December

Here it is...December minus actual Christmas celebrations, all in one post!  Brace yourselves for tons of pictures!

I have a confession...I am a bedtime baby hog.  I love to put Evin to bed at night.  It's super rare for Mitch to give her a bath and put her to bed, simply because I like to do it.  He knows it's my "thing" and he doesn't step on my toes to do it.  

This is why.

I love cuddling her and reading to her!  After being away from her all day, it's my guarantee to have special time with her.  And I love it.

Her hair is growing so much.  And seems to continue to get lighter.

After we discovered this dog at Target, there was no going back.  We had to visit it several times each trip to Target (which is often).

Yelling at Daddy as he hangs Christmas lights.

And doing her best to help.

After bath mirror time is always entertaining.

I just love this picture!  We had just left her Little Gym class, Daddy had to leave to go to class, so it was just Evin and me having dinner.  Her piggies, the little stamp on her hand, her expression...so much cute in one picture!

Helping decorate for Christmas at Mums' house meant dragging out all the Christmas books and making a mess!

She also "helped" decorate our house.  Most of the decorating actually happened while she was in bed, because in true toddler fashion, she's into everything!

Her little bracelets are a favorite teething toy to ease molar pain.

While finishing up decorating, we watched the lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.  As they counted down, Evin watched and clapped.

HA!

She loved looking at the Christmas tree this year.  She was actually way better about leaving the ornaments on the tree than I thought she would be!

Naughty, naughty girl got a hold of all her bibs and tossed them on the kitchen floor.

Identifying everyone in the nativity at Mums' house.  She did surprisingly well!

Mansfield has a Christmas tree lighting event every year, with food, fireworks, and activities.  Mitch got off work too late to go, so my mom and I took Evin.  We hadn't ever been before, but all the activities were for kids a little older than Evin.  We didn't stay long, but we did see them light the tree and watched the fireworks. 

We know for next year not to stand so close.  The fireworks were not very far away, and some of the debris was falling on people around us.  They also had these big flame lighters (not sure what to call them?) that shot fire into the air.  YIKES!

Isn't she sweet in her Christmas jammies?

And maybe a little wild, too!

The day after the tree lighting, we headed out for the Mansfield Christmas Parade that was downtown.

My two horrible frown lines are showing, but doesn't she look sweet?!

Waiting for Santa to go by.

We saw one of my co-workers and her boys, Preston and Carson at the parade.  My mom had Preston in her 3rd grade class, and they are both such good boys!  They were so sweet to Evin.

Preston was in my mom's class the year that Evin was born and had her heart surgeries.  He asked how she was doing every day and even bought a baby gift for her.  He prayed for her every night! :)

Christmas tree shopping is one of my very favorite traditions.  I have loved it since I can remember!

Winner!

"Helping" put the lights on the tree.

We were asked to light the Advent candles during our service at church the second week in December.  We didn't burn down the church and Evin didn't cry, so we called it a success!

GiGi & PawPaw came to our church that day to watch our "performance" and Evin shared snacks with GiGi afterward.

Roaming in the leaves (that were later raked) at Mums' house.

Little poser.

Hanging her Baby's First Christmas ornament

It was HARD decorating with this little tasmanian devil around.

She loved her Little People Nativity this year!  Of course, Baby Jesus was her fav. :)

We had fun on the inflatable at Little Gym....

...and made a quick trip to the mall afterward.  They had Santa's Wonderland set up, and it was Shrek themed.  There were screens on the sides that had Shrek characters that would pop out of the windows and dance, and she was OBSESSED with the pig.  It only showed up about once every 3-4 minutes, but she loved it so much we probably stood there for 15 minutes watching for it.  We finally distracted her enough to sneak away without a fit.

Putting the star on the tree!

We put Evin's little tree up again this year, but we had acquired more ornaments throughout the year.  I think a tree upgrade will be in store for next year!

Her favorite ornament this year was the little pink pig!  

(Do you see a pig theme going on?)

Love these 2 and love her expression.

It seems I took a lot of pictures of her admiring the tree...what can I say? She liked it!

I wanted a good picture of Evin in front of the tree, so we tried at Mums' house while I had people to help me get her to look at smile. This was the best picture I got out of about a hundred.  We seriously tried for about 30 minutes to get a picture of her.

We bribed with candy...

Tried the whole, "Hey Lane can pose and smile...can Evin?"

(While we are here, can we stop and talk about how big he looks?!  So handsome!)

And, "Look Evin!  Ellis can do it, too!"

(SO cute!)

We finally gave up, and Evin and I headed home.

Just for kicks, I plopped her in front of the tree the second we got home.  This was the first picture I snapped.  She's such a little stinker!

Dressed and ready to party at Thomas' 3rd birthday!

It was at Pump It Up, and he had quite a crowd of friends to celebrate with.

Evin loved the inflatables and, of course, enjoyed the cake.

She had so much fun, I think we will need to visit again soon!

Pooped out!

Kyle & Kyla went on a ski trip, so Mums had the kids for a few days.  We had an Olive Garden date with them one night.  Lane loves him some spaghetti!

Mitch with 2/3 of his favorite littles.

Make yourself comfy, Evin...

Christmas wrapping must be done each year while watching Elf and/or Christmas Vacation. 

Check and check!

Evin does not sleep well in the pack n play at my mom's, but evidently she plays well in it.  My mom said she played in here for a good 20 minutes.

A pint-sized tree!

While dining with GiGi & PawPaw, Evin discovered a friend through a tiny crack between the booth and the wall and she would NOT turn away from him.

See his little fingers coming over the top?  Ha!

<3

We had Polar Express Day at school and I surprised my kiddos with theses adorable donut holes.  They loved them!

Shopping with Aunt Kyla while Mommy was at school.

Four Evins...oh my!!!

Shopping and riding the carousel (a cat holding a fish??)...sounds like a great day to me!

Lane was working hard to make Evin laugh...he certainly did his job well!

Her puffy morning face is the sweetest sight on a Saturday morning.

She scored leftover donut holes, and loved them!

Sleepy girl gave me a shy smile...she is the happiest girl!

Lunch after a Santa visit at Mums' house.

Lunch at Cotton Patch guarantees a ride on the horse.

Staring at her big cousin...she adores him!

Sketti lover.  This was her third helping, I believe.

Many days over Christmas break were spent here- my brand new classroom!

We were in a temporary location while our old building was torn down and rebuilt.  It was ready in December, so we moved in over the break.  Unpacking and setting up a classroom, all in the midst of Christmas craziness...not ideal, but with LOTS of help from my mom, we made it work!

Santa pictures, coming soon!