December (in a nutshell)

 

Doing some lovin’ on Ivy – we’ve actually been doing that all of 2012, not just December.

 

Zack was part of a homeschool children’s choir this Fall and had a Christmas Concert to finish things off.

 

This was my favorite song they did – Noel Nouvelet – they sing parts of it in French!

This was one of Zack’s favorites – Do You Hear What I Hear?

I’ve been giving Zack piano lessons this year and the choir teacher let him play a song at the concert.  He got a little nervous at the end…

 

Some of us had a mini photo shoot:

 

Ivy discovered she likes to play the piano too!

 

On recommendation from some of the extended Gleed family, we drove to Lehi one Sunday evening to check out some cool Christmas lights.

We did some sledding at our favorite park.

 

 

 

You might notice in this picture that there’s a gap in Zack’s teeth, but don’t be fooled –he isn’t missing a tooth.  He’s just wiggled his loose tooth so much with his tongue that the other tooth is starting to grow crooked, away from his loose tooth (which is already quite crooked).

 

THIS is what a missing tooth looks like!  It was so loose just hanging on by thread – so he finally let me pull it out on Christmas Day – well, late Christmas night, because he got to stay up after bedtime if he let me pull it ;-)

This picture is the day after Christmas, on our way to California.  We’d only been in the car and on the road for 5 minutes and Ivy was already asleep!  It may have been because we left at 1 in the afternoon (aka: naptime) – but at least the roads were cleared by then (we had a nice little snow storm that morning) and thankfully we had a safe drive the whole way down.

Christmas Day 2012

It took Bob and I just a little while to peel ourselves out of bed this morning after the boys came in to wake us up around 8am.  So while they were waiting, Zack decided to take a few pictures of the tree and presents.

 

You might think their Dad is brain-washing them about loving volleyball…

 

Both boys got scooters from Santa - instead of the dirt bike AND motorcycle on Braxton’s wish-list, much to his disappointment.  He WAS a bit naughty this year, so we’ll see if he asks again next year.

 

Bob invited a friend’s family to join us for Christmas dinner (well, really it was more like lunch-time.)  The timing turned out to be perfect, because Quintin and Brynnly actually got dropped off at our house just before our friends arrived, so we could all eat together!  Then Bob gifted our friends with Nerf guns, but mostly for their own defense, until Bob and Brynnly came up with some target practice activities.  And only 1 person got their eye shot out!  We spent the rest of the evening playing with our new toys and packing up for our trip down to California tomorrow!  It was a good day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS MOM!

This is my attempt to win the “most awesome daughter of the year” award, after all!  I know it’s been over 6 months since I’ve posted anything, so I’m here to make amends.  And so if you are reading this in the future, it will look like I never skipped a beat ;-)

Stay tuned...I’ll be here all week, posting my back-logs.

Ivy is 1!

Thank you to Auntie Michelle, Auntie Lisa, Grandma Guptill and Great Grandma Guptill for thinking of our little birthday girl smack dab in the middle of Christmas time!  Your gifts are GREATLY appreciated!

Here’s a peek at our very low-key celebration:

The Birthday Girl with big brother!

The Birthday Girl with another big brother :-)

Birthday Girl with a Birthday Cinnabon!

 

 

 

Birthday Girl with the cutest Birthday Hat ever! (but I think that about every single hat you make, Lisa!)

 

And a little tutu shot for good measure – thanks Grandma!

(and Brynnly says she posted some Christmas Dress pictures on her Facebook page)

Ivy’s New Tricks

This kid is already 5 months old!

She changes every day, learning new little tricks all the time and it breaks my heart just a bit because of how fast it all seems to be happening.  I love how she reaches for things, especially faces – it’s so sweet.  We all think she’s pretty entertaining, no matter what she does.

But I suppose rolling over is the noteworthy feat these days.  One day I walked in and found her sleeping on her side and she’s been a better sleeper ever since!  But it makes me a paranoid wreck, fearing that she’s been sleeping so long because really she’s just suffocated herself.  The cutest part - how she hums herself to sleep (and yes, those are socks on her hands, because she’s a better sleeper with those too):

Ivy thinks she knows how to sit up now too. She does “crunches” in her bouncy seat and car seat as she tries to sit up from a reclined position. So we brought out the little walker for her so she can sit up and look all around now and she thinks that’s pretty great.

 

Goodness, I love this little girl!