The Doctors Wife

A Milestone

One of the reasons I have been a little scarce around here lately, is that David is now paci-free! He has done pretty well, although we have had a few late nights and apparently no paci= no nap! So between no naps and the holidays, my free time has been non-existent! The paci fairy brought David some neat dinosaur stuff and we made a specail trip to Build-A-Bear to celebrate our big boy. David picked out a Snoopy (he loves Snoopy!) and found the cutest Woody costume for him to wear. Hannah was very sweet, saying "Oh David, I'm so proud of you!" she picked out a pink Hello Kitty with (of course) a pink princess dress. The kids had such a good time, and I am happy that my little guy is 100% paci-free! 

 

Christmas Catch Up

We have had so much fun this holiday season! We enjoyed Magglio and all of his antics and this year we added a fun advent calendar and had so much fun with different activities/ projects each night!

I really hope that Hannah and David grow up with great memories, and I hope that the holidays are a particularly special time for them. I want them to enjoy the fun of the season, but my deepest wish is for them to embrace the love of Christ. 

This year's advent activities (not in order) so I can remember next year!

1. Add a new ornament to the tree (this year we added a ballerina and a Woody)

2. "Elf" the neighbors

3. Write a list for Santa

4. Go to the Christmas Train 

5. Watch It's A Meaningful Life

6. Make Oliver and Sophie holiday treats

7. Go look at Christmas lights

8. Decorate a gingerbread house

9. Pick out a gift for Daddy

10. Watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and pop popcorn

11. Pick out gifts for a needy family from our church

12. "Rudolph" Daddy's car

13. Christmas craft (foam Christmas trees)

14. Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas

15. Make Christmas cookies

16. Pick out Jesus' birthday cake

17. Read the Christmas Story and play with nativity puppets

18. Open and read a new Christmas book 

19. Give a gift to Ms. Meggie (our babysitter)

20.  Go see The Nutcracker and add a nutcracker to our collection

21. Have Christmas ice cream for dessert (peppermint chocolate chip- they didn't like it!)

22. Do a good deed for someone (without them knowing)

23. Open gifts from each other (they were so sweet picking out gifts for each other)

24. Shop for groceries for a family in need

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

All Aboard!

The Christmas Train!

We took a little trip to ride the Christmas Train- it is so neat! It was our first year to do this and I hope it becomes a family tradition. It is an amazing Christmas village with all kinds of activities, we took a carriage ride, rode the mini train, rode the carousel, visted Santa, had dinner, rode the big Christmas train, and had so much fun! There were carolers and lights every where, so the ambiance was amazing. The best thing is that the Christmas train tells the story of Jesus, the real meaning of Christmas.

On the mini-train- they had so much fun, David was so excited to ride the "chugga chugga choo choo". Their sweet little faces were lit up the entire night, and it was such a great family night. I took a ton of pictures, but this was one of those nights that I hardly got any with them both looking at the camera without having a goofy look. Evidence of said goofy looks:

Yeah....he was very excited! We had so much fun and they are both still talking about it and I hope we will be able to get tickets next year!

 

 

 

Elf On A Shelf- Magglio is back!

Last weekend our Elf, Magglio came to our house. He comes when the Christmas decorations are put up- we think it's because the decorations make him feel a little more at home. ; ) I saw the cutest idea for a breakfast here and knew that I had to do a version of it. Her breakfast was adorable and I LOVED her letters, (googly eyes?!? LOVE!) so of course I had to steal borrow the idea. Here was our "North Pole Breakfast"

 

Hannah loved it and was super excited that Magglio brought them their very own snow globes that they could touch as much as they wanted. (because there is no touching Mommy's)He also brought some coloring books, stampers, and stickers and little reindeer notebooks to put their stickers in. (David had his eyes closed in EVERY shot I got, so no pictures of my little man, but he was very excited). This was a really fun way to welcome Magglio, and I think it will become a fun tradition. 

Magglio has been up to some new tricks this year. The last 2 years he has just moved around from spot to spot, but this year (thank you pinterest) he is stepping out of his shell. One night he dyed the milk his favorite color...

Hannah thought this was great and loved it even more when we got home later in the day and he had moved out of the fridge (too cold) and onto his favorite spot at the top of the tree.

Last night he had a little tea with Woody and Heidi:

They both thought this was fun, and Hannah was especially excited because he used her "good dishes" that are put away and only brought down when David isn't around. Magglio doesn't do something this elaborate every night, but he has a few fun things planned that he will do every few nights. What about you? Do you have an elf that visits your house?

 

Thanksgiving...

Just a little late! Hannah and David were both pilgrims for their school programs this year and they were precious! I think I ended up with more video than photos, which is kind of a shame since I am terrible with the video camera! Here are a couple of pictures of my little pilgrims:

 

We also started a new tradition this year- I saw it years ago on a blog and knew that when Hannah and David were big enough I wanted to do it... A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving! We love the Charlie Brown movies at our house and the "feast" that Snoopy prepares is right up Hannah's alley!

I put the popcorn inside the paper-bag turkey, and Snoopy wore David's pilgrim hat. : )

Daddy "carving" the turkey

Hannah LOVED this, she thought it was so much fun! We actuallly got her to try a few jelly beans, she wasn't too crazy about them, but at least she gave them a try! (Yes, her pickiness even spreads into "treats")

David loved having dinner with Snoopy and I think this will be a fun night-before Thanksgiving tradition!

David is drinking "green juice" - Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness or Naked Juice Green Machine are our favorites- thought I'd add this in, otherwise I know I'll get questions asking what in the world is in his cup!  ; )

The Charlie Brown feast is popcorn, jelly beans, toast and pretzels if you've never seen the show

My Heart is Heavy

The past few weeks have kicked me down,  and my heart feels heavy. We have had family and friends pass away, have had friends and family lose loved ones unexpectedly, lose jobs, lose babies...it has been a tough couple of weeks. Today Mike and I attended the funeral of one of his friends, he was 35 years old and died so unexpectedly- he leaves behind a wife and two children, the youngest is just a baby and I am heartsick for this sweet family.

Hannah and David both knew this friend...he was admitted to the hospital on Thursday and was in pretty rough shape. Friday evening before bed, the kids made get well cards. He passed away Friday evening just an hour or so after they were in bed.  Saturday morning the first thing Hannah did was find her card and ask me if he was better...how exactly do you explain death to a four year old? I told her that he was better, because he had gone to heaven to be with God, and when you are in heaven, you are completely better. I told her we miss people when they are in heaven because they are no longer here with us, but it is a wonderful thing to be with Jesus and be completely better. I wanted to keep my explanation simple and short, Hannah is at an age where she asks a million questions and my emotions were raw, and I was not completely awake for this conversation, (she literally got her card first thing out of bed) and I didn't want to go down the slippery slope of "old" age, and being "sick" because I feel this is really tricky to explain to this age without opening up a fear of dying, sickness, getting older, etc. Thankfully, she accepted my answer and seems to be okay with it. 

My prayer is that all of our friends and  loved ones who are struggling and grieving feel the love and peace of Jesus,  that happier days are ahead, and the comfort of God surrounds them in a way that sinks them deep in the fullness of His love.  If you are struggling or grieving, it is my prayer for you too. It is almost Thanksgiving, and even with everything that we have been dealing with, we have so much to be grateful for, I am blessed beyond anything that I deserve.  I pray that you all have a Thanksgiving that is full of love and hope.

 

Muffin Tin Monday

One of our lunches this week, there are two trays, one for Hannah, one for David.

Top L-R: bunny/bear peanut butter&honey sandwiches, red grapes, Greek yogurt with honey

Bottom L-R: cubed salami, red apple slices,  cheese shapes and crackers

David loves salami- he cracks me up, he calls it sa-mommy. 

Check out other great lunch ideas at Muffin Tin Monday.

Fashionista

Hannah and David are both at really fun ages- they have so many opinions on everything, and what they wear is no exception! While they are both young enough that I (obviously) heavily influence what they wear, sometimes as a mom you just have to pick your battles! My friend Allison shares what her daughter wears on Fridays, and I love seeing all of her cute outfits. Lately Hannah has been asking me to take her picture, so I am finding myself with lots of random "posed" pictures and thought I would share some of her outfits- (and David too, when he wants to pose!). Here is my favorite from this week:

The dress is from Baby Lulu, the tights are Gymboree, and the boots are Arizona.  

 Check out other small style here

Yo Gabba Gabba!

My kids are huge fans of Yo Gabba Gabba- I know that it is a show that you either love or hate, and Gabba love is goin' on at our house. So when Yo Gabba Gabba Live came to town, we were excited to go! Hannah got a new Foofa dress, and David loved his Plex shirt!

Hannah and David LOVED it and I have to say it was a  really good show. David burst into tears when it was over, he was so sad to say good-bye. If your kids are fans of the show, and you get a chance to go- you absolutely should!

 

Halloween Fun

The last couple of weeks have been a blur of activities! Before Halloween is completly irrelevant here are some fun pics from that weekend:

David participates in a little gym class, and the gym had a carnival. Hannah and David had so much fun- they had a balloon artist and he made David "Rex" and Hannah a flower bracelet. They had fun playing, making crafts, getting their faces painted and having snacks.

After David's gym carnival, we went to a local church's festival. They had lots of games and inflatables and my kids had a blast!! 

And finally...trick or treating!

I loved their costumes and they had so much fun!