Happy New Year's Eve!!

We spent our New Year's Eve with the Holley's! The girls had a blast playing, talking, and shooting some fireworks. We had a great 2014, but are looking forward to an even better 2015!!

Clare is 3 1/2!!

I'm pretty sad to say that I let Saturday pass without acknowledging that Clare turned 3 1/2! This little girl is the definitely a shining star, and I just don't know what I'd do without her spunky, funny, sweet self. I'm not afraid to say that the first half of three was work with this one...really life since 2 has been a wild ride. She is so incredibly independent and strong-willed, and that makes for a challenging child sometimes. I feel like the last little bit of time she's gotten a little more agreeable about some things, but she will always speak her mind and march to the beat of her own drum. 

Here are some things about our little firecracker at 3 1/2:

1. She is quite smart. She knows a lot of her letters and their sounds. She's good at puzzles and is always asking questions and wanting to know about things. Inquisitive is a great word to describe her. She still goes to Sissy's and loves her friends there. Trouble has been minimal this year, thank goodness!!

2. She adores Lila. She often refers to her as "her big sister." She's quick to take up for her and protect her ... she's also quick to aggravate the mess out of her. They play so great together, and I love their friendship. She is really excited about being a big sister to Ivey. She talks about the baby all time, and about all the things she plans on doing to help.

3. She's a pajama-wearing, chocolate milk drinking, TV -aholic. That's definitely first on her agenda when she either wakes up in the morning or as soon as she gets home from Sissy's house. She loves to watch the Disney Junior cartoons. She would LIVE in a pair of pajamas if I'd let her -- specifically, her Belle or princess nightgown. When it does come time to getting dressed, she can be very opinionated about what she's wearing. She's got a couple of outfits that she'd wear over and over if I'd let her. She's stuck on a flower dress from the summer that we just can't seem to lose!

4. She started ballet this year, and while most days I think she ambivalent about it, I think she really does enjoy it. She talks about it a lot, and she really likes wearing her ballet clothes around the house and pretending she's a ballerina.

5. She's an outside girl. She loves to play outside and dig in the dirt. She also is an animal lover -- she adores Gibson, and she is really into horses at the moment.

6. She.is.hilarious. I wish I could walk around with a tape recorder on her because the things that she says crack me up on a daily basis. And the way she talks -- a lot of times I ask her to repeat things just so I can hear her little voice again.

7. She's still a mommy's girl. She's very likely to bust out with a random "I love you" or "You're the best, mommy" or "I love what so-and-so gave me" or "This was the best day ever." She's pretty sweet, and she's got pretty good manners -- very good at saying you're welcome and thank you.

8. She definitely does better when she's free to be herself in her own space. Sometimes it takes her a while to warm up to new places and people. She's a horrible shopper. She runs and darts, and all of her listening skills fly out the window when we enter a store or the mall.

9. She likes to sing and dance. You can hear her little voice in the car jamming along to the radio. I love it. :)

10, She sleeps every night with her Kaki and Rosie. She's still in her toddler bed, but bunk beds are coming in the near future. Praying that the transition goes well -- her and Lila will be sharing a room.

We love you, Clare Anne!! Happy 3 1/2!!

Finishing Up the Holiday

We traveled to Tennessee and enjoyed seeing all of our aunts, uncles, and cousins. It's been awhile since my family got to be a part of Christmas here, and I was really glad to be able to join in this year.

Aunt Beverly and sweet Sadie

Lila and Emma had a big ol' time playing and talking.

Lila and Emmeline

Clare hung with Thomas and played hard with his trucks.

All the littles -- Brodie, Lila, Emma, Emmeline, Chaney, Thomas, Sadie, and Clare.

The middles!

This little man was such a little gentleman, and we were glad to see him!

My cousin, Lydia, made this awesome wreath for our sweet Ivey. I absolutely loved it!

We finished out the holidays in a low-key kind of way. Josh headed back to Opelika on Saturday, and the girls and I stayed through Tuesday. We had lots of time on our tablets, took the girls to see Annie, ate out, and were all around lazy. Casey took Lila for a pedicure and manicure, and Clare hung out at home with me -- that resulted in some quality iPad time. All in all, I'd say that we had a pretty great holiday season this year!!

It's Christmas!!!

Santa came to see Lila and Clare!!

Lila's side

 Clare's side

There is something so great about watching your babies walk in the room to see what Santa brought them. I absolutely adore seeing their excitement. They enjoyed their new baby dolls and the other toys that Santa brought for them. They played hard all morning long.

We did travel Christmas Day to my parents house, and we had a big time when we got there. The girls were given some wonderful new toys and clothes, and they were really generous to Josh and me too. I, for one, am always very glad to be home for Christmas!

Christmas Eve

 We decided to open presents on Christmas Eve because we were traveling on Christmas Day. We are usually so rushed on Christmas Day because of traveling, so we thought we'd knock the gift opening off of our to-do list. The girls were beyond excited about this -- they asked all day when it was time for the gift opening. Our gifts to them were mostly clothes (plus a set of pajamas), though each one did get a watch. We really enjoyed watching them tear into the presents. Josh and I went ahead and opened our presents too. He got the boots and camo that he was looking for, and he surprised me big time with a new phone--the iPhone 6 plus! Enjoying that night like we did really makes us count our blessings.

My sweet, sweet girls

Gift Time!!

We had some visitors stop by to see the loot that we got.

We ended Christmas Eve by putting out food for the reindeer and cookies for Santa. Clare was out of her Christmas pajamas by this time -- just goes to show how much that child changes clothing!! It took the girls a while to settle down and finally get to sleep ... I can't imagine why!