Coming up

****I'm linking the overdue posts to this one as they are fiinished. Just click on the title (which is in red) to see the post.********

I'm behind on blogging, I know.

I have almost finished a post about Christmas and New Year's (just need to add pictures).
Holidays

And, I need to post all about POTTY TRAINING. I am happy to say that it was worth it. I may or may not spare the details when I write that one.

And, Emilee and Britt had birthdays.


And, Logan got his first (and second) tooth.

Someday, I'll get those documented. Check in periodically. Harass me if you have to.

Holidays

What's the best thing about the holidays? Visiting with family? Over-eating (I mean, indulging)? Being so busy you can't keep things straight? Traveling with children?

Once they're over! I'm not sure how everyone else feels about this, and maybe I don't really mean that, but I did have a sigh of relief once we made it through everything.

For Christmas, we went to visit my family. We woke up on Christmas Eve and opened presents at our house. Then we got ready and loaded up to head to my parents' house. We were able to spend a couple of days there, and my siblings were there, too (minus my older brother and his family). We had fun playing there. Britt and I even got to take an afternoon nap . . . at the same time! Thanks Mom and Dad for letting my family take over a bit.

Our house on Christmas Eve.

Grandpa and Grandma's house on Christmas Day.

We came home in the middle of the week. On Saturday, New Year's Eve, we packed up again and went to visit Britt's family. I was scheduled to work on New Year's Day, but I was the first person on the list to get called off. I was really hoping I would get that phone call. Needless to say, I was tired, so Britt and I went to bed as soon as I got both kids to sleep. I had't even planned on staying up at all to ring in the new year (what and old fogey). However, I woke up in the middle of the night to firecrackers and other noise, so I grabbed my phone. 12:01 it said. I rolled over to Britt and said, "Happy New Year." We kissed and promptly fell back to sleep. Emilee woke up around 3am crying out. When Britt came back after quieting her down, he said, "Happy New Year." And, I said, "We already did that, Britt." I guess he was tired, too. I was put 'on-call' for work which meant I kept checking my phone every five minutes to make sure I didn't miss a call from work. I was able to go to church and be with the family that day. We were able to have a nice dinner with Britt's parents and one of his brothers and his family. Thank you, Mom and Dad Mehr for having an apartment for us.

Logan wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Emilee having "something to eat"...which she loves to do.

We really enjoyed seeing family. It was great to re-live some old traditions. Yet, it was nice to come home and slip back in to the routine (not like it's a real rigid one) here. Britt and I decided it's stressful traveling with small children. Maybe it will be easier when we don't have a baby who has a rough time sleeping. But, maybe not. Emilee still wakes up some nights. Santa on the Roof -- House I grew up visiting

Birthdays

Both Britt and Emilee have birthdays in January. Yay!

Britt turned 27 this year.

I made him a non-traditional (frosting on top) cake which was strawberry short cake. Turned out pretty good.

In the morning, Emilee helped Britt open his presents. Who do you think was more excited?

Emilee turned three this year. To make her cake, I wanted to go all out. So, she and I watched tutorials on the Betty Crocker website. We watched three different shows, I think, and I couldn't decide which I liked best. Every time I asked Emilee, she would choose a different cake. Britt finally told me I better just pick one and stop asking about the others. Anyway, I feel like Emilee still had a say in the matter. We chose to make a barn cake with barnyard animal cupcakes.

I tried to prep things before, and my parents were here in the morning on Emilee's birthday, so I figured we could make it happen. I wanted things to look 'perfect,' but I did let Emilee help decorate the cupcakes. I started freaking out about how she was putting things on, but then I caught my self and backed off (at least a little, I hope).

Helping decorate. She had fun, I think.

The excitement before cake!! I love how happy she looks.

And, here is the finished product. I think we did a pretty good job. All-in-all, Emilee, my mom, and I alll worked on the cake/cupcakes.

Emilee enjoyed the day. She especially enjoyed all the people who kept coming to see her. Thanks to everyone who made the trip. We loved having family here to spoil our girl.

pictures, pictures, pictures

Well I promised pictures and then never put them up. Here are most of our favorites. Some have already been put up on Facebook. I think our photo shoot went very well, and I'm happy with the pictures we got. It's fun trying to get children to smile on cue.