December

Wow.

 Just downloading all the pictures from 

December makes me realize why 

I was so worn out on January 1st! 

Get ready... we did a lot! 

The biggest news of the month was that our sweet 

Emily turned TWO!

She insisted she was "THREE" and would hold up FOUR fingers, 

but, she is MOST DEFINITELY two! 

Sadly, Emily's birthday was iced out! 

The great " Dallas Icepocalypse 2013" hit us hard and right in the middle was Emily's birthday! 

So, we had to settle for Double FaceTime with the grandparents. 

As you can see, Emily was too distracted with her cake and ice cream to really pay much attention, 

but at least we all got to celebrate "together."

Luckily, by a miracle of all miracles, Pickle's flight into Dallas from NYC remarkably was one of only 21 flights to land and she was "stuck" with us for the birthday 

celebrations and the icy weekend. 

Best House Hostage Ever! 

Josh was so happy for Emily on her birthday. 

She was a bit confused about all the fuss, but obliged us. 

Emily's birthday gift was this fun froggy rocker that I just KNEW she would love because there is one at the doctor's office that she is always trying to ride and I never let her for fear of the germs growing on it.

So, I just thought- YES! A rocker! She will be so excited. 

I think she has played with it about 3 times. TOPS!

Go figure. 

I even made poor Emily help make her special rainbow birthday cake. 

After being stuck in the house for three days straight,  

and eating four too many pieces of cake a day, 

we HAD to get out! 

We got bundled up and took a little walking adventure 

over to Josh's school playground to check all this "ice" out.

And adventure it was!

3 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs and lots of ice = tricky commute! 

This is the school soccer field! 

It is literally an ice rink!

The dogs had so much fun running and then sliding until they fell on their bottoms. 

Josh followed their lead and despite my screaming, 

had fun running (and falling) on the ice. 

Two of my favorite ladies!

Being iced in for 5 days wasn't too bad,  lots of pajama time with the kids is always fun. 

But, we were happy to jump back into reality with Emily's favorite 

"big sister,' Maggie when we went and saw Santa's story time at the mall. 

December was all about the holidays, 

but other things went on as well. 

Like, Josh starting his first ever basketball season. 

(That is him in the bright shoes). 

The dress on Emily used to be Maggie's

 and the dress on Maggie used to be Katie's. 

Do you see how this works? 

Love these girls. 

Emily kept saying, "Preddy" and twirling around 

when she was wearing this dress. 

Yikes. 

And then this happened. 

And it was awesome. 

That is all. 

I had the pleasure of taking the kids to the Klyde Warren Park one beautiful afternoon. 

The park was so crowded!  Honestly, I was so scared I would lose someone, so I took a few pictures, let the kids run a bit and we headed safely home so I could keep everyone confined in one place. 

Further proof that I am NOT meant to have 4 children. 

Our annual tree- finding day! 

 Sweet Emily giving her favorite man a kiss. 

Sweet Emily making it very clear that Santa 

is NOT her favorite man. 

She wouldn't let go of Chris. 

Josh loves his Santa and always has. 

We have been seeing the same Santa since 

he was Emily's age. He has always spent

his one-on-one time with Santa wisely. 

Here, he is going over his list, very specifically, with Santa. 

Josh ended his visit with Santa by singing 

a reindeer song he learned at school.

Hand motions and all.

It was priceless and made Santa very happy. 

Needless to say, Josh got almost everything on his list. 

A few days before Christmas, my family came into town

 to celebrate.

Phil, Anna, Barn, and Meme were all here and we had lots of fun

going to a few museums and eating lots of good food, and a few cheese balls. 

Josh and Barn had fun doing experiments from Josh's new chemistry  kit.

Perfect science partner. 

 Josh had lots of fun playing on Team Alison 

by spending some quality time making fun of Uncle Phil. 

Meanwhile, Emily clung onto Aunt Anna and wouldn't let her get too far away. 

On Christmas Eve, Granee,  Pa, and Tim came over to 

enjoy Christmas morning with us and the kids. 

My two little elves on Christmas morning. 

How cute is this?

They were both a little (or a lot) under the weather, 

but they seemed to still enjoy the morning. 

This picture sums up how our great "Santa reveal" went on Christmas morning. 

We could barely contain Josh and his over the top excitement. 

And, we had to literally push Emily into the room to see her presents. 

( Do you see the thing flying in the air above Josh's head? That is a funny "Flipeze hat" that Josh got in his stocking. As soon as he saw his Nintendo 3DS that Santa left him, he dramatically threw the hat and ran into the room. Now that is a memory)!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all!