Carly's Blessing

On January 2nd, Carly had her baby blessing. John did a great job like he always does. John's parents came in town for the occasion. Carly was very good during the blessing. One cool little thing was when John was stating her name (the name she'll be known as on the records of the church), she smiled!

Here's everyone who was there for it.

And time for our little family shot.

What am I doing with my neck???

Happy New Year

Since we knew we'd be up till midnight on New Year's Eve because of Carly, we had a little party at our place. My sisters came (Shana and Courtney), a boyfriend of one of my sisters, and my in-laws who had just come in town that day. John and I have not stayed up till midnight on New Year's Eve in a long time. We usually watch the ball drop in NY and then call it good! We started by playing the Kinect which my sister had broughtwith her. We were dancing machines!! It was a lot of fun. After that, we played some minute-to-win-it games. We were in the middle of some of the games when we realized wehad less than 2 minutes to get the drinks out and toast! After "freaking out" and some spilled drinks, we were able to count down to midnight. It was a lot of fun and I'd actually think about doing it again next year! I didn't take many pictures but I do have some videos that were pretty funny. However, because of the length and how ridiculous we all look in them, I'm not going to post them. I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone, especially not myself!

Here's Carly hanging out. She's actually about to cry.

A couple of days before, we went to the River of Lights at the Botanical Gardens. Of course we had to go on one of the coldest night that we'd had so far. It was fun though and the kids all survived! Although from Cody's face, you'd think he didn't enjoy it.

The boys loved having their Aunts in town. I have the best sisters around! They are so great with my kids and we always have fun. I don't think I laugh as hard as I do when I'm with my sisters. For some reason, we always have to get together and take crazy/funny pictures. With our macs, it's a ton easier to take pictures. We don't need someone to hold the camera! So we can now take pictures for hours without someone getting totally bored!

Our super mad faces (I think). Although Shana looks more disgusted.

This is our gangster pose although, again, I don't think Shana got the memo!

And then just fun pictures

For some reason, I don't have any pictures with Courtney and the kids but I do have some of Shana and the kids.

It was a great couple weeks hanging out with them. The only thing that would have made it better was having my brother and other sister come in town with their families.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is so much more fun with kids! Landon's really starting to get it. He loved seeing Santa this year and both boys enjoyed playing with the Christmas Tree Ornaments.

Waiting to open their first presents

Landon opening his first one

Playing with one of the puzzles

Carly enjoying a nap during all the festivities

Cody opening his first present

Our first attempt at a nice family photo together.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas from Cody

Leaving the Crib

We moved Cody out of the crib so that Carly could have it. She now sleeps in the loft and Cody sleeps on a crib mattress on the floor. He's not doing too bad and enjoys the new found freedom. Running around like a mad man upstairs is super fun for him. So we have to lock the door. Too bad Landon knows how to unlock it. I have only found Cody completely under the bed once. Pictures were of course taken.

Early in the night - Later in the night

First part of the night - Found under the bed later that night

Third Time's a Charm

Going to see Santa is a big deal we found out. When Courtney got into town, we went to the mall only to discover that we weren't going to be able to see Santa before his lunch break so we left. John and I went back the next day only to see a security guard about 5 people in front of us. He was going to be the cut-off for seeing Santa before his lunch break so again, we left. So, in a final attempt, we went even earlier to get in line to see Santa on Christmas Eve. We saw that the line was shorter than it was the day before so we knew we'd get to see him. 2 hours later, we did.

The day we didn't get to see him, we let the boys play on this truck. They didn't know that if you put money in it, it moves. They had enough fun without knowing anyways.

Waiting in line to see Santa.

Finally!

Although Cody wasn't sure about Santa, he didn't cry! He even gave him a hug afterwards!

Landon telling Santa what he wants. He wanted a coloring book and a candy cane which is exactly what Santa gave him. Santa's the BEST!

Don't kiss Santa Landon!!! Just a hug!

Happy 6th Anniversary

John and I have now been married 6 years! Last year's post, here, was a good rundown of what big events have taken place in our 5 years of marriage. The only big event that took place this year was having another baby! We are a family of 5!

What special things did we have planned for our anniversary? Well, in between having a baby, Thanksgiving, multiple birthdays (John, mine, Cody, and now Carly's birthdays are all in November), and Christmas, we didn't plan anything! We just ordered some pizza and hung out.

Here's to another great year!

The Newest Addition