2013 in 12

So I decided I wanted to choose ONE picture taken with my "big" camera to represent each month of 2013. For someone who takes thousands of pictures per month, this was not an easy task. Aside from watching Emma Claire grow from a baby to a big girl in the blink of an eye, it was fascinating for me to watch my photography style change dramatically. And yes. She was quite obsessed with sunglasses from March-May ;-)

January

February 

March

 April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

White House Christmas Tour 2013

A few weeks ago we went on our annual White House Christmas tour. As usual everything was beautiful and it is just so surreal to walk through the halls where history has been made. Last year our tour was at night which made everything that more magical. Not that daytime tours aren't special but I just love them at night. And also, this year the weather was just awful, it was warm and humid and raining. Not that I'm complaining, more so just explaining my awful hair!

 Emma Claire looking at the first lady's garden.

We love Laura. 

Why yes. That would be my child on the wrong side of the rope. 

She was OBSESSED with this eagle. We spent a good 5 minutes here. 

Her face. I just love her. 

Posing out front before going to get coffee. 

The national tree. I don't have any pictures closer up because someone was too busy running around. And then it started to rain again. 

Christmas Day 2013

Christmas morning was pretty special this year. And for no real reason in particular. Christmas as a mom is just magical. It's so special to watch Emma Claire experience Christmas morning and take it all in. Although this year we didn't really "do" Santa at our house. No, we don't have anything against Santa but we have decided to let Emma Clarie take the lead on the whole Santa thing. This year she thought of Santa as more of a fun character, almost like she thinks about Elmo or her favorite movie characters. And we were totally fine with that. Plus, we got all of the credit for presents ;-) We will re-evaluate next year and see what she thinks. I loved the Santa tradition as a child and I know Emma Claire will too. But at the same time I do want to keep the focus on Jesus, giving to others, and the real reason for the season.

Since the presents under the tree weren't anything new by Christmas morning it took her a while to actually figure out they were for her, and she could open them! It didn't take her long to get it though.

I tried for a cute Christmas morning by the tree picture. She yawned. Typical. 

So I opted for an artsy picture of my Christmas coffee mug instead. 

We gave her the role of handing out presents. She took it VERY seriously.

 She loved helping us open our presents.

Are these pig tails not THE best?! 

Several presents halted the opening process. One of them was her fisher price purse. She played with it for a while before wanting to open more. During her "breaks" the husband and I took turns opening our presents. 

I got a couple of fun necklaces and Emma Claire was convinced that the hot pink one was for her. So I shared and let her wear it for the morning. She loved it. 

This dress is just adorable. There are crayons on the smocking. I ordered a 3T because I'm just not sure when she will be starting "school" so we will get a few seasons of wear out of it. 

BLOCKS! Her favorite. These "blocks" are actually part of a Melissa and Doug farm puzzle.

And the picture of the morning. This was after opening all of her presents and I think it captures her feelings about Christmas perfectly. I just love it. This is a framer for sure. Or maybe even a canvas. I love it that much. 

After opening presents I got to work making breakfast and we watched Elf. This has become a tradition for us on Christmas morning. 

By far her favorite thing was this Santa chocolate sucker. she picked it out weeks ago at the store and I managed to make her forget about it until Christmas morning. 

She was cracking us up hugging it and talking to it. Hilarious. 

By far the funniest moment of the morning came from this Santa sucker. Emma Claire had eaten most of it when she started screaming "Santa's BUTT! BUTT! SANTA'S BUTT!" We couldn't figure out why in the world she was screaming about Santa's butt...until we saw what she was pointing at. The back of the sucker did look just like Santa's rear end. We laughed about it ALL morning. I just wish we had it on video!

 This year I worked really hard to gather gifts for Christmas early. I did a pretty good job with Emma Claire's gifts, and even some for the Hubs. This next year I plan to do even better. I was pretty excited that two of her favorite gifts were from a consignment sale, meaning I spent about $5 combined on them! Score. I also shopped at our favorite used book store using credit to get a bunch of DVDs and books. She did get a few new items, but mostly I was able to get her entire lot of goodies second hand. Read: for a fraction of the price. 

I also simplified almost everything this Christmas season, decor, gifts, and even activities. I tried to just really enjoy the season and take it all in. And even though we talk about Jesus every day we really tried to emphasize that it was Jesus' birthday and that's what we were celebrating. 

Today we finally got all of the Christmas decorations taken down and put up. As much as I love decorating for Christmas I think I love getting my house back in order a little more. There's just something about getting rid of the clutter, deep cleaning, and for me starting the spring cleaning process. I'm going to start purging toys/clothes/decor soon. I've gotta gear up for the spring garage sale season some how ;-) 

Christmas Eve 2013

Christmas Eve was special for us this year because for the first time ever Daddy was off of work! We had a fun day running errands and having family time. Then we headed to the 5 o'clock service at church with friends and joined them for an amazing dinner afterwards. 

I totally forgot I bought this somewhat "tacky" Christmas sweater for Emma Claire. I found it in a pile of (clean) laundry and decided she had to wear it during the day. Oh and she is in the bathtub because Daddy was examining my caulking job. I recently stripped out all of the old caulk in our shower and replaced it.

The pigtails are just too much. 

Her new favorite thing to do. And I let her because I just didn't want a melt down in the over crowded store on Christmas Eve ;-) But mainly because she loves it so much and was too cute riding on the front of the cart. 

After nap time we all got ready for church, and Emma Claire got to wear some hot rollers in her hair for the first time. She LOVED it. Too bad I wasn't paying attention to placement and they just looked goofy when I took them out. But we didn't care, it was just for fun. She also got her nails painted sparkly silver. Which she was very proud of. 

Christmas Eve service. We went to the 5:00 service which also meant "kid friendly" as in no candles, just glow sticks. I missed actually holding candles as we sang silent night...but after watching Emma Claire and Gracie sing along holding glow sticks I forgot about the actual candles. 

Words cannot describe how much I love this picture, and those two little girls. This is how I spent most of the service. Emma Claire and Gracie impressed us all with how good they were. They got a little antsy towards the end, but hey..they're one and two years old. We were pretty proud.

All of the little ones got to come to the front and listen to pastor Lane speak towards the end. If you notice, Emma Claire is already wondering why momma isn't up there with her...don't worry. I soon joined her ;-) 

And this picture sums up what Emma Claire and Gracie thought of getting to spend Christmas Eve together. They had a blast and were so cute and entertaining as always.

Our attempt at a picture of the two of them together and by the tree. I think it's pretty good. 

Everything we ate was DELICIOUS. My friend Bekah is an amazing cook and I often tell her she really does need her own show on food network. We had beef tenderloin (her Grandmother's recipe), scalloped potatoes, salad with homemade dressing, and rolls. I really can't do any of the food justice with words and pictures. It was THAT good.

No words. It was simply divine. 

I just love the two pink sippy cups showing.  Although I just realized they are both Gracie's... ;-) Oh well. It's the symbolism that counts. It was so fun sharing our meal with two very cute girls.

Dessert. Cappuccino pie. If only I could give you a piece. Yet another one of Bekah's family traditions/recipes. Of course it was delicious.  The girls had some plain ice cream in lieu of the espresso ice cream that was in our pie. Don't worry..they made up for it in the amount of candy they ate while decorating their gingerbread house ;-)

If you ever need a laugh...grab a one year old and a two year old and let them decorate a gingerbread house. It was hilarious. Definitely a memory I won't ever forget. 

We laughed the entire time. 

What better way to decorate a gingerbread house than ON the table!

I'm surprised she slept once we got home!

Sweetness. 

Love this girl. 

I think that's about right. It was late and she was tired. Why not lay down on the table?!

I still can't believe she is MINE and I get to experience Christmas all over again through her eyes. It's truly magical. 

After the gingerbread mess experience was over we let the dads handle bath duty. 

And last but certainly not least...the finished gingerbread house. So proud. 

 We had a great time with our friends and are truly blessed to have them in our lives. We love you guys! Thank you for allowing us to spend Christmas Eve with you and your family.

Like I said earlier, experiencing Christmas all over again through your child's eyes is something truly magical. It's even better than going through it first hand. I just love her excitement for the season and her enthusiasm to talk about Jesus and his birth day. And I know that it will only get better as the years go on.