playing catch-up

We enjoyed a candle light service at our Church on Christmas Eve

From church we went to our NW Indiana "family" Christmas Eve celebration at Ree-Ree's

Here is Olivia with her BFF Abbey

Here's Olivia when she wouldn't share with her BFF

Jack was satisfied with his pacifier and his ability to put it in his mouth all by himself....sometimes!

Making Candy Cane cookies for Santa

We enjoyed our very first Christmas morning at HOME - we usually wake up at my parents house on Christmas, but this year we stayed at our house and traveled to Indianapolis on Christmas Day after we enjoyed our morning together. It was nice to be home!

Once in Indy we first went to Brian's parents house - here's Olivia there with her Rescue Pets Swim puppy - she has wanted this thing since the summer and it's the only thing she requested from Santa - she didn't let it out of her sight! I wish the toy performed like it's supposed to, but thankfully, Olivia just loves it the way it is! (Don't waste your money!! Santa needs to work out some of the flaws!!)

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Saturday at my parent's house

The kids built a gingerbread house...

and destroyed a gingerbread house!

...and got VERY messy

of course me and my sister-in-law Lauren had to join in!

Then there was clean-up! Someone thought it would be a good idea to jump in the bathtub to clean up....all 5 of the girls AT THE SAME TIME!!!

You can imagine the mess when 5 girls, ages 13 to 1, take a bath together! It was hilarious! The girls were sporting Olivia's swim puppy goggles and there was water and bubbles going everywhere. I took several pics, but I don't think pics of little girls in a bathtub is appropriate for the Internet.....we'll leave that for KFC - hahaha!

Here's Olivia with a couple of her cousins - Penny Lane and Lucy Sky

Memaw, Olivia and I taught Penny and Lucy all about hair bows and how every little girl needs to wear bows in their hair ;-) The girls love the bows....can't say the same for mommy and daddy! hehehehahaha Next time, we'll teach them all about chocolate being a food group and how to incorporate it into every dish! And then we'll teach them about lip gloss!!

Here's my new favorite pic of Jack taken while in Indy

Olivia had her BFF Abbey over on New Year's Day to play "Megzy and Amber" AKA hair salon!

Olivia got this from my parents for Christmas - it's a salon station equipped with a bowl for washing hair, mirror, drawers for accessories and a chair with a built in dryer. Megzy and Amber are the two girls who cut Olivia's hair.

To round out Christmas break we met several friends at one of the local Jumpy places. We had so much fun - even the adults get to join in!! Here's some pics of Brian with the kids.

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Yesterday I took Olivia sledding.....with Jack! Let me tell you, I got my workout for the day!

It's not easy climbing a hill while pulling a 4 year-old on a sled with a 4 month on in a sling!

Here's Olivia as I pulled her up the hill.

Here's Jack all bundled up - I put him in the sling and Yes, I went sledding with him in the sling - not sure if he liked it or not - he went to sleep after taking this pic!

Here's Olivia sledding by herself after I let go of the ropes near the top of the hill.

Then Jack woke up for the last hill of the day - we all went together on one sled! You can kind of see his little head peaking out!

Olivia wanted to climb the hill one last time before we left - I made her do it by herself - I was too exhausted!! She didn't want the sled either - she just wanted to climb it and scoot down on her butt!

It was hard work with both kids by myself, but it was worth it, we had lots of fun and I got a good work-out!