We made it through another year, well almost! 2011 has gone by faster than any other year, I can think of. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us. We made it to Santa again this year. I finally got my act together and got us there sooner than we usually go. If you don't wait until the last week of Christmas, the lines aren't bad and it can actually be an enjoyable experience! ( Note to self ) Our Santa picture was one of my favorites yet. Our new addition this year made it even better. It's like she's always been here.

Every year Christmas just gets better! We get to relive our childhood through the excitement of our girls. I'm so excited each year to see their reactions that I have hard time sleeping just like a little kid, this year was no exception. We were out super late (11:30) so we had to hurry home so that Santa could bring presents. The big hit this year was the baby alives. It's probably because we have a new baby and they get to do all the things to their babies they can't do to ours. Like change them and feed them gross looking food. I have to say these are the least favorite of mine. They are messy! They have gone through all of their diapers on the second day. If they keep up at this pace, I will have to buy doll diapers weekly when I buy real ones or the dolls may disappear. (just kidding, kind of ) I always forget how many people end up getting gifts for our girls so when it is all over they have way too much. I need to make notes regarding gifts that I can refer to next year when I go crazy again. It seems like I always forget, although we did do better this year with them on cutting back. Looking forward to see what next year has in store for us. Little Annie will be a year older and it will be so fun to watch her open her gifts.

This is what Christmas looks like at our house. This year I added a few projects to the decor. I made the trees below, which believe or not they took hours! I made an advent calendar with stockings for our stairs. ( with a lot of help from my sisters) We had an activity or item in each one so the girls would pull the card to see what we got to do that day. They loved it and it was a great addition to our stairs, but then I had to decorate all my banisters. And this year we finally got lights put up on the outside. I went out today and hit the stores for all the discounted Christmas decor so I can't wait to add some of my new stuff next year!

I have so much catching up to do! Annistyn turned 6 months old on the 8th. I can't believe how fast this has gone by. She is finally growing but she is still little for her age. She is the spitting image of Rylee as a baby. She is wearing Rylee's dress from her first Christmas in these pics. She weighs 14.7 lbs and is 27 inches long. She is only in the 25th percentile for weight but 90th for her height. She is long and lean. She is such a sweet little girl and loves her sisters. She is finally getting some hair. She is starting to sit up, she's not a pro but will be there soon. She is in a phase of growling and does this often, it is very cute. She does this the most right after her bath, which she also loves. I doubt she will be crawling by 8 months, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Happy Haunting.......

This year for Halloween Rylee was a "pumpkin princess" and Ella was a light up fairy. Little Annie was supposes to be a tootsie roll but she was too little for her costume. So she was a cute little lady bug instead. Which I loved all the padding the costume had. It made it so much easy to hold her. She was a trooper and loved being out with all the kids. This year we lucked out with the nicest weather in about 3 years to trick or treat in. We went to our favorite tricking spot which is daybreak and it was a great night, with great friends. We can't wait til next year.

It hard to believe but little Annie is almost 5 months old! As of her 4 month check up she was 12lbs 60z and 25 inches tall. She is still pretty little but hopefully she will chunk up soon. Right now she looks a lot like Rylee but it seems to change depending on the week. She LOVES her sisters and is fascinated by them. She really likes Rylee and Rylee loves to take care of her.
She is very sweet and loves to be held. She is getting easier and has decided she likes to take naps in crib, yeah for mommy. We love having her in our home and watching her grow.

September 17th was a special day for our family, we got to celebrate one of our favorite people. Chris's grandma turned eighty and we all decided to throw her a party! She's a popular girl and had lots of friends and family show up to celebrate this special day. Anyone who meets Barbara would agree that she is the funniest, sweetest, kindest, spunkiest, most caring, free spirited person you will ever meet. She means so much to us and we love her dearly. For me she is the only grandma that I have known and I feel blessed to have her in my life. The girls refer to her as the "real" grandma." The grandma at the cabin and they love her to pieces. We loved getting to see this party all come together for no one more deserving than her. We can't wait to do this again for her 90th birthday. We are looking forward to many more years of happiness with her.

The hat boxes are her cake!

So I'm a little behind these days. We blessed Annistyn July 17th when my family was out visiting from AZ. It was so nice to have everyone here for her special day. Despite some major wardrobe malfunctions it turned out to be a great day. Thanks to some amazing sisters we had some yummy food and lots of help. It was nice to have all of our family and friends here to celebrate. Just wanted to post some of my favorite pics. from the day.