2013 in review

This year has flown by! 

I decided to do a recap of our year in pictures. It's crazy to see how much Colbi has grown.

We start in January.....

Gigi's birthday! 

In February, Dad has his first surprise birthday party!

And, we celebrated Valentine's Day!

March brought Ooma's birthday.....

And, Easter.

I switched salons in April and it was the best decision (career wise) I've made!

We went to the zoo with friends. 

July 4th snuck up on us quick!

Which meant, Colbi turned one!! How did it happen?!

This was first thing in the morning on her birthday. 

We took a trip to the beach with the family...

And turned into a big girl right before our eyes!

It was then time for Halloween and pumpkins....

November brought our five year anniversary, the Cindy Tamplin Memorial tea, Avery's birthday and Thanksgiving...

Our first official need to bundle up!

Circling what we want for Christmas in the Thanksgiving ads!

We got trapped inside for a few days and enjoyed some cuddle time.

Prairie Lights trip!

December has come and also gone...

Had a tea party with Daddy after Santa came to visit..

Opened more gifts and had to take a nap!

And, here we are today. Two days from 2014. 

How fast time goes by. It's amazing how quickly the days slip by, without warning. One day you wake up to notice your daughter is 18 months old, you've aged some due to lack of sleep, a dirty house, and an never ending "to-do" list. You realize how amazingly awesome your life is, even if it includes dirty diapers, throw up, and a child who consistently tries your patience. 

You realize you are truly happily married, even with all the nagging and yelling at times. Life, to me, is about one thing. Love. Loving those around you, being loved. Showing love. There's a bit of peace that comes with feeling complete. 

I've learned one major thing over the course of this year. My family is my everything. I may not always handle things correctly, I may loose my temper, let some people down, but I continue to try. To be the best mother I can, the best wife I know how, the best sister and daughter. I continue to pray for forgiveness, to give thanks for grace, and to ask for protection over my little family. 

2013 was quite a year. Here's to 2014 and some awesome new adventures to follow!

Christmas 2013

We had such a nice Christmas Eve and 

Christmas day!

We headed over to my parents Christmas Eve afternoon and stayed the night. 

We played games and spent some time together. The WHOLE family. It was nice.

Gigi had a tea party with her girls.

While everyone else played games.

The kids went to sleep way too late, ate a ton of stuff, and woke up at a reasonable hour. Woohoo! 

Santa forgot Colbi's big present but it's okay because Gigi and Pops came to the rescue. 

She LOVES her table and tea set. 

We had cinnamon rolls (Mom's are the best in the world. Hands down!! It would NOT feel like Christmas without them) and then started opening presents! 

Colbi lost interest after the first gift, which was a Cabbage Patch kid, was opened. Gigi and Pops then spent the next 20 minutes trying to get the CPK out of the package. Why must it be so hard?

Twin babies!!! Fitting :-)

She LOVED her Minnie Mouse scooter.

We had a very nice lunch with all the fixings and spent some time with Dave's parents in the afternoon. Colbi was pooped by the end of the day. 

This was the view right before bed time. 

I love her. 

This year, I really enjoyed the holidays. They come and go so quickly! Time just continues to fly by and the days seem to all run together. I've come to appreciate my family in a new way and love all the family time I can get. 

We are headed into a new year and today I spent some time thinking about my New Year's Resolutions. I have a few in mind, but that's for another post! 

I hope you all had a great Christmas and got to spend some time with family! 

Our weekend

This weekend was jammed packed! 

Dave went out of town for a hunting trip, so it was a semi-girls weekend. Mom came to stay with us Friday and Saturday night and we had lots on our agenda that included some shopping, eating out, and some good old fashioned TV watching! 

Dad also came over Sunday afternoon to watch Colbi so we could go to a Tour of Homes in our town. It was pretty cool to get to go see people's homes (some were decorated for Christmas and some not so much). But, I was glad to go and see the floor plans because the little neighborhood is very cute. 

Sunday night, we all went to Prairie Lights to see some fun Christmas lights thanks to my padre (who is on the Parks and Recreation board for the city, a real life Leslie Nope!). This year was fun because Avery was really into the lights and Colbi pretty much got the idea.  

Dave hadn't made it back yet, so he wasn't included in the family picture. I'd say it's a good picture of everyone though!

Avery is my "fashion" partner. She kept saying we had the same "dress" aka jackets. It's a little blurry, but we were both stylin'! 

"Sisters! Sisters! Never were there such devoted sisters!"

And here's Pops. We know people in high places who can get the hook up to fun Parks and Rec stuff! 

All in all, it was a great but busy weekend. A big thank you to my parents for helping me with Colbi this weekend. Last week was a dozy including Dave being gone, my car dying and then our dryer dying. We did get our cable back on Tuesday night. THANK GOODNESS. I've decided our dvd collection needs some help for times like that! Hopefully, the repair man can fix our dryer tomorrow after ordering the part he needed. My house has been decorated with clothes hanging everywhere to dry. 

I'm thankful for a new week and a husband who is back to H-E-L-P! 

What have we been doing?!

I haven't blogged in awhile, mainly because we have been busy. Between sickness, work, and the holiday it has been a very tiring few weeks. Here's a recap in pictures:

We got new jammies and open and close the entertainment doors a million times a day.

We went to a wedding and danced and smiled all night long.

Except when sitting in Mommy's lap evidently.

It got really cold here and we bundled up for the long walk to the car.

We helped Mommy clean. And hated it. 

Colbi got the crud. That's always fun the week of Thanksgiving.

We decorated the house with Christmas stuff and Colbi LOVES to look at the tree. We are working on "just looking" and "not touching"

Thanksgiving ads are awesome. Colbi has made it tradition to go through and scribble what she wants. 

We read with Pops.

And watched football games all day on Thanksgiving.

Started feeling better and watched a movie or two.

And, my awesome husband who can fix anything, fixed the garage door. 

That pretty sums up our last two weeks. 

I would like to say a few things I'm thankful for since I didn't list any all month. 

{My parents}

They are always here when we need them and we thoroughly enjoy their company. I'm glad we live close enough to see them for impromptu dinners or visits. I've truly come to appreciate my parents in a new way. Years help, but seeing them as grandparents is so special. 

{My sisters and niece}

Even though Leslie is busy and Jenna and I really don't see each other that much, I am so lucky to have two sisters whom I care about and love so much. Avery has been just a pure joy in our lives. She is SO funny and brings so much happiness to each one of us. I love to see her and Colbi together. Avery is little miss bossy pants, so the teenage years with the two of them could be interesting! She always refers to Colbi with her full name. Colbi Morgan. Avery is so smart and friendly. You just can't help but to LOVE that cutie. 

{My in-laws}

I married into a pretty good family, I must say. They are both caring and loving. They love their grandchildren and have put up with A TON from the big kids. Unconditional love is something I'd have to say my MIL has shown her children. With my FIL going through chemo and the possibility of surgery around the corner, it reminds me we are not promised anything. I'm thankful to have been blessed with them both. 

{My job}

I told my mom the other day, I still can't believe sometimes I get to do something I like SO much. It can be challenging dealing with people and self-employment is WAY harder financially than I expected, but I wouldn't trade a thing. I get to spend time with my daughter and husband, work a schedule of my choosing, and spend my days making people feel pretty. I feel incredibly blessed and literally know, all of this has happened because God is good. All the time. Everything that happens to me, is because God is so good. 

{My husband}

It's been eight years that Dave and I have been together. It honestly doesn't feel that long. I'm more in love with him today than those first few lovely dovey years long ago. He truly shows me what it is to love selflessly. He encourages me to follow my dreams, supports me, laughs with me, comforts me on hard days, but I will forever be grateful that he gave me Colbi. The single most important thing in my life is her. I look at her and see him. I watch him as he plays with her and my heart is so full. Sometimes, I just wait for the bad to creep in because I know I don't deserve either one of them. I'm more happy than I've ever been. It's cheesy and corny, but true. Even on our bad days, I love him. Liking him, that's another story. :-)

{My daughter}

I never,ever, ever thought I could love someone as much as that little girl. She makes me laugh, pushes me beyond the point of frustration some days, gives me the best hugs and smiles I could ever receive, and just plain, loves me. She fills a void I didn't know I had. My day does not seem complete unless she's a part of it. I still rock her to sleep and it's our time. She's my buddy. We shop together, play together, read, sing, and even clean together. Colbi is literally the best gift I've ever been given. Being a mommy is something I was on the fence about for so long. "How can you love someone THAT much?" I always thought......now, I know. 

This truly has been the second best year of my life. The first being last year with the birth of our daughter. I plan on soaking up every moment of this holiday season. Like the saying goes, "the days are long, but the years are short".