Everyday Eddins: Closing Out 2012

Our lives slowed down a fair amount after the holidays! I ended up taking the remainder of the week off between Christmas and New Year's to spend it with Mike and Lila. When I say it was a wonderful time, that is an understatement. Mike and I talked a lot about how we generally take time off because we are going somewhere or doing something, rarely do we take time off to be at home...all 3 of us. In all seriousness, I haven't been home like that since maternity leave, it was way overdue. We truly didn't do a whole lot, we wanted to stay away from the craziness of the stores with shoppers returning all of their Christmas gifts, so we hunkered down at home for the most part and played with Lila's new toys, played new games, puzzles, watched movies, colored, napped, you name it...we did it!

Helping Daddy build her new house!

Welcome to Lila's Place!

Playing Headbandz!

Puzzle time!

Playing the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game!

The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel

A trip to Orange Leaf! YUM!

Comfy clothes are the best!

Hanging with the puppies!

We were entertained with many of Lila's performances!

New Year's Eve is so different now that we are older (and parents). Don't get me wrong, I still love the anticipation of welcoming in a New Year, a "fresh start," but I don't have to be at a bar to feel like it was a great time. The Hahn's had the same idea, so we decided to get together and let the girls play! We had delicious food, good laughs and a rather quiet evening spent with friends. I can't think of another way I would rather ring in the New Year!

Besties!

It is such a blessing to have the girls be so close in age! They get along so well and always have such a great time together. They had a great time playing on the slide in our basement, they would build up a tower of blocks and then zoom down the slide into the blocks, cheering each other on!

As the night went on and we got closer and closer to the midnight hour the girls started to fade a little. We couldn't say goodbye until we did the Party Poppers that shoot confetti! I am not sure who likes them more...the kids or the adults?!

Anxiously awaiting the confetti showers!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Loving the shiny curly Q's!

I know I said the girls retired early, but I have to give it to Lila, she was up until 11:30 and really made the best of it! Mike and I stayed up long enough to watch the ball drop and have some "New Year's" conversation about all that happened in 2012 and what 2013 will bring?! Then it was off to bed ready to wake up in the New Year!

We have a lot of special birthday's in January. Five birthday's to be exact! We had a very special surprise birthday for two special girls on January 5th. Celia and Ruby were going to be gone this year over their actual birthdays, so we wanted to be sure that we got together as a family so they felt that special birthday love!

Jen and Jason hosted us at their house and Jen started the party off with a fun craft for everyone! We all started with blank canvases and she had lots of paint and paint brushes and we were tasked with creating our own personal masterpiece! I am the girl that loves to color still, so this was right up my alley!

Celia working across from me on her canvas!

I was really hoping that Lila would be as in to this activity as I was, but as you can tell by the picture above, she really enjoyed socializing more than sitting and concentrating on the paint! However, she did assist me a great deal when I asked, so it made the final product special to me because it is something we did together.

Ruby painting away!

Our finished product was a purple canvas with hearts on it, per Lila's request! While she didn't want to sit with me patiently to work on it, I was able to convince her that when I did a new heart that she came over and painted the heart with me. It is special things such as this painting that we will have forever!

After we finished up with our art and had dinner it was time for presents! The girls are in Hawaii over their birthday so they got new suitcases full of clothes and bathing suits for them to take with them on their trip! We got them each a new scooter - a Fliker F1, if you haven't seen these they are pretty cool! To say the girls loved them is an understatement!!!

Celia & Lila

A birthday bow big enough to wear as a hat!

It is really easy for me to get a bit sappy when talking about Celia and Ruby. Mike and I take our role as Aunt & Uncle very seriously and we love those girls as if they were our own. That love only amplified once we had Lila because the girls are so good with her and watching their relationships grow is heartwarming! The fact that Celia turned 8 and Ruby turned 6 this year is beyond comprehension for me, I don't know how it happened, but it did?! And I must say, they are the most amazing 6 and 8 year old I know!

We also celebrated my good friend Racquel's birthday by having our good friends and the kiddos over. It was fun having the kiddos together, Henley and Lila were the "bigger" kids and did such a good job playing with Sloan and Beckett, the "smaller" kiddos!

Another reason Lila loves Taylor...she gets right down and plays with her!

Goofing around!

Little Miss Henley also celebrated with Racquel! She turned 3 this January! The age "gap" of 9 months between Lila and Henley is closing at a rapid pace. Lila was pretty excited that her good friend was now 3 like her!

Make a wish!

Not only do Lila and Sloan spend time together when the Mommy's & Daddy's get together, but they also go to daycare together. It doesn't get much cuter watching the two of them interact! Lila takes great pride in "mothering" Sloan and often times Sloan looks up at Lila in awe as she teaches Sloan the ways of the world!

Lila & Sloan

Buddies!!!

Happy Birthday, friend!

Swimming lessons also started this month. With Lila only being 3 we have been really mindful of not over committing her to activities. So, we generally take a break from swimming in the fall and she participates in Kindermusik and then vice versa, we take a break from Kindermusik in the winter and she swims! We have tried to cram more in, but it truly isn't any fun for anyone!

Our little swimmer!

This session of swimming is different. We have been doing Parent/Baby lessons since Lila was 9 months old and it was time to send her on to Perch lessons due to her age. Perch lessons are different in that Mike is in the pool for only 1/2 of the session, so 3 of the 6. And even when he is in the pool he gets out about half way through to let Lila have time in the pool with just the other kids and the instructor. This offers Lila a chance to adapt to being in the pool without her Dad and it prepares her for the next session where she will be in there alone with the instructor right from the start.

Swimming with the noodle

Doing it on her own!

Mommy watches from the sidelines!

Growing up right before our eyes!

Last week I took Friday off because Mike's time off from school was winding down, so I wanted to be able to spend one last day as a family before our schedules went back to "normal." Mike had been doing deliveries for Meals on Wheels, so with that commitment he wasn't able to go with Lila and I in the morning to Coral Ridge, but it was some nice mother/daughter time!

Heading to Iowa City!

I had shared with Lila that we were going to go to Iowa City and told her that I had a surprise, she was extremely curious about what we were going to do, but I didn't give in. She didn't have a clue until I basically walked her into the Build-A-Bear store! She was thrilled!!! It didn't take long for her to decide on her friend, a Princess bear, go figure!!!

Putting the stuffing in her new friend

Making her soft and huggable!

Lila & Rapunzel!

After our trip to Iowa City we met up with Mike to have lunch at Granite City and then spent the rest of the day together as a family! It was a nice way to wrap up Mike's break!

Lila has really turned into quite the little helper around the house. She is going through a bit of a "Mom" phase, not wanting to be too far away from me. While that can be a bit tough at times, it also works to my advantage when she is willing to help out!

Helping with dinner

Folding clothes

She also keeps us very entertained! It is very rare not to have Lila singing, playing the guitar, dancing or some combination of the three! While Mike and I aren't professional musicians, we both have a great appreciation for music, so it isn't a big surprise that Lila is musical!