Avery's dress

I told Avery about the show last week when we bought the tickets so I would have some time to "build it up" to her. She's never been to any type of show like this, or even the movies, so she really didn't know what to expect. She loves Disney princesses though, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I knew she'd have a great time. 

Honestly, I think the excitement began once we walked into the arena. There was a pretty good crowd, but it wasn't overwhelming. There were tons of kids her age, and a lot of kids younger than her, which surprised me. We left Kendall behind with the grandparents, because we figured this would be a better experience for a 3-year old, but maybe we'll take Kendall when it comes back in a few years. 

During the first half of the show, this is pretty much what Avery looked like the entire time:

She was happy to watch and sing, and she clapped at the great skating too! She loved Mickey and Minnie, and I'm pretty sure the Frozen segments were her favorite. (I'm not gonna lie...they were my favorite too!) The first part of the show was about 1 hour and 15 minutes, and she loved every second. After intermission, she started to get a little tired, but the second half was only about 30 minutes, and she was able to sleep the entire way home in the car. Here are a few snapshots of the show...but they don't really do it justice. 

There were definitely a few moments of the show when I was actually so happy to see Avery happy, that I was almost crying...but I was able to hold it together. Sometimes I can be too emotional, but it was a great show and I would definitely recommend it to parents with young kids. I am really looking forward to taking Avery to more shows like this, and getting her out on the ice a little more often!  

Friday Five

Happy Friday! I hope you are staying warm. Winter has finally showed up in Northeast Ohio. We've had some snow and cold temperatures this week, but I actually don't mind too much since it's really the first week that it's felt like "winter." Anyway...here is a sweet picture of my whole family taken by some friends of ours this past weekend, and then moving on to the Friday Five.

1.  In case you haven't noticed, blogging more regularly is one of my big goals for the new year. I enjoy taking time to work on this blog, and it's been a great way to have "me time" over the last several years. I also love having this blog to go back and look at what we've done in the past few years. However, let's face it, I've always been a little inconsistent,and erratic about when I post, so I'm trying to come up with some ideas to make it a little bit more organized. That includes posting more regularly, and my goal right now is three days per week...preferably Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'm off to a good start.

2.  This weekend is one of our favorites of the year...the boat show! It's always in January (in Cleveland), in the middle of winter, but  Travis and I go to the boat show every year, and really look forward to seeing what new boats are out there. Currently, we have a 1999 Crestliner Sportfish 1750, that we bought in 2009. It is a great boat for us right now because while it's mainly a fishing boat, it has an open bow with seating in the front, and it works for sports like waterskiing. We also added a bench in the back of the boat perfect for my favorite boat activity - laying in the sun. Travis is always on the lookout for a bigger boat that could hold more people and more fishing equipment, but it has to be at the right price. It's fun to see what's new, and also dream about owning a big yacht ;) Here's a throwback - a picture of Avery on our boat on Lakie Erie in September 2014.

3.  In a more serious matter, tomorrow we are having our first phone conference (to be followed up with a meeting next week) with an attorney to set up a will, trust, and other legal matters. We want to do this so that things are set up for Avery and Kendall if something happens to us. We had to fill out some paperwork ahead of time, and it has been so difficult to fill out. It's just one of those things that needs to be done...but who wants to think about it?? It's also one of those things that really makes me think "Wow...I am a really a grown-up." So far it's not been my favorite thing. 

4.  In less serious updates, Kendall got these baby moccasins in the rose gold color for her birthday. (She is wearing them in the top photo - above.) I had seen people rave about these shoes before, but never really understood why people loved them so much. Well, now I absolutely love them! First of all, they are so gorgeous on her. People compliment how cute they are on her almost every day. Second, they go on and off really easily. For anyone who's tried to put regular baby shoes on new walkers, it can be a real struggle However, these slide on and off easily.  That's not even the best thing...these shoes really do stay on her feet! It's hard to find good shoes that don't fall off. I'm not going to lie...we've lost several shoes in stores or restaurants, or most recently at church, because I didn't realize one of them came off. These shoes stay on and seem really comfy for her, with or without socks. They definitely are shoes I'll be willing to buy in bigger sizes in the future.

5. And now onto what I'm hoping will be the best part of our weekend...we are taking Avery to Disney On Ice!! I CANNOT WAIT! We told Avery about it, and she is very excited as well. I've shown her a few videos of what it is, but I think she is really in for a treat. She loves Disney characters, and she actually likes watching skating sometimes, so I think it will be a great time. We're going to do some shopping today for some new outfits to wear...I'm thinking of this, or this, or maybe this dress.

Have a great weekend!

Kendall - 13 Month Update

I haven't done an update on either of my girls for awhile, so I thought I'd start with Kendall because she is changing so quickly! I was able to capture some cute pictures of her, but just disregard the fact that they were in Avery's chair, haha. She loves watching and copying Avery, and has the time of her life when she is able to play with Avery in her room. 

 Kendall turned 13 months old on December 30th, and the biggest update is that she started taking her first steps during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. She is fearless when it comes to walking, and she was falling a lot at first, but it didn't phase her at all. She just gets back up and continues along like nothing happened. She is so proud of herself when she's walking, and we often catch her laughing while she is walking. She will still drop down and crawl if she wants to go further than 10-12 steps or so. I am noticing in the last day or two that she's starting to choose walking over crawling in more and more cases. 

Another thing Kendall loves to do is climb....climb anything - the stairs, chairs, small tables, furniture, etc. This girl is a climber!! If I leave the bottom gate open for any reason, she is up the stairs within seconds. Luckily, we are pretty good about following her, and keeping the gate closed. I also taught her how to climb down the stairs backwards, feet first, on her stomach. She does that pretty well (with supervision.) She's now applied the same technique to getting off the furniture on her own, which is actually pretty great for me. She will actually turn around (facing the couch) and put her feet down first in order to get off the couch herself. With Avery, I was always worried about her falling off the furniture, and I don't think I gave her the chance to learn how to climb off herself at this age.  

Kendall is saying quite a few words. Avery was only saying about one or two at the same age, so I am amazed by how much Kendall talks and communicates. Her favorite word at this point is definitely "mama." I know I should be pleased, and I am, but normally she says it in a wining voice like this "mamamamamama.' She says it about a million times a day right now, and is always looking for me. It was her first word and continues to be her favorite. When she's happy, she really likes to say "dada," and I'm only a little jealous. She also says "hi," "done," "yeah," and "poop." Yes...you read that correctly. A few times now when she has actually pooped, she's been able to tell me. She makes a few animal sounds - like quacking and honking for ducks and geese, and also a deer "grunt" which Travis taught her. She makes lots of other sounds, and really tries to mimic our sounds. I've been trying to teach her to say her name "Kendall" and she is pretty close. She does make a few hand gestures, like waving "hi" and "bye", pointing, clapping, and she just recently started blowing kisses. She gives the best real kisses too...little baby kisses are the best! She's also been playing peek-a-boo like a champ for several months now, where she'll cover her own face with her hands or a blanket, and then peek herself. 

If you can't tell by these pictures, we definitely have a teether on our hands. She got her first teeth around 8 months, and the two top middle and two bottom middle are completely in. She has several more that are breaking through right now, and I can see many of them. She definitely gets fussy from her mouth hurting. I can tell when she's about to get a tooth because she is fussy for about 5-7 days before it comes through. She does this thing when she's angry where she bangs her head...either on the floor if she's sitting, or on the wall, or furniture (or me) if she's standing. It can be a little rough. 

Luckily, it hasn't affected her nighttime sleep, but it sometimes affects her naps. Speaking of sleep, she sleeps really well, although I don't consider myself lucky. I stick to her schedule really, really consistently, which is very important for babies, and that is the reason that both of my girls have continued to be good sleepers. Until about nine months, she was sleeping 9-10 hours straight at night - going down at 8 pm and waking around 5:30 am for a feeding, then feeding, then straight back to bed until 7:30 or 8 am, for a good 11-12 hours at night.  Just after nine months, she dropped the 5:30 am feeding, and she sleeps straight through the night from about 8 pm to 7:30-8 am.  She's continued with two naps during the day, and I've tried to get her to go to one a few times, but we're just not there yet. Probably in the next few months she go to one afternoon nap. 

In terms of eating, Kendall has been successfully breastfed up until this point, and I am down to just one feeding in the morning. I plan to fully wean within the next week or so. I made it well past my goal of one year, and she likes whole milk. She also eats very well. Her favorite foods are homemade waffles, bananas, yogurt, and clementines.  She is also a little carnivore, and definitely likes chicken, ground beef, and most types of meat. She will eat pasta, bread, broccoli, and peas, but goes for other things on her tray first. She also tends to eat the most in the morning - for breakfast, and there are some days when she will literally eat more than me and Travis for breakfast! She has always self-fed, which has been a fabulous experience for us, and it makes mealtimes so easy. I just hope that we don't go through a dreaded regression between 15-18 months like many kids do. Only time will tell. 

As far as playing goes, my little Kendall girl loves to play with Avery, and with any of Avery's toys. She's recently been able to play with her own toys that she received for her first birthday and Christmas, but she's not too interested in them unless Avery is playing with them first. She wants to do everything her big sister is doing. Luckily, they play really well together and it's wonderful when Avery asks if they can play together in the playroom without me - I can see them from the kitchen or living room, and it gives me a chance to get something else done...like laundry or blogging! Avery and Kendall really love each other and it's great to see that bond forming. 

It's been a great year that has flown by way too fast, but I am certainly enjoying seeing Kendall's personality shine. I can't wait to see what's in store in the next few months.

{House Tour} The Dining Room

I love reading other people's blogs, and one thing that I really enjoy is seeing pictures of our homes. I'm always interested to see where others live, in order to get new ideas for my home, and also to see how other people with kids stay organized. I decided that I am going to share pictures of my home in my new {House Tour} series. Since I've been experimenting with my camera, as a part of my New Year's Resolution, I took a few shots of my dining room, so that's where I'll begin. 

We acquired a "new to us" table back in May, when our neighbors were moving. They asked us if we'd be interested in their table, because they weren't going to be taking it with them to their new home. Travis and I have always wanted a larger and nicer dining room table. Their table matched our style perfectly. It's Amish made, cherry-colored, and pub-height, which we absolutely love! It's also wider and shaped more like a square than a rectangle, which I feel is more conversational for big gatherings. 

Table Runner | Placemats

Kendall sits in the "booster attachment" of her high chair, and Avery will occasionally still sit in her booster, but she can reach the table without it as well. We also acquired a matching hutch, which we love, and is great storage space.

The room has a lot of light because of all of the windows, and the we have a screen door leads to our deck and hot tub. I love how bright and open it is, and we try to eat dinner as a family several nights a week. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing our dining room, and look forward to continuing the {House Tour} room by room over the next several weeks. 

My Photography Resolution

Well...it's that time of year again where I make high and lofty goals for myself for the new year. This year, one of my main things that I want to do is learn how to use my camera. That may sound silly, but a few years ago, Travis and I purchased a DSLR camera, and we have never taken the time to learn how to use it. Most of the pictures we take are with our phones (because of the convenience.) However, I have been frustrated in the last few years about never having great photos...especially at things like Christmas, birthdays, etc. I decided that this year will be the year I take great photos and learn to use my camera...in Manual Mode. For the last few days I've been doing a lot of research about the best settings (and even  how to change the settings...which we had never done in manual mode) and I've actually been able to take a few great pictures. The three I'm posting today turned out pretty good...with no editing. However, that is also part of my goal...I also want to learn about some basic editing techniques to improve the quality of my photos, especially for the purpose of this blog!

I really like photos that are bright, and that blur the background a bit, which as you can tell by the mess in the playroom, is very necessary. I don't expect to become a pro overnight, but hopefully you will see a much needed improvement here on my blog. 

Wish me luck as I research and practice, practice, practice! Lucky for me, I have the cutest models!

Happy New Year!

Another year has come and gone, and time is flying by as fast as ever. I still catch myself writing the date with 2014 as the year; now I have to remember it's 2016!

We enjoyed a really great week between Christmas and New Year's, and we were able to spend time with many of our friends. Between new babies, jobs, and just our constant need for "downtime," it's sometimes difficult to prioritize spending time with friends, but I am more determined than ever to make time for that. Every time we do get together with friends, we have a fantastic time, and Avery is finally at an age where she really enjoys playing with kids her age, and she's not clinging to me. It's also nice to know that other parents are dealing with the same struggles as us.

We went to a kids' New Years Eve party this year, where they did the "ball drop" at 7:30 (perfect for us!) Avery had so much fun with about 20 or so other kids very close to her age. They danced, played, watched part of a movie, and she even shared a sleeping bag with another little girl for a little while, which was adorable. We were able to come home and get the girls tucked in, and have a little champagne before midnight. We did stay up, but went to sleep at about 12:05 ;)  I remember the days when I used to send/received phone calls and text messages at midnight, and now most of the people I know barely make it to midnight haha.

My nephew Cooper's 2nd birthday was in early January, so we went to Pittsburgh to celebrate with him over the weekend. They had a really large party for his first birthday party last year, so this year was just a small family party. My brother-in-law made an amazing peanut butter cake with strawberry frosting. I've never had anything like it, but it was delicious. Cooper is really starting to enjoy playing with Avery, and even Kendall will get in on the fun every so often. I'm really looking forward to the time when we all get together, and the kids have sleepovers and can't wait to see each other!

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2015

We enjoyed a really great Christmas this year, and spent time with both of our families. On Christmas Eve, we went to Travis's grandparents house around noon for a meal and to exchange a few gifts. We all wanted to spend a little time together before going to our Christmas Eve Services that evening.

Our Christmas Eve service is geared for families with children, and they do a reenactment of the nativity story every year and involve the kids. The kids get to choose if they would like to be a king, a shepherd, or an angel and then go up when it's their turn. This year when we arrived, and took Avery to get her "costume," she told the lady that she wanted to be baby Jesus. We all laughed so hard (without making her feel bad I hope...) She was told that they already had a baby Jesus, but she could choose something else. She decided she didn't want to participate...go big or go home! Even so, we still had a nice time at our service, and Avery held her own candle this year and really enjoyed singing Silent Night with it.

We arrived home about an hour and a half before bedtime, and we got some cookies and milk ready for Santa, and read "The Night Before Christmas." I could tell that Avery was excited for Santa to come, and she knew that she had to go to sleep if she wanted him to bring presents, so bedtime was pretty easy. Travis and I even had time to get into the hot tub for about 30 minutes on Christmas Eve, after everything was ready. That was definitely a new Christmas tradition, and one that I would like to continue :)

The next morning was so much fun!! Honestly, it was kind of what I've been waiting for since having kids. Avery and Kendall both loved opening their gifts, and we took our time, opening presents for several hours. Avery was super-excited about every single gift - from the big things like her new bean bag chair, and their new Frozen jeep, to even the small things (new socks - YAY!) We made cinnamon rolls and coffee, and just really enjoyed a great Christmas. Travis's parents and brother, and his girlfriend came over later in the day we ate more lasagna and garlic bread, and more Christmas cookies. Avery was so happy the whole day, and Kendall, who I thought might get overwhelmed, actually really enjoyed it too. I feel like she knew that we were having a celebration. 

On the day after Christmas (Saturday morning) we drove to my parents' home to celebrate with my family. We had a relaxing weekend opening more presents and the girls loved having a "sleepover" and sharing a room. They also loved playing with their almost 2-year old cousin Cooper. We did the normal Edinboro things - Bagel Shop for Breakfast, and Pizza Pub for dinner. It was a great way to finish out our Christmas holiday weekend.