December was a month filled with the big celebrations (birthdays and of course, Christmas) but also the day to day living that when reflecting on the month I find that it is those ordinary things that make the month special.
We kicked off the month (actually at the end of November) with decorating the condo and getting into the Christmas spirit. New tradition for our family this year is that we will now decorate for Christmas on the first day of Advent! We have talked over the past few years that the Army Navy game is just too late to decorate for Christmas (December 12this year), so this year I made the decision that we will decorate for Christmas on the first day of Advent. We need our Advent wreath that day so it just makes sense to pull out the rest of the decorations that day, too! Thankfully Rich is on board (or at least just goes with the flow of me and my crazy ideas) so on November 29th we set up our little tree and other small decorations that I purchased on black Friday since our Christmas things are still in Texas!! I bought ornaments for the tree, although after a day of watching Julia take them all off they went back into the box, so our tree was very Charlie Brown-esque with a homemade star on top, attached with duct tape, and only a few handmade ornaments on it. The kids loved it though and it was prefect for the condo for this year!
Joseph putting the star on top.
Adding a few ornaments before Julia got to them!
Julia admiring it.
Excited for her 2nd Christmas!
I was out on a run one day and Rich sent me this picture saying that she was grunting so loudly and wouldn't stop until she carried the helmet over to him and he put it on her.
Rich went to Road Runner Sprots one night after dinner to meet Meb Keflizihgi, the Boston and NYC marathon winner who lives in San Diego. He was pretty excited to meet him!
We went to Christmas card lane on two different occasions during December. The first time we just drove throguh since it was raining and the second time we walked and ended up getting rained on again but the kids LVOED it!
Two thumbs up from the backseat with their hot chocolate from Starbucks!
Joseph helped Daddy put together Ella's bike that she got for her birthday.
Rudolph, or Joseph!
Waiting for the trash truck together.
On black Friday I came home with Christmas crafts so we had fun putting them together one morning.
Julia supervised while snacking on blueberries.
Pretending he was a walrus.
We were walking to Ralphs one day and they decided to take the road less travelled together and Joseph was helping her over the uneven terrain.
He started off as an astronaut here
but then decided he wanted to be an alien instead.
We met the Ozecks at the park/playground at La Jolla on a gorgeous day!
Three big kids eating cereal one morning
On Friday, December 5th I was lucky enough to meet up with these special friends at La Costa Resort for the night. Steph and Jenn were in town for a conference so Katie and I crashed at their hotel for the night and we had such a fun night catching up. The last time the 4 of us were together was 5 years ago but it truly seemed like no time had passed.
The next day, Jenn was still in town, so we headed to La Jolla Shores with the kids which was a fun way to spend the day with her!
The kids ended up super dirty by the end of the day-Ella rode home completely naked due to her being wet and sandy!
Josehp and Ella checking out some of his birthday presents the morning after his birthday.
Ella continues to have a pretty fun sense of style and is loving her boots!
Julia, on the other hand, prefers to be naked! If I don't keep bottoms on her, the diaper is off instantly.
After a trip to Target one day, I turn around to see this!
We've been having a lot of fun playing with his birthday presents-this game is a gift from Michael and John.
We went up to my parent's home on December 13th for brunch and to celebrate Uncle Bubba's birthday! All of the kids helping him open his presents.
Getting the cake ready with Nani.
Poppa and Nani got new dining room furniture so the boxes provided for plenty of entertainment that afternoon!
A co-worker of Nani's made the kids hats and I tried to get a decent picture of them to send to Nani but this is the best I could get! Ha!
Sibling love!
At the mall the police officers had a toy drive to fill up the police car. We saw it earlier in the month and the kids were extremely interested in it and had a lot of questions about it and the kids that were receiving the toys. A few weeks later, I told them that we were going to the mall that morning and Joseph asked to use his birthday money to buy something for a child that didn't have a lot of toys and then something for himself, too :) He and Ella bought a toy for a child each and then the same thing for themselves. Sweet kids.
Julia hanging out during Joseph's baseball practice.
Helping bake Christmas cookies one day.
On December 16th Joseph's class had a Christmas performance. Rich was out of town but we were lucky enough to have Nani join us. The class did a great job singing songs and poems with hand motions-it was really cute and Joseph did a great job! We've been really happy with his teacher this year and the progress that he has made.
After the performance we went to the library since Santa was going to be there that afternoon. They had arts and crafts, snacks and of course pictures with the big guy!
Julia would NOT let go of my arm so I had to be in the picture. She wasn't even a fan with me holding her...maybe next year!
We then walked to Panera for dinner and Ella was so excited to match Nani.
Joseph wanted in on the picture, too.
Such an imagination! A vampire today!
It's so cute watching Julia play more and more with them-they were pretending to be puppies.
And this was fun until it fell over on top of Ella.
Pretty intense game of hide and seek one afternoon.
Sisterly love!
Wrestling with Daddy!
Hey Super Girl!
A swimming turtle today with a photo bomb by Julia!
Ahhh, the Bunchems!! So much fun to play with but not so much fun when they get stuck in your hair!! Ella received these as a Christmas gift and on our first night back home from Atlanta, Ella and Joseph asked to open them before bedtime while I was going through the mail and Rich was unpacking. Joseph grabbed a few and put them on his head, which I didn't think anything of, and then Ella did the same. She then disappeared into her bedroom for a few minutes and the next thing I knew she is walking over to me, almost in tears, with her hands on her hair saying, "Mimi-they're stuck!" She had at least 25 stuck in her hair!! I just started laughing (like that nervous laugh) and she kept asking "Why are you laughing?" I knew that if I stopped laughing I'd start crying and had to keep her calm. Surprisingly, she only cried for a few seconds in the very beginning and then was incredible while we faced the task of getting them out. I immediately texted my Texas girlfriends and asked for advice and a few of them had heard of them and sent me the you tube video that had been created after the toy received national "recogntion" for this problem! So, about an hour later and almost half a bottle of conditioner we got them all out!! Rich had a great tecnnique down and was much faster at it than I. I would have been a mess if I had to cut her hair so am so thankful for a patient husband/dad who was such a huge help! Needless to say, the Bunchems are now up high and are being saved for only supervised play at the table!
The next day I found Ella sleeping like this! Joseph and I couldn't stop laughing!
A chilly (50 degrees is chilly in San Diego) afternoon at the park one day.
We went to the Holiday Bowl parade downtown with the Ozecks and Nani and Poppa on the 30th. Laura was able to get us seats in the grandstand and the kids loved the big balloons and it was a fun morning!
And, to finish out the month a little morning workout with me! Julia is getting really good at downward facing dog!
Love these crazy kiddos and our days together!!
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