2 Years Ago...

Two years ago at 9:56pm, after twenty-one plus hours of labor, we brought into this world the most beautiful little girl ever born. I remember it as is it were yesterday. There were a million things running through my head when this gorgeous little 8 pound 7 ounce baby was laid on my chest. She was all covered in amniotic goo, but she was beautiful, she was ours.



12/31/2008



A lot has changed in two years; her size, her strength, her motor skills, her ability to learn, her neediness, her independence, yes a lot has changed. One thing that hasn't is our love for her. The way she giggles, the way she makes us giggle. The way she is able to get her bubba to light up and start laughing all by playing a simple game of "boo." There has a been a lot of loss around us lately, so I am thankful that we have the messy living room, the not so tidy kitchen, and the book and shoe strewn bedroom with diaper pail overflowing (okay, so we could clean up the stink pit). I love the amount of toys in our bathroom, and the new bathtub soap crayons (thanks Aunt Erica), and the fact that no matter how much I try to clean, it never stays that way for long. These past two years have been made of trial and error, and a whole lot of love in our little family. We just wouldn't be the same with out our little dare devil.



December 26, 2009 - 1 Year Old





December 2010 - Almost two



Happy 2nd Birthday Big Girl

Sickness is running rampid through our home today, but we still held a small celebration for Arabella after her late nap.



Not quite awake or ready for presents and cupcakes.




Make a wish.



Do I blow it out now?



Mmmm, icing.



Yummy!



Bubba wanted in on the action, but he'll have to wait until his birthday.



Oh boy, presents!

She was actually happy to receive another Olivia doll, just not happy with the Momarazzi.

Score! Dressy Bessy.

A Very Crafty Christmas - Scrollwork Ornaments

Adam is a great woodworker. When he manages to find the time with our hectic schedules he loves working with his scrollsaw. So for Christmas his major contribution was finding and creating wooden ornaments. To give you an idea of what goes into one of these beauties, below you'll find a collage of the pre-work he has to do; from placing the patterns on the wood, to pre-drilling each and every tiny little hole. All of that has to be done before he can even begin scrolling. He's great at what he does!

Filigree Angel

Filigree Butterfly

Filigree Christmas Tree

Spun Glass Ornament

Spun Glass Ornament

Spun Glass Ornament

Spun Glass Ornament



3D Snowflake




3D Snowflake

I can't really pick a favorite out of these amazing ornaments. I do, however, favor the filigree angel and the round spun glass ornament with the bow.



Electric guitar



I'm really impressed with the way this guitar turned out.



Angel Puzzle

Adam also made this angel puzzle for his mom. She's very difficult to keep together for standing purposes, but a very neat piece of work indeed.

A Very Crafty Christmas - Marshmallow Gun

My nephew isn't a hard guy to please, after all when you're 9 just about anything will satisfy you. I contemplated making him some Squeaky-Clean Monster Puke, but we went with Marshmallow Guns instead. And I must admit I spent hours on end having fun with them myself. I'm still finding marshmallows. :o)

A Very Crafty Christmas - Tutu & Matching Hair Bow

When it came to my nieces I wasn't hard pressed to figure out what I wanted to do. I am already in the business of making hair bows and what better to go with them than matching tutus.

Abby was happy!

Brooklyn loved her tutu, just wasn't happy she had to stop & pose.

Demi loves her new tutu.

Christmas 2010

This year was a blast with two little children. Arabella was more into it than last year, but Evan just wanted to eat the wrapping paper. Christmas Eve stunk for me because Adam had to sleep and go to work at midnight, so I was left to make sure everything was good to go for Christmas day. Between Christmas Eve and Christmas day I took over 500 pictures, so hang in there with me. Here's just a fraction of our Christmas day photos.



Santa brought Arabella a bike, Evan a tool bench, and both kids a box of sidewalk chalk; and of course the stockings of goodies.



Arabella asked Santa for a bike and she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it sitting down stairs.

She kept her eye on the bike the entire way down stairs.

Perfect fit and she climbed right up on it with no help.

Evan discovered the chalk first so of course Arabella had to investigate.

Evan loves his new tool bench.

So many goodies in such a little stocking.

Evan didn't want to stick his hand in the stocking so Daddy helped.

I'm not sure how much time Evan will get with his new toy after Arabella discovered it came with a hammer.

Mommy's little elves.



Mmmmm...fiber.



Arabella nearly exploded when she opened her gift and saw an Olivia doll inside.

Arabella helped wrap their gift for Daddy and she even colored the tag for him.

It was a wonderful, laid back day full of great food, an amazing family and tons of laughter. I love moments like these.