White Elephant Party

I'm sad to say no photos were taken. Darn. But the best gifts were definitely funny:

• A book full of postcards titled "Breaking Bad News with Cute Animals". See samples here.
• A bottle of syrup with Marilyn's picture as the label (complete with Aunt Jamima's red headwrap).
• A bottle of BBQ sauce with Matt's picture as the label (yes, his face had sauce everywhere)
• Various CD collections featuring Hansen, Jock James, Mickey's Christmas Tunes, etc.
• A photobook from Snapfish that was sent by accident to the wrong house. Everyone had fun taking a peak inside the wedding of 2 total strangers, Damaur and Stacey. We feel like they're family now.

Anyways, there were half the people than last year (I think we squished 55 people in our family room and kitchen last year, yikes!) so it was fun and cozy.

And to those people who left their gifts stashed in random places at my house, I know who you are...

Merry Christmas!

Family Christmas Photos

My sister, Melanie, got to try out my new birthday camera and take our family Christmas pictures last time we were in Topsail. It was fun. All you have to do is hold down the button and it takes like 20 pictures in a couple seconds. I think we ended up with 400+ photos to edit! Here are some of the top picks.

I've Taught Her a Truly Valuable Lesson

Red Coat - Circa 1982

Isn't this little red coat still so stylish? It has such a timeless/classic look.

I wore it when I was her age.

I'm glad my mom saved it for me. And I'm glad I remembered it was tucked away in the closet just in time for this winter.

Santa's Baby

My friend and I took pictures of the kiddies the other day. This picture day went much different than our last Prairie photoshoot...


Owen and Amaryllis were so moody. Mostly just Amaryllis.
Be it known that these red gloves are not even kids gloves (they are gift-card holders), they are way too small for her, and I did not put them on her (she is a bit in love with them at the moment).


Owen makes for a cute santa, don't you think?

November Came & Went

Thanksgiving was fun and relaxing at The Lucky Leaf. It was sunny the entire weekend. I made it a goal to go on a long walk every day because I have stopped jogging due to my big belly.

There is a great park 2 miles down the beach, where the cousins had fun playing.
Except once again Rome & Amaryllis had to share a swing:
Ro-Ro definitely got the uncomfortable/smushed part of this swinging adventure, but he is a good sport.
He doesn't seem to mind that Amaryllis is the bossy cousin.

They play great together and it's cute to watch the difference between boy and girl play habits.
Amaryllis loves her Schrammpa because he plays, wrestles, teases, and spoils her.
And Schrammpa can make anything look like fun.
Now here's another thing that we did in November. Look closely at the below pictures.
It's probably our biggest accomplishment yet...do you see it?
Amaryllis is wearing undies instead of diapers, wahoo! We potty trained this month, and I'm happy to say it took 1 long week, 1 mediocre week, and by the 3rd week she did not have anymore wet accidents. As for #2, it has been more gradual but we are getting there.

I got these lovely flowers for my birthday and they made our house smell divine.

Speaking of birthday, don't be too jealous, but my girl Heidi gave me this awesome leopard Snuggie which makes for perfect couch nesting. Amaryllis and Jake always steal it from me though.
The other weekend we tried to go to the Raleigh holiday parade, but every time we wanted to enter a parking garage the traffic dude would direct us to go straight. So we drove through downtown Raleigh and were forced back on the interstate, lame! We ended up at the Farmers Market Restaurant for a good ole southern breakfast and Amaryllis played on the patio.
And that brings us to December...and CHRISTMAS!! Can't wait!!

Airplane?

Last time we were in Charlotte, my dad pointed out airplanes to Amaryllis. They live somewhat near the airport and can spot a plane every minute or two.
Anyways, it was super cute and so every night she made him sit on the porch and look for planes.

Schrammpa smacking his head because "oh no, the plane is going to run into the trees! ahhh!"

Now she keeps bugging me everytime she hears a faint noise in the distance (like a truck or something) and does the gasp/whisper/wide eyes "airplane?".

Char: she is so in love with Sweet Muffins and doesn't let her out of her sight!

And since we're on the subject of Schrammpa, here are his socks being modeled:
And here he is during daylight-savings clock-changing duty:
And if you haven't had enough of my lovely grainy phone pictures, you can see an adorable family on Funfetti Photography. Except this will be my last photoshoot with my beloved teeny Cannon (that I love b/c it is so small, easy to use, fun filters, etc), because I think I know what is wrapped up and waiting for my bday weekend...

Treats for Tots (and adults)

We had fun at Schramma & Schrampa's house for Halloween weekend. Yes, Amaryllis and I rode the train again and it was quite an easy trip. Being in the car with her isn't so much fun anymore, so the train is a nice break.


The kids weren't sure what to think of this witch that face-planted in the yard.


Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on Schrammah's porch (or should I say 4 and a half?):
In these next 2 group shots, you can see what movie we just watched (notice mom and Rome's pirate knife)...
Yep, we suffered through Alfred Hitcock's "PSYCHO" earlier that day. That movie is so wrong on so many weird levels.