Auld Lang Syne, Part II (or Doodle is Three!)

Way back at the beginning of November, on an unseasonably warm day, a crew of well-wishers joined us on a Saturday morning for brunch to celebrate three years of Evelyn!  The party included all sorts of things beloved by Ev:  good snacks and delicious treats (in Doodle's world, snacks are non-sweet items, and treats are ice cream and birthday cake, in this case), doting grandparents and aunts and uncles and godparents, toe-tapping tunes, fun gifts to open, and a dress-up session:)  Our three-year-old girl continues to be such a blessing to our little family and to our extended community of family and friends; her spirit and spunk and sass delight us all daily, and we love her so much!

Three Months and Counting!

Happy Sunday, friends!  We hope you are staying warm during these chilly winter days (though today in Nashvegas is balmy and beautiful!).  Although we have continued to bundle up for some fresh air most days, our outside playtime has been shortened lately, so we have been doing our best to entertain each other inside, with lots of reading, arts and crafts, cooking, and such.  In the meantime, our little buddy James hit the three-month mark last week!  It is already hard to remember life without our precious guy; as babies go, he has an amazingly sweet, laidback disposition, and is generally as cute and content as can be:

OK, so he wasn't necessarily laidback and content immediately upon arrival...

...but he settled down in no time and began to eat, sleep, and snuggle like a champ. 

James has a delightfully attentive big sister, too, and is frequently the object of her attention, whether she is lavishing him with smothering hugs and kisses, showing off her block-building skills, reading to him, or dressing him up to play a part in her ballets:

Here, James is supposed to be the Mouse King in the Nutcracker:)

Besides watching his sister, James loves to do all sorts of things:

Visit with the same bluebird friend Ev once loved...

...wiggle around on the Boppy... 

 ...hang out with friends...

 ...watch an occasional basketball game with Daddy...

...and snuggle down in the Ergo for hikes in the woods.

We are so thankful for Baby James and love him dearly; we can't wait to watch him continue to learn and grow over the course of this year!

All I Wanna Do is Dance!

Happy weekend, friends!  In the midst of all the Auld-Lang-Syne-ing and making-of-resolutions and such, our sweet Doodle-bug started ballet class!  She has been begging her mama and daddy for a ballet class for over a year now, so we finally decided to jump in.  Doodle found some brand new ballet shoes and a cute pink leotard waiting for her under the Christmas tree in December, and I found a spot for her in a little class at a school not too far from home, run by a woman who taught Doodle's mama some ballet classes once upon a time:)  I cannot begin to describe how excited our girl was on Thursday morning; she was ready to don her leotard and tights right after breakfast, and asked if we could just wait in the car outside until it was time for class. This was all before 8 AM, mind you:) But after an excruciatingly long morning, we ate lunch and got ready to go!  And it. was. awesome.

Before...

...and after.

In the meantime, James was hanging out with his girl Charlie.  They are just getting acquainted, but it looks like things are going well so far:)

Whether you are dancing or hanging out with a new friend or doing something else entirely, enjoy your weekend!

Auld Lang Syne, Part I

Happy 2014, friends!  Before we get too deep into January, I figured we should hearken back to "old times since," as Robert Burns suggests....

Stay warm on this chilly Tuesday evening!

Happy Advent!

Happy Advent, friends!  We have been slowly getting into the rhythm of the season this week, pulling out the Christmas china, working on Advent crafts, making some treats in the kitchen, and rocking our Christmas pajamas:)  We've yet to do any major decorating (read: tree), but it's kind of nice to take things slow; both of the little munchkins seem to appreciate a relaxed pace in general, as does their mama!  

Ev and Honey made some reindeer cookies yesterday...cute and delicious:)

Three days worth of Advent crafts from Luke's account of the Christmas story.  Can you guess who these three folks are?  Zechariah on the far left, Gabriel in the middle, and Mary on the right.  Yep, we're crafty around here:)  (If any of you are looking for a fun daily Advent devotional and craft with little ones, I highly recommend Truth in the Tinsel, an ebook we're using.)

And some pre-bedtime shenanigans in the Christmas pajamas:)

Of course, the dressing-up never stops.  Here, Angelina Ballerina is pausing in the midst of her performance to make sure her audience is paying attention.

With a kitchen helper like this one, it's hard not to have fun cooking:)

Happy weekend, friends!  Go slow and enjoy this season....