Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration, although we failed to take many pictures. I spent much of Christmas Eve in the kitchen, preparing for the next day, and thoroughly enjoyed myself while Mr. B played with Audrey. We read Luke 2 and played with the nativity set before going to bed. Christmas morning Audrey loved her stocking and all her presents and was very sweet and excited opening each one. She wanted to play with her toys, but if we handed her another present, she immediately unwrapped it and wanted to play with the new one. Once everything was unwrapped, she went back and forth between everything. She is still enjoying them all. Mr. B and I each got some great books, movies, etc, and our big present was a new TV that we went out and got the next day. We are so blessed! We had our traditional Christmas breakfast and then relaxed. That afternoon some good friends came over for a delicious Christmas dinner, and we had a fun time together chatting and playing Guitar Hero. It was a perfect Christmas for me, and this has been the best "vacation" all year, just being with my wonderful husband and daughter in our home.

P.S. Mr. B and I have been married six years today!

Christmas Sunday

All dressed up for church! We had our Christmas program last Sunday. I sang a song with my Primary class and Mr. B had to take Audrey out because she screamed and cried when I went to the front. Today at church, Mr. B and I sang a duet (Oh Come All Ye Faithful) and gave Audrey to a friend to hold. Yup. More screaming. But we all enjoyed church anyway. Christmastime is wonderful.

Decorating cookies with playgroup

Today our playgroup decorated the cookies and we had a great time. You can't strike out giving kids sugar to play with! Audrey showing off her decorated star.

Audrey's cookie creations. Need some more sprinkles??

Audrey was in this reading line until I took the picture. But Adelaide and Madeline are adorable!

Finn stayed for lunch while his mom was at the Dr. Isn't he gorgeous??

Finn and Audrey smiling for the camera--such hams! They had fun playing together--made me hopeful that someday Audrey will play with her little brother so well.

Baking with Mommy

I have always wanted to make roll out sugar cookies at the holidays with my children, and this is the first year I've had the opportunity! Makes me miss my mom a little less. Or maybe a little more. Hmm... We made a bunch of cookies that we'll decorate at playgroup tomorrow. Audrey did a great job rolling out her dough and cutting out cookies. Lucky girl got her apron and rolling pin for her birthday--just in time!

Videos for Laura and Lindsey (as requested)

I did three tries, they are posted in the opposite order of filming, but they're all pretty self explanatory!

O Christmas tree!

We finally got our first live Christmas tree this year!! I have wanted one ever since we were married six years ago, and my wish has come true. I feel blessed. I love smelling it and it looks so nice and full. I've even hugged it! Thanks Mr. B. Merry Christmas!

Birthday Part One

We had a fun family day celebrating Audrey's 2nd birthday!! We started out at the Botanical Gardens where we got a picture with this fabulous Santa, watched a funny puppet show, and watched a dog parade, with all kinds of dogs dressed up for Christmas. It was so much fun. Afterward we went out to lunch at a Greek restaurant (mmm!!) and then Audrey took a nap. Fun running around and watching the dogs.Taking Daddy on a walk.Hi doggie!What fun seeing all the doggies dressed up for Christmas. (There were some really creative outfits!)

Birthday Part Two

Happy Birthday!! After Audrey's nap, the Dickersons came over and we had cake and presents.

Loving the cake!

Opening presents is so much fun!! Audrey got a ton of great gifts--such a lucky girl!

Isn't this apron from Beth and Claire amazing??

"Oh my goodness!" (that's a direct quote--she loves this dress up set from the Wolfers--thanks you guys!)

Hamming it up! She has been wearing these glasses and several of the other dress up pieces as much as possible since opening her gift. Luckily we made it to church today without any of it! When wearing her attire, she tells us, "I a princess!" Yes you are!

Enjoying more presents with Daddy.
Video below: Soon after blowing out the candles, Audrey's ready to dig in!

Sinterklaas

Last night we celebrated Sinterklaas with the Croxalls once again. Yummy food, funny poems, adorably wrapped gifts. The same crowd as last year attended and we had a great time!

Audrey's cute Christmas outfit from Grammy. Our family.
The gifts Mr. B and I brought. Audrey playing with her gift (a cute little fabric crayon roll was inside this tree!).

Does every mom regret the first haircut?

Audrey recently developed a hair twirling habit, which results in daily dreadlocks on one side of her head. I've tried to get the knots out without damage, but she ends up losing a fair amount of hair. So last night I decided it was time for her first haircut, to even up the sides and prevent future dreads. It's not perfect (it was my first haircut too), and both Mr. B and I are sad about the loss of her curls and length, but what's done is done. Even Audrey looks depressed (she's actually zoned out on Elmo).

Thanksgiving in Tallahassee

We were fortunate to spend a third Thanksgiving with our good friends, Robert and Meri. We had a very relaxing and yummy weekend, and we also got to be with Mr. B's brother Sam and his girlfriend Audi. The two drove down from DC to spend Thanksgiving weekend with all of us. So great to see everyone!!Very cute!
Audi, Audrey, and Sam
Playing "1, 2, 3, Jump!" off the fireplace. Audrey LOVED their cats. This one, named Crazy, was actually pretty tolerant of Audrey.
Audrey also loved playing in the cabinets. We love you Sam!

St. Louis

Audrey and I had an opportunity to fly up to St. Louis and visit her Grammy and great grandma (Mary Lou). It was a pretty last minute trip, but you have to snatch any chance to visit grandmas!! Audrey loved playing with her grandmas and getting spoiled.
It was really cold!!
Audrey did really well on the stairs. She took a header once, but I was there to catch her. After that, she told me "Be careful!" and "Hold tight!" whenever I carried her up or down the stairs. And she got a lot more careful too!
Dinner with Grandma Mary Lou, Aunt Verneda, Grammy, Uncle Randy, and family friend Betty. This is Mr. B's maternal family (just missing his cousin Julian, who lives in CO).
So much fun with Grandma's toys! Love my Grammy!

Eww...

So this is a palmetto bug, or American roach. It's big. About two and a half inches long. They drop by our home to visit occasionally, but I've felt lucky this year--haven't seen more than a few. However, this morning I had one of the grossest experiences of my life!! I was talking to my family while getting breakfast items out, stepped on something squishy, looked down to see, and it was one of these nasty bugs!! EWWWW!! Its guts squirted all over my foot. I am usually not a stereotypical squeamish girl, but I started screaming and freaking out. It took me several minutes to calm down, and luckily Mr. B cleaned the floor/disposed of the bug while I washed my foot. Ew. It must have been half dead or something because they are usually really fast and stay away from humans. Shudder.

A much better experience an hour later: I came into the front room to hear Audrey playing the piano and singing, flipping the pages of the hymnal every few seconds. It was so sweet. So, good surprise and bad surprise today.

Announcing...

Many of you probably know that we are expecting our second baby. Today we found out we are having a boy! Our due date is March 15th, so I'm 21 weeks--here's a belly photo:
And here's a picture of the ultrasound:

Socks and a hat

I gave Audrey a pair of my fuzzy socks and she loves them. She's been playing with them for days, alternating between putting them on her hands and feet. We're talking HOURS a day... Also please note her adorable smile--the one mainly reserved for photos!
Audrey also found a hat of mine, and I cinched the strap so it would stay on her head. She has worn this quite a bit too!

Halloween night

I thought that Halloween fun was over, but our wonderful friends invited us to trick-or-treat with them in their neighborhood. Four families got together and enjoyed trick-or-treating followed by yummy treats and cider. Thanks Wendy!
My friend Lisa got this great shot of Audrey at playgroup this week--all the kids were so cute in costume!