Happy New Year!!

Craig has to work tomorrow and we don't have a sitter so we aren't going anywhere. In fact, we probably won't even stay up till midnight! Man I feel lame just righting that but after the morning I've had with the girls, I don't think I could stay up even if I wanted to. Anyway I just wanted wish everyone a happy new year! Have fun and remember to stay safe.

Christmas Evening!

After Christmas morning we headed down to Grandma Rose's for Christmas dinner with Craig's Dad's family. Aubrey loved playing with Makenna and Evelyn was trying to show Kyle how to crawl when she wasn't practicing her walking. The kids had a gift exchange this year which was fun!

Makenna and Aubrey playing the piano

Kyle openning his present from the

Aubrey loves making these frogs kiss!

Evvy's walking!!!

Her first unassisted steps!

Kyle with his Leap Frog "Dog-dog" as Evvy calls it.

Aubrey, passed out with her new frogs

Christmas Morning!

We had a great Christmas morning at home with the girls. This was Evelyn's 1st Christmas and she loved it! Both the girls got sippies in their stockings and poor Evvy was so disappointed that her cup was empty :( I think they were a little overstimulated by all the gifts because after about 2 gifts both girls started fussing. Aubrey just wanted to watch Max and Ruby and Evvy was ready to nurse, but we made through all the gifts with only a few melt downs (mostly by Aubrey) and the girls got to play with all their new toys. It was so nice being able to share this Christmas with Craig's family!

Stockings!
Aww, no milk?

Evvy, opening a present

My little cuddle bug :)

Christmas Eve

For Christmas eve we headed down to Ventura to meet my Mom and sisters for the Christmas eve service at church. Afterwards we went out to dinner and had a great time spending time together and playing with the girls. I so cannot wait to be back in Ventura and back at the Church I grew up in. I forgot to take pictures while we where down there :(

Evvybug is almost ONE!

Wow, where has past 11 months gone?!? I cannot believe my little baby is almost one! It seems like just a few weeks ago we were at Craig's Grandmother's house waiting for her to make her appearance. In the last 11 months she has transformed from a precious baby girl that was so easy to care for into a beautiful toddler who is so full of love and laughter, right in front of our eyes! I cannot wait to see her become a little girl but at the same time I am so sad to think of her growing up. I feel so blessed to be her mom!

She of course will be having a Ladybug themed party since we have called her "Evvybug" since she was a baby. It is going to be so cute! I have been planning this for months now, seriously since she was probably 6 months. I still haven't sent our invitations (see this post) but I have everything except the date and place planned out. There will be party hats, a tutu and some cute lady bug appetizers, and to follow the tradition we started with Aubrey, a new pair of converse plus everything else that goes with birthday parties! Here are a few pics so you can get an idea of what it's going to look like. I'm so excited!

Changes...

Craig has accepted a job with Exxon in Santa Barbara, which will be the 3rd company he's worked for in the almost 4 years we've been together! This is such a great opportunity for him as Exxon is one of the biggest oil companies in the US and he will have so many more opportunities for advancement. We are so thankful for God giving him this job (though I will admit I was disappointed that we won't be moving to CO.) Anyway I am not a big fan of change, in fact I try my best to avoid it and when it happens I get insomnia. Well this one is driving me nuts! He will most likely be working 12 hour rotating shifts, which could include nights, and we aren't sure yet what the hours will be, just that his first day will be February 1st. That I can handle. We also have to move closer, so we'll be back in Ventura though we still have no idea where exactly- THIS, this is what's keeping me awake at night! As it is January is super busy for us! We are driving to CO to visit my Grandmother on the 7th and will be there are about 5 days, Craig's mom and I have a baby shower to give sometime in the end of January/beginning of February which we still haven't started planning for and, of course, Evelyn's party hopefully on the 30th. With all that going on we don't have much time to find a house, plus actually move in when we do! I can't send out invitations for Evelyn's party until I know when and where we will be, and I don't know if we can postpone it to February since Craig will be traveling for his first few weeks and might not be home. Since we are planning on moving in with Craig's friend Jon we need to look at houses with us and, Wow is he picky! I know things will work out but I love to have things planned out and organized so this is so stressful for me.

This new job will have a few disadvantages, like no company car and probably no overtime while he's training, but once we get all the details worked out it should be so much better for him. In addition to the room for advancement he will also have more time off because of the different schedule, if he does work 12 hour shifts he will have every other week off and since we will be back in Ventura we will be able to go to the Church I grew up at, which I am so thankful for since we never really found a church here that we liked. Because we put almost ALL of our stuff in storage I really don't have much to pack, maybe 4 boxes worth plus our beds, so that makes moving easier. All we'll have to do is rent a U-haul and pick it all up from our storage unit. Now that I look think about it, it shouldn't be too bad but I still can't help but worry.

Merry Christmas!

This holiday season has been so stress-free and quiet, it's so hard to believe Christmas is in just a few days! I usually am a wait-till-the-last-minute kinda shopper but this year I finished my shopping before Thanksgiving. Yes that's right, before Thanksgiving! I bought the girls Christmas dresses yesterday and now I am completely done. Even though I am all ready I feel like it should still be November, I think maybe because I'm not rushing it doesn't feel like the holidays, lol. I am looking forward to sitting down tonight with some hot cocoa and wrapping presents.

Are you ready for Christmas?

Christmas Decorating

This year was so much fun since Aubrey was old enough to help decorate the tree. Ever since I was a kid we always put the angel on top of the tree once everything else was done and, of course, Aubrey wanted to do it first!

Trying to put the angel on

Decorating...

Decorating...

And more decorating!

Evelyn was helping too!

Putting the angel on top!

Playing with the Nativity

All finished!

Oh Christmas Tree...

It finally stopped raining long enough for us to go out and get a tree. Jon went with us and Evelyn wore the bear suit that Aubrey wore when we took her to get a tree for the first time. I got it all set up and put the lights on it so the girls and I can decorate it tomorrow. I so excited since this year Aubrey is old enough to help! Here are some pictures of our hunt for the perfect tree.