the cutest cupcake, strawberry, and owl in all the land…

(and the duck and bell pepper are pretty darn cute too)

We had an exciting weekend, celebrating lyla girl’s first birthday on saturday {pictures to come}, and Jesus’ resurrection on Sunday.  This was the first year in a long time that it wasn’t raining on Easter, and boy were we loving every second of it. Holidays are so fun with kids!

{more photos in picasa album}

we had a great valentines day this year. it was of course filled with lots of love, pink, and sweet stuff. don’t worry these treats weren’t all for us.

poor lyla is sick with a cold, so she slept all through breakfast. but she enjoyed chewing on her valentine later in the morning.

on christmas eve morning we went to see santa. they really aren’t into santa at all, but for the sake of the tradition we do it.

breakfast afterwards. with aurora, of course.

later that day we went to the christmas eve service {at a church we just started attending}. the church had a really neat service for the entire family, and it was the best way to kick off the holiday.

…..

christmas day was an incredibly relaxing day. my parents came over and joined us for brunch, gifts, games, oh-and a trip to the urgent care. during naptime adalaide attempted to climb out of her crib for the first time. she fell head first onto the hardwoods and the poor girl got a concussion. thankfully, nothing serious was wrong so we were able to come home and resume our christmas fun. aside from that little incident we really had the best day celebrating jesus!

here are my favorite pictures from the day….

the best we could get of the girls together.

i was so excited to give adalaide this fridge alphabet toy. our friends have one and she always loves playing with it.

her reaction did not disappoint!

 these are the stockings my parents have for the girls. made by my amazing mom!

i may or may not have taken some baby food straight from our pantry to put in lyla’s stocking so she could have something to open. clearly she didn’t seem to mind.

sweet lyla’s first christmas!

Since brian always works on the friday after Thanksgiving I started a tradition with my mom a few years ago. We basically set aside the day for getting into the Christmas spirit. We stay in our jammies all day, decorate the house, listen to christmas music, bake, eat and relax. Every year we make gingerbread houses, and of course this activity is a huge hit with my sugar loving girls.

by the way, if you are wanting to make gingerbread houses with young children i highly recommend the kit from costco. the house comes assembled so it’s much easier for those of us who are a little challenged in the structural department.