Way to go Ca!

This past weekend my sister in law, Cara, graduated from college in Florida. Nic's parents, the girls, and I drove all night to get there. And by there I mean West Palm Beach. The girls did amazing...cried a little and slept a lot! She has worked so hard to achieve that piece of paper and we would not miss it for the world...love ya sis!
The girls received plenty of lovin' while we were there. They were pretty much the center of 11 adults attention for 3 straight days. So needless to say, they were happy about that!
The cap seemed so big on Jac...although I know one day we will look back and not believe how little she was!
Cara's best friend, Jamie, and her husband Matt surprised her for the graduation. So nice!
The gang watchin' the Colts on Sunday.
Jac is obssessed with carrying around little bags. One of those bigs that she seems to be drawn to is Aunt Ca's makeup bag, so April decided to open it up and show Jac how to use it. She LOVED it! Seriously, I think she sat there for a good 1/2 hour enjoying her application of makeup...oh how I fear my future!
Thats right, squeeze the massive, freaky lookin, lifesize doll! Ha!
We had such a fun time there, even though it was a short trip and the weather was not stupendous. No one could ever replace our South Florida friends...we love you and miss you all dearly! And Cara, again, so proud of you!!!

Traditions

I love Christmas! And I love traditions, especially at Christmas! So, it is actually one of my most favorite things about parenting...starting traditions with my kids at Christmas! Wow! I sound so cheesy, but I mean it. This has been an amazing week...the girls have worn some sort of festive outfit everyday, we have attended plenty of holiday parties, and even made our first batch of Christmas cookies. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the holidays as much as we are! Thanks for letting us share our traditions with you!

We went to the museum and attended their Jolly Days of Winter exhibit. It was the first time in a long time that we had made the trip. Good times! Jac thoroughly enjoyed each place we went. Izy even had a great time now that she is crawling and pulling up to EVERYTHING! Here they are standing at the water table. I am not sure if you can tell but this is moments after a little boy accidently dumped a boat filled with water on top of Izy's head! She was dripping wet and completely shocked...but I could not hold back my laughter when I knew she was fine. It was hilarious!
Izy's favorite was the wooden bridge...oh so exciting!
The carousel....all by myself!

We have made multiple trips to see Santa this season. My goal is for both girls to actually like him and not cry everytime we see him!

We spent a night making Christmas cookies. Jac was so into it...she actually sat in the same chair for over an hour to mix the dough, roll it out, cut her cookies, and decorate.


Izy even got in on the action with a little flour.
This was my favorite...every cookie I would cut she would take and smash into her pile o' dough in the corner of the cookie sheet!
Me and my girls...I love them so much!
Did I forget to mention how excited she was to eat her creations?
Check out those sprinkles...

Nic's mom's side of the family celebrated Christmas this past weekend. We always do it earlier in the month, so everyone can come. It is so fun to get together...I married into an amazing family!
This was our 1st attempt to take a picture of all the girls...(6 under 3)
This one was a little better probably because candy was involved!
I hope my girls love Christmas as much as I do always! It is just amazing to celebrate the birth of Jesus...and enjoy all of the many gifts He has given us by giving gifts and spending time with family. I am so thankful for all of you and what you mean to my family!

So Thankful...

I am so thankful for lots of things, but this week for my family especially! I love spending holidays with them! All we do is laugh, play games, and watch movies...perfect. And thats what we did for the past week. My whole family came to town last Saturday. We started off the week with a little Christmas decorating...
Jac's preschool had a special Thanksgiving lunch that my mom and I attended. She was dressed as an Indian, but not wholeheartedly involved in the song she was supposed to be singing!
We headed up to my grandparent's house for a few days. Steph thought it would be a good idea to try a new recipe for cracker-chocolate covered strawberry-hot tamale turkeys. They actually were not to bad.
Jac and I made some table decorations for Thanksgiving dinner.
The morning of we ran the 5K in Detroit...the Stuffing Strut to be exact. It was a fun, new tradition. And hilarious because about 1/4 of the 10ooo runners were dressed up in some interesting costumes. Hence the guy behind Jenni with a Christmas tree on his head...
After the run, we had Christmas with my grandparents, played a game of football, and then feasted. The girls were champs and enjoyed the day thoroughly (in their matching outfits made by my grandma for them)!
The day after Thanksgiving, we hit up a Christmas tree farm to see Santa arrive. Izy could not care less who was holding her at this point. Jac on the other hand was not so sure...
The HCS boy's football team made it to the state championship on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium. We made the trip...with the girls...and they won!
Jac loved it! She was jumping up and down, clapping, and cheering. Precious! Izy somewhat enjoyed it as far as enjoying football games goes for 7 month olds.
Fun with Aunt Jenni...
And Aunt Steph...
The last day my family was here we celebrated Christmas with them because we don't get to see them on the actual holiday.

The girls were so into the presents!
I love family time! And hate the days they leave. I know that they are living exactly where God wants them, but sometimes I pray that God would change His mind. Until then, we will keep making amazing memories and spending as much time together as we can. I love and miss you all ALWAYS!

"Do you want to go to Florida?"

I was awakened last Tuesday morning to my phone ringing. When I answered, it was Nic. He simply said he called to ask me if I wanted to go to Florida today. You see, his parents were headed down along with his aunt and uncle to meet up with his cousin and niece who were already there. They all had been trying to talk us into going, but I did not think we could or should. Nic quickly twisted my arm and talked me into packing up the girls and heading south. I bought the ticket at 8:30 AM, dropped Jac off at preschool, came home to pack and clean, picked Jac up from preschool, drove to airport, and was on the plane on my way to Florida by 4 PM. Needless to say I was spent, but super excited about the chance to get away. The flight down was fine and both girls were gems. It was an awesome trip! The girls spent lots of time at swimming and jumping into the pool.
Here is Shan (Nic's cousin) with her daughter Sophie next to Jac and I.
Jac is still a little unsure of the sand, but definitely getting more used to it. Izy on the other hand crawls around and consumes as much sand as possible in a matter of 30 seconds. I love this picture of her precious backside!
Aunt Cara came over to hang out and the girls thought she was pretty cool.
I packed a backpack of toys for Jac to take with us. Note to self: never bring this backpack anywhere again...ever! Anytime it was in sight she insisted by way of tantrum on walking while rolling the backpack behind her. She is definitely a touch on the independent side, but I really do love it.
Sophie was so into the fish that one of the fishermen on the pier had caught.
One of my favorite things about going to Florida is waking up, sitting on the porch, and just enjoying the waves. Jac and Izy seemed to enjoy this as well.
We had to collect a few shells to bring home.
Izy...
Jac...
The girls played really well together in the pool. Seriously it was such an awesome and surprisingly relaxing trip. Thank you so much to my in-laws for all their help as well as Aunt Debbie, Uncle Duane, and Aunt Shan Shan!
I had some matching dresses for the girls that I was more than excited to dress them up in for a small photo shoot.



The last night, Friday, we headed out to dinner. The girls were so cute sitting in these "big girl" chairs.
I am not quite sure what Jac is up to here, but boy does she love her some ice cream!
This vacation was much needed for many reasons. One, I needed some sunshine in my life! It just makes me happier all around. Two, I needed to destress a bit. My phone and computer was not working while I was there so destressing I definitely did! And Three, and maybe the most important reason, I needed to know that I could go on vacation with 2 kids and actually enjoy myself. The past few trips we have taken with the girls have been not quite as relaxing for an assortment of reasons, but this time I actually took deep breaths, everyone seemed happy, and we had fun together! We missed daddy a lot, but am so thankful he sent us to Florida. I pretty much have the greatest husband ever!