Jungle Fever

William Patrick. Oh, how I love this boy! He brings me so much happiness each & every day. Those of you who know him well will appreciate this post. You all know of his quirky personality. His latest obsessions are dinosaurs & tigers. Nate has fashioned a "tail" out of masking tape that Will hooks onto his backside & then runs around the house on all fours. Be careful if you come over for a visit... You may end up playing "zoo." Well, you can imagine his excitement when I brought home these hats that I found at the craft store. He has been sleeping in them at night. It brings a smile to my face to walk in his room to turn off his light & see this sight. He keeps us all laughing! What an imagination. I hope he never loses his curious nature & FUN personality.

Annual Mr. & Mrs. Claus Party

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without a visit with Mr. & Mrs. Claus. Every year we go over to Jason & Wendy's house for a party & somehow, Santa & the Mrs. find us. We must not be on the naughty list!

Snow=Happiness

Every morning in December the first words out of William's mouth were, "Did it snow last night?" He would then run to the window & open the shutters to see for himself. You can imagine his happiness if he actually discovered a new blanket of white snow. He couldn't get outside fast enough!

We are Santa's Elves!

Liv sang all over town during the month of December with her singing group at Clayton Productions. They had 7 performances total... I have to admit that I was ready for them to be over by the end of the month. But Liv loved every minute of it (Okay, maybe not the itchy costume). She has definitely found her niche.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

We spent Thanksgiving with the Lewis' side of the family this year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Nothing is better than eating good food & chilling with your family. The morning began with the usual traditions... Turkey bowl, Nate arguing with me about having to get "dressed up" for dinner (I always win), me making a tasty green bean casserole, officially busting out the Christmas music, and looking threw the "Black Friday" ads even though I never have any intention of actually going shopping the next morning.

In the spirit of giving thanks, we went around the table & each person said what they were thankful for. Most, even the kids, gave heartfelt answers like, "I am thankful for my family". Not William. He was thankful for toys! Thanks to "Gramma Lana" for fixing us all a delicious meal.

Birthday Central

It was birthday central around these parts in November (remind me not to get pregnant again in February!). We had a combined family party for William & Lyla that was lots of fun. William chose a "skeleton" theme for his friend party. At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but it ended up working out great. I even found some hilarious invitations that were a cardboard coffin with a toy skeleton inside. Thank you Oriental Trading! All in all the parties went off without a hitch. Thanks to everyone for coming & SPOILING my kiddos.

Friend Party

Will, Owen, Sam, Alex, Austin, Jake, Sawyer, Josh T., Daniel, Josh G. (& Mason who somehow is not in the picture)

Family Party

Mr. 4-Year Old

William turned 4 on November 17th. It is so hard to believe it has been 4 whole years since this little man captured a special place in my heart that is all his. I love the relationship the two of us share. I had always heard about the mother & son bond, but never believed it until I had Will. It's so true & the bond was instant!

I love this little man more than words can describe. He has the funnest personality. There is never a dull moment when he is around. He is always creating things, figuring out how things work, & asking questions. He is so smart & is very intrigued by science. His current obsessions are dinosaurs, skeletons, the human body, sharks, & volcanoes. He lives to play... especially with his best bud, Daniel. He is all about cuddling & sneaking into mom's bed in the middle of the night (He has it down to a science. Most of the time I don't know he's there until I wake up in the morning & find his feet in my face!). We all love him so much. Happy 4th Birthday, Will!

Little Miss 1-Year Old

Lyla Jane (a.k.a. "Ly-Ly", "L.J.", and "Janie") turns 1 tomorrow. It is so hard to believe it has already been a year. It seems like just yesterday that I was pregnant with her. Time has definitely gone by faster with each of my children. My mom always tells me to cherish these years because before you know it they're over. I am beginning to understand what she means.

Lyla has brought us so much joy. She is such a sweet little girl. She is happy ALL the time... Really, she rarely cries. Maybe this is because she is such a great sleeper?! This little girl loves her naps, eating (she is particularly fond of circus animal cookies), her mommy, her star-stacker (She crawls all over with a star in each hand. She loves the sound of them banging on the hardwood floor.), wrestling with William, climbing on anything & everything, and her "ba-ba." Oh, and did I mention she loves to eat? Her latest accomplishment was conquering our staircase. She is so proud of herself when she gets to the top! Her top two teeth have broken through (4 teeth total) and her vocabulary is growing ("uh-oh", "oh wow", "mum", "me"). Patty-cake, giving "5", and pulling her blanket on and off her own head are favorite games! She is full of energy and keep us on our toes... My mom likes to call her the "wild thing", which is very fitting. She has the prettiest eyes that light up and get so big when she smiles. We are all so in love with this little angel and cannot imagine our world without her. She had us all wrapped around her finger from the first moment we all saw her. Happy 1st Birthday, sweet Lyla Jane!

Lyla's 1 Year Old Photoshoot

I just got these pictures back from Lyla's 1 -year old photoshoot. She was SO good for it... At least until the end when I made her eat her birthday cake. There are 2 kinds of kids... Those that attack their cakes & those that won't touch it because they don't like being sticky. Lyla is definitely the 2nd type. She got so mad. All she would do was touch it & then cry because she didn't like having the frosting on her fingers. Then I smeared the frosting on her face to make it look like she'd been eating the cake (because we just had to have a picture!). I can't imagine where she gets her obsessive-compulsive tendencies from?

10 Years?!

Nate & I celebrated 10 years of pure bliss on October 9! Where has the time gone? I swear I shouldn't be a day older than 23! I cannot imagine a life not married to Nate. He is such a wonderful husband & father. He is so kind & giving. He goes out of his way each & every day to make me feel loved. He is so funny... He can make me laugh & bring a smile to my face like no one else! He works so hard to provide for our family. He ALWAYS puts our family first. He is always so willing to help me out with the "daily routine" stuff. He is a peacemaker. He is truly my best friend & I love him so much! I look forward to the next 10 years!

We celebrated by taking a trip to Hawaii! We had never taken a trip like this together in our 10 years of marriage (unless you can count super exotic locations like St. George & Las Vegas!). We had also never been to Hawaii. Needless to say, we had a fabulous time. We were total beach bums for 7 days straight... We did take breaks now & then for some snorkeling, shopping, & a Luau (Nasty food!). It was so great to just be able to spend time with one another. Now that we know what we've been missing, we will definitely be taking another trip together soon!

P.S. Whoever advised us to take the "Road to Hana", I was not amused! I threw up 4 times on the side of the road... super romantic!