Catch Up-Christmas

That night was Friday the 20^th and all my family started to get here that evening, my sister Lindsay and her family drove in around 2, my brother Taylor and his family were delayed but made it by around 3 and my brother Tanner had a red eye and arrived at 6am…The next week and a half were filled with many fun things. Saturday during the day it was a little cold but the kids got in the water and we got the jet ski out; Teddy went on the tube with Braden and Gavin and I went out with G as well; I did get wet and there was one time, I thought we were going in...way too cold for me...haha

That evening we went to the Wantilin Luau out at Universal, our friends the Pokipala’s run the show and were able to get us tickets, it was great. 

Sunday we all headed to the singles ward with my parents and then we had family pictures later that day; I think they turned out okay. 

Their church is at 1 in Kissimmee; Teddy fell asleep on the way...he slept most of the time; I did not have time to take off his LBJ shorts before going in; whoops

Monday the 23^rd was my Dad’s 60^th birthday I had to work but was able to get off a little early and head with them up to Dixie Crossroads; it’s a seafood restaurant, I ended up getting chicken, haha…not the biggest seafood fan…we had a nice evening. 

 He does not like this photo but its the only one I have with him on his birthday!!!

 The whole crew; I was glad my husband  got off to come!!!

Tuesday morning was ICE at the Gaylord Palms and all I can say it COLD…it was definitely something that looking back, we probably would not have done but good to experience I guess. 

Later on was dinner at Jalapenos, we were going to hire our friend Jose Borchardt to come over and watch Teddy but the two other little girls fell asleep at my parents’ house and they used Jose over there and Teddy got to come with us to the restaurant; he had actually closed up shop but kept it open for our family, so it was nice to let him just run around and not bother any other customers.

 We then went back to my parents; we did the nativity; Ashlee was Mary and Braden was Joseph; Macy missed out on being Jesus by 4 months; little miss Kingsley did the role wonderfully and Macy did not care =) where we opened up some jammies and then headed home. 

Christmas we headed over to my parents after the kids got up; actually I did wake Teddy up to go over, they had already started opening the family gifts, so we were a little late. I could have let Teddy sleep but once we got there he dug in with the other kids. Christmas was the one day out of the whole year that the golf course was closed, very nice to have him home. This Christmas was a little meager for us, we really did not get too many presents for Teddy and Macy or each other; my husband had wanted a few things but there was really nothing that I had wanted; most of the things we got for the kids they had already dug into and were using at our house. The day before I found Teddy a little wooden table and chairs at goodwill; it was located at the front of the store, and on our way out he sat down and would not leave, it was too good to pass up and he loves it. Later in the day we went out to Melbourne and watched the Movie Frozen, I was happy to be able to go again. I left Teddy home with Sam as he did not want to go to the movie again…but I was glad I went.

 

 Ashlee gave Teddy this little dinosaur that sings the alphabet; HE LOVES IT; The harts gave him a nice button up shirt that he wore in our family picture.

The day after Christmas I worked in the morning and then took off the afternoon and we headed up to Orlando to our friends the Munns house, they let us borrow their boat and we went out on Lake Butler, it’s a nice…not poop color water lake that is just beautiful. My brothers wake surfed and I also got in and did it; it was freezing but I am glad I did it.

Teddy was so concerned when I got in the water; I love how sensitive he is

Friday evening we went out to a movie and Josh babysat Teddy at our house; we went and saw the movie Savings Mr. Banks, it’s about how Walt Disney got the rights to make the movie Marry Poppins; I liked it. 

Saturday we headed out the church ranch and we got to ride some horses and some went out on an airboat; I have not ridden a horse in a while and it was fun; when I was a sophomore in high school I fell off a horse and hurt my tail bone, and it took a long time to get back on a horse...they are one of my favorite animals, so majestic; it was nice to be able to just get out in the middle of a field and slowly ride =) Teddy fell asleep on the way up there, we let him sleep in the car for a while but when he got up we put him on a horse with our friends son in law Randal and he was in heaven. Since most had already ridden and the others were out on the boat, he got to ride forever…he did not want to get off…I love it; my but was a little sore the next few days.

 Randall was so nice and helpful

 These little beauty's are 4 months apart =) I hope they become good friends

Catch Up- First Half of December

December!!! 

December flew by…Macy started sitting up a little, she does not like it though and would rather just lie on her back; she has started to show interest in rolling side to side and sometimes can get from her back to her tummy, but then she gets stuck and just lays there and cries out...I can always tell her I rolled onto my tummy cry =) Teddy has also started to not let Macy sleep while he is up; he will go into her room and climb into her bed or sit and talk to her; when I go in there, he always will say, shhh...She woke up!!! I cant help but laugh...and she normally gets a cat nap in before he realizes she is sleeping, so she is happy when she wakes up and then I try and put them both down for their afternoon nap together; I look forward to the nap time everyday...especially with working full time, I try and get as much as I can done if they go down at the same time. Its starting to get more and more difficult, but its what I have to do for now

 After moving out the couch one evening to sweep; I found an array of balls, horses and cars...all Teddy's favorites!!! I need to check under the couch more often!!!

 One morning I made Teddy some eggs and while I fed Macy he sat and ate them at the table; after we were done I moved Macy to the living room floor and started to work since she was being happy; after a while I went out to check on them and found this...he had taken his remaining eggs and dumped them on here and all over his toys; lesson learned...never leave your toddler at the table with his breakfast

 Lesson #2-when people drop of some Christmas goodies; eat your favorite first and do not leave the container on the counter where your toddler can reach

 She is starting to show more independence; she still can only drink about 3 to 3 and a half ounces at a time, so she still has a small bottle and can hold it pretty good ; sometimes she does like it when I feed her; but sometimes she likes to do it herself too

My Macy girl turned 8 months old! She loves Aunt Ashlee!!! We feel very special to live close by

The first two Mondays in December we had family night at my parents and they invited some families over for dinner and music; it’s always nice to get out of the house.

 Lillie Loves Macy; she is always so sweet with her

 We Miss Elder Pokipala-who is serving his mission in Brazil

 The second weekend in December was our Christmas Parade in town; I brought Teddy to the tail end of it last year and thought I would brave it this year with the kids. I tried to get the double jogging stroller into the car but it was too big; my regular double stroller was in my husbands car and so was the baby bjorn; I already had the kids loaded in the car and almost decided not no go, but we ended up heading over there. I had to park far away and we finally made it up to the street where the parade was going on. I was holding the baby and Teddy was doing a good job of walking. We made it under some shade; it was a hot day, haha!!! I started talking to this lady that was sitting there and I called out Teddy's name and she ended up being our old neighbor from when we bought our first house in town; she had remembered Teddy's name. She works for the St. Cloud paper and her office was right there, she brought out a chair for us to sit on; it was very nice of her and I was so so grateful. Lucky I also had some licorice in my bag from earlier in the week; overall I was glad we made the treck. 

That same evening we had our Ward Christmas party. It seemed like there was a good turn out. The bishop came up to my husband halfway through and asked if he was ready to go; he told him he did not know what he was talking about. I guess they talked in a meeting about having Sam be Santa but no one ever conveyed the message to him; so low and behold we did not have a Santa at the party. Earlier in the week I had a thought to grab the suit because they have used it for like 5 years but I never acted on it; o well...there is always next year.

We had our work Christmas Party this year at a nail salon in Lakeland; it was nice of them to treat us to some manicures/pedicures; I went with some red gel nails; kinda like I did last year!!! That same week I went with a few ladies from the office to our biggest clients Christmas party; it was held at Champion's Gate in Kissimmee...it was nice!!!

 Nathan was our lone guy at the party; I think he liked getting his toes done

Our stake this year decided to do the Night of Bethlehem again; last year was very interesting, it did not seem all that put together so I was not sure what to expect this year; I decided I wanted to sing in the choir this year so I had practices Wed, Thu and Fri evenings before the even on Friday night. Wednesday went good because it was just the baby and I, but I brought Teddy with my on Thursday because my husband had to be there for rehearsal as well, he was a shepherd during the event. Friday we ended up bringing Teddy too but my friend Brooke watched him with her kids; such a blessing. I have to say that the presentation was awesome and the whole thing was so much more put together than the previous year. They also had a better turnout than I could have ever imagined, I think more than 700 people came. When people first walked in they got to put on clothes and then wait in a group to be brought throughout the different things they had planned. They had 4 presentation rooms, the first was Adam and Eve, the second was Isaiah, the third was a Nephite woman and the fourth was Mary; all of the presentations prophesied of Christ and his birth; the final presentation was the stable and the manger where Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus were; my husband’s roll in all of this was a Shepard who led the people to where the baby Jesus was; it was really cool. They also had the town of Bethlehem in the cultural hall; this was the only thing that was the same as last year, but it was also much bigger. They had awesome food and little shops; we ended up having to do our choir presentation twice because of so many people; I really thought it ended up being great.~Pictures were taken from the Hunters Creek Stake Blog-they are not mine...I could not find my phone or I would have taken some of my own

 This is the cultural hall decorated like Bethlehem; they did such an amazing job...so much time and effort went into this and it was great

 Thank You to the sweet Anissa for taking Macy for me during the first Choir presentation; she lost the pacifier sometime during the show and she said she was sad the whole time =( Such a good friend!!!

I am so glad that we just decided to participated through service and music; my husband made a great Shepard and I had a great time singing. =)