Reality, New Years, and a Haircut

Well, we are adjusting to our new normal around here with 2 babies.  John has been back to work this week and I am trying to get into a routine day to day with both girls.  Some days are easier than others.   Many days I just have to laugh at the end of the day.

 

My first day with both went something like this: We had two friends come to visit. 1 poop explosion all over me and Annie. 1 meltdown/time out for Caroline. Only 30 minutes all day of TV for Caroline (I honestly thought I would need it more and probably will many days - don't judge).  I didn't eat lunch until 3:15pm, but I did manage to sit and eat it alone!  30 minutes of peace and quiet was more than expected.  Oh, and I never managed to get Caroline dressed all day.  It was a pajama kind of day!

In other news, John and I actually got a date last weekend.  We spent New Years eve at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl to watch Auburn play against Virginia.  John took Caroline to fanfest during the day.  She had a blast looking for the Chick-Fil-A cow and watching the Auburn band play.

I could just eat up her cute little legs in this picture!

We had a great night with Mark and Kristen and spending a few hours away from little ones.  Oh, and Auburn won!  Thank you mom for babysitting! 

New Years Day, my friend Anne, also known as, "Annie" was in town and came to meet little Annie!

And this week, we FINALLY took Caroline to get her first real haircut.  She was in desperate need of a good trim and shaping up a bit.  And thankfully, those sweet curls in the back are still there!  

The Tree

We finally got our tree decorated!  If you read a couple posts back, we were a little slow in decorating it this year.  We loaded up the day after Thanksgiving with some friends to pick out our trees.  

A stop at Starbucks first has also become a little tradition. 

Mark and Kuz came as well as the Simmons crew.   

We typically go to the Farmer's Market.  In my opinion, it is more festive than going to Home Depot, (no offense, we used to do that too) but not quite as good as going to a real Christmas Tree farm and cutting down a tree.  However, it is fun and easy with little ones! 

And there are tons of trees!

Caroline and Thatcher in their overalls. 

A big hug from Greg.

Bummed this picture came out blurry.  

And the final product.  There is something so wonderful and peaceful about sitting in a room with just the Christmas tree lights on.

Pink Pig

Lately, we have been filling our days with fun holiday activities and little mommy/daughter dates until the new little one arrives.  

Friday, we headed to the Pink Pig.  This is a fun Atlanta tradition that has been at Macy's forever.  My mom is from Atlanta originally and grew up riding the Pink Pig during the holidays too.    

It was a huge success for Caroline.  We might just have to go back one more time before Christmas!

A little hesitant until the ride started.

And we're loving it now! 

Talking to all the little pigs in the gift shop was a highlight as well.  

If you are planning to ride the Pig over the holidays, go during the week and go right at 10am when it opens.  No lines! 

City Escape

A couple weekends ago we headed to north Georgia to meet baby Ethan.

It was a great weekend to enjoy the weather, play outside, grill out, watch some high school baseball, eat a big Sunday lunch and rock on the front porch.

And oh so nice to be outside the city too.

The older I get the more I love the simplicity in a small town.

*don't worry Ethan was only face down for a second as we snapped a picture or two

Good Things

February has been a good month around here.

We celebrated Valentine's day as a family and went out for mexican.

The same week we also celebrate our anniversary.

4 years with my Buddy. We are actually going to officially celebrate the anniversary with a weekend away in late March.

The next week we celebrated Papa and Yaya's birthdays at Bistro Niko. The highlight of the night was a random magician that showed up at our table. Meet Howie. See his deck of cards below. He was amazing. Seriously, this was not your little kid birthday party magician. No idea how he did any of his tricks. My jaw was on the floor watching. Check him out here.

This weather. Oh, how can I not mention this weather when it has been 60+ degrees for over 2 weeks now and it is still February! These temperatures are the best thing to ever happen to this month. As a result, we have enjoyed lots of picnics and time at the playground.

We welcomed Andrew and Stacey's 3rd son, Ethan Thayer, to the world on 2/15/11.

Last, but not least, February is Girl Scout cookie month! Enjoying my tagalongs as I type. Yum!

Bring on March!

Field Trip

I don't mention my work much, but I do work! This job has been such a blessing. I work from home and I work for our church. Therefore, I work with amazing friends I love to be around and I get to be with my munchkin all day too. Although the job is very flexible, the hours are hard to fit in sometimes and it is a crazy balancing act most weeks. I wouldn't trade it for any other job though (at least not in this season of life).

One person I could not do my job without is my father-in-law (also know as Papa to Caroline). Every Wednesday I have a meeting with all the staff since everyone works remotely. Papa is retired and wanted to spend time with Caroline one morning a week. So Wednesday morning is their time together. It is the sweetest thing and I am not sure who loves the time more, but these two are for sure buddies! For Christmas, we gave Papa and Caroline a field trip to the GA Aquarium for one of their mornings together. They took their little outing together a few weeks ago and from all the pictures and videos I have seen from Papa's hip iphone they had a blast together.

Papa, we are so thankful for you!

Here is one picture in front of the penguin exhibit.

Shower 2

Apparently, I took way more pictures at this shower so excuse the very long post.

Have I mentioned they are having 2 girls and 1 boy?

Mel, this one is for you...

Diaper Cake. I am not typically a crafty person, but I was proud of myself for googling instructions on how to make this practical gift and decoration. Turned out pretty well and they got 100 diapers out of it!

Parents-to-be

Excited cousin

Christian, Hayden, Andrew, and Jim

Corey, Corey, and Corrie

Mimi and G

Linsey and her brothers

Sweet friends

Some of the gifts from both showers...told you it was a lot!